#91: Catherine Shannon

“Love is a nutrient.”

Mar 08, 2026

Catherine Shannon is a writer in New York City and the author of some of Substack’s most beloved pieces, including “Everyone is numbing out” and this guide to your 20s. She is currently working on her first novel.

#91: Catherine Shannon
Pisces
New York, NY

What does health, or being healthy, mean to you?

Treating myself with respect: body, mind, soul.

How would you describe your current lifestyle?

Work and joy. When it comes to my health, I am focused exclusively on the fundamentals: strength training a few times a week at home, cooking almost all of my meals, sleep, walking, writing, reading, socializing, prayer. I played the “margin game” quite a bit in my twenties — you know, debating the merits of one serum or supplement over another — but getting the big things done is far more deserving of my time and energy, and so much more important. If I can do those things even somewhat consistently, I feel great.

Generally, I am trying to be more present in my day-to-day life, to give myself permission to be happy and to go slower than is comfortable. I am trying to find joy in female embodiment, which has, surprisingly, been easier for me as a new mother than it was before I had a child. I grew my son inside my body, delivered him through my body, and nourished him with my body. How can I needlessly criticize myself, punish myself? It is a crime. So I am trying to shift my perspective, and see exercise, healthy diet, hydration, etc., not as “stuff to be done,” but ways to respect myself.

I grew my son inside my body, delivered him through my body, and nourished him with my body. How can I needlessly criticize myself, punish myself? It is a crime.

There’s this mistaken idea, that I fully believed as a college athlete and pre-baby, that in order for something to be “healthy” it must involve a lot of pain or suffering — the more the better. I realize now how misguided this is. Yes, it’s good to push through a tough workout, for instance, but I notice that when I am warm and kind with myself — meaning I feed myself nourishing foods (good food tastes delicious), take warm baths, do fewer reps with better form, and do not pick at my flaws in the mirror — my whole being responds.

How do you start and end your days?

As much as possible — and it isn’t always possible — my husband and I wake up at 4:30am so that we can work before our son wakes up between 6:30 and 7. I write; my husband composes music. I get up, make the bed, brush my teeth, splash some cold water on my face, change into comfortable clothes, drink a glass of warm water, and then make myself a giant “mocha,” which is a proprietary mixture of drip coffee from the Moccamaster, whole milk, gelatin powder, raw honey, coconut oil, and cocoa powder. I don’t measure anything. This is my “first breakfast” and my morning coffee combined, and I sip on it as I write. Very nourishing and honestly delicious.

When my son wakes up, I take a break, give him a huge snuggle, change him, and let him play in his crib for a few minutes with books and toys while I wash my face and actually get ready for the day. I have these colorful wooden peg dolls that go into matching colored cups, and I set them up as a little puzzle for him, where he matches the doll to its cup. This plus a few rotating board books buys me about 15 minutes of peace to wash my face and do my little morning routine. I do the “Big 6” lymphatic drainage routine, wash my face with Vanicream cleanser, use my red light panel for a few minutes on bare dry skin (I’m obsessed…). Then I do simple skincare, put on real clothes, and do my makeup if I’m feeling it.

Around 7:30am I feed my son breakfast, which is usually a cheese omelette, cooked in butter with a side of sourdough toast with more butter and some seasonal fruit. He’s very into pears these days and therefore so am I. I eat whatever he eats. Sometimes while he’s eating I can review what I wrote that morning so that I can jump back in on his nap, but often this is when I unstack the dishwasher and just hang out. Then it’s off to the races for the day.

Running after a toddler, I am pretty spent by 9pm. On a good day, we all eat dinner together around 6pm, and once we’re done with bath, stories, and putting him down to sleep I’ll shower, close down the house, my husband will make the coffee for the next morning, and then we’ll watch a movie or read until we fall asleep around 9:30-10. Every night, as the last thing I do before I go to bed, I do 40 cat cows, rub magnesium balm on my feet, and put on hand cream. Then I peek out of my bedroom window, through the blinds, and have one last look at the city.

Can you recall a moment when you became more aware of your health, or your relationship to it changed?

One was eliminating processed/fried food and watching my cystic acne and digestive issues disappear before my eyes in my late 20s. The doctors I saw literally wanted to put me on hormonal birth control pills for it. I felt so much better cooking my meals at home, and I didn’t even have to eliminate entire food groups or anything crazy. I just cooked a lot more and ate more simply.

Pregnancy was another big one for me, because it wasn’t just about me anymore. I had to consider this other person, and I think that helped me make some positive lifestyle changes. During my pregnancy, I tried to eliminate endocrine disrupting chemicals in cookware, personal care, and cleaning products. Most of these were very minor sacrifices, and I’ve stuck with it. Generally I try to avoid excessively scented products and plastics. I still wear perfume from time to time, I’m not totally psychotic about these things.

What’s your relationship to self-healing?

When I realized that the body doesn’t do anything “randomly,” that it is all connected, it was a big breakthrough for me. Your body is not stupid, it’s incredibly smart, and it’s not giving you a hard time for no reason. It’s trying to alert you to something, and that thing might be very far upstream. Usually what it needs is simple: water, sleep, nutritious food, movement, love, a fulfilling purpose. Love is a nutrient. You can be deficient in love, pleasure, joy. This will manifest itself somehow in your physical being. Of course, sometimes the right call is getting a medical doctor or therapist involved, but I would argue, like all of the best doctors, that you know yourself best.

You can be deficient in love, pleasure, joy. This will manifest itself somehow in your physical being.

Do you work with any practitioners, texts, or modalities on a regular basis?

Contemplative prayer, confession, the rosary, midwifery, pelvic floor therapy.

How do you reset?

Fresh air and getting out of the house usually work. If that’s not possible, I get in the shower, wash my hair, blow dry it, and take a 15-30 minute nap. Other things that work are a cup of tea with milk and sugar and calling my sister. Prayer has never failed me.

When do you feel the most nourished?

Candle-lit steak dinner, glass of red wine, laughing with my husband. Reading in front of a fire. Taking a break outside after dancing for hours at Basement. (They recently started serving fresh squeezed orange juice so I’ll have one of those, too.)

Do you have a favorite meal?

I’m easy to please when it comes to food. If it’s homemade, I am almost certain I will love it.

Because I was a college athlete (Division I Rowing), I guess I’ve always been a bit of a jock when it comes to how I eat, which is basically animal products + carbs. I love meat, fish, bread, eggs, cheese, rice, whole milk, yogurt, and butter. Ground meat is so affordable and quick, so I eat a lot of ground beef, lamb, canned tuna, and chicken. I craved so much meat when I was pregnant. I make a point of having something green with dinner, pickling something, and I always make a tasty sauce from scratch. I eat vegetables too, but not bags and bags of them. I find them hard to digest in large quantities (I could never consider a salad a meal) so I focus more on variety than quantity.

I cook for my family almost every night, so I try to keep it simple, tasty, balanced, and nutritionally dense. I try to make things from scratch as much as possible (being realistic… I’m not making my own ketchup). Some favorite family dinners are things like spaghetti with shrimp, lemon, and garlic, chicken curry over rice, baked chicken Milanese, ground beef tacos, salmon and broccolini over rice (Ina Garten’s recipe), ground lamb and hummus bowls with pita, chopped pistachios, and dill.

Because I was a college athlete, I guess I’ve always been a bit of a jock when it comes to how I eat.

When I don’t have the motivation to cook a proper meal, I’m a big fan of what I call “grass-fed nachos” (Siete brand chips + grass-fed ground beef with Siete taco seasoning, cheese, salsa, hot sauce, white onion, cilantro… so good). We do breakfast for dinner all the time: fried eggs, lemon cottage cheese pancakes, pork sausage with real maple syrup and more butter on top. I make my own granola weekly and eat that with yogurt and honey a lot. A sandwich is a perfect food for me. A baked potato with butter is another. Baked beans on toast. Marmite, butter, and cheese on toast. So somewhere between jock and Irish peasant.

I don’t snack, and I only really eat dessert if I make it from scratch (or if I am craving ice cream, I’ll have that). Two big meals a day, no real restrictions I can think of other than avoiding processed, pre-made foods and weird additives and ingredients. When I go out to eat, I usually crave Italian, Japanese, Thai, or Mexican food. A big steak, oysters, occasional french fries, stuff I don’t necessarily want to make at home.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Focus on consistency and discipline, not trends.

To the person reading this?

Follow your intuition.

What would you like to see or create more of in the world?

Beauty.