After seven years as Chief Content Officer, Elise Loehnen has spoken candidly about the damaging effects of the “toxic” wellness culture the company promotes.
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Gwyneth Paltrow’s former right-hand man has spoken out against the “toxic” wellness culture promoted by Goop.
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Fans of Gwyneth’s wellness empire will know Elise Loehnen, who has co-hosted The Goop Podcast as part of her role as Goop’s Chief Content Officer and is also a regular on the Netflix show The Goop Lab.
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However, after seven years as a stand-in at Goop, Elise called for retiring from the company in October 2020, citing an upcoming book deal and a new podcast search.
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In a statement following the news of her departure, Gwyneth said that Elise was “like a sister” to her and that she looks forward to “proudly” watching her enter the next “monumental phase of her professional life”.
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But while she parted ways with Gwyneth and the Goop empire on seemingly good terms, it now appears that Elise’s resignation has given Elise a new perspective on the company’s “toxic” practices.
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In a short video shared with her Instagram followers on Tuesday, Elise opened up about how years of restrictive diet cleansing while at Goop actually caused her to develop an unhealthy and “distorted” relationship with her body.
She began the video by saying that after leaving Goop, she made the decision to “swear off all cleaning completely,” noting that the practice had become counterproductive to her health.
“For me, it had become synonymous with dieting and restriction, and I felt like I wasn’t in a healthy relationship with my body, which I was always trying to punish [and] get it under control,” Elise says in the video.
The Pulling the Thread podcast host went on to reveal that after she retired from Goop’s restrictive cleaning practices, she underwent a complete transformation and started “eating like a teenager.”
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“And I’ve been eating like a teenager for two years and I’m enjoying it, to be honest,” she said of her complete wellness about-face.
In the caption, she went on to say that in many ways, allowing yourself an unrestricted diet is a healthier option because it helped her “let go of ideas about what my body should look like as a 42-year-old has two kids,” she added that she developed a “critical and punishing” attitude towards her body and well-being during her time at Goop.
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“I had to break the tendency to be critical and punitive. to punish myself. Everything,” she wrote. “I stopped weighing myself completely.”
Elise said that after speaking to a friend, she was reminded that “wellness culture can be toxic,” but added that a nutrient-poor diet can also be harmful.
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“When I was recently talking about pulling the thread with my friend @ellenvoramd, we were delving into nutrition and she reminded me that wellness culture can be toxic AND that eating an abundance of overly processed foods can be toxic too ‘ she said, reflecting on the realization that both extremes can be problematic.
In the last part of the post, Elise revealed that despite forgoing restrictive cleanses after leaving Goop, she recently made the decision to undergo a Kroma Wellness regimen, but said she’s taking a whole new approach to those practices have accepted.
“I thought I was going to hate the whole thing, but I decided to do it differently,” she said. “I didn’t weigh myself before, during, and after, and opted for the version that allows you to eat more veggies and protein at will.”
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In closing, she said her renewed approach to cleansing and health after leaving Goop inspired a newfound love and appreciation for her body.
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“I refuse to punish myself with food or to keep myself under the weight that my body doesn’t seem to want anymore,” she said. “Fortunately, I have neither the energy nor the interest. (And more importantly, I’ve realized that I really love my body and I’m grateful it’s mine.) Hopefully I’ve broken that cycle for good.”
A source with knowledge of the situation told BuzzFeed News that the former CCO has not resigned from her position, despite reports that Elise has left her position at Goop to pursue a new career.
The source further claimed that just before Elise’s departure from Goop was announced in October 2020, company executives were made aware of internal complaints alleging that Elise was a “toxic manager”.
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They added that Goop staff were “surprised” by Elise’s recent comments on wellness culture, saying she is a “proponent” of cleansing and has “promoted” the same practices she condemned in her most recent statement.
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Elise’s comments come after years of criticizing Goop and its extreme approach to wellbeing.
In February 2018, the company faced heavy backlash after publishing a Q&A article with Traci Mann, PhD, titled “Busting Diet Myths,” in which she encouraged Goop readers to “go for their leanest livable weight.” .
A few months earlier, Goop was called out for supporting a toxic food culture after publishing tips from famed trainer Tracy Anderson, which urged readers to “go gluten free and go very low carb” and eat meal replacement bars to fast to decrease.
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In addition, the company has previously been criticized for misleading advertising that promotes health claims without sufficient evidence.
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Along with his questionable health advice, Goop has also been accused of having a toxic work environment. Last fall, Business Insider reported that the company lost 140 employees to layoffs and layoffs.
Shortly thereafter, former employees said they were paid low wages, experienced “fear-based management” and had a “mean girl vibe” at the company. Others even called out the owner specifically, claiming Gwyneth had chosen “favorites” among her staff.
BuzzFeed News reached out to a Goop representative for comment.
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