But first: How do doctors recommend you lose weight?

While it’s natural for anyone trying to lose weight to want to lose it quickly, doctors have long debated the advantages of diverse weight loss systems and diet programs. There’s a strong consensus within the medical community that people shouldn’t lose weight as fast and aggressively as some reality tv show contestants do on “The Biggest Loser.”

So, what’s the recommended way?

According to research, people who lose weight gradually (about 0.5 to 2 pounds per week) have shown a higher success rate at keeping those pounds off for good. Slimming down much faster can lead to a wide range of health issues, including muscle loss, lowered metabolism, gallstones, nutrient deficiency, and more.

In addition, if you lose a lot of weight very quickly, you may not lose as much fat as you would if you lost the weight modertalty. You know what they say - slow and steady wins the race. Except, it’s easier said than done.

This can be bad news, or tough to swallow for folks who are 50 lbs or more overweight. They can be looking at a weight loss regime of a half a year or more, assuming they follow the path most doctors recommend. What you don’t want to do is cut corners to accelerate the weight loss process because that can be harmful for your long-term health.

Most doctors don’t prescribe extreme diets, like eating only protein, drinking only juice, or any drastic changes that are unrealistic to maintain consistently. Instead, the typical doctor recommendation is to diminish caloric intake and exercise daily.

The process of reducing caloric intake includes shifting away from big hearty meals and going for more healthier foods. Exercising more can range from a walk around the block to full-fledged fitness programs - all depending on your fitness level and your doctor recommendation.

So what’s the best way to keep weight off for good?

Like we mentioned above, it’s easier said than done to go slow and steady. For example, anyone who purchased a home gym or a gym membership for their new years resolution would be the first to tell you that it isn’t easy making these kinds of lifestyle changes. That’s why so many folks on diets may lose weight, but too often end up putting it right back on.

Traci Mann, a professor and author at the University of Minnesota was quoted saying, “We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, and then some. Sustained weight loss was found only in a small minority of participants, while complete weight regain was found in the majority.”

A secret to healthy habit formation? What’s that all about?

Additional research at The Mann Lab sheds light on an added weight loss concept their team calls “behavior modification.”

“Behavior modification,” according to Traci Mann, is the process of changing your current behavior patterns to match choices that coincide with healthier living. Programs like these at the University of Minnesota combined education and psychology support groups, so that people on diets are given a blueprint, then held accountable for carrying out the game plan. Note: this combination of a strong support group and nutritional education has shown powerful results in clinical trials.

An article published in the medical journal “Primary Care” has shown such behavioral modification tactics to have long-term success for dieters. Everything is documented and covered, such as collaborative goal setting, stimulus control, nutrition monitoring, and more.

So, with that overture on how doctors say to sustainably slim down, let’s compare Golo vs Noom vs Calibrate and noom vs Omada to see if one can work for you.

Golo vs Noom vs Calibrate: Two very different approaches to weight loss

Golo, Noom and Calibrate each work to promote weight loss, albeit in very distinct ways. Golo and Calibrate are centered around strategic metabolic health plans (metabolic reset), carefully designed to fit your biological needs. Calibrate also provides the extra boost of medication for people with specific BMI's who haven't achieved their desired weight loss with the classic diet and exercises. Noom, on the other hand, focuses more on the social psychology aspect of weight loss, offering an app that fosters behavior modification, healthy habits, and mindset shifts, facilitated with personalized daily checklists, group support, and a coach to motivate and hold you accountable. Below, you'll see an image of the noom app that shows a screenshot of a support group example:

Calibrate’s plans start at $249 billed once Metabolic Assessment, where you get a one-time assessment with a Calibrate Doctor. You can also opt to do the one-year virtual program. Pricing on that can be a one-time $1,620 payment, or $135 per month. It's very similar to another metabolic reset, prescription weight loss program (see Found or Calibrate: Which is better) Golo for Life Plan pricing depends on how much Golo Release you want to buy. If you want 1 bottle, it’s $49.95 and can go all the way up to $99.90 for 3 bottles. Noom’s free trial makes it easier to get started, before charging just $44.99 per month thereafter. Click here to give it a test run for $0.

Use Code FITHEALTHY50 for $50 off your 1-year plan at Calibrate!

Omada Health vs Noom: Similar weight loss plans

Omada and Noom are the most similar weight loss programs within the four mentioned in this article. Omada Health also focuses on behavior modification and healthy habit-forming decisions to reach your personal health goals, albeit weight loss or improving your overall health. The program includes a professional health coach, weekly interactive lessons, an online community and connected devices (like a scale, blood pressure monitor, etc.).

Omada’s pricing plans are very discreet and are hard to determine. The company focuses on people with serious health issues that can be covered by insurance companies. It can be very helpful for employees and individuals. It can also be extremely hard to get started due to the amount of steps you need to take to see if you’re eligible. As mentioned above, Noom makes it simple to get started, and at no cost.

Which works better, Golo, Calibrate, Omada or Noom?

All four companies claim research showing that they help people slim down. However, are these legit? And, do they reveal what you want them to reveal if you’re like me, attempting to take off a few lbs permanently?

Golo lists quite a few studies on their website, most of which they’ve sponsored. However, all studies show that Golo users lost weight over the time period analyzed, which ranged from 90 days to 1 year. In addition, the metabolic age reduction also improved during those respected time frames. It makes sense that while someone is taking a supplement that helps reduce cravings would eat less - we all know that if you eat less, it results in you getting skinnier.

Calibrate has a section of how it works on their website, which also shows scientific proof that metabolic resets work. They base their program on the four pillars of metabolic health.

• Food
• Sleep
• Exercise
• Emotional Health

The program provides an entire years worth of goal setting, steps to take and ways to form new habits. However, it can be really difficult to commit to a day-in and day-out yearly plan, especially if you have a busy schedule. Calibrate is relatively new, so there aren’t many case studies out there just yet.

Omada is a very unique system to get started with as they weigh heavily on eligibility. You may or may not pass the eye test after answering a few questions. They are the closest thing to noom, focusing on behavior modification. However, you must ask your insurance provider to see if you are eligible to receive this service - making it extremely difficult to get started. With that said, Omada is known to help people with underlying health conditions such as diabetes, obesity and more.

Noom’s diet weight loss app (a digital behavior modifier) has also shown strong results through case studies they’ve sponsored. One study showed that 77.9% of the noom app’s users reported a decrease in body weight, while another tabbed the mean weight loss at 24 weeks was 6.58% in starters. These studies were longer than the other 3 companies listed, and one even shows that users kept their weight off 67% of the time, which makes sense since Noom is focused on weight loss for the long-haul. To see noom up against another prescription weight loss program, see NOOM Vs. FOUND Health to see which is better.

Overall, the research and case studies that are available prove that Noom, Golo, Omada and Calibrate work for many, many Americans. Committed dieters can expect to lose anywhere between 5% to 9% of their body mass over 20 weeks if they stick with any of these programs. However, the behavioral modification approach from Noom is, without question, supported by more academic research, and is arguably more likely to sustain longer term success. With that said, if you’re looking to get results in a hurry, Golo Release is your best bet and is probably going to help you shed those unwanted pounds more immediately.

Comparing Noom vs Golo vs Omada vs Calibrate

Feast your eyes on this table which lays out the costs, weight loss strategies and other things that distinguish Noom, Golo, Omada and Calibrate:

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What are users saying about the Noom app?

Since Noom has so many downloads in the Apple app store, there are plenty of reviews to read through. As we’ve mentioned in the table, it has an average 4.6 star rating out of 5 stars. Here are some of the reviews we found relatively helpful:

What are users saying about Golo?

Unfortunately for Golo weight loss program, at amazon.com, there are an overwhelming amount of negative reviews. There are more 1 star reviews (38%) than 5 stars (29%). On the other hand, Golo's website shows raving customer reviews and we believe it's fair to highlight those, since it paints a picture of the entire program. Let's take a look at those below:

What are users saying about Omada?

Omada has raving reviews from customers, according to appgrooves. Like we mentioned above, it has an average 4.6 star rating out of 5 stars. Here’s a few reviews we found helpful:

What are users saying about Calibrate?

This is a new direct-to-consumer (D2C) telehealth company that’s bringing doctors and coaches into the $70 Billion weight loss industry. There aren’t a ton of customer reviews out there just yet. However, on the apple app store, they have an average rating of 4.6 stars and a total of 11 ratings. Update 5/20/2021: Calibrate is #legit and are starting to become massively popular. There are now hundreds of positive reviews and people are seeing real results. Visit their website now to learn more.

How much weight can you lose on Noom, Golo, Omada and Calibrate?

The normal amount of weight you can lose depends on your commitment. But, case studies and results from real customers show that you can lose anywhere from 0.5 to 2 lbs per week. This is also the recommended weight loss structure, according to various renowned doctors around the world.

Which is easier to get started with?

For some of these programs, you’ll have to go through their onboarding process to see if you’re eligible. However, nothing is easier to get started with than Noom. For starters, they offer a free trial and they don’t require too much information on your end. They also have a mobile app that makes it even easier to pull your phone out, download the app, sign up for free and get to work.

Which is better for fast weight loss?

As mentioned above, there is plenty of scientific evidence that all four of these weight loss programs work. There is, however, more educational research that supports Calibrate for better, faster weight loss. This is, of course, if you can stick with it and follow your coach’s game plan.

Which do we recommend, Noom, Golo, Omada or Calibrate?

All 4 of these weight loss programs are helpful to help change your body and become more healthy. Still, there is no magic pill out there. All research and success stories point to putting in the effort and being persistent with whatever plan you choose.

With that being said, we fully endorse and recommend Calibrate and Noom. Calibrate is our number one overall winner because of the heavy flow of success stories. Our second choice is Noom because it's easy and free to get started, so there’s no real time or money investment upfront. That should be enough to get you going and give it a test drive. Once you dig deep into the program, and you find it helpful, it’s time to put your money down and crush your goals. Noom can help you become the person you dream to be! On the other hand, Calibrate is the ultimate plan if you're ready right now.

Use code FITHEALTHY50 at checkout for $50 off on the 1-year plan.

Get started with Noom here (free trial)