For Lianna Sugarman, health has proved to be the root of happiness.

Once upon a time, when it came to her diet, looking good and staying thin were the top priorities. Then, a slew of medical issues—underlined by mood swings and overall fatigue—inspired her to reassess and try the charcoal cleanse.

Sugarman began blending her own juices with copious greens and superfoods and quickly saw dramatic, positive improvements to both her physical and mental wellbeing. Compelled to share her newly found wellness and joy, she launched, LuliTonix, a juice company that harnesses the powerful health benefits of raw leafy greens, herbs, spices and fruits.

Here, Sugarman describes how overhauling her diet helped her become more present, open and flexible in her everyday existence

Live The Process: Have you always maintained a healthy and nutritious diet?

Lianna Sugarman: It was actually not particularly important to me for most of my life. Like so many others, I had a toxic and pretty fraught relationship with food, which caused a lot of tension and negative emotions. Staying thin was important to me, but I never understood or appreciated food and nutrition. After a bunch of health issues arose, as well as noticing my general moodiness and fatigue, I dove into learning about nutrition-based healing and the power of food and juice as medicine. I became obsessed with blending juices and with incorporating tons of raw greens and superfoods into my life on an everyday basis. It has been the most surprising paradigm shift of my life. It’s been about seven years since I started and, more and more, it’s become a defining aspect of who I am.

LTP: How has shifting your approach towards food changed your outlook on life?

LS: It has changed absolutely everything. Beyond making me feel amazing and so much more at peace, it has made me braver and bolder; more centered and less bogged down; more clear and lucid; more flexible and open to miracles. It has been such an unlikely succession of twists and turns and fortuity that has brought me to this place. The impossibility of my self from seven years ago looking forward and seeing what I am doing now is something that I always think about, especially when I need a reminder that there is so much more than we can see and know from our limited vantage point at any particular moment.

LTP: How did you come to found LuliTonix?

LS: Creating these blends and seeing the miraculous changes they spurred in me made me want to establish a company that would give other people what [I found]. Greens (and some other select superfoods) are the most miraculous things in the world—I wanted to create drinks that harness those powers, that engage the senses, create joy, balance, a healthy and nurturing relationship to our bodies and food and that help us to truly discover the magic that nutrition can give us. I wanted to create

something optimally nutritious that people would love and that would empower them, make them feel great and even inspire them to change their eating habits and let go of aspects of their lives that don’t work.

LTP: You stress the importance of keeping an open mind. What tips would you offer those who struggle with being receptive?

LS: I work hard at always reminding myself that, as much as I need to focus on where I am going, the reality is that we just don’t know the twists and turns that await us. Therefore, I try to be open and receptive and let go of trying to control everything, including my own expectations and assumptions. When something unexpected happens that is not as I’d hoped or envisioned, I try to pan back and imagine circumstances in which it might be for the best, and then I try to respond from that vantage point.

LTP: What does happiness look like to you?

LS: Having people tell me that I have gotten them addicted to greens. Watching my cat stretch after one of his 99 daily naps. Seeing my family and laughing at a lifetime of inside jokes with them. Waking up on the beach in Tulum and taking a walk down a deserted stretch with my fiancé, and jumping into the water with the sun barely risen. Feeling like I’m in the moment and in the flow.

LTP: What does it mean to you to "Live The Process" and how do you do that every day?

LS: Living The Process is living in the flow, being aligned with what I find important to me and the life I want to live and create. Living the process isn’t hard, but it does take intention and concentration. It’s a choice; happiness is a choice. Resiliency is a choice. Believing in magic is a choice. I like to see magic and alchemy and symmetry all around me as much as possible because that nurtures my soul. I try to balance on the line where I am truly present in every moment, but not stuck or bogged down by the specific issues in any particular moment. Where I’m passionate and intent but don’t take things too seriously. Where I am able to let things flow over me and through me.

Find more information on LuliTonix here.