Today I want to discuss two top-rated programs for tracking calories, Noom vs. MyFitnessPal. Losing weight is no easy task that is for sure. The concept is pretty simple, though, and it all boils down to calories. Tracking these calories is the hard part. Both of these innovative programs try to make calorie counting a lot easier, but which of these apps is best?
Okay, back to the basics here. As I just mentioned, losing weight is a pretty simple concept, but hard to execute. The whole goal with weight loss is to take in fewer calories than you burn. Easy enough, right? Not so fast. One of the hardest parts of losing weight, and keeping it off, is tracking all of those pesky calories.
You can track your food the old school way, by writing everything down on a piece of paper. OR, you can log your food electronically with the help of an app. The great thing about tracking calories is that it can be very eye-opening.
Do you really have any idea how many calories you consume in a day? For me, it’s a little scary; I will be honest. I love to sneak dark chocolate; there my dirty little secret is out.
If only I were sneaking chocolate in moderation, but I am not. After tracking my food intake, I soon realized that my little obsession was working against me, big time. I didn’t know how much chocolate I consumed daily, and it was apparent I needed some accountability in my life.
So with that said, I am going to walk through each of these programs, see what makes them different, and at the end of the day, help you chose the best one for you.
Noom vs. MyFitnessPal
Similarities between Noom and MyFitnessPal
With an easy to navigate app, both of these programs are designed to help you keep track of your calorie intake and calories burned. Both offer a free and paid version that will allow you to track your weight loss goals by entering your beginning weight and goal weight.
Noom takes this process further by asking you a series of questions about your habits, and this comes into play later when you get into the full, comprehensive program. You can read my complete Noom review here. To the core, these programs offer basic similarities as tracking apps, but Noom takes it further, and we will discuss that next.
What about support?
The fact is, for most people, it is easy to want to lose weight, but hard to actually do it. Having support is critical to not only get started with weight loss but keeping the weight off as well.
Noom
With Noom, you have a dedicated coach and a community of people at your disposal to help you along the way. The goal with Noom is to provide you with the support and tools you need to be successful in losing weight and keeping it off. In short, you have a plan of attack with a team to back you.
Noom does a fantastic job of helping you break bad habits and reinforce, new, better habits when it comes to food choices. Noom takes a psychological approach to lose weight, and they explain how your brain works and why we make the choices we do. You get daily bits of information about eating habits, so it is not overwhelming. Then you take a little quiz at the end to make sure you understand the information.
Anyway, Noom offers a lot in the way of support, and I think it’s really worth checking out the 14-day trial to see for yourself.
MyFitnessPal
Although there are articles on the app you can peruse, they don’t assign you a coach, so you don’t get the same level of support as Noom. This level of support may not be enough for some people who really need more than food tracking to lose weight.
I have contacted MFP support, and I can tell you my experience has been so-so. It takes a few days to get a response from customer service.
With MFP Premium, you do get a higher level of customer support with issues you have, but this is not as comprehensive as Noom.
Winner: Noom
Trial period
Both of these apps offer a trial period before you buy. I love the fact that you can test out the program before you commit to a longer-term.
Noom
Noom offers a 14-day trial that will cost you $1. With this trial offer, you get access to all of the great features of the paid version for 14 days. You will have a coach who will help you along the way with any questions you have. If you have questions related to tracking your calories, or just a need a nudge in the right direction, your coach is there to help with your weight loss goals.
There is also a community of people who can help to keep you motivated and pick you up if you need a little TLC. With the trial period, you will have access to all of these features and more.
You will need to enter your credit card information and choose a price plan (more on that later) when you sign up for the trial offer. No fear, if you cancel before your trial ends, your credit card will not be charged.
MFP
MyFitnessPal has a 30-day free trial. Within the app, you can tap any of the areas that are “locked” with a yellow padlock, or touch any area where “Go Premium” is indicated.
From this point, you will be given the option, with a big blue button to start your 30-day free trial. Once you select this, you will be prompted to choose a price plan (more on that later), which would kick in after your 30 days are up.
With the 30-day trial, you have access to all of the Premium membership options and benefits. If you do decide to take the 30-day trial offer, you will be directed to enter your credit card information in the app store (Google Play or Apple store).
Winner: MyFitnessPal (much more extensive trial period)
Connectivity to other apps
Both apps offer the option to connect with other fitness apps to track steps, etc. during the day.
Noom
I had a little bit of trouble connecting the Noom app to Google Fit. I went through the process, which is pretty straightforward, but for some reason, the two were just not talking to each other. I contacted customer support, and they were very helpful and provided me with a series of steps to troubleshoot.
I went through the process of disconnecting, reconnecting, etc., the usual song and dance, yet these two apps still did not want to be friends. After letting the dust settle overnight, the next day, everything worked, and Google Fit had now connected to Noom, and all was well in the world.
I know technology is supposed to make our lives more comfortable, and my experience with Noom was probably a fluke. Sometimes different apps just plain don’t connect with each other, or it takes a little coercing.
MyFitnessPal
Connecting Google Fit to MFP was simple, and it worked like a charm the first time. I have to give the nod to MFP on this one.
Winner: MyFitnessPal (slight advantage only based on my experience)
How much does it cost?
Noom
You can use Noom’s free app to log your food and track your weight, and if that is all you need to do, then you can easily do that with the free version. Where Noom sets itself apart is with the support they offer through coaching (fitness and diet).
Noom offers a variety of price plans, from monthly to yearly. The longer you commit, the better the deal. Noom price plans are as follows:
- Monthly – $59
- 2 month – $99 ($49.50/month)
- 4 month – $129 ($32.25/month)
- 6 month – $149 ($24.83/month)
- 8 month – $159 ($19.88/month)
- 12 month – $199 ($16.58/month)
All of these plans are on an auto-recurring basis, meaning they will automatically bill your credit card for the plan until you cancel. As you can see, there is quite a difference between choosing a monthly and a yearly plan.
MyFitnessPal
Like Noom, MFP has both a free and paid version of their program. With the free version, you are asked to input your current weight and your goal weight, and they provide you with a calorie budget. With the free version, tracking your food is super easy, especially with the expansive database of food.
If you need more than the free version, the cost for MFP is $49.99/year, or $9.99/month.
With a paid subscription, you get Premium features including:
- Food analysis
- Macro tracking
- An ad-free experience
- The ability to set daily nutrition goals
These are some of the Premium features, and you may want to take advantage of the free trial to find out about all of the features included.
Winner: MFP (strictly from a cost perspective)
User experience
Noom
Noom offers an impressive interface that is easy to use. As I mentioned earlier, each day, Noom gives you hints, and tips for the day, it’s all part of the comprehensive program. You can save these articles too and refer back to them later.
As for food tracking, it’s pretty easy. Once you start to enter your food, you can reuse the same entries over and over again. When you enter your meals, you will begin to see patterns, and Noom will help you make adjustments to those patterns.
MyFitnessPal
Entering food is super easy, you can scan labels, etc. and like Noom, you can reuse the same foods over and over. You can create meals as well, and that is a plus.
Both apps work well at tracking food and exercise so, we will call this one a tie.
Conclusion: Noom vs. MyFitnessPal who wins?
Whew, that is a lot of information, and hopefully, it all makes sense. To decide which app is right for you, you must start with your goals. If your goal is just to track calories, you may be okay with the free version of MFP.
If you are looking to lose weight, change your eating habits, and keep the weight off long term, I highly recommend Noom. I feel like Noom has a lot to offer and when you add up the cost of hiring a dietician and a personal trainer, you can’t beat the price of Noom.
Noom will help you understand your habits, and why you make the choices, you do. Then they will help you know how to make better choices going forward. You have a dedicated team who is available to help you meet your weight loss goals.
If you are interested in reading my complete Noom review, you can check it out here. Feel free to sign up for the 14-day trial offer and give the program a look for yourself.
I appreciate you stopping by today. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments I am happy to help.
Feel free to contact me directly as well.
Steve