I recently had the pleasure to attend Kroger’s Wellness Your Way Festival (WYWF). I had the opportunity of interviewing Liz Moody, the author of two healthy cookbooks: the best-selling Healthier Together and Glow Pops. A longtime writer, editor, and healthy recipe developer, she formerly served as the food director of leading wellness website mindbodygreen, and her work has been featured in goop, Vogue, Refinery29, Women’s Health, and many more. She hosts the acclaimed podcast Healthier Together, where she explores the secrets of living extraordinary lives with some of the country’s most notable personalities. You can follow her daily musings on Instagram @lizmoody and on lizmoody.com.
Thank you so much for joining us Liz. This festival is about “Wellness Your Way”. What does the term “Wellness Your Way” mean to you?
I think that wellness is everybody’s way. I’m not about any sort of rules, I’m not about any sort of dogmatic thinking. I’m about doing what you crave and what makes your life feel good. I always say that wellness is a tool not an end unto itself. The second that wellness is making your life worse it’s no longer wellness
For me “wellness your way” is about using wellness as something to make your life better, to enhance your life in some way.
Was there a story that inspired you to get involved with WYWF?
I’ve been a writer long before I was a food person. I love mixing in the creative arts as a way to resonate with people and get messaging across. The music component of the WYWF is such a strong tool for connection.
We live in a world that’s so isolated and so lonely, I love anything that creates that community and an opportunity to connect people This festival does a great job of that.
Can you tell me about a wellness challenge you’ve had and overcome?
One of the biggest wellness challenges in today’s world is the over proliferation of information. I think we’re bombarded by influencers telling us what to do and different magazines and websites telling us what to do. And it’s hard to figure out what actually works for you.
I’ve experienced this myself, should I have this supplement this or this supplement? I’ve tried all these different workout routines and it almost feels like there’s not enough time in the day to do all the wellness shit you’re supposed to do just to feel good.
I think zeroing in on what problems you’re actually trying to solve, for instance if you have low energy or suffer from anxiety and focusing on solutions for that issue makes more sense. I think every supplement you take, every wellness activity that you’re doing should be mapping to some specific issue either making you feel really good like working out or link back to a specific issue you’re healing.
You shouldn’t be taking a supplement just because it’s cool and everybody else does. You should be able to open your supplement cabinet and map every single thing to a reason in your body that you’re trying to solve something.
As a journalist, I’ve found doctors and studies that back up one school of thought and then another that backs up a different school of thought and they’re diametrically opposed. It’s really hard to sort through sometimes because they’re both true for different people. That’s why I think it’s so important to figure out what’s true for you.
What’s your current wellness mantra or life quote?
Figure out the ways in which you’re getting in the way of acheiving the things you say you want. (BOOM)
I think figuring out the things that you say you want that you’re not achieving and then literally looking at those and asking yourself “How am I stopping myself from achieving this?” is key.
There are so many ways that we behave and that we don’t realize effects us. Once we take self culpability and time for self reflection we can make little tweaks to change. Figure out the way in which you’re getting in the way of achieving the things you say you want.
My life mantra is, never be the one to say no to yourself. Always always always find somebody else to say no to you.
For my first book I literally I had an idea, healthy popsicles! I’d done a series on healthy popsicles in Women’s Health and through it was a great idea for a book I googled how to write a book proposal, how to get an agent. I literally found a book proposal online and I copied the format. And the I got an agent and had seven publishers bidding on it within two weeks.
That’s what let me eventually write my next book Healthier Together and it transformed my career as an author. If I’d just been like I’m not qualified to write a book which I definitely was I would never have gotten all of those opportunities that doesn’t mean everybody is gonna get to write a book or have the person say yes I’ll mentor you but make them say no to you.
So if you have an idea don’t sit on it, do it. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be good enough.
What’s one wellness product/routine you can’t live without right now?
I would say my water filter. I have water filters for every place in my life. I have an Aquasuna filter for my shower which I love. I got into filtering my water when I lived in England because the water was really hard and it would make my hair chunky. And then I was like, oh my god, it changes your skin, it changes your hair and it’s so much better for you because we think about filtering the water we drink but in the shower you’re essentially standing in a steam bath of chlorine. You’re breathing it in and it’s getting on your skin.
I also have a PUR water filter that goes on my kitchen faucet that you can get on Amazon. It’s a 7 stage water filter that’s easy to install. I travel with my Grayl water filter which you can literally use it to purify water from a river but I just use it for tap water. It’s amazing and isn’t heavy. I love it.
I try to make little changes that make the biggest impact. I think it’s much more important to make stuff you’re doing everyday, all the time “wellness-y.” For instance if you have a red lipstick that you absolutely love but only wear once every two or three months I don’t think you need to make yourself crazy finding a non-toxic brand. But if you wear red lipstick everyday and we all drink water everyday then there’s huge opportunity to make a healthier choice.
I would encourage people to look at the things they use every day. Do you have a face product you use daily. Maybe switch that out for a non toxic brand, same for shampoo and conditioner. I love beauty swaps because you make the swap once and then you don’t have to think about anymore. It’s not like working out or meditating where you have to do the work every day. If you make over your shower products and then you have to do the work anymore. It’s a lot easier.
What projects are you currently working?
There’s my book, Healthier Together which just came out in April. It’s still available in stores everywhere and all Anthropologie stores which is really fun. They just upped their order for the holidays.
I have my podcast which is also called Healthier Together where I interview many of my favorite women in the wellness world. As we discussed before there’s a lot of conflicting health information out there that can make it hard for people to take action. Healthier Together is really about exploring what worked for these women in their lives. How did these wonderful women use wellness to get to the places they are despite their personal struggles?
The format is very casual and conversational. I think loneliness is one of the biggest problems of our time so I want my listeners to feel like they’re sitting on the couch drinking wine with us talking about important things.
Finally I just started working on my book proposal for my next book which I’m very excited about. It’s definitely a labor of love and encapsulates my perspective on wellness and how to make wellness easier and more fun to incorporate into your daily life.
I can’t wait to read it! Thank you that was very inspiring.
Connect with Liz on instagram @lizmoody