Our Folk: Liv Kaplan
Liv Kaplan is a sustainable lifestyle leader, passionate food educator and content creator. Healthy edible delights and insightful teachings are what Liv and her enchanting Instagram page have become known for. With her simple, produce-driven approach to cooking, Liv showcases how nutrition and the food that we eat can enhance our state of being, both physically and mentally.
We caught up with Liv on having a career online and how she creates healthy boundaries with technology, how we can all bring more enjoyment into food, plus a delectable little recipe to top it all off.
Can you describe where you live and the view from your bedroom?
I live in the quiet suburbs of North Bondi, which is where I grew up for most of my life. Even though Bondi is a busy place, we’ve created a beautiful and calm sanctuary filled with plants and a nice little outdoor deck where we can retreat - even though we can hear our neighbours' conversations, it all adds to the Bondi experience!
The view from my bedroom is all plants and sky! The angle of it means we don’t see any other houses, just looking up at the sky through the palm trees out the front of the house.
What is the first thing you do when you wake up?
I open the bedroom window on the way to the bathroom, then stick my head out and breathe the fresh air. Then I do dry body brushing every morning!
A lot of people in the wellness realm seem to have their own journey towards healing that inspired the inception of their platform, was this the case for you?
I’ve always been really interested in my health from a young age, so I don’t have any rock bottoms or life-changing twists that led me to be interested in health. It was just a natural inclination. But I certainly have been through ups and downs, particularly with mental health, which I’ve treated through lifestyle changes, and that is what I want more people to know about - that there is hope!
As a qualified holistic nutritionist, do you drink filtered water at home?
I do now, although I haven’t always! Filtered water is really important to reduce your exposure to environmental toxins that have the potential to cause health issues. This is the same reason I make an effort to eat organic and locally grown food as much as possible.
I love your mission of bringing love and positivity into food. For me, being in the kitchen is such a creative and peaceful process. Can you share any tips on how people might be able to bring more enjoyment into food?
Here are a few things to remember that will help.
- What you eat literally becomes you. The food you eat gets broken down by your digestive system, and this is what is used to make your hormones, your neurotransmitters (messenger chemicals), and the cells that make up your organs and tissues.
- When you eat, you are taking in energy, and I’m not talking about calories. Food has a vibrational frequency, and if you are choosing low-quality, poorly produced or mass-made food, this is the energy you will take on. Compare this to food that has been grown and raised with love on good quality soil - big difference. Food is so much more than the number of calories that are in it.
As a creator in the online space, do you have any methods you use for switching off or disconnecting when you need to?
So many! I’ve become quite a professional at being offline - which most people are surprised by given it is so intertwined with my career. But I honestly spend way less time online than all of my friends.
I have app limits on all social media apps, and I adhere to them. I also have all my apps excluding text, call, workout and meditation blocked out until 8 am. This gives me at least two hours in the morning when I have no reason to pick up my phone. And if I do want to do a workout or an app meditation, I can do that without the temptation of opening social media (it’s completely unconscious for most people).
On top of that, just having general time without my phone. When I go on walks with my partner and things like that. If I don’t need my phone I’ll intentionally leave it at home. And if I am having quality time with someone in real life, I’ll never have my phone on the table - I make sure it’s away in my bag.
And I refuse to get an Apple watch! That stresses me out.
Would you like to share a favourite recipe of yours with us here?
So hard to pick! But I can’t go past my Skillet Berry Crumble.
See more of Liv's work here.
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