Lark Health

This is my first time using a health app. I decided to go for it when my insurance offered because I was making limited progress on my own and was discouraged. I’ve found Lark to be user friendly for entering meals, and I appreciate the immediate feedback about my choices. Lark is very positive and encouraging without fail which is something I need. I know I’m chatting with a “bot,” but the humans behind this program really understand the psychology of motivation, and they are both knowledgable and compassionate. And they are easy to teach when needed. I am learning a lot more than I thought I would. I have a FitBit synched to the app, and it is helping me have a more accurate assessment of my actual activity level and my sleep. One of my biggest new commitments in this program is getting adequate rest. I learned that being tired is probably my biggest trigger for unhealthy choices. Lark is also offering quite solid support for managing stress and being mindful. The daily link to helpful articles lets me go deeper into learning more about nutrition, movement, and also what is motivating and important to me. It’s very affirming. If anyone is on the fence, give this one a try. Thanks to the thoughtful folks who developed this app and are working to keep it relevant and current. Customer support is timely and helpful! High praise!

First off, when I first downloaded the app I thought that the coach would be an actual person, and was a little disappointed that it’s an automated bot. However, I do like that it’s more personalized than other basic apps and actually takes into account my habits and averages so it doesn’t feel like I’m following a super basic pattern or plan. I don’t like how basic some of the features are, especially the food tracking. The input is very basic, which means there’s a LOT of room for error as far as ingredients and calories go. I know the point of the app is to not focus specifically on calorie counting, but when you’re actually trying to lose weight it’s vital that you track them to an extent, and it’s just not possible to do that with the current interface. I find myself doing the bare minimum food tracking with Lark, then going to another free fitness app to actually track my food and calories. Lastly, I think the “mindful check-ins” could be improved GREATLY by just including more options for answers rather than just good, ok, or not good. The options are way too vague to actually log and track my mood and to try to make improvements. If you’re looking to make changes by developing habits without tracking a ton of details or stats, this app is perfect. But if you’re trying to seriously follow a goal or lose a good amount of weight, you’re better off with a different app.

I have only been doing this for a couple of weeks but I’m impressed! I have done weight watchers, Keto, noom, my fitness pal… I can’t even remember all I’ve tried. I love this app because I don’t get in the weeds with the food logging- it is pretty general and conversational when you enter it. It really doesn’t seem to differentiate between a lean cuisine Salisbury steak and a hungry man one- but I haven’t seen that it matters. I’m not in the weeds thinking about food and minutia of nutrition labels all day. The AI coach recognizes it is protein and a ballpark on calories. What I end up with is more focus on what matters… the AI coach will suggest I try to get in more whole grains and a little more activity. Very encouraging and never judgmental. In my first day I logged Oreos and chocolate cake - the feedback I got was about what I did right. Like magically there is no such thing as bad flood any more. And I’m wanting to see the green badges stack up so I’m making better choices. Like I could eat the cookie- but the fruit will get me a badge. Stupid but it works! I pop in several times a day and the AI coach will spend about 2 minutes reviewing what I’ve done right and nudge me to even more better choices. And give me little nuggets of wellness information. I got the scale within a week- it is preprogrammed to send my weight automatically to the app. (Not meant for everyone in the house to use- or the AI will be questioning why your weight is fluctuating so wildly.) do make sure that you don’t lowball your guess on a starting weight because you can’t change it- I recommend weighing when and how you normally will for check-ins. Or average the past month. Looking forward to getting the Fitbit- I don’t carry my phone with me all the time so I’m curious what my activity and sleep will look like with more accurate data.