‘Nonna-Maxxing’ Trend Is Seeing Gen Z Ditch Screens and Embrace the Italian Grandma Lifestyle
Your For You page has probably already told you: the most aspirational wellness routine of 2026 doesn’t involve a $90 greens powder or a 5 a.m. ice bath. It belongs to an Italian grandmother.
Nonna-maxxing — the viral wellness trend built around adopting the daily habits of an Italian nonna — has taken over TikTok, and Gen Z is deeply invested. The premise is almost aggressively simple: cook from scratch, take daily walks, garden, share long meals with people you love, put your phone down and live a slower, more intentional life.
It sounds like a rejection of the entire modern wellness industrial complex. That’s because it kind of is.
What Nonna-Maxxing Actually Looks Like
“Nonnamaxxing 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,” Erin Palinski-Wade, a New Jersey-based registered dietitian, told Fox News Digital.
None of these habits require a subscription, a membership or a ring that tracks your sleep. That accessibility is part of the appeal. Walking, cooking, knitting, baking — these are activities that cost almost nothing and deliver both physical and mental health benefits.
A 2020 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that just 15 minutes of brisk walking daily was linked to a reduced risk of premature death. Your nonna didn’t need a peer-reviewed journal to tell her that, but it’s nice to have the receipts.
The Mental Health Case for Logging Off
Here’s where the trend hits a nerve for a generation that grew up online. The nonna-maxxing philosophy isn’t just about what you add to your routine — it’s about what you subtract.
Laurie Singer, a therapist, put it plainly: “We know that interacting with others in person, rather than spending time on screens, significantly improves mental health,” she told Fox News Digital, adding that social media often fuels comparison and lowers self-esteem.
Singer also emphasized the value of hands-on activity over passive scrolling. “Nonnamaxxing encourages us to be present around a task, like gardening, baking or knitting, or just taking a mindful walk, that delivers something ‘real,’” she said.
The focus and presence that come from task engagement — rather than avoidance — can reduce anxiety. It’s a straightforward trade: swap the doom scroll for something tangible.
There’s Real Longevity Data Behind This
The nonna lifestyle isn’t just charming — it mirrors patterns found in some of the world’s longest-lived populations. Italy ranks among the highest life expectancy countries globally, and Sardinia is recognized as a Blue Zone region with notable centenarian populations. The lifestyle patterns studied there — movement, food, social connection and mindset — map almost perfectly onto what nonna-maxxing promotes.
Sonja Lyubomirsky, a researcher at UC Riverside, offered a perspective on how mindset shapes aging itself. “Is it a gift? Is it about wisdom, maturity, and the richness of life, or is it about deterioration and loss?” she said. “Both can be true. But you can choose.”
Living It, Not Just Trending It
Licia Fertz, an Italian woman featured in SELF’s coverage of the trend, embodies this philosophy through her daily routine of dressing up, wearing bright clothing and putting on makeup — treating self-presentation as an act of self-love. Her advice is worth bookmarking: “Never think of yourself as old,” she said. “You are born young.”
The irony of nonna-maxxing going viral on the very platform it implicitly critiques isn’t lost on anyone. But the underlying message holds up: the simplest habits — cooking real food, walking outside, sharing meals, being present — might do more for your health than any algorithm-optimized wellness stack ever could.
Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is just live like your grandmother did.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
