312 → 181
Real numbers. Mine.
In my words.
I wanted to make movies.
The dream
When I was young, I dreamed of becoming a filmmaker. I made my first feature film, got it into the Toronto Film Festival, and thought I was on my way.
Reality had other plans.
The turn
The film industry was tough. I worked hotel graveyards to keep the dream alive, 10pm to 6:30am, straight from evening classes. Dinner was whatever the 7-Eleven had at 2am: cup ramen, beef jerky, chips, a Monster.
Eventually I found my way into a lighting company, and from there into packaging. That unexpected turn changed my life. I went from carrying bags at a hotel to building businesses, traveling, driving the cars I used to dream about.
I ended up over 312 pounds.
The cost
The nights never stopped, they just got later. Midnight calls with factories overseas. Dinners that ended the same three ways: pizza, a drive-thru, or another cup of ramen. I had built the life I wanted and I did not feel like the person I wanted to be.
312 to 181.
The change
So I changed. I tried everything with a name on it. Keto. Carnivore. Every plan I could find. Carnivore is what jump started it for me, and what survived all of it was the thing they had in common: protein first, every meal, no exceptions.
I wanted to lose the weight and I wanted to build something back. I got obsessive about what I was actually eating, started training, and went from over 312 pounds to around 181.
I did not want a diet. I wanted better versions of what I already ate.
The realization
Every plan asks you to subtract. Give up the noodles, give up the rice, give up the bowl at the end of a long night. That works right up until the day you are tired, and then it does not work at all.
Growing up without much money, those foods were always there. Cheap, comforting, and genuinely loved. I did not want to quit them. I wanted them to carry their weight.
Then I looked at what a plate is actually made of. The protein was doing its job. The vegetables were doing their job. The half of the plate that was rice, pasta or noodles was mostly empty calories. That was the part nobody had fixed.
I could not find what I wanted, so I made it.
The search
There were better-for-you noodles. There were high-protein options. There were packages with incredible numbers on the front. But I did not want something that was good for healthy food. I wanted something I would actually crave, with the protein and the nutrition that fit the person I had worked to become.
So I made it. We tested, changed recipes, tested again, worked the noodle and the texture and the broth until it was something I wanted in my own pantry.
That is how NOMI was born.
Now
Not from a trend report or a boardroom. From a food I never wanted to give up.
We started with ramen because it is the one that carried me. Rice and pasta are next.
The idea was never ramen. The idea is that the base of your plate should do something for you.
Alain, founder
What we actually believe
The starch was never the enemy. It was just empty.
Most plans tell you to eat less of what you like. Nobody needed less food. They needed the half of the plate that was rice, pasta or noodles to carry its weight. That is the part we rebuilt.
Upgrade, do not quit
Nobody sticks with a food they resent. The fix was never giving up ramen. It was rebuilding it so the thing you already reach for does more for you.
The label is the argument
We publish the panel and the third-party results, and we would rather lose a sale to an honest number than win one with a vague claim.
The best version of the food you already eat.
We do not think you should quit the foods you love. We think most of them were built decades ago for a different world, and somebody should rebuild them. Ramen came first because it is the one that carried us. Rice and pasta are next.
