Noomer Success Story: Karen McCarthy

Karen was shopping at H&M and took a pair of size 16 jeans into the changing rooms. When she couldn’t get them up over her hips, she finally realized it was time to start losing weight. “I felt seriously uncomfortable in my skin,” she says. “I was only 5’3 and I really felt big.”

Karen says she’s always been a ‘big girl’ but from the ages of 14 to 18 she started to develop unhealthy eating habits. She found herself continuously snacking on unhealthy foods such as chips, white bread, and cheese. Karen would put away most of the junk food in her house on her own, eating three or more packets of chips a night, every night — most often late in the evening while she was watching the television.

If Karen ever cooked for herself it was always frozen pizzas and chips, simply because they were easy to cook. While these habits weren’t ones she learned from anyone around her, her family and friends never suggested she try eating healthy.

At her heaviest, Karen was unable to do even moderate exercise and could only run or jog for a few minutes before getting out of breath and having to stop. Fitness apps seemed like a great new option and she tried several in the hope of losing weight, but none enticed her enough to stick with it, or gave her the encouragement she needed to lose weight. Karen says, “They merely asked me to log food, count calories etc. — just the basics. That all changed when I downloaded Noom.”

Karen was surprised by how easy it was to use Noom and by the guidance it offers. Her favorite parts of the app are the daily tasks, challenges, and informative but easy-to-read articles. She says, “Since I started using Noom, I learned so much about making the right decisions when it comes to food choices.”

In six months, Karen has lost 42 lbs. While she lost the majority of her weight in the first four months, she keeps using Noom to log food and exercise and weight is still gradually coming off.

“Physically I feel energetic and refreshed. I can run, skip, jump, or whatever without a care and without getting out of breath!,” Karen says. “Plus, I love being able to walk into a shop and pick up a size 10-12 knowing that it’ll fit me perfectly. Losing weight really has changed me from being anxious and shy with low self-esteem to being a confident, happy, and energetic young woman!”

Noom has helped Karen ditch the bad habits she had around exercise and nutrition and replace them with healthier ones. She and her family are amazed at how simple it’s been for her to reach her weight loss targets with Noom, especially when other methods have failed. Noom has given her all the information about food, exercise, and weight loss she needs.