Driven to Care: Heather Tonkins, Lark Lifestyle Coach & Certified Nutritionist

For our next Driven to Care series, we’re so pleased to feature Heather Tonkin, Lark Lifestyle Coach & Certified Nutritionist. In a world increasingly focused on well-being, the role of compassionate and knowledgeable health guidance is more vital than ever. Heather exemplifies this commitment through her passion for helping individuals transform their health. In this interview, Heather shares her inspiring journey into health coaching, insights into common wellness challenges and the driving forces behind her dedication to empowering Lark members to achieve their health goals.

What inspired you to get into the health coaching profession?‍

After a previous career in the entertainment and internet industries, and while being a full-time parent, I was in a unique position to step back and reflect on what I truly wanted to do. I had always prioritized health; it has always been front and center for me, especially eating healthfully and exercising. It was just part of my DNA, and I turned that passion into a career.

I became a certified nutritionist first and had my private practice for a while. Then, the opportunity to work with Lark fell into my lap about seven years ago, and I started consulting for the company. I’ve been a full-time employee for the last couple of years, and Lark has helped me thrive both professionally and personally in something I'm really passionate about.

What is a big misperception that you encounter on a regular basis?‍

Yeah, quite often, especially coming off the last decade, there's a concept that people believe: "I can only eat lots of protein, lots of meat, irrelevant of how high-fat it is. I can eat it in abundance and cut out carbs—both healthy and unhealthy—and I'm going to get thin fast because of that." For some people, they might have that sort of reaction temporarily, but it's just not a long-term solution.

So, I would say that's kind of the overlying myth. Again, some people can do it and lose some weight, but it's just really not sustainable over the long term. Nor is it good for your heart health, digestive health, etc.

Can you describe a moment when you felt particularly proud of helping a Lark member?‍

Whether it’s major weight loss or something really small, I feel proud when the light switch goes on for a member. They see firsthand how eating healthfully, moving their bodies, and maybe getting a little bit more sleep affects them in such a positive way. And they see that they actually have some control in this process and what they do has immediate effects on how they feel and how they look. When you see that light switch go on for people, that's really exciting.

Did you have anybody who inspired you? Or as you're enhancing your coaching or refining your coaching, keeping up to date?‍

Natalie, my manager here at Lark, has been instrumental in the direction my career has taken. But I would say that my parents, who are getting into their late 70s and early 80s, have always eaten healthfully and balanced without restrictions, while remaining mindful of what they eat. Exercise has always been woven into their day every day for as long as I can remember. I think when you're younger you don't want to think your parents have that much influence over you, but now, I'm realizing that's probably been the largest influence in my life.

And at the same time, for people who didn't grow up with that, it's never too late! So that's also something I would want to impress upon people. Even if someone feels like there have been years of unhealthy habits, it doesn't take very long to start engaging in healthy habits and really have those take hold and greatly improve your health.

How do you stay motivated when faced with challenges in your day-to-day coaching?‍

It's a really good question because it's not always easy. Sometimes you're really in the thick of it with someone who's really struggling, either with their weight or maybe some sort of personal issue or challenge that's keeping them from their goals. I just have to remind myself that each time I meet with an individual, I try to really get down to their level and understand who this person is. Is this person a mother, a father, maybe a child, a sister, a brother, uncle, or aunt? So, I really try to get to a personal level with them and help them parse out where they can make a change.

Maybe there are certain things that aren't doable, and you don't deal with those things head-on quite yet, but you deal with the things that are—always leading with compassion and trying to stay positive and supportive whether a client is succeeding, failing, or remaining static. So, I try to stay positive myself and translate that to them. Letting them feel supported and guided is really the key to keeping the whole process as positive as possible, even in the face of challenges.

When clients are discouraged, how do you inspire them to regain that positive attitude?‍

When you're looking for inspiration, I think it's important to find out from the member what their motivation really is—why are they doing this? And it's different for a lot of people, but sometimes people will say, "I'm doing this for my children, for my grandchildren." I hear that, "I want to be able to be here for them. I want to see them grow up." And when you remind them of the big picture, I think that really helps people try not to let the many challenges that are occurring around them distract them, and it helps them stay more focused on what their overall goal is.

By coming up with very small, doable habits, we call them SMART goals—something that's Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. We can come up with something, if for instance, someone really struggles with veggies. Say they only eat veggies once or twice a week. We can work with them to really start slow and build up. And that's really what this whole process is about. It's about making small habit changes that stack up on each other. And hopefully, after time, they end up with a big stack of healthy habits.

How do you get an adult to start eating vegetables? What are a couple of your tricks for that?‍

I love that question because you find that at all ages. Whether you're bringing up kids who don't want to touch them or finding adults who have never enjoyed vegetables, it's about finding one vegetable that you can manage. And a lot of times there's at least one. Carrots are a popular one. Or maybe someone will say, "I hate everything, except I like broccoli." Amazing! Let's have broccoli all the time.

If that's difficult and they say they don’t like any veggies, we have a lot of amazing recipes on our blog and some articles that really go into how you can hide vegetables in your meals. For example, chili or pureeing some veggies into hamburgers where you can't even taste them and you hide them in the patty. There always seems to be a way to do it, and we try to provide our members with as many possible ways.

Another good way, of course, is smoothies, because you can hide a lot of vegetables with certain fruits and other ingredients. But we try to really focus on whole foods—things that are nutritious—and finding ways to get them hidden in there.

What's one wellness practice that's part of your personal routine and why is it important to you?‍

That is hard to pinpoint because I like to incorporate a number of wellness practices, but if I have to pinpoint one thing, I would say exercise. For me, it's not only going to make me feel good physically but mentally and emotionally as well. So, it's something that I try to weave into my day every day. And even on a day where I'm not feeling 100%, even if it's just getting outside for a short walk, simply doing something is ultimately going to help me feel better.

Any particular type of exercise that you enjoy more than others?‍

I like quite a few different things. I love to vary it up, but I would say walking or hiking. And so I guess I'm giving you a couple of things, but I love to walk and hike, and I love to run as well. Those are my favorites.

Any final thoughts that you would like to add or tips you'd like to pass on to other health coaches?‍

Over the last seven years, with our population at Lark, I truly try to lead with compassion and walk a mile in their shoes. I love that saying because you come across many different types of challenges, and everyone is different, so you can't just give everyone the same sort of formula or prescription. You have to really listen and meet them where they're at.

And I also try to tell people that the Lark app is digital, and sometimes people feel like "it doesn't know me," but the more you engage and the more information you provide it, and the more time it has to get to know you, the more effective it becomes as a tool for people. So, I am a human being. I can understand people at a different level, but the app, too, has the capability of really expanding its knowledge and understanding of a person. And the more people can really engage with it, the better the feedback's going to be.

I love the fact that we can merge both here at Lark and be able to provide people with as much support, care, and guidance as possible in both the digital and human arenas.