The first official book from NOOM, the healthcare unicorn that has transformed the health of 49 million people worldwide!

Diet for the inside and outside, exercise to survive,
A healthy and timeless diet, the Miracle Morning for self-improvement,
As we age, the need for it becomes more acute, but is it truly sustainable?

Let's redefine the concept of health with the psychology of changing habits suggested by NOOM!

Turn on the television or open social media, and you'll be bombarded with countless diet ads.
They say that one colorful pill can give you slim and toned legs, a few side-effect-free injections can give you smooth skin, and one delicious enzyme can help you achieve health and diet.
Everything seems so easy when you just watch television and social media, but the reality is not so easy.
I work out hard, but instead of getting healthier, I just get more tired. I starve myself to lose weight, but then I gain it back even if I eat just a little. I eat salad during the week, but on the weekends, I end up eating a lot of junk food like chicken, pizza, and hamburgers as a backlash.
Why is it that everything that appears easy in the media is so difficult? Is it our lack of willpower, or is it our actions that are flawed? NOOM tells us that our willpower is never lacking.
The problem is that our brains are automated. NOOM says there's nothing wrong with our behavior.
The problem is that our bodies are still stuck thousands of years ago, when humans first began socializing. NOOM aims to uncover the origins of the human brain and body, and share ways to gradually change our diet, exercise consistently, and ultimately transform our brains and bodies.
Rather than blindly following a diet, finding a method that suits you and continuing to do so is the foundation of dieting and changing habits.

In short, we are here to help you learn how to transform yourself by equipping you with powerful tools for change.
We don't enforce any rules.
We won't even say, 'You must do something.'
Of course, I'm not arguing that guilt, shame, punishment, or any scientifically proven thing is ineffective in changing people.
Our hope is that you will join us and achieve your goals of living a happier, healthier, stronger, and more confident life.
That is our wish.
--- p.23

When your brain determines that an action is worth taking and repeats that action, a script is created.
On Friday nights, I automatically order pizza, whether I want it or not.
After work, I always enjoy a margarita with my colleagues, even if I don't feel like eating.
After dinner, I eat dessert even if I'm full.
Scripts and the habits they embody (ordering pizza, drinking margaritas, eating dessert, etc.) become more and more ingrained the more they are repeated.

What should be clear at this point is that these habits are not bad in themselves.
There's nothing inherently wrong with pizza, ice cream, margaritas, or desserts.
There's nothing inherently wrong with not going to the gym, staying up late to watch movies, or drinking a lot of coffee.
Actually, most scripts are useful.
Go hiking with your family every Saturday, take 15 minutes of deep breathing or meditation before breakfast, go to bed regularly at 11 p.m., etc.

But there's a problem with thinking that habits are something that happens automatically and out of control.
Automation may be good for saving brain energy, but it's not good at controlling us from doing things we don't actually want to do.
We can change anything we want to change in our lives.
--- p.107

But we love pizza, bagels, cereal, and donuts.
In the morning I drink orange juice and in the afternoon I have a nice coffee with whipped cream and syrup.
Of course, this isn't a bad thing, but these foods are usually high in calories and low in nutrients.
It's a fun snack to enjoy, but it's not a good source of nutrients.
In fact, they are like tuxedos and ball gowns.
We wear those clothes on special occasions, but we don't wear them every day.

Processed foods also have nutrient-dense alternatives, such as whole-wheat pizza crust, whole-wheat pasta, whole-wheat bread, and whole-wheat cereal.
These foods bring processed foods closer to the original whole grain, taking them out of the red zone.
For example, white pasta is a typical processed food that is low in nutrients even though it is not high in calories, whereas whole wheat pasta is high in nutrients even though it is somewhat high in calories.
--- p.145

It's clear that food is important as we strive to feel better, live healthier, and enjoy life more.
But food isn't everything.
Our lives are very complex.
We must strive to keep all the parts of our lives in balance in a way that feels right.
We must not ignore or miss anything, nor, conversely, overemphasize anything.
Any book on health, weight management, or behavior would be truly incomplete without holistic balance.
Because you can't achieve your goals with just one thing.
In this chapter, we will discuss the four pillars of Num to achieve health.
But first, let's look at your personal sense of balance.
--- p.205

Yes, that's right.
We think of motivation as a wave.
The water comes ashore in a series of waves.
The waves are sometimes high and sometimes low.
And sometimes a fierce hurricane strikes, whipping up strong winds that whip up the waves, and sometimes there are calm days with no wind at all.
The important thing is that waves do not always remain constant and last forever.
The sea is always changing.
So we can expect another wave to come.
Motivation is like a wave.

If you're a surfer, you know that after one wave passes, another one comes, and each time you ride a new wave, you ride it and then fall off again.
This type of unstable phenomenon that persists is called a motivational model.
--- p.242

The body is the vessel that holds the mind, and there is always a lot going on inside it.
Most of the time, we don't pay much attention to our bodies unless we're in pain, exercising, running fast, or lifting heavy objects.
Even then, many of us, especially those in jobs that require a lot of mental effort but not much physical effort, can feel somewhat disconnected from our bodies.
Yet, we are often surprised when our bodies don't work the way we expect.
Yet, our bodies tell us a lot about how what we do—what we eat, how we exercise, what we do—physically affects us.
Mental training is the key to reading the messages our body gives us.
--- p.310

If you're only skipping something you've been doing regularly once or twice, there's no need to reschedule.
Even if you hone your intuition and listen to your body, you might still skip a day or two.
If one day you really don't want to eat vegetables, go for a walk, or feel like you can't manage your stress systematically, honor that feeling.
There is no need to cling to that feeling.

But if you miss three days in a row, and the next day, and the day after that, it might be time to think a little deeper.
How do you feel then? Was there a reason you temporarily stopped doing something you'd been doing well? Are you still determined to keep up the habit? Or is it something you've simply forgotten and need to rekindle your original motivation? Were you sleep-deprived? Are you pressed for time? Is there another reason you need a break? Are you already tired of the habit and want to replace it with something else?

--- p.346