90210’s Jennie Garth Gives The BEST Advice for Your 20s, 30s, and 40s

Jennie Garth, actress, designer, and podcast host joins the podcast to offer women a unique perspective on aging and self-love. Episode 263.

Episode Show Notes:

In this episode of the Liz Moody Podcast, host Liz Moody and guest Jennie Garth talk aging, self-love, and mental health. Jennie Garth rose to fame from her role as Kelly Taylor in Beverly Hills: 90210. Her experiences with her changing roles in Hollywood have given her a unique perspective on aging and have also presented unique challenges.

Liz and Jennie begin by discussing why “I Choose Me” resonates with so many women. In a world that still values women based on their appearance and their proximity to men, choosing yourself is a powerful act. Jennie describes how the concept resonates with her. 

Next, Jennie dives into her experiences growing up as an actress. She watched her roles age with her, setting her on a journey toward accepting aging. She also explains how the roles she grew up playing shaped her view of what was “normal,” and how she had to shift her beliefs as she grew. 

Jennie and Liz talk about perimenopause, menopause, and the hormonal changes that women experience throughout their lives. Jennie and Liz don’t just discuss physical health – they explore mental health as well. Jennie explains how she learned to understand her emotions as a natural and important part of her identity instead of a weakness. She passed the attitude onto her daughter, teaching them to accept and listen to their emotions.  

  • 2:20 Why “I Choose Me?”
  • 4:35 Aging in Hollywood
  • 7:53 Knowing Your Authentic Self
  • 11:59 Menopause 
  • 13:23 Perimenopause
  • 16:04 Finding What Feels Good for You
  • 17:34 Estrogen and Progesterone for Sleep
  • 18:38 Anxiety
  • 20:49 Parentification

For more from Jennie, you can find her on Instagram @jenniegarth. Discover her clothing line, ME by Jennie Garth, or listen to her podcast, I Choose Me with Jennie Garth.

To join The Liz Moody Podcast Club Facebook group, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/thelizmoodypodcast.

Ready to uplevel every part of your life? Order my new book 100 Ways to Change Your Life: The Science of Leveling Up Health, Happiness, Relationships & Success now! 

Listen to Busting Myths About Aging: Live Longer And Feel Better with Dr. Becca Levy and Advice Ep! Eating Well, Aging With Grace, Reinventing Yourself, & More with Tiffani Thiessen.

This episode is sponsored by:

ARMRA: go to tryarmra.com/LIZMOODY or enter LIZMOODY to get 15% off your first order.

Lumen: head to lumen.me/LIZMOODY for 15% off your purchase.

Olive and June: visit oliveandjune.com/LIZMOODY for 20% off your first Mani System.

Himalaya Wellness: learn more about stress-supporting Ashwagandha supplements at himalayausa.com.

The Liz Moody Podcast cover art by Zack. The Liz Moody Podcast music by Alex Ruimy.

Formerly the Healthier Together Podcast. 

This podcast and website represents the opinions of Liz Moody and her guests to the show. The content here should not be taken as medical advice. The content here is for information purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions.

The Liz Moody Podcast Episode 263.

90210’s Jennie Garth Gives The BEST Advice for Your 20s, 30s, and 40s

90210’s Jennie Garth Gives The BEST Advice for Your 20s, 30s, and 40s

[00:00:00]

[00:00:00] LM: Hello, friends, and welcome to the Liz Moody podcast, where every week we’re sharing real science, real stories, and realistic tools that actually level up every part of your life. I’m your host, Liz Moody, and I’m a best selling author and longtime journalist. Let’s dive in. Today, we are sitting down with Jenny Garth, whom you may know from her iconic roles on television shows like Beverly Hills, 90210, And what I like about you, Jenny is also the host of the podcast.

[00:00:26] I choose me with Jenny Garth and she’s the designer of the clothing line, me by Jenny Garth, which just released a new collection with QVC. She gifted me a jacket from it and it is pink and it is very cute. So definitely go and check that out. We learned back in our episode with Dr. Becca Levy, that having positive beliefs about aging can add a literal sense of purpose.

[00:00:46] 7. 5 years to your life. And this episode is chock full of stories and tips that will make you excited about getting older. Jenny is like the wise older sister that we all wish we’d grown up with. [00:01:00] Here she shares all of the wisdom that she’s gained over the years, including how being made to grow up so quickly in the spotlight impacted her mental health.

[00:01:08] She also shares the tools and techniques that have helped with her anxiety and depression the most. We get into a long conversation about perimenopause and what’s helped Jenny. We talk about relationships over the years, including dealing with heartbreak and divorce and how to move through that and so much more.

[00:01:25] Jenny is so sweet and warm and lovely and I hope that you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. One super quick note, I know that 50 percent of you listening to this episode do not follow the podcast. Take a second now to hit that follow or subscribe button. It is the best way to support the podcast, and it makes sure that episodes show up right in your feed.

[00:01:46] Go ahead, do it right now. I’ll wait. Trust me, you do not want to miss out on any of our upcoming shows. They are jam packed with science and stories that will change your life. All right, let’s get right into the episode. Jenny Garth, [00:02:00] welcome to the podcast. Hi, thank you for having me. I’m so excited to have you here.

[00:02:03] I was just telling you how obsessed I am with your podcast. I just think it’s so raw and vulnerable and real. And so I’d love to just start out with how did you come up with the name? And what does I Choose Me mean to you? The

[00:02:15] JG: name came from the 90s. The OG, like the phrase that Kelly Taylor used when she had to pick names.

[00:02:19] Between Brandon and Dylan, that was a big moment for a lot of young women that were watching the show. They didn’t really think that there was a choice that they had to choose between one of the guys. I think Kelly in that moment really showed the world, look, you can choose yourself. It’s okay. And I didn’t really even understand the importance of that line until many, many, many years later when I started hearing it again from fans, from women who had been affected by it.

[00:02:48] And it just started to circle and resonate in my mind. And I thought, this is a message that needs to be back in the light and people need to continue to be hearing this. So it all just sort of [00:03:00] worked. Perfectly with looking to the past in order to move forward, that kind of concept. And so I just decided to make that my mission to bring that awareness and, and spread that message through whatever it is that I do next.

[00:03:15] So that was where I choose me. The podcast came from as well.

[00:03:18] LM: Have there been moments in your life where you found it harder to

[00:03:21] JG: choose yourself? Oh God. Yeah. So many moments. There was a good period of time where I didn’t choose myself. I didn’t even think about myself being a young mom. With three daughters, raising three girls since 1997, I gave up my entire everything to do the best I could as a mom.

[00:03:40] And it was so important to me to be present and be a good mom. Like it was the most important thing to me. And I think once my girls started to get older and fly the nest and I worked through those feelings of like, they don’t need me quite as much as they always do. I started to realize, okay, there’s space in my life [00:04:00] for me to reconnect with myself.

[00:04:02] And I think that’s one of the most beautiful things about getting older, that we get that opportunity to say hello to that old friend.

[00:04:09] LM: Mm. I love that you say one of the most beautiful things about getting older because I feel like we live in a society that’s very scared of getting older. So I’m curious what your relationship is in general with getting older.

[00:04:19] There

[00:04:20] JG: are many layers to it. Let’s start with the obvious. Being cemented in the public’s eye of being Kelly Taylor and a teenager, that’s how I think I need to represent. I’ve gone through life thinking I got to give the people what they want and I have to be what they have in their mind associated with me.

[00:04:38] And so that’s been eye opening as I’ve gotten older and you realize it’s unrealistic for me to continue to think that way. And then just being kind enough to myself to redirect what I need to. To be who I need to be and how I should accept myself. That is one of the hardest [00:05:00] parts, just aging in Hollywood.

[00:05:02] Was there

[00:05:02] LM: a moment with that where you were like getting offered different types of roles or you were getting recognized in a different way where you had, you had to have that realization a little bit more?

[00:05:12] JG: Yeah. I went from like teen on TV, young adult on TV, and then my next job was what I like about you.

[00:05:19] So I kind of gradually moved up to mom roles. And then I was like, Whoa.

[00:05:24] LM: When you were offered your first mom role, were you like, wait, am I ready for this? Or were you like, I’ve been a mom since I was a tiny baby, so it’s fine. Yeah, kind of both. I was equally

[00:05:33] JG: ready for it and disturbed by it. But it did make me think like, okay, this is what’s happening right now with my career.

[00:05:41] Okay, let’s get used to this. I just. I don’t know. There weren’t as many roles out there and there weren’t the things that I wanted to do. Yeah. So I had to sit with myself for a good long time and realize what is it that I want next for this next chapter in my life where I love myself and I’m kinder to [00:06:00] myself and I don’t put all this pressure on myself.

[00:06:02] It took me a good few years to figure that out.

[00:06:04] LM: Such an interesting I choose me. moment that I think so many of us grapple with is like, how do I choose who I want to be and who I feel like I am versus how the world is trying to box me in and how the world wants to see me? We’re not all on TV, but could you share any advice for anybody else who’s struggling to figure out how they want to be perceived and how they feel amidst how the world wants to see them?

[00:06:27] JG: I think for me, it was about seeing myself clearly and being. just organic and authentic and truly myself. And if I kept showing up like that, then that’s how other people would see me. And if I kept behaving in a way that I felt was ultimately in line with what I wanted in life, then that’s just how you start showing up and people accept it.

[00:06:53] I mean, we reinvent ourselves every single morning when we put our feet on the ground. It’s an opportunity and [00:07:00] people don’t really realize that, but you get to choose exactly who you want to be, how you want to show up every day to yourself, to the people in your life, to the world, and it’s okay to pivot.

[00:07:13] It’s okay to to change your mind. Try something new. It’s never too late. And I think you’re right. A lot of women, I can put myself in their shoes, young moms, stay at home moms. Their role is very defined for them, seemingly so. But you can always break out. You can always try something different.

[00:07:31] LM: Did you ever struggle with knowing who you even wanted that person to be, though?

[00:07:34] Like I listened to the really, Beautiful raw episode that you did with your ex husband and a theme of that episode was he could not figure out who he was within the bounds of your marriage essentially and he was like I needed to figure out my identity and how to be that person. Did you ever struggle with even knowing who your authentic self was or how to be that

[00:07:56] JG: person?

[00:07:56] A million percent. Growing up in the industry and being on [00:08:00] TV and being sheltered in that way. We were in such a bubble while we were making that show for those 10 extremely formative years. Yeah. What age were you? I was 17. And then it went all the way to 27, 28 years old. And I did not have any clue. I was always somebody else, whatever role I was playing.

[00:08:17] I was either Kelly or I was some woman in peril and a movie of the week, whatever it was. I never was. truly myself unless I was with my kids. And I always felt like, oh, this feels right. This feels like what I’m here to do. And I also felt that feeling of I’m good at this. Nobody can take this away from me, that kind of feeling.

[00:08:39] But I didn’t know who I was. And even in that marriage, I was figuring it out. I had to pivot then and figure out who the heck I was. Then when my dissolved, and I was just, leveled, like I didn’t know which way to go because now I didn’t have the show. My dad had just died and [00:09:00] now I didn’t have my marriage.

[00:09:01] So there was a period of just exploration and fear and experimentation trying to figure out like does this fit or am I, is this who I am? It might have seemed a little weird to people who were watching it from afar or even like my daughters or my ex husband or whatever. Like what is she doing? But I guess I had to go through all those trials in order to to find out what I wanted and what I didn’t want.

[00:09:28] Because I never really got to have those choices, ever. Can you

[00:09:32] LM: take me back to that time? Because that is a lot. Your dad dying, your marriage dissolving, and it was him who asked for the divorce, correct? And that wasn’t something that you would have chosen at that moment? No. And your show ending and all these different things.

[00:09:46] What were you doing to get through that time? That’s so many things.

[00:09:50] JG: I think I was just putting it all in boxes and taking care of the boxes every day and not really even noticing that I [00:10:00] wasn’t in my own body.

[00:10:01] LM: And I

[00:10:02] JG: was just trying to survive through that time. It was scary to be that broken and have to figure it out on your own because my kids couldn’t figure it out for me.

[00:10:13] I tried to really protect them from that identity crisis that I was going through. My ex husband wasn’t there for me as my partner anymore. And I, just really leaned on a couple of really close friends and mostly just myself and just listening, being open, and being patient. That was the hardest part because I wanted it right away.

[00:10:35] I was like, why? What? How? When? But, The patience part for me was the hardest part and it took a long time.

[00:10:41] LM: How long? I hate being patient. It’s not my thing. But as I’ve gotten older, I’m so much better at it. So I have a question back to the version of you who is going through the divorce, who had lost the show, all these different things.

[00:10:56] What’s something that you now wishes you could say to that person? [00:11:00]

[00:11:00] JG: You’ll figure it out. Everything’s going to be okay. I tell this to my daughters all the time. It doesn’t matter what you’re feeling right now. Everything is ultimately going to be okay because it just is. As long as you continue to take care of yourself and love yourself, everything will work out how it’s supposed to work out.

[00:11:17] And while those kinds of losses, a marriage, a job, those feel bigger than you can get past. you will get past them. And the only way I can 100 percent say that is because I have. And I can go back to those moments of grief and those moments of loss anytime I want and revisit those emotions. But if I’m choosing to love myself, then I’m going to keep looking forward.

[00:11:48] LM: I love that. Let’s go back to the aging. I want to talk about the physical side of it. Mm hmm. Can you comfort me about perimenopause? Please. No, I can’t.

[00:11:56] JG: It sucks. I mean, it’s the ultimate fuck you for all [00:12:00] that we do as women. We make babies, and we raise them, and like, then we get this gift. It’s hard to believe.

[00:12:07] Like this, who did this? Why?

[00:12:09] LM: I want to find the person. I was just on a whale tour. Stick with me. I was just on a whale tour up by Vancouver Island. It was about orcas. And they said that orcas are one of the only mammals that goes through menopause. And the reason for that is because they need generational wisdom.

[00:12:25] So a lot of mammals will do things more instinctively, but Orcas, they actually like have feeding patterns that differ from pod to pod and all these things. And it’s the menopausal women, I don’t know if they’re called women, the menopausal whales are teaching their wisdom to the younger generations about here’s where you feed and here’s how you skin a seal and all of these things.

[00:12:46] And I thought it was really interesting in the context of humans to think about this important role that menopausal women perhaps play. serve of passing down this generational

[00:12:55] JG: wisdom. It’s so true because as a young mom and as a young woman, I was [00:13:00] always instinctually flying by the seat of my pants, telling my kids things that would keep them safe or what they should do.

[00:13:08] I didn’t even know that I had wisdom. I guess it was just building over all those years. And as I’ve gotten older, absolutely. I feel like there is a wisdom that you can only That’s the wisdom that we only gain from aging. From going through the shit and from getting out on the other side and, and those wisdoms are the most valuable messages that we can hear.

[00:13:29] And I think that what’s so cool about being this age, being over 50. Being in this age of possibility as, as I am in a group where we call it the age of possibility. I am so empowered

[00:13:43] LM: by it. Everybody’s talking about perimenopause these days. I get so many questions about it. I’m like, I don’t know. I’m not there yet.

[00:13:48] I’m going to find an expert to come on the podcast, talk about it. But what’s your experience been and what’s helped?

[00:13:52] JG: Yeah, I didn’t know I was perimenopausal. I didn’t know what there was a peri. I feel like a lot of people don’t know, but [00:14:00] all of a sudden now we talk about it. So great. But I was like three quarters of the way through Perry before I realized that and the conversation started flowing.

[00:14:09] My experience with that was it’s different for everyone. It’s a roller coaster. You never ever know what hand you’re going to be dealing with on a day to day basis, whether it’s your emotional well being, your mental, your physical, it’s a guessing game. Honestly, and one of the things that I did when my daughters were all going into their teen years was not listen to people telling me, Oh, look out.

[00:14:34] You’re going to have your hands full. This is the rough time when they’re 13. Things are going to get crazy. I chose to not listen to those people because I was living my life and being the mom that I wanted to be. And I didn’t need them coming in and convoluting. So much like that, I chose to just go about it on my own and listen to my body and take care of my needs and [00:15:00] not, I think, sometimes too much information and too many people’s opinions.

[00:15:04] It’s just too much in here. And then you don’t even know what you’re really experiencing. For my peri years, I was really just figuring it out on my own. I started seeking a doctor’s help with my, checking my hormones and looking into why I couldn’t sleep. Why was I starting to have hot flashes? Why were my bones aching more than usual?

[00:15:24] Why was working out so much harder than it normally was? And I had to seek professional help at that time and get myself evaluated so I can keep myself on track. And then when you hit menopause, you’re like, Oh, okay, I kind of have this figured out. I know what I’m dealing with. Let’s ride this out and see where, where it goes.

[00:15:44] Because

[00:15:44] LM: what choice do you have? I know, I know what choice do you have, but it just is like, I hate, I just hate, like, it’s like, okay, so we have to deal with our periods for years and years and years, and then we have to deal with, I don’t know if you enjoyed being pregnant, but being pregnant really scares me, I have not done it, but it’s really scary to [00:16:00] me, childbirth, and then when we get through all that, it’s like, well, you get what, a few years, and then a whole other hormone journey.

[00:16:05] It’s,

[00:16:06] JG: ugh, the hormones, man. I, I feel like I’ve been on a hormonal roller coaster since I was, 17 years old, like a mental and hormonal roller coaster, because those things are so closely tied to one another. It’s just about finding what feels good for you. Like, what is your, the level where you can not be, emotional or reactive or be controlled by your emotions where you can say, okay, these are my emotions.

[00:16:36] This is what I’m dealing with and be more accepting of it. And I think acknowledging and recognizing what it is makes it less scary and more manageable.

[00:16:47] LM: And it’s makes it clear that other people are going through the same thing. Like, even the fact that it has a name means, oh, I’m not alone in this because it has a name and all these other people are going through the same thing.

[00:16:56] I mean,

[00:16:56] JG: you’re so lucky. You’re so lucky to be in this [00:17:00] generation as you grow older to have these conversations be more present because this is such a new, exciting conversation that was never there for my mom. Yeah. And for me in my thirties, nobody was talking about menopause. Did you do hormone replacement therapy or anything like that?

[00:17:18] My sleep is super important to me. And when I wasn’t sleeping, I asked my doctor, what can I do? And my health was in the right place. And my levels were all in the right place in order to start estrogen progesterone. Those are the estrogen progesterone. Those It definitely has improved my quality of life and gotten my symptoms where they’re manageable.

[00:17:43] I have some friends that are not candidates for hormone replacement and they’ve just had to rough it out because whether they were too old before these conversations started, they didn’t know it was, there were options. And now that everyone’s talking about it, you can get different, there’s different ways [00:18:00] that doctors can help you if you find the right doctor.

[00:18:02] LM: You said that your hormones, your mental health, all of that has been such a journey over the course of your life. I know that anxiety and depression have also been part of your journey. Can you take me back to when you first felt anxious or depressed or anything like that? I think

[00:18:18] JG: I started to really recognize it when I was on my own.

[00:18:21] When I was 17, 18, I started living on my own. And then just the pressures of the industry that I was in and just the being treated like an adult when I really wasn’t ready to be treated like an adult, that was perpetuating a lot of anxiety. And I think going back, I was just born a blue person. I’m just, like we talked about before, I’m emotion full, and sometimes that can really be construed as a bad thing.

[00:18:50] You’re too emotional, whatever. I had to reframe that for myself and embrace it and love it about myself and teach my girls to love it about themselves because [00:19:00] who would we be if we didn’t have emotions? How did you do that? I learned. I learned what they felt like. I learned what it felt like to be on that roller coaster, to be out of control, to not be able to understand why I was having emotions and not be able to like rein them in to a reasonable window.

[00:19:17] I felt. all those yucky feelings of like just being ruled by my emotions basically and not feeling like I had any control of them. And I think by experiencing that kind of, it was fear, I was afraid of my emotions for a long time because I didn’t know how to manage them. And I think through doing therapy and through really just, Looking inward, you learn so much about yourself and you learn to have grace with yourself and your emotions.

[00:19:49] And for me, I was just talking to, uh, on one of the podcasts that I do about the Beverly Hills 90210, talking about to the writer that wrote all those crazy [00:20:00] Kelly moments of rape and, uh, diet pills and cocaine and the stalker, all the things that they put that character through. I was like, Oh my God, no wonder I didn’t A, know who I was when I came out of that and B, know what was normal.

[00:20:12] What was like, what was acceptable behavior and what wasn’t, you know? So I had to really figure it out by trial and error. And then, uh, really looking at how I was able to show up for other people, how that affected them, and especially the people that I cared most about, like my kids and my husband. At the time, I wasn’t as good at controlling my emotions.

[00:20:36] And I think that I was able to, once I stepped out of it in which I was and had a different perspective on it, I was able to see the damage that being in that, in that place can have on your relationships. And I just was like, I don’t want that anymore. I don’t want to Be the person that’s unpredictable or up and down, like I want to [00:21:00] reign it all in and have a little bit more control over it.

[00:21:03] So that I think has been part of the best thing about like doing the work on yourself and really looking inward and stop putting, projecting everything out and start really looking at what’s going on in here.

[00:21:18] LM: It’s so interesting because you say, I didn’t want to be unpredictable. I didn’t want to be the person who had that up and down.

[00:21:22] But from what I can tell, you were really the responsible, parentified one as a child. Your dad was sick, correct? And you were stepped into more of a parental role in your house. And then on the podcast with your ex husband, he’s like, you had this very adult life. And I just stepped into it. So it’s interesting because you’re like, oh, it’s unpredictable and up and down.

[00:21:39] But if I’m tracing the narrative of your life from the outside, I’m like, you were forced to be an adult basically forever.

[00:21:45] JG: Yeah, I was forced into adult situations. all the time, whether it was taking care of my dad who was sick or paying all the bills and being so responsible and never being late for work and always having my shit together.

[00:21:58] I had to do that because [00:22:00] that’s what was expected of me. That was what I put on myself. I wanted to be responsible and capable and all the things. And I never really sat back and said, Whoa, look at all you are carrying. Look at all the things. all you are holding up right now, not just for yourself, but for lots of other people.

[00:22:18] And I think when I was able to step back and sort of see that, I had such like a feeling of grace on myself. I felt like, Ooh, that, that girl needs to be nurtured a little bit. Like she needs to have some understanding and some love around all that she’s done. And so my life, probably looked a certain way, but inside of me it was all over the place.

[00:22:45] LM: Okay. I have some quick fires for you. What do you think is the best way to spend 20 minutes every day in the name of being healthier, happier? Stretching. Oh, do you follow like a routine or do you, are you just like stretching? Oh,

[00:22:54] JG: I just make it up as I go. I start at the bottom and work my way up, or I start at the top and work my way down.

[00:22:59] [00:23:00] What is the biggest misconception about you? Oh, God. Something that’s been on my mind lately has been comments that I’ve seen, which I know I shouldn’t read and I know I shouldn’t let in, but it happens, that I’m fake or phony. I just don’t have the ability to manipulate or to be fake or phony. And when people think that of me, it really upsets me.

[00:23:23] LM: I feel like podcast because it’s so clear that you’re not.

[00:23:30] JG: I don’t have enough energy to be fake or phony. Yeah. Why do you think people think that? Why do they think anything? Like people have preferences. I’m not for everyone. Everyone is not going to like me. That could be said for everyone. But I think in a world where I have learned this is my business, to have people like me and accept me and want to watch me or want to support the causes that I’m talking about, I It’s hard for me to not expect [00:24:00] that of myself to be likable and to have everybody like me, but I have to just remind myself that it’s not, it’s okay.

[00:24:06] It’s not, I’m not for everyone. Everybody gets to have their opinion and that’s okay. Do you

[00:24:12] LM: identify as the people pleaser? Did you ever?

[00:24:16] JG: I don’t think so.

[00:24:17] LM: I feel like to have that many people saying, this is who I need you to be for me and not fall into that trap is impressive. I

[00:24:24] JG: think I was, I fought against it so hard because it didn’t feel right in my bones to be something I wasn’t.

[00:24:33] So every time I tried to be something I wasn’t, I didn’t like myself. I didn’t feel good about myself. There was something just off. And so that just taught me to just accept what I am, who I am, how I am, and love myself because this is it. This is my life.

[00:24:50] LM: This is all I got. What is one piece of advice you’d give to somebody who’s struggling with their relationship with their body?

[00:24:55] Our

[00:24:56] JG: bodies fluctuate, our body’s needs fluctuate, and we have to [00:25:00] be willing to just go with it. What is the point of not accepting yourself? What is the point of not loving yourself? That’s going to get you nowhere. That’s going to make you miserable. I don’t choose to be miserable. I choose to be happy and to love myself and I continually remind myself and if I look in the mirror and I see aging or I see sagging or I see things I don’t want to see that I know I think, oh, people don’t want to see that.

[00:25:27] I remind myself. to love myself just as I am. And that’s

[00:25:32] LM: all you can do. I love what you said there because the whole theme of your podcast is I Choose Me. The whole theme of what a lot of what we’ve talked about today is I Choose Me. And what you just said was it’s a choice and it’s not this grand overarching choice which I think a lot of people can feel intimidated by or like that’s not possible like oh just choose to love your body.

[00:25:51] Oh it’s just that easy. But you’re like no it’s a moment to moment micro choice. It’s these moments. every single day where this voice sneaks in and I have [00:26:00] to choose whether or not I want to listen to it, whether or not I want to replace it with a different voice. And I think that feels much more grounded in reality than just like, well, just choose to

[00:26:09] JG: love

[00:26:10] LM: yourself.

[00:26:10] JG: I remember people telling me in order to love other people, you have to truly love yourself. And I’d be like, ugh. Okay. That sounds great. But I didn’t know how to love myself. I always thought I could do anything. Like my parents taught me, there’s nothing you can’t do if you apply yourself and try. So that’s made me a really hard worker.

[00:26:27] I have an incredible work ethic and I believe in myself. But it was the loving myself that was harder for me. And I think just because of the scrutiny and the position and all the things that my life dealt me, that was always challenging for me. And as I’ve gotten older, I have so much appreciation for all that my body’s done, all the things that I’ve lived through, all the feelings that I’ve felt, all the work that I’ve done.

[00:26:54] Like, I appreciate this person that I live inside of every day, [00:27:00] and I know she’s not changing. Like, she’s not leaving me. We’re in this together. We’re in this for the long run. So what’s the point of not loving her?

[00:27:09] LM: I love that. Can you tell us in your own words about your podcast, about your QVC line, anything else that you want to highlight?

[00:27:16] Oh my gosh. It’s such an

[00:27:18] JG: incredible time for me right now. Who would think at 52 I would start a fashion line? This is like crazy. mind blowing for me in that I would be doing it with my daughter, who’s 21. We do it all together. She’s like my right hand. That is incredible in itself. And if I sell one piece of clothing and the person that buys it feels good about themselves in it, I don’t care.

[00:27:42] That’s great. I’ve succeeded. That’s all I need. And it’s that like reciprocation of hearing how people like it, hearing what they love and what they don’t love. Like I need all that. I think also doing the podcast has been incredible for me. When I got the opportunity to have my own podcast, I was like, what [00:28:00] am I going to talk about?

[00:28:00] What am I, what do I want it to be like? And I was really being steered down a certain road and, and that just didn’t feel right to me. And I worked very. diligently to get other people to see my vision and to trust me or respect me enough to go with me. And I just feel so honored that it is what I want it to be and not what somebody else wants it to be.

[00:28:24] I’m having like meaningful conversations like we’re having right now. Like, That is a good job. That is a good life to be able to connect with people and learn from people.

[00:28:35] LM: I love it. I love everything you’re putting out there. And I love that you’re just inspiring so many people to choose themselves and to recognize the many choices that they have in their life.

[00:28:46] I think that’s a really empowering thing to do. Yeah. Thanks. Good. That’s all for this episode of the Liz Moody podcast. If you love this episode, one of the best ways that you can support the pod is by sending a [00:29:00] link to your friends, your family, your partner, your coworkers, you name it. You’re helping grow the podcast and you’re helping the people you love change their lives.

[00:29:09] If you’re new to the podcast, welcome. I’m so glad that you’re here. Make sure that you’re following the podcast on whatever platform you like to listen on. You’re going to go to the main podcast page. That’s the one that lists all of the Liz Moody podcast episodes. And you will see the word follow under the logo on Spotify.

[00:29:25] And then there’s a little follow with a plus sign button on the top right of that same page on Apple podcasts. This way you will not miss out on any new episodes. They will appear right in your feed every single Wednesday and every single Monday. Okay. I love you. And I will see you on the next episode of the Liz Moody podcast.

[00:29:41] Bye. Oh, just one more thing. It’s the legal language. This podcast is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, a psychotherapist, or any other qualified professional.

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