banner
alive logo
FoodFamilyLifestyleBeautySustainabilityHealthImmunity

Tribe Vibes

Share

Liz Moody wants you to live your best life—and have fun while doing so.

The vivacious wellness influencer is passionate about sharing research-backed tips, tweaks, and tools to help people feel fantastic inside and out. Whether she’s debunking skincare myths in one of her engaging Instagram reels or interviewing a leading gut health expert in one of her wildly popular Healthier Together podcast episodes, Moody’s persona is “big sister meets science.” With warmth and vulnerability, she turns dry data into relatable, actionable advice.

But even as she champions practices that boost individual wellbeing—from taking daily circadian walks to drinking green smoothies—the core of Moody’s wellness philosophy revolves around something implied by the title of her podcast: togetherness.

“I think that coming together and connecting is such an important and such an overlooked facet [of], that it, in some ways, means more to me than anything I can teach somebody about nutrition or working out,” she says.

Moody’s stance is supported by science. As Harvard researcher Robert Waldinger, MD, recently discussed on Healthier Together, the world’s longest-running study on happiness (80 years!) found that the most important factor in human flourishing is having good relationships.

With her emphasis on connection, it’s no wonder that Moody’s podcast episodes (downloaded millions of times) and Instagram account (with hundreds of thousands of followers) have become beacons of community.

Advertisement

From anxiety to action

Moody’s own wellness journey was born from a period of her life when she felt supremely isolated. She had moved from the US to London, England, with her husband, who was enrolled in a demanding graduate program.

The former journalist had quit her job to work on a novel and found herself home alone in front of the computer all day. The solitude fueled anxiety that continued mounting until she began experiencing panic attacks whenever she tried to leave the house.

“It was that time of several months, when I literally barely got out of bed, that I started thinking about all of the component pieces of what makes my best life,” says Moody, who began researching everything from neuroscience to nutrition to understand and improve her condition.

Advertisement

Fostering engaged followers

Moody went on to serve as food director for the wellness website mindbodygreen, publish two cookbooks—Glow Pops (superfood popsicle recipes) and Healthier Together (recipes for two)—and launch her podcast. In January 2020, she made the leap to full-time wellness content creator.

Just two months later, when pandemic lockdowns ensued, Moody worried her mental health would decline. She leaned into cultivating community on her growing Instagram account. “I would make content that I felt like I needed and that I felt like other people needed,” she recalls. “It was just this huge source of connection.”

Her following swelled, and her account became a buzzing hive of interaction. “One of my favorite things is when you go into the comment section on one of my posts, and people are helping each other out,” says Moody.

Many of her Instagram followers also tune into her podcast, which she describes as facilitating a more intimate relationship than social media. “You have me in your ear for an hour,” she explains, adding that podcast listeners “will come up to me on the street, and it'll really feel … like we're friends.”

Moody is also delighted that Healthier Together podcast clubs have sprung up across the country. Members gather to listen to and talk about episodes and support each other in health-promoting activities. “The fact that I am even proving as this tiny instigative factor for that is the most joyful and rewarding part of my work,” she says.

Advertisement

Tapping into universal desires

While Moody stresses that everyone’s “best life” looks different based on their circumstances, she has a knack for choosing podcast topics that resonate with the collective. She shies away from aligning herself with wellness trends because “trying to do something for clicks and likes … is not actually keeping the end goal of serving your community in mind,” she explains.

The core human need for healthy relationships is a topic that never goes out of style. Moody notes that we all desire connection yet may feel ashamed about looking for it. We may think we’re the only one who feels lonely or doesn’t have their friendship circle all figured out.

Says Moody, “A big part of my work is to break down the shame around that and say, ‘All of us are looking for these connections.’”

How Liz goes with her gut

Gut health is one of Moody’s favorite and most-featured podcast topics. Here are her top tips for maintaining it:

  • Eat fermented foods: They contain probiotics that keep digestion running smoothly.
  • Add a veggie to every meal: Plant foods nurture a diverse microbiome.
  • Minimize stress: Stress can negatively impact the balance of your gut bacteria.

Slow your scroll

Here are Moody’s recommendations for cultivating a healthy relationship with social media:

  • Be mindful of your “Follows”: Mute or unfollow accounts that don’t make you feel good.
  • Be a creator, not just a consumer: Contributing to the greater conversation can be empowering.
  • Set boundaries around your phone use: Don’t look at it first thing in the morning and keep it out of your room at night.

Don’t let “wellness” isolate you

Moody points out that sometimes our self-care practices can get in the way of nurturing healthy relationships. Think: shying away from social situations because you’re avoiding certain foods or missing out on quality time with your partner because of a time-intensive wellness routine. “If you feel like it's limiting you and impeding your best life, I believe at my core that that's no longer wellness,” she says.

Advertisement
Advertisement

READ THIS NEXT

Encountering Wellness Roadblocks?
Lifestyle

Encountering Wellness Roadblocks?

Follow through on your healthy living goals this spring

Stephanie MacDonaldStephanie MacDonald