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Q+A WITH AUTHOR PHOEBE LAPINE: HOW TO CHART A PERSONALIZED WELLNESS PLAN
What does it really take to be well? That’s the question Phoebe Lapine was faced with after she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder at just 22 years old. Her doctor’s recommendation—to take medication for the rest of her life and follow a strict diet—felt more like a dead-end than a lifelong solution, so Lapine decided to take her wellness into her own hands instead.
What started as a personal endeavor turned into an insightful, information-packed, and often hilarious book: The Wellness Project: How I Learned to Do Right by My Body, Without Giving Up My Life. We were so thrilled for the chance to chat with Lapine about her journey. Read on to learn about how holistic medicine helped her chart a path she felt good about, the surprising thing she learned about stress, and her answer to what she calls the One Big Question.
B3: It’s not easy to go against doctor’s orders—especially when you’re facing a diagnosis that’s totally foreign to you. How did you decide to chart your own course toward wellness?
LAPINE: When I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, I had no idea what it meant to have an autoimmune disease—or even what a thyroid was! And my doctor didn’t really explain either of those things when she told me these results. She relayed that the condition was fairly common in women my age and completely treatable with a daily dose of synthetic hormones. I would just need to be on them for the rest of my life.
At the time, I didn’t have very many symptoms. So for whatever reason, I pretended like the conversation never happened and went on living my life. In retrospect, I think my instincts were right: The medication was not a fix on its own. It just took me a few years of suffering as my thyroid slowly stopped functioning for me to actually make some of the lifestyle changes that would help me live a semi-functional life without medication.
When I did finally prioritize my health, it wasn’t necessarily that I wanted to go against my doctor’s orders. It’s that I needed to take it with a grain of unprocessed sea salt and figure out which of the recommendations were actually worth my time, money, and energy. That’s how The Wellness Project came about. It was my way of test-driving certain health practices in a slow and steady way.
B3: Beyond your traditional doctor, who (or what) did you turn to for answers, inspiration, and direction?
LAPINE: I saw a lot of other doctors with a more holistic outlook. These medical professionals told me all the things I needed to do in order to be “well.” But the reality of 30-minute appointments is that there was never enough time to fully explain a compelling “why” behind the advice. And more importantly, there was no roadmap for actually applying it to my life.
I also binged on health books—that’s what really gave me the compelling “why’s” behind some of these health experiments. Having a rotating list of medical professionals over the years in some ways was a crutch that prevented me from doing my own due diligence around my disease.
Finally, my acupuncturist, Heidi, was my rock during every stage of my project and helped me synthesize some of the conflicting information I read. She was my core accountability buddy and professional chaperone.
B3: Once you had gathered all this information, how did you put a personal-health plan into action?
LAPINE: I wanted to come up with a curriculum that would tackle my doctor’s orders for Hashimoto’s recovery in pieces. But I also wanted to take a step back and really understand the building blocks of what it takes to be well—the macro goals instead of the minutia.
When I reached out to experts on all sides of the wellness space, I asked them the same question (I call it the One Big Question): If you could tell someone to change ONE thing about their lifestyle, and one thing only, what would it be? The answers I got were awesome. It was all about the bigger picture. I then crafted an action plan around some of those answers and the areas that I already knew needed self-improvement: hydration, sleep, alignment, stress, natural beauty, digestion—just to name a few.
B3: We loved reading that barre3 played a role in your wellness plan!
LAPINE: One of my experiments for fitness month was to try two new classes every week. Barre3 was the highlight! I ended up leaving feeling stronger, looser, and less sore than when I came, thanks to its philosophy of moderation and kindness.
B3: What was the most surprising thing you learned during this journey?
LAPINE: Intellectually, I knew that stress can cause a host of physical problems. But during so many of my wellness challenges, I discovered how my mind was the invisible fence holding my body back from fully healing.
Discovering that underlying anxiety was behind my back problems, my insomnia, my adrenal fatigue, and perhaps my autoimmune disease itself was a big revelation that came up again and again during my project.
B3: What advice do you have for someone facing a similar diagnosis?
LAPINE: You can’t make healthy habits until you know what habits are healthy for YOU. My journey would have faced many dead ends and down-slides if it weren’t for the pieces of advice I received from the capable team I built around me, but at the end of the day, how to apply them was up to me and me alone.
Doctors can’t follow you home at night and hold your hand while you’re making dinner. And ultimately, you’re the only one who experiences what’s happening in your skin. Go slowly one baby step at a time, so you can really tease out the results. Trust your instincts and build your intuition—it’s the most important muscle we have.
B3: Finally, after all your research and experiments, what was your answer to the One Big Question?
LAPINE: It’s all about food. Home-cooked food can give you the emotional and physical fuel you need to live a healthier, happier life. It allows you to put your own definition of nourishment in a bowl to share with others and, more important, to give to yourself.
And on that note, here’s one of our favorite recipes from The Wellness Project. Enjoy!
TUMERIC CHICKEN RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
2 Leeks, white and light green parts only
1 bunch of golden beets with their greens, scrubbed
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. ground tumeric
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 pounds whole chicken legs
1/2 cup white wine
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 425 Fahrenheit
- Slice the leeks in half lengthwise. Rinse them, fanning out the outer layers to wash away any grit. Slice the cleaned leeks into thin half-moons.
- Remove the greens from the beets. Rinse them and coarsely chop. Halve the beets and cute each section into four wedges.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss the leeks, beets, and beet greens together with the garlic, turmeric, ginger, salt, lemon juice, and olive oil until thoroughly combined. Spoon the mixture into a 9 x 13- inch baking dish or casserole pan and arrange in a even layer.
- Add the chicken to the mixing bowl and toss to coat in the remaining numeric mixture. Transfer the chicken legs to the baking dish and nestle in the beet mixture. Drizzle any of the remaining marinade over the top of the chicken and pour the wine around the sides of the dish.
- Roast, uncovered, until the chicken is fork-tender and the beets are soft, about 1 hour.
What does it really take to be well? That’s the question Phoebe Lapine was faced with after she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder at just 22 years old. Her doctor’s recommendation—to take medication for the rest of her life and follow a strict diet—felt more like a dead-end than a lifelong solution, so Lapine decided to take her wellness into her own hands instead.
What started as a personal endeavor turned into an insightful, information-packed, and often hilarious book: The Wellness Project: How I Learned to Do Right by My Body, Without Giving Up My Life. We were so thrilled for the chance to chat with Lapine about her journey. Read on to learn about how holistic medicine helped her chart a path she felt good about, the surprising thing she learned about stress, and her answer to what she calls the One Big Question.
B3: It’s not easy to go against doctor’s orders—especially when you’re facing a diagnosis that’s totally foreign to you. How did you decide to chart your own course toward wellness?
LAPINE: When I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, I had no idea what it meant to have an autoimmune disease—or even what a thyroid was! And my doctor didn’t really explain either of those things when she told me these results. She relayed that the condition was fairly common in women my age and completely treatable with a daily dose of synthetic hormones. I would just need to be on them for the rest of my life.
At the time, I didn’t have very many symptoms. So for whatever reason, I pretended like the conversation never happened and went on living my life. In retrospect, I think my instincts were right: The medication was not a fix on its own. It just took me a few years of suffering as my thyroid slowly stopped functioning for me to actually make some of the lifestyle changes that would help me live a semi-functional life without medication.
When I did finally prioritize my health, it wasn’t necessarily that I wanted to go against my doctor’s orders. It’s that I needed to take it with a grain of unprocessed sea salt and figure out which of the recommendations were actually worth my time, money, and energy. That’s how The Wellness Project came about. It was my way of test-driving certain health practices in a slow and steady way.
B3: Beyond your traditional doctor, who (or what) did you turn to for answers, inspiration, and direction?
LAPINE: I saw a lot of other doctors with a more holistic outlook. These medical professionals told me all the things I needed to do in order to be “well.” But the reality of 30-minute appointments is that there was never enough time to fully explain a compelling “why” behind the advice. And more importantly, there was no roadmap for actually applying it to my life.
I also binged on health books—that’s what really gave me the compelling “why’s” behind some of these health experiments. Having a rotating list of medical professionals over the years in some ways was a crutch that prevented me from doing my own due diligence around my disease.
Finally, my acupuncturist, Heidi, was my rock during every stage of my project and helped me synthesize some of the conflicting information I read. She was my core accountability buddy and professional chaperone.
B3: Once you had gathered all this information, how did you put a personal-health plan into action?
LAPINE: I wanted to come up with a curriculum that would tackle my doctor’s orders for Hashimoto’s recovery in pieces. But I also wanted to take a step back and really understand the building blocks of what it takes to be well—the macro goals instead of the minutia.
When I reached out to experts on all sides of the wellness space, I asked them the same question (I call it the One Big Question): If you could tell someone to change ONE thing about their lifestyle, and one thing only, what would it be? The answers I got were awesome. It was all about the bigger picture. I then crafted an action plan around some of those answers and the areas that I already knew needed self-improvement: hydration, sleep, alignment, stress, natural beauty, digestion—just to name a few.
B3: We loved reading that barre3 played a role in your wellness plan!
LAPINE: One of my experiments for fitness month was to try two new classes every week. Barre3 was the highlight! I ended up leaving feeling stronger, looser, and less sore than when I came, thanks to its philosophy of moderation and kindness.
B3: What was the most surprising thing you learned during this journey?
LAPINE: Intellectually, I knew that stress can cause a host of physical problems. But during so many of my wellness challenges, I discovered how my mind was the invisible fence holding my body back from fully healing.
Discovering that underlying anxiety was behind my back problems, my insomnia, my adrenal fatigue, and perhaps my autoimmune disease itself was a big revelation that came up again and again during my project.
B3: What advice do you have for someone facing a similar diagnosis?
LAPINE: You can’t make healthy habits until you know what habits are healthy for YOU. My journey would have faced many dead ends and down-slides if it weren’t for the pieces of advice I received from the capable team I built around me, but at the end of the day, how to apply them was up to me and me alone.
Doctors can’t follow you home at night and hold your hand while you’re making dinner. And ultimately, you’re the only one who experiences what’s happening in your skin. Go slowly one baby step at a time, so you can really tease out the results. Trust your instincts and build your intuition—it’s the most important muscle we have.
B3: Finally, after all your research and experiments, what was your answer to the One Big Question?
LAPINE: It’s all about food. Home-cooked food can give you the emotional and physical fuel you need to live a healthier, happier life. It allows you to put your own definition of nourishment in a bowl to share with others and, more important, to give to yourself.
And on that note, here’s one of our favorite recipes from The Wellness Project. Enjoy!
TUMERIC CHICKEN RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
2 Leeks, white and light green parts only
1 bunch of golden beets with their greens, scrubbed
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. ground tumeric
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 pounds whole chicken legs
1/2 cup white wine
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 425 Fahrenheit
- Slice the leeks in half lengthwise. Rinse them, fanning out the outer layers to wash away any grit. Slice the cleaned leeks into thin half-moons.
- Remove the greens from the beets. Rinse them and coarsely chop. Halve the beets and cute each section into four wedges.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss the leeks, beets, and beet greens together with the garlic, turmeric, ginger, salt, lemon juice, and olive oil until thoroughly combined. Spoon the mixture into a 9 x 13- inch baking dish or casserole pan and arrange in a even layer.
- Add the chicken to the mixing bowl and toss to coat in the remaining numeric mixture. Transfer the chicken legs to the baking dish and nestle in the beet mixture. Drizzle any of the remaining marinade over the top of the chicken and pour the wine around the sides of the dish.
- Roast, uncovered, until the chicken is fork-tender and the beets are soft, about 1 hour.
