Key Learnings From Noom Mood And The App’s Founder

In 2019 the team behind weight management system Noom surveyed customers about their biggest takeaways from using the app. Three-quarters of respondents said they discovered mental health issues surfaced as barriers to their pursuit of healthier diet and exercise habits.

“Seventy-five percent of users told us they learned stress and anxiety are a common setback to building healthy habits,” says Saeju Jeong, Noom co-founder and CEO. “They were surprised how much the stress and anxiety were contributing to them not building healthy habits.”

ADVERTISEMENT

In response, in October 2021 the company launched Noom Mood, a companion product designed to help users master routines to build a better sense of peace and mental clarity. One year later, Jeong shares some key findings with Mind Reading.

For one, users are engaging with the new product differently. Whereas the flagship Noom skews heavily to female users, Noom Mood has been equally adopted by males and females. “Anxiety and stress is not biased to any gender,” Jeong says. “We all want to feel better.”

About 23 percent of users engaged with the mediation or stress management applications, according to Jeong, but only 12 percent of users reported ease in their ability to consistently stick with the practices.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Most couldn’t engage with them when it came to coping and managing stress,” he says. “So another key learning is, meditation is a very proven way to manage stress but a lot of users have not built a habit where they can actually meditate when they are already exposed to full-scale anxious feelings or negative thoughts. Meditation is a very good tool, but there are many tools that can help manage stress. It has to be customized; it has to be sitting well with your preferences and your style.”

Users are also gravitating to breathing exercises and journaling through the app, he says. “As they learn how their brain is working, they can build the muscles and control their own destiny in health. That’s often an ‘Aha’ moment. ‘Now I understand why my mind is working that way, and now I can access tools that work for my body and my mental stress and anxiety—so I’m going to use that.’ ”

Jeong says Noom will continue to evolve its focus on a synthesis of mind and body, an ethos his father, who was a physician in South Korea, instilled in him at a young age.

“We humans are so intertwined, mind and body. You can’t put them in a silo,” he says. “The current [original] product is more nutrition-focused, but we will be embracing how we can deliver a holistic approach and holistic outcome for users to take care of both mind and body.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Jeong knows the importance of mental health-care from personal experience. When he first moveed to the States in 2005 he says he was “exposed to maximum insecurity about my life. I had a lot of self-doubt then, and then there are a lot of ups and downs that are the nature of a startup. Even as the company was growing well, the anxiety was real and still is today.”

As a company founder, Jeong says, “I thought saying I’m stressed would mean I was weak. It’s a cliché, but I didn’t feel comfortable saying I’m stressed, or I’m worried.

These are the three habits he’s adopted that have helped him reduce stress and anxiety:

· Exercise, which he says “always gives me a positive feeling”

· Sleep: “I also take care to try to get a really good sound sleep. Not the length, but the quality. Sleeping is not just a passive activity. I proactively invest in a sound sleep because it is great preparation for the next day and at the same time it’s my gift to myself. A bad night’s sleep will increase unhealthy behavior because my body isn’t rested.”

ADVERTISEMENT

· Indulging in his favorite hobby, listening to heavy metal music.

“People think I’m Zen, and I am to an extent, but it’s my real passion. I love heavy metal music and have listened to it since I was 9 years old. It’s the way I wake up, and I listen to it in my office between calls at maximum value. It’s a way for me to detox my stress.”

Mind Reading (formerly Hollywood & Mind) is a recurring column that lives at the intersection of entertainment and wellbeing, and features interviews with musicians, actors and other culture influencers who are elevating the conversation around mental health.