Don't let anyone tell you Mandy Moore is having a bad year. Sure, her name has been thrown around in the gossip mags for the past few months. Yes, she and husband Ryan Adams announced they're seeking a divorce in January. But, trust us, she's on the up-and-up.
"I’m trying to be more proactive, and more of a participant in life instead of going home and being by myself," Moore told us when we sat down with the singer/actress last week. She also explained that she's helping Tropicana launch a new fruit/veggie hybrid juice called Tropical Green — a partnership that fits perfectly with her new active and healthy mantra for the year.
Is Moore a bright, shining example of how to pull yourself up and move on to greener pastures after a breakup? We'd say so. Here, a snippet of our chat with her:
You just did a detox retreat, right? How was it?
"It was fantastic! I highly recommend it to anybody. I did the four-day version instead of the full week, but it’s just as intense! You wake up at 5 a.m., it’s all vegetarian food, and you go on four-hour hikes every day, followed by yoga classes. I really wanted to challenge myself. It was more of a spur-of-the-moment decision; a year of yes sort of thing."
I love that: A year of yes. Are you doing that for real?
"Not completely, but I’m trying to! I’m a hermit and sort of geriatric in a way. I’ll go to bed at 9 at night and wake up at 5 in the morning, so I'm trying to push myself [out of that]. If friends say, ‘Let's go out to dinner at 8,’ I’m not trying not to hem and haw about it anymore. I know that sounds stupid, but if someone is reaching out that I haven’t talked to in years, saying ‘Let’s go get coffee,’ normally I would say, ‘Yeah, let’s do that,’ and never get back to them. But, now I am making sure that I’m putting something on the books. I’m trying to be a bit more proactive, and more of a participant in life, and not going home and being by myself."
"It was fantastic! I highly recommend it to anybody. I did the four-day version instead of the full week, but it’s just as intense! You wake up at 5 a.m., it’s all vegetarian food, and you go on four-hour hikes every day, followed by yoga classes. I really wanted to challenge myself. It was more of a spur-of-the-moment decision; a year of yes sort of thing."
I love that: A year of yes. Are you doing that for real?
"Not completely, but I’m trying to! I’m a hermit and sort of geriatric in a way. I’ll go to bed at 9 at night and wake up at 5 in the morning, so I'm trying to push myself [out of that]. If friends say, ‘Let's go out to dinner at 8,’ I’m not trying not to hem and haw about it anymore. I know that sounds stupid, but if someone is reaching out that I haven’t talked to in years, saying ‘Let’s go get coffee,’ normally I would say, ‘Yeah, let’s do that,’ and never get back to them. But, now I am making sure that I’m putting something on the books. I’m trying to be a bit more proactive, and more of a participant in life, and not going home and being by myself."
Well, it certainly seems like you’re doing better than ever!
"Thank you! I’m trying!"
Was the retreat restful for your mind, too?
"There are definitely those elements involved, but I wasn’t necessarily going and seeking that side of it...that was more of an additional bonus on top of everything. I really went to push myself physically. Can I hike 12 miles? I didn’t know." And, you could?
"Yeah, I totally could! I thought that I was going to be so exhausted and there is no way I can do an hour of yoga after, but I would. It was my idea of being in the wild. I felt like Reese Witherspoon! Clearly not, but in my mind I was like, this is a challenge, I’m hiking the Pacific [Crest] Trail. It was about testing my physical limits, but it also has additional restorative properties." Have you continued this restorative kick since you got back?
"I have been doing SoulCycle and I just started hot yoga a few months ago. I had never done hot yoga before but now I get why people are obsessed. And, there is this new thing called Rise Movement that is amazing and really challenging that I just started. I'd never done a climber machine. The classes are only 30 minutes and you come out just dripping in sweat."
"Thank you! I’m trying!"
Was the retreat restful for your mind, too?
"There are definitely those elements involved, but I wasn’t necessarily going and seeking that side of it...that was more of an additional bonus on top of everything. I really went to push myself physically. Can I hike 12 miles? I didn’t know." And, you could?
"Yeah, I totally could! I thought that I was going to be so exhausted and there is no way I can do an hour of yoga after, but I would. It was my idea of being in the wild. I felt like Reese Witherspoon! Clearly not, but in my mind I was like, this is a challenge, I’m hiking the Pacific [Crest] Trail. It was about testing my physical limits, but it also has additional restorative properties." Have you continued this restorative kick since you got back?
"I have been doing SoulCycle and I just started hot yoga a few months ago. I had never done hot yoga before but now I get why people are obsessed. And, there is this new thing called Rise Movement that is amazing and really challenging that I just started. I'd never done a climber machine. The classes are only 30 minutes and you come out just dripping in sweat."