Photo credit: Aingeru Zorita for Women’s Health
Liza Koshy is set to have a big 2022. The one-time Vine star, who now entertains a YouTube audience of more than 17.5 million subscribers, is making moves in the film world. She has been cast in two movies due out this year, including the upcoming adaptation of the viral New York short story Cat Person.
As she stays busy, Koshy must be sure to keep her head. She took an extended break from YouTube in 2018; upon her return to the platform, she discussed the burnout and mental health issues that necessitated her hiatus.
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Koshy’s strategies for improving her mental health are the main focus of a recent story that landed her on the cover of the April 2022 issue of Women’s Health. Koshy detailed the activities that make her feel good, including running, weightlifting, yoga, and blasting Pentatonix Christmas carols at full volume.
One goal of all this exercise, Koshy says, is to make sure the “voices in [her] head” don’t overwhelm her. Those internal monologues have inspired some of the characters Koshy has performed on her YouTube channel, but they must also be kept in check. That’s why she makes running — which she describes as a “meditation” — into an every-other-day activity.
It is on those runs that she can get her “own internal…revenge at the world for giving you shit for listening to Christmas music” during months that aren’t December. And no Christmas songs hype her up like the ones performed by Pentatonix, whose original members are (like Koshy) YouTube stars originally from Texas. “One hundred seventy-five to 195 beats per minute,” she told Women’s Health. “Pentatonix Christmas carols. And I’m just going so f*cking hard.”
Good health, of course, is about more than just working out, and the Women’s Health interview also gave Koshy a chance to dish about her healthy eating habits. As she told the 17-year-old, Hearst-owned lifestyle magazine, her diet includes a lot of vegan meals (“I try for four times a week”) while making liberal use of the air fryer (“It just pumps the breath of God through your food”) and devising recipes like her “weird-ass omelet.” It has banana, egg, and protein powder, so yeah, definitely weird.
Koshy has dealt with plenty of stressors on her way to cover stories and film roles, but her Women’s Health profile paints the picture of an entertainer who has faced personal demons and developed strategies to overcome them. Her multi-faceted physical and mental regimen has even allowed her to take on roles that may have previously been out of her depth. The Netflix movie Work It, which starred Koshy, required the 25-year-old to perform several demanding dance scenes.
“[Lifting weights] has made me stronger and a faster runner, a better dancer,” Koshy told Women’s Health. “I could not have done the things I did for Work It rehearsal-wise, or even just acting-wise, without having that confidence and strength in my own body to be able to perform.”
In this story, however, the most fascinating detail may be Koshy’s self-perception of how far she’s come. YouTube stars often talk about certain milestones that make them feel as if they’ve “made it” in the entertainment industry. Koshy, on the other hand, describes herself as still “making it,” despite all the subscribers and movie gigs. “I don’t think there’s ever been a moment where I’m like, ‘I’ve made it.’” She said. “I don’t think there ever will be.”
You can read the full profile here.
