Interview: Larry Rogowsky Talks New Book THE URBAN BODY FIX: EVERYTHING IN MODERATION (ESPECIALLY MODERATION)

Larry Rogowsky is a Tony Award winning Broadway producer, certified integrative nutrition coach, a licensed massage therapist, and the creator of the health and wellness company Urban Body Fix. Rogowsky is bringing his wealth of knowledge about creating and maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle to readers everywhere with his first book out now, The Urban Body Fix: Everything In Moderation
(Especially Moderation).

Through his new book, Rogowsky - who has coached many Broadway stars into the best shape of their lives - brings his expertise and passion into helping you become the most vibrant version of yourself. The Urban Body Fix shares a variety of methods to improve your overall health and well-being, and discusses techniques and tips to help you implement realistic, positive, and sustainable lifestyle changes that are specific to the wants and needs of your body.

We spoke with Rogowsky about the process of bringing this book to life, the tips he's found most helpful to staying healthy during this time, and much more.

Tell me a little bit about your history! You are a Broadway producer but also a health and wellness coach, take me through your journey to how you got to this point.

Many moons ago I was an actor, in my twenties. Then, I became licensed massage therapist and an integrative nutrition coach. It was supposed to be my survival gig, but I just fell in love with it and I thought, "I don't really want to be a professional actor anymore," I was looking at my future. So, I went down that road and it turned into a pretty big business for me. I serviced mostly the Broadway community, I had a lot of Broadway folks coming to me for a massage- the cast of Wicked and Jersey Boys and all these different shows- and then also using my health coaching services. Then it sort of morphed again into a wellness consulting firm, implementing wellness programs into doctor's offices. I'm still working with my Broadway folks, helping them out. As that was really off and running on its own, almost on autopilot, that's when I started to produce. That was something I had always wanted to do, and the timing was just right.

The first show that I was a producer on was 'Disaster!'. My husband Drew Geraci co-created that show with Seth Rudetsky way back in the day. I have a producing partner, her name is Sue Gilad, we did a small investment into the Off-Broadway production, and then we became co-producers when it went to Broadway. That's sort of how the producing life starting, then I was addicted to producing.

Talk to me about Urban Body Fix, your health and wellness company. How did you create that, what exactly does your company do, and who do you work with?

It started as a very hands-on business, literally, as a massage therapist and then a health coach. And then I started implementing wellness programs with doctors with supplementation, weight management, that sort of thing, helping them streamline their business when it comes to wellness services in a doctor's office. The book, The Urban Body Fix came out of all these years of experience that I had in the wellness field, and I've been wanting to write a book for years, I just never did. When March 12th happened and everything just shut down -I currently have three Broadway shows: Moulin Rouge!, Jagged Little Pill and Company- I thought, "Well, let me give Urban Body Fix some love and attention, and that's when I took the time to write the book. There's actual social media for Urban Body Fix, which I never had before! I was able to return to the brand a bit.

What can people expect to learn from The Urban Body Fix book?

It's all my years of experience in the health and wellness field, and it's a book that I wanted to write that was very nondogmatic, it's not extreme, in fact the title and subtitle is The Urban Body Fix: Everything In Moderation (Especially Moderation). I've talked to a lot of theater people about the book, because I think that this year has sort of pulled back the curtain, so to speak, on the fact that we really need to take good care of ourselves. We have one body, that's it, that's all we get, so we have to love it, respect it, take care of it, in these times more than ever, keep our immunity boosted. For performers specifically, this is a time where, "Wow, I'm not using my body like I normally do, how am I going to nurture it and take good care of it?" So, I think that for performers, they can turn to this book and learn a lot of simple basics about wellness, and learn some of the science behind how to stay well and be well and all different areas of health and wellness.

What I mean by that is, I talk about cravings in the book, I talk about different healing modalities like chiropractic and massage and acupuncture, naturopath, naturopathy. I talk a lot about spiritual and mental health, mind body connection, gut-heart access, how our health starts in our gut and that affects the heart.

What would you say has been the most helpful change that you've made in your own life that improved your overall health and wellness? Especially during this time.

I grew up around this stuff, my dad was doing yoga before yoga was cool, my mom is a nurse. And in a sense, I was fortunate, I never had a weight issue or anything like that. I was a skinny kid actually, and into adulthood-I'm 48 now-until I hit about 40, then all of a sudden, I was like, "Ooh, okay, I've noticed a difference in my body now! My metabolism isn't what it was!" I always took good care of myself, because being an actor I was always very aware of my body, I wasn't a dancer, but I did have to dance in some shows, I was a mover you could say. I think this past year more than ever, it's not really a weight thing, it's more of an energy thing, having optimal energy. I talk a lot in the book about vibrant wellness, so it's not just feeling good, it's really about having vibrancy and being a part of the world in a very alive way. So, eating food that works with your body, sometimes that takes some experimenting and figuring out what works best for you.

But, for me it's really striking a balance between... I'm not a vegetarian or vegan, but definitely striking a balance between the amount of animal protein I put in my body as opposed to greens and fruits and all that. This has been a challenging time because it's been really easy to drink a little extra wine or maybe have a Manhattan, and I also have an 8 year-old son, and that can be stressful because there's a lot of homeschooling going on around here. So, it's taking time for myself, to breathe, to meditate, to keep some exercise. I'm a runner, so I've been doing a lot of running outside even in the cold weather, and that's been really helpful with clearing my head and keeping me focused. Those are the main things.

Do you have any advice that you would give to people right now to help them become the healthiest version of themselves?

Honor your body, be kind to it. Don't judge yourself. Like I said earlier, we have one body. Put good things in it, and move. Put good things in your body, and move, and love your body wherever it is, even if it's not your ideal, or what you think it should be, or what all the images are telling you, and don't beat yourself up over it.

Purchase The Urban Body Fix: Everything in Moderation (Especially Moderation) HERE!

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