I Have a BMI of 20.5, But Noom Thinks I Need to Lose Weight

This epidemic of pseudo-scientific weight loss apps is dangerous.

Photo by Jill Burrow from Pexels

cw: discussed disordered eating, weight loss, and weight with numbers.

Let me start off with honest: I’ve struggled with disordered eating since I was about 13. I’ve monitored my caloric intake for so long that I can list the calorie count of nearly any food at a glance. I still get a weird sense of pride when I go to bed hungry.

As a result of my checkered history, I’m very susceptible to weight-loss ads. When one such ad from a company called Noom popped up on my Facebook feed, I couldn’t help but give a click to see what they were all about.

Reader, I know that’s messed up, and I’m getting better with the help and support of friends and family. I know that I don’t need to “lose ten pounds” to be happy. I’m learning that I deserve to be happy and confident no matter what weight or size I am.

But Noom disagrees.

Screenshot taken by author from the Noom website

Noom, for those of you lucky enough to not be blasted with its ads on Facebook, is a “mission-driven technology company dedicated to…