{"id":3117,"date":"2026-07-10T18:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T13:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=3117"},"modified":"2026-07-10T18:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T13:12:12","slug":"the-real-story-behind-nonna-maxxing-the-trend-taking-over-tiktok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=3117","title":{"rendered":"The Real Story Behind \u2018Nonna-Maxxing,\u2019 the Trend Taking Over TikTok"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div wp_automatic_readability=\"98.333671399594\">\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ????><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ????><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If your feeds have been flooded with videos of people kneading dough, tending gardens and swearing off screen time in favor of slow-paced Italian grandma energy, you\u2019ve already encountered nonna-maxxing. But here\u2019s what most of the viral posts leave out: the trend isn\u2019t just an aesthetic. There\u2019s actual science behind it \u2014 and the habits at its core are linked to some of the longest-lived populations on Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>What Nonna-Maxxing Actually Is<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The concept is exactly what it sounds like \u2014 living like an Italian grandmother, or \u201cnonna.\u201d Think cooking from scratch, long family meals, daily walks, gardening and drastically less screen time. Gen Z has latched onto the idea as an antidote to the relentless complexity of modern wellness culture, and it\u2019s gone viral on TikTok.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNonnamaxxing is a 2026 trend that embraces the slower, more intentional lifestyle of an Italian grandmother (a Nonna). Think cooking from scratch, long family meals, daily walks, gardening and less screen time,\u201d <strong>Erin Palinski-Wade<\/strong>, a New Jersey-based registered dietitian, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/health\/experts-reveal-nonnamaxxing-trend-may-improve-mental-physical-health\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">told Fox News Digital<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So no, this isn\u2019t just another fleeting internet joke. It\u2019s a repackaging of habits that longevity researchers have studied for years.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Sardinia Connection Most People Are Missing<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s the detail that elevates nonna-maxxing from cute trend to something more substantial: Italy is among the countries with the highest life expectancy, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bluezones.com\/explorations\/sardinia-italy\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sardinia is a Blue Zone region<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 one of a handful of places worldwide known for centenarian populations. The lifestyle patterns studied in Blue Zones overlap almost perfectly with the nonna-maxxing checklist: movement, food cooked at home, social connection and mindset.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The trend, in other words, didn\u2019t come from nowhere. It\u2019s rooted in real longevity data, even if TikTok didn\u2019t exactly cite its sources.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Mental Health Angle<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The screen-time piece of nonna-maxxing is more than just vibes. <strong>Laurie Singer<\/strong>, a therapist, pointed to direct mental health benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe know that interacting with others in person, rather than spending time on screens, significantly improves mental health,\u201d she <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">told Fox News Digital<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, adding that social media often fuels comparison and lowers self-esteem.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Singer also highlighted how the hands-on activities central to the nonna lifestyle \u2014 gardening, baking, knitting, walking \u2014 deliver real psychological payoff.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNonnamaxxing encourages us to be present around a task, like gardening, baking or knitting, or just taking a mindful walk, that delivers something \u2018real,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The emphasis is on task engagement over avoidance \u2014 focus and presence over doom-scrolling.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Even 15 Minutes of Walking Counts<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For anyone thinking this lifestyle requires a radical overhaul, the physical health data is surprisingly accessible. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajpmonline.org\/article\/S0749-3797(20)30138-0\/abstract\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2020 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> found that just 15 minutes of brisk walking daily was associated with a reduced risk of premature death.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s a nonna-approved afternoon stroll, not a gym membership.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Mindset Shift<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps the most shareable part of the trend comes from <strong>Licia Fertz<\/strong>, an Italian woman <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.self.com\/story\/nonnamaxxing-health-longevity\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">profiled by SELF<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> whose daily routine includes dressing up in bright clothing and applying makeup \u2014 not for anyone else, but as an act of self-love.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNever think of yourself as old,\u201d she said. \u201cYou are born young.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That philosophy aligns with research from<strong> Sonja Lyubomirsky<\/strong> at UC Riverside, who studies how perceptions of aging shape actual outcomes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIs it a gift? Is it about wisdom, maturity, and the richness of life, or is it about deterioration and loss?\u201d she said. \u201cBoth can be true. But you can choose.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If your feeds have been flooded with videos of people kneading dough, tending gardens and swearing off screen time in favor of slow-paced Italian grandma energy, you\u2019ve already encountered nonna-maxxing. But here\u2019s what most of the viral posts leave out: the trend isn\u2019t just an aesthetic. There\u2019s actual science behind it \u2014 and the habits&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.lifeandstylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-182619470.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C3659px%2C1922px&resize=1200%2C630&quality=86&strip=all","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}