Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan - Which Program Helps With Weight Loss?

Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan – Noom and My Diet Meal Plan both offer personalized eating plans, but what else do they offer? We compared features, accessibility, and the nutritional value of the provided meal plans to determine whether My Diet Meal plan can compete against Noom. This app has almost 60 million users.

What is Noom?

Noom is the diet app that Millennials swear by for sustainably losing weight. It’s not just thirty-somethings who can benefit from Noom either. Noom is a Centers for Disease Control recognized program for all stages of life.

Noom’s innovative psychological approach to weight loss is available in a convenient app for Android and iPhone. With a subscription, members gain access to a food logging database that contains millions of items, an accurate exercise tracker, thousands of healthy recipes that are easy to prepare, and educational materials that will turn them into nutrition experts.

During your first day as a Noom member, you’ll meet your coach and the “Noom Nerds.” Your coach is your motivational guide, and the Noom Nerds teach you about breaking your bad habits, forming better habits, and overcoming the obstacles that stand in your way.

Over 16 weeks, you’ll become an expert on identifying thought distortions, reinforcing positive behavior, and calorie density. This knowledge will help you continue living a healthy lifestyle after the completion of your program.

Noom offers multiple programs, including the Diabetes Prevention Program, the Prehypertension Program, and the Healthy Weight Program.

Noom isn’t focused entirely on weight loss. Instead, it encourages a healthy lifestyle that reduces a user’s chances of developing serious health conditions related to poor diet and lack of physical activity.

Don’t take the CDC’s word for it. Check out the Noom free trial offer available today to see how the program works for yourself. 

What is My Diet Meal Plan?

My Diet Meal Plan is a UK-based online meal planning service. Users create a free user account, enter their basic information, and receive a daily meal plan that fits their needs. All recipes and shopping lists are auto-generated and can be downloaded for convenience. My Diet Meal Plan does not offer a mobile app.

You can upgrade to the premium account for a small fee to receive weekly meal plans and access your macronutrient information.

My Diet Meal Plan offers menus for a variety of popular diets:

• Classic Bodybuilding
• Atkins Phase 1
• Atkins Phase 2
• PSMF
• The 5:2 Diet
• Low Fat
• Low Carb
• Zone Diet
• Ketogenic Diet

My Diet Meal Plan offers vegan, vegetarian, kosher, and halal options.

Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan – History

Brief History of Noom

Noom got its start in mid-2008, in a tiny office in New York City. In 12 years, Noom has grown into a globally recognized health and wellness company with offices in Tokyo, Seoul, and New York City.

Companies like Sequoia Capital and Samsung jumped at the chance to invest in Noom during its latest funding round, and Noom continues to partner with global healthcare companies, including Novo Nordisk, to improve upon its weight management programs.

Brief History of My Diet Meal Plan

My Diet Meal Plan Limited was launched on August 14, 2014, and the headquarters are located in Worcester, England. Unfortunately, no other information is available regarding the company.

Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan – Who’s Behind the Plans?

Who Created Noom?

Saeju Jeong, the co-founder of Noom, comes from a long line of medical professionals. Growing up in South Korea, Saeju’s father, a well-respected physician, told him that the problem with medicine was doctors who focused solely on treating conditions instead of attempting to prevent them.

His father’s words stayed with Saeju for many years. After his father’s passing, Saeju left Hongik University to move to the United States. He wanted to use his love of technology to change how the world treated a common problem: obesity.

Saeju Jeong met Artem Petakov at the wedding of a mutual friend. Petakov is a Princeton alumnus who taught himself to program as a young child. His family moved from Ukraine to the United States when he was 13.

Artem Petakov is a computer scientist who has worked with Microsoft and Google Maps, but his interest in psychology caught Saeju Jeong’s attention. The two men combined their passions to launch WorkSmart Labs, the company that would someday be known as Noom.

Who Created My Diet Meal Plan?

Ashley Daniel Fletcher created my Diet Meal Plan. The 32-year-old acting director and lives in Coln St Aldwyns, England. Our research team couldn’t find any other information about the My Diet Meal Plan founder.

Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan – The Rules

Rules of Noom

Instead of forcing you to follow the rules, Noom helps you form healthy habits, and it all starts with logging your meals.

Meal Logging

Have you ever said to yourself, “I have a pretty healthy diet; I don’t understand why I can’t lose weight?” Maybe you know you have an unhealthy diet, but you don’t know how to change. That’s where food logging comes into play.

We don’t always realize how much we’re eating in a day. Noom changes that. Every day, you’ll log your foods and beverages with Noom’s food logging feature. Noom lets you know if each food is a portion of green, yellow, or red food.

Some people see the word “red” and automatically think it’s a portion of “bad” food, but there are no bad foods on the Noom diet. The color-coded food categories are all about portion control. Green foods have the lowest calorie density, so you should add them to every meal to stay full longer. Yellow foods are loaded with essential nutrients, but you’ll need to use portion control to stay within your calorie budget. Red foods have the highest calorie density, but you can still enjoy these foods in small portions.

We’ve made a list of some of the foods in each category to give you a better idea of what you’ll be eating with Noom. A lot of these categorizations are apparent, but a few may surprise you.

Green Foods

• Brussel’s sprouts
• Broccoli
• Whole grain bread
• Asparagus
• Grapes
• Peaches
• Green beans
• Carrots
• Oranges
• Tomatoes
• Salad greens
• Watermelon
• Berries
• Cherries
• Bananas
• Peas
• Horseradish
• Non-fat dairy
• Almond milk
• Egg whites
• Tuna (canned or fresh)

Yellow Foods

• Low-fat dairy
• Turkey breast
• Chicken Breast
• Lean Pork
• Rice (except white rice)
• Avocados
• Olives
• Beans
• Hummus
• Low-calorie smoothies
• Light beers
• Fruits cocktail
• Figs
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Low-fat fruit juices

Red Foods

• Peanut butter
• Trail mix
• Smoothies
• Wine
• Mayonnaise
• Bacon
• Butter
• Ranch dressing
• Chocolate
• Dates
• Chips
• Nachos
• Pizza
• Red meats
• Fried foods
• White bread
• White rice
• Bagels
• Whole milk and dairy products
• Ice cream
• Burgers
• Hotdogs
• Granola
• Protein bars
• Coffee creamers
• Cake
• Pie

Fitness

Staying active when you’re trying to lose weight dramatically increases your chances of succeeding. Noom encourages users to walk a certain number of steps every day and track all kinds of physical activity. When you log a workout, Noom recalculates your daily calorie goal. Being active means, you get to eat more of the foods you love.

Knowledge

This is where the Noom Nerds come in. Noom users spend an average of ten minutes a day learning about nutrition, psychology, and physiology. The Noom Nerds are there to teach you why certain foods are better than others, so you won’t have to rely on someone else to tell you what to eat.

What can you lose in 16 weeks? Check out the Noom free trial offer to find out for yourself. 

Rules of My Diet Meal Plan

The rules you’ll follow on your My Diet Meal Plan depend on the diet plan you choose.

Basic Diet

If you’re not interested in following a branded diet, My Diet Meal Plan will generate a diet based on your current weight, sex, and activity level. You’ll receive daily meal plans complete with recipes and shopping lists.

Classic Bodybuilding

The Classic BodyBuilding Diet involves a meal plan high in protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. You can expect to drink at least one whey protein shake a day on this diet. The Classic Bodybuilding Diet is intended for people who spend a decent amount of time in the gym, so it’s not an excellent fit for a sedentary lifestyle.

Atkins Phase 1

The first phase of the Atkins diet will limit you to 20g of carbs a day. You’ll also be required to eat between 115 and 175 grams of protein with each meal, take a multivitamin and an omega-3 supplement, and drink at least eight glasses of water every day.

Atkins Phase 2

The second phase of the Atkins diet allows you to add five grams of carbohydrates to your diet every week until you reach 40 grams a day. You’ll continue drinking plenty of water and taking supplements during this phase.

PSMF

A protein-sparing modified fast is an extremely restrictive diet that requires users to eat less than 800 calories a day. Research shows that severely restricting calories is not a sustainable form of weight loss and may be detrimental to your health.

The 5:2 Diet

The 5:2 diet involves fasting for two non-consecutive days every week. On fasting days, you’ll eat less than 500 calories per day.

Low Fat

A low-fat diet is a popular way to lose weight that involves eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and lean protein.

Low Carb

A low-carb diet is any diet that restricts users to eating less than 60 grams of carbohydrates a day.

Zone Diet

The Zone diet is another low-carb diet that focuses on eating more vegetables and proteins while cutting out foods that contain sugar.

Ketogenic Diet

A ketogenic diet is a very low-carb diet that encourages users to eat more protein and fats.

Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan – Eating Plans

The Noom Eating Plan

The Noom eating plan is based on eating nutritious foods that have a low-calorie density. Foods with a lower calorie density contain more water, so they keep you full longer. A cup of grapes only has 104 calories, but a cup of raisins has more than 400 calories. You’ll feel full longer after eating the cup of grapes, and you’ll be able to eat more and still lose weight.

Noom teaches you how to choose foods with a lower calorie density without depriving you of the things you love. There’s nothing wrong with treating yourself, as long as you use portion control.

Users who are more comfortable following a set meal plan can request one from their Noom coach. Noom can accommodate vegetarians, vegans, and people who are gluten intolerant.

The My Diet Meal Plan Eating Plan

My Diet Meal Plan offers various dietary plans, so let’s look at their basic diet.

Here’s what a day on the My Diet Meal Plan looks like for a healthy female trying to lose a few pounds:

• Breakfast: Vanilla Protein Porridge
• Lunch: Steak and a baked potato with healthy greens and horseradish
• Snack: Avocado smoothie
• Dinner: Fried chicken with Dukkah sweet potatoes
• Snack: Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries

We love that My Diet Meal Plan encourages fresh fruit and healthy fats from an avocado smoothie, but this meal plan isn’t great for weight loss. Red meat can be enjoyed on occasion, but having steak for lunch isn’t the healthiest option. Swapping out the fried chicken for a baked or grilled chicken breast is an easy way to lower your daily calories and cholesterol levels.

Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan – Plan Duration

How Long Does Noom Last?

Expect to spend about four months following the Noom Healthy Weight Program. After you complete the program, you can still use Noom to log your meals and workouts. You can also check in with your coach whenever you have a question or need a little motivation.

How Long Does My Diet Meal Plan Last?

You can use My Diet Meal Plan daily or when you’re in a pinch for meal planning ideas. There’s no limit on how long you can use this service.

Significant Differences Between Noom and My Diet Meal Plan

Noom and My Diet Meal Plan offer dietary plans for weight loss, but the two programs could not be more different.

Diet

My Diet Meal Plan provides an automatically generated daily meal plan that includes recipes and a shopping list. Noom allows users to log the foods they eat and choose from a database that contains thousands of healthy recipes that fit into their calorie budget. With Noom, you can request a meal plan, but you’ll still have the option to customize your personalized plan to your liking.

Features

Noom offers food and exercise logging to keep users on the right track. My Diet Meal Plan does not provide either functionality.

The Learning Process

The “Noom Nerds” will teach you a lot about nutrition and psychology during the four-month Healthy Weight Program. The founders of Noom believe that educating users allows them to continue living a healthier lifestyle after the completion of a Noom program. My Diet Meal Plan does not offer an educational curriculum.

Support

My Diet Meal Plan doesn’t offer users any type of support. Noom employs thousands of health and wellness coaches, and all Noom users become part of an online community that provides extra support and motivation.

Can You Follow My Diet Meal Plan on Noom?

We can’t think of any reason to use My Diet Meal plan if you’re already a Noom member. Noom provides everything that My Diet Meal Plan does with more options and useful tools.

Possible Side Effects of Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan

My Diet Meal Plan and Noom both focus on weight loss through better dietary choices. Since there are no unregulated supplements involved, neither program presents a risk for side effects. However, some of My Diet Meal Plan’s branded diets, including the PSMF diet and the ketogenic diet, are known to cause side effects.

Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan – The Research

Clinical Research on Noom

Noom’s founders wanted proof that Noom is different from all of the other available weight-loss programs. That’s why they participated in a clinical trial that studied 30,000 Noom subscribers while they followed the Healthy Weight Program.

The results were promising. An impressive 77% of participants reached their target weight in nine months. The study was published in Scientific Reports.

Have you ever lost weight, only to gain it back in the following months? It’s called yo-yo dieting, and it’s a common problem associated with modern diets. Many fad diets promise to help you lose weight fast, but the methods they use aren’t sustainable for long periods.

Noom is different. Researchers followed overweight Korean adults while they lost weight using Noom. The clinical trial, published in Metabolic Syndromes and Related Disorders, determined that the participants maintained a healthy weight for two years after completing a Noom program.

Clinical Research on My Diet Meal Plan

My Diet Meal Plan is a website that offers dietary suggestions. There isn’t any formal research on My Diet Meal Plan, but following a specific diet does have its benefits.

Research featured in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity suggests that following a meal plan can improve meal quality and nutritional value for individuals who are attempting to lose weight.

More research, first reviewed in the Archives of Internal Medicine, confirms that long-term use of pre-planned meals can reduce the risk of obesity.

The Facts About Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan

Quick Facts on Noom

• Consistently ranked as one of Google.com’s most searched weight-loss programs.
• Focuses on calorie density and portion control.
• Teaches members how to make smarter choices for long-term success.
• Has undergone thousands of hours of clinical testing.
• Will match you with a coach that fits your needs.
• Noom Nerds offer guidance, education, and an occasional laugh.
• Makes categorizing food simple with its color-coded approach.

Quick Facts on My Diet Meal Plan

• Provides auto-generated meal plans.
• Supplies shopping lists and recipes.
• Does not offer a mobile app
• Is free to use.
• Users can upgrade to a paid subscription for more features.
• Integrates with several popular fad diets.

The Bottom Line on Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan

A lot is missing from My Diet Meal Plan. The meal plans contain less than healthy ingredients, and some of the branded diets are downright dangerous. We also wish that My Diet Meal Plan would put a more significant emphasis on the importance of exercise. It’s challenging to create a calorie deficit through training alone, and a lack of physical activity is linked to a higher risk of obesity.

If you are looking to try a clinically-tested and backed weight-loss program like Noom, then you are in luck.

Noom has decided to offer all Dietspotlight readers a free trial offer for a limited time. Give it a try before the offer ends!

Noom vs. My Diet Meal Plan Questions and Answers

Q: What exactly is Noom?

A: Noom is a weight-loss program that uses psychology-based tactics to help users learn healthier choices.

Q: What does Noom actually do?

A: Noom offers tons of tools to help users lose weight, like personalized meal plans, health tracking, human coaches, and more.

Q: Can you explain how Noom works?

A: Although Noom was founded in 2008, the program itself wasn’t released until much later. That is because the company completed tons of clinical research to determine the best weight-loss practices for long-term results. Its effectiveness has been proven in multiple studies, including ones published in Nature and the Journal of Health Communications. 

Q: What foods are allowed on Noom?

A: Noom doesn’t focus on restrictions. Instead, it groups foods into different color groups and assigns you a percentage allowance of each of these groups per day.

Q: Does Noom work?

A: Yes – Noom has been proven to be effective for weight-loss.

Q: How much does Noom cost per month?

A: After the trial period ends, Noom costs about $59 a month.

Q: How do I cancel a Noom subscription?

A: To cancel a Noom subscription, you will have to start a chat session with your assigned Noom specialist on the app.

Q: What does Noom stand for?

A: The word “Noom” is simply the word “Moon” backward. The word comes from the idea that the Moon guides you through a dark night, just like Noom guides you through your weight-loss journey.

Q: What is Noom like?

A: Noom is a comprehensive weight-loss program that uses human coaches, food-tracking tools, customized meal plans, and more to help users make healthier choices.

Q: Is Noom legit – clinically proven?

A: Yes – the effectiveness of Noom has been proven in multiple clinical studies, including the Journal of Health Communications and the Journal of Human Hypertension.