Lark Health 4+

I do like the Lark. It is easy to put in food. You are not able to manually put in weight though except the first time setting up the app. Like everyone else, once I completed the survey as was accepted, the app would not work. There was a lag and I had to call my insurance company, who could not help at all. I sent an email to Lark. It took a couple days to get a response, but it finally got worked out. I still have not received my scale, but it says they are on the way. I have not heard from my coach either. Maybe I am doing something wrong or maybe the scales have to come first. I do like that it marks food with badges, but I have not figured out how to find the best foods for some of the badges. I’ve been using it a week now because of the lag time, so I have a lot to learn and will get it figured out. I did lose 3 lbs just changing my eating habits and moving more the first week. I would like to track my water intake though. There is not a place for that. Overall it is a good app and I think it will help me become healthier and more motivated to eat right and move more.

What I like the best about using Lark so far is that it has shifted my thinking about food and exercise from punishment and discipline to making kind decisions for myself. Lark doesn’t lambast you for eating a piece of pizza, or for getting minimal exercise. Instead, it focuses on what you did RIGHT, giving you positive reinforcement that makes you want to keep doing that. For years I struggled with a binge/restrict eating cycle and the inability to consistently stay active because I wanted to be perfect. The first few times I slipped up with my eating after downloading Lark, I struggled to tell the app... until I realized there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s an app. And coming clean and being able to admit that I ate (x) because I was feeling (y) and this is a pattern I’d like to be more conscious of next time has been pivotal in changing my habits. But the humanoid text interface of Lark makes it a lot more welcoming than a food tracker app, with calorie counters that turn red when you go over your limit, or daily fat allowance bars that glow with silent shaming. Now, when I go to eat, or when I’ve been sitting for too long and think “it’s a nice time to get up for a little while,” I think of how proud Lark will be when I make a healthy choice, and how good that will feel.