The wake-up call

When I joined the gym back in September 2024, I didn't have a real goal in mind other than to build some muscle. In November, I got on board with my sister's goal to be in the best shape of our lives by 40. But it wasn't until late January that I finally realized I needed to do more than workout consistently: it was really time for me to take my diet into account.

And for the first time in my life, I'm doing it for the right reasons.

Warning: This blog post covers body image, weight, calorie counting, eating habits, and all the sensitive topics that come with all that.

My first few months at ECA showed minimal but steady progress. I was losing fat and gaining muscle, and while I had a body fat percentage (BFP) goal in mind, I initially felt okay about making gains slowly.

Then, I went to my office holiday party. This was in late January 2025. I had a perfect dress for the theme, a bright red number I hadn't worn since my sister's wedding in 2019. I love this dress; when I last wore it, it was a little roomy but draped beautifully. I felt confident and sexy in it. I wore it without thinking about sucking in, and I loved how I looked in the photos of the evening.

Me wearing the dress in 2019.

I had tried the dress on before the holiday party to make sure it still fit. Although it certainly wasn't roomy anymore and clung a little in the stomach, I still felt pretty good about it. But then, the night of the party, I paired the dress with felt-lined tights, and the additional layer made it impossible to ignore that the dress was tighter in the stomach than I had initially realized. I hadn't anticipated the squeezing and bumps the tights would create. 

Wearing the same dress in January 2025.

I was uncomfortable all night and unhappy with myself in every photo. I couldn't fully enjoy myself because I was so self-conscious; I felt like I must look like I was bursting out of the dress. That's not necessarily a new feeling—in fact, I remember being pretty devastated about my race photos from the Vancouver Half, but I was able to brush my unhappiness under the rug—but this was different, because I remembered the confidence I felt in this same dress six years ago. Being able to compare how I used to feel in this dress to how I now felt in it was a real wake-up call.

I want to be able to look back at photos of memorable events in my life and not cringe at what I see. I don't want to avoid having my photo taken out of insecurity and discomfort. I want to be able to be confident in my skin during special occasions. I want to look at photos of myself at events or races and be able to focus on the memory, not my body.

On that night, I was confronted with something I have always known but haven't wanted to deal with: you can't out-run (or lift) a bad diet.

So. I did something I never thought I would, and signed up for Noom.

This wasn't a random decision. My sister had signed up and was seeing results, and I knew paying for an app would keep me accountable for using it. Tracking my food has been problematic for me in the past, but this time my mindset actually felt different. It's not destructive or like I'm trying to hate my body into a different version of itself. Instead, this choice feels empowering, and like I'm giving my body what it needs. 

Maybe because I've truly been focusing on my health for the last five months, this additional goal of losing fat is less about aesthetics and more a continuation of the goal I was already reaching toward. (Aesthetics are a part of it, though, to be sure.)

I also knew that my eating habits weren't necessarily the best and I was using food as a crutch through emotionally turbulent days. I don't eat nearly enough vegetables or drink enough water. Cleaning up my diet is a part of my goal to be healthier in my middle-age, whether I like it or not.

I started Noom the day after the holiday party, on January 25. I just happened to have gotten an InBody scan the morning of the 24th, so the timing was pretty perfect for gathering preliminary data.

One week into my new eating habits.

I spent this last month firmly dedicated to the plan. I tracked my food—surprise, surprise, my habit of eating multiple sugary snacks a day was a major problem—and committed to my workouts. I ran my birthday race, played volleyball with my work team every Tuesday, and lifted weights at the gym three times a week.

I also enjoyed a giant sushi dinner and cake for my birthday without guilt or worrying I had derailed my progress. It's a little embarrassing to admit, but Noom's courses really do help you reframe "dieting" so it's not an all-or-nothing commitment that has a set end-point and that you can never deviate from. There are going to be days I don't eat as well, and days when I don't workout. But I feel a lot better in general about my food choices day-to-day.

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I have felt my mindset around food shifting; I can now recognize when I want to eat out of boredom vs. hunger, and how often I want to reach for sweets after particularly difficult days. But I have stayed the course, making smart choices and treating myself to sweets and the occasional heavy meal in a healthy, balanced way. My appetite has adjusted, and by week three I was finding it pretty easy to choose smaller portions and avoid mid-afternoon candy breaks.

A month later, I had my next InBody scan. I was a little nervous to see the results because I really indulged over my birthday weekend, but my hard work wasn't undone by two days of celebrations (and a whole lot of cake).

In the single month since starting Noom, I've lost 3.5 pounds of fat and gained half a pound of muscle. My weight, muscle mass, and body fat are now distributed in a balanced way.

The biggest win was my BFP. I had told Elizabeth that it was barely moving, and I was so tired of seeing it in the 28s and 29s. I told her I just wanted to finally be in the 27s. This month at my scan, I bypassed the 27s completely and my BFP is now 26.3%. I'm no longer "above average" for my body fat. Seeing that green dot on my graph is incredibly rewarding! 

My long-term goal is to be around 24%, and I finally think I'm well on my way. Who knew eating more mindfully and purposefully was the change I needed to make to actually see some progress? (Me. I knew.)

What an amazing thing, to see the hard work already paying off! I like doing the scan because while Noom has you weigh yourself everyday (to desensitize yourself to the scale and get used to weight fluctuations), weight is really the least interesting indicator I'm tracking right now. I was thrilled to see that my weight-loss was fat-loss and that I'd gained muscle at the same time.

Noom also has a body scan mechanism in the app, and its results are fairly comparable to the InBody scans I get monthly, so I can track my progress at home between InBody scans, too. But I trust InBody more, so these results really seem to mean something.

One month using Noom. The way I feel after a hard workout is so gratifying!

My progress has already changed my attitude and outlook on things. At the gym, I've gained so much confidence and am lifting heavier than ever. At the start of all this, I was too scared to use the squat rack; now know I belong there just as much as anyone else. I didn't love my photos of my birthday 5k, but I did run a solid race and place in my age group. (And let's be real, it's hard to get a flattering photo in-motion on a run!)

My Noom membership expires April 1. I don't think I'll extend it, because by then the habits should be ingrained and I can continue tracking my meals for free elsewhere if I think it's necessary. I don't think I'll need the expense as a motivator to stick to the plan. Seeing results is my new motivator.

I think I'm finally on my way to being in my best shape by 40; it sucks that I had to reach a personal rock-bottom to decide to finally make a change, but I think that's probably common. And now, there's nowhere to go but up.

Ali