New Year, NOOM You!

By Ashley O'Rourke PT, DPT, ATC, LAT

Let this year be the year that you succeed at accomplishing your New Year's Resolutions for a healthier life!

*I was compensated for this post and this post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking my links*

The new year is a time to reflect on the past, re-evaluate current practices, set goals, and make resolutions. It is a time for change, fresh starts and new beginnings. For many, it’s a time to start focusing on one's health and general well-being. This may include exercising more, losing weight or using diet as a homeopathic way to control conditions and diseases or to get off medication. Unfortunately, we tend to start off strong with good intentions, but quickly fall off the wagon. This is primarily due to the fact that crash diets DON’T work, life gets “too busy” or we fall back into bad habits that we have developed over the years. When it comes to dieting, fad and quick fix diets are a thing of the past. They usually result in yo-yo like results and can be exhausting to maintain. The true answer, just like is very often the case with physical therapy, is behavioral change.

Changing behavior is not easy nor will it happen overnight. Your best chance at succeeding is to have a guide to help you on your journey to a healthier life. This is why Noom was developed. Noom works with customers across the globe to create healthier habits, address health problems/diseases and develop healthier relationships with themselves. Living a healthy lifestyle is more than just striving for your perfect body, it’s about physical, emotional and mental well-being. Living a healthier life (and possibly living longer as a result) allows a person to have more meaningful experiences in their lifetime- whether that’s more time with family, traveling the world or working towards a life-long dream. Noom is a health and wellness program that is there to help you along the way. It claims to be the “last weight-loss program you’ll ever need” according to its website and is like having a trainer, nutritionist and health coach all in one!

Just like with physical therapy, education is the key. If I can explain to a patient what their issue is, where the problem is stemming from, the anatomy and physiology behind it, and what the plan of care is, a patients will become less scared about their predicament and, therefore, have a more positive attitude that leaves them more motivated to put in the work required to get better. Then, if I educate the patient on what the specific exercises target and how it relates to treating the root cause of their condition, the patient is a lot more compliant with their exercises which leads to a speedier recovery.

Noom works the same. By educating a person on the food choices they make, how calorie reduction and carbohydrate intake works and how to increase physical activity, they will understand why they are doing what they are doing. Education almost always increases compliance and compliance helps you to reach your goals! It is a program that helps you learn WHY you want to lose weight and how to do it versus just blindly shedding the pounds. With Noom, you also have the support of over 45 million other people with whom you can chat with in real time to give or gain support. The positive reinforcement and accountability coaching that the program offers helps you stick to your plan and FINALLY achieve that New Year's Resolution!!

The best part? There is research to back it up! 64% of Noom users lost 5% or more body fat which, in turn, greatly reduces their risk for developing diabetes and other conditions. Need further endorsement? In 2017, Noom’s program received full recognition by the CDC (Center for Disease Control). If weight loss or a healthier life are part of your New Year's Resolutions this year, Noom is the way to go!

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