steve, Author at FitnessFor.Us

November 4, 2019November 6, 2019

Evaluation of Noom after one week on the program

I’ve been involved with the Noom program for a week now, so let me give you my first impressions.

On the plus side:

I like the psychology behind the program. It’s geared to help me change my habits. There are no banned foods, nothing I can’t eat, but all my foods are classified as Green, Yellow, and Red, based on caloric density. Green foods are best with low caloric density. Red are highest in caloric density. Learning that, embedding that into my mind, will help me as I make future dietary decisions.
Along those same lines, Noom is designed to train me and let me go. No lifetime commitment. That makes me think that once I’m done with Noom, I may be able to maintain a healthy diet. It’s not like other plans I’ve been on where I was essentially told what to eat, but once I was done with the plan, I was left hanging, and I inevitably went back to my old eating patterns.
There are no mealplans, no boxes of food to subscribe to. Noom is all about training and coaching. I get some kind of knowledge sharing each day, and periodic coaching. This means the program is more affordable, because the cost is only for the electronic infrastructure. No food or supplement purchases are involved.
The app is pretty easy to use. It doesn’t sync with my Letsfit fitness tracker, but it’s easy enough to manually enter my steps each day.

November 3, 2019November 4, 2019

I’m pushing myself with walking as my primary exercise

This morning, as part of my Noom program, I walked 3 miles in 54 minutes.

That seemed really fast to me, so I doubted the reading on my Letsfit fitness tracker, but I mapped my route with Google, and the distance was actually a bit more than that, so I went with 3 miles.

At almost 60 years old, I feel really good about that. That’s a brisk walk, and I never felt pressured physically. Well, a little weirdness in my left ankle, but that’s normal. I must have hurt it at some point in my life.

This is part of the positive influence that these electronic devices and the Noom program has had on me: they allow me to document and understand that I am really doing something, not just going for a stroll. I truly had no idea I was walking that fast.

Walking is an excellent form of exercise for us older folks. It helps improve heart health, lowering the risk of heart attack and stroke. That’s important.

November 2, 2019November 6, 2019

Yesterday I hit my 10k steps and ate like a pig

Yesterday I hit 10,000 steps for the first time in quite a while. I’m not sure how long it’s been, because I don’t track my steps, but that really doesn’t matter, does it?

My Noom Goal Specialist, Kyle, bumped me to set an exercise goal, so I chose a 30-minute daily walk. That’s good for starters, and should be workable, as I already walk a lot, and I enjoy it.

I prefer to have a destination when I walk, but yesterday I wandered aimlessly, circling the neighborhood, just trying to get in my 30 minutes. And that resulted in my eventually hitting 10k steps. But before that happened…

I was doing great with regard to food yesterday. Well, pretty good. Corn Chex, a Red food — Noom has Red, Yellow, and Green foods, based on caloric density, and Red foods have high caloric density, which make them the worst choices — was my breakfast, with unsweetened cashew milk (a GREEN FOOD!)

November 1, 2019November 1, 2019

My relationship with exercise

I just got a bump from Kyle, my Noom Goal Specialist, asking me to make a goal to help with something I struggle with, like exercise, or blah blah blah.

Exercise has often been a struggle for me. My job keeps me seated at a computer. I do have time for exercise, but at a certain point I lost motivation.

When I was in Albuquerque in the 1990s, I lived within easy walking distance of a gym. So I joined it and I used it. I went to bed early, got up early and went to the gym to start the day. That was great!

Then I moved to San Antonio.

No longer within easy walking distance of a gym, and no longer in the military, which forced me to be at least a little bit in shape, my fitness fell to the wayside. I got fat.

November 1, 2019November 1, 2019

Electronic devices and weighing in and positive influences and philosophy on life

I may have messed up last night.

Just before I went to sleep, I turned off notifications from my Letsfit fitness tracker to my phone, and when I woke this morning, my sleep was not tracked.

Now, I don’t understand how turning off notifications could foul the connection between my Letsfit and my phone, but the first two nights my sleep tracked fine, and last night it did not.

I turned the notifications back on, so I guess we’ll see how that works out.

This is disappointing, although it also shows me how quickly I can become addicted to an electronic device. It’s only been two days, but I’m already jonesing for that information. Tell me how I slept!