Resilience, Reinvention and the Power of Setbacks

A former magazine editor dishes about her discovery of strength and Substack.

Liz Baker Plosser now writes Best Case Scenario on Substack

This week, I spent a lot of time consoling my thirteen-year-old daughter, Juliette, who was crushed after not getting into a high-school art program. While rubbing her back, I shared some wisdom from a conversation I’d had with the former editor-in-chief of Women’s Health magazine. I wanted Juliette to understand that even the toughest setbacks can lead to surprising and positive growth. Liz Baker Plosser’s life was upended after an accident a few years ago, but in a way that ultimately reshaped her approach to lots of things.

Liz is a fresh-faced Ivory Girl with ripped abs-–someone who always worked hard and got ahead. She was hired as an editorial assistant in the fitness department at Self back in 2003 and from there, her career skyrocketed. After stints at Cosmopolitan, SoulCycle, and Well+Good, she landed the role of editor-in-chief at Women’s Health in 2018, where she oversaw a publication that reaches millions of readers every month.

Now, Liz is venturing into Substack. Though she’s starting from scratch, she’s managed to amass more than 1,000 subscribers in her first week–- an impressive feat. Her second post–about her habit of lifting in socks–had the feel of an upbeat magazine spread, winning her over 2,000 page views, a 75 percent open rate and 45 new subscribers.

I caught up with Liz to discuss her just-launched newsletter, career transitions, and how a 2020 skiing accident led her to a more empowering, less punishing view of fitness.

Here are some excerpts from that conversation (lightly edited for clarity and flow):

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AMC: Have you always been athletic?

LBP: I’ve always been very sporty. I played soccer, JV tennis and basketball. Growing up, it was always practice after school, and I was always curious about recovery, nutrition, and sleep. Fitness was the perfect home for me.

AMC: What was your first job?

LBP: After I graduated from college, I went into investment banking, but realized pretty quickly it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Growing up, I loved magazines, so I started networking in the magazine world. I made the rounds with all the HR departments at the big publishers in New York. Nobody paid attention–I was an investment banker and I didn’t have the right internships. But eventually there was an opening at Self, I got an introduction, and the timing was right.

It was a massive pay cut. Day one was basically getting coffee. But absorbing the energy of the office and learning how magazines got made was so exciting. I was hooked.

AMC: What was your approach to exercise as a young adult?

LBP: A lot like my early approach to what a career looked like. It had to have agita. I was always a runner; I did marathon running while I was an investment banker.

AMC: Did you ever struggle with body-image stuff?

LBP: I think I was shielded from a lot of it growing up. I was an athlete, so food was fuel.

But what makes my heart hurt now were the many stories I was involved with. [The 2000s were] such a time of “lose ten pounds in two weeks” and “how to get a bikini body.” [Something] that still makes me cringe is a story I pitched and wrote on the “big cost of little bites,” all about how consuming little bites of mac and cheese from kids’ dinner plates was bad.

I’m just kind of appalled, looking back now. But it’s what we were all doing. That was the whole MO of those publications. And I’m so grateful that at the end of my career I could change that narrative.

AMC. How did you do that?

LBP: Three years ago, I got serious with protein. I had this skiing accident, and I broke my sacrum. Running became more “sometimes” instead of “every day.”

My physical therapist incorporated more strength training and I started working out with a kettlebell.

Around that time I began reading more about protein. I decided to see how much I was consuming on an average day. And it was 40 to 50 grams – way too low considering how active I was. So I decided to bump it up to 125 grams, based on my size and activity level. And honestly? Within two weeks I just felt so good. My butt got bigger and my abs started to show.

I started following Lauren Kanski’s Body and Bell workouts using a kettlebell. I loved the kettlebells. They opened up a whole new world to me—they were fun, and it didn’t feel like my body was broken after the workouts. I didn’t feel so exhausted like I used to when I was running so much. Eventually, I started using a barbell more. These days, I’ve been really enjoying the programmed workouts on the Ladder app.

Liz working those kettlebells

AMC: How was this shift into strength training and embracing more protein reflected in the headlines? In the choice of stories? Did readers respond?

LBP: I wanted to share what I was learning, and that meant more articles and challenges focused on weightlifting. We began featuring women, especially those in their 40s, 50s and beyond, in a strength transformation franchise that was wildly popular with readers. In June 2024, we created a Glute Gains challenge with trainer Sandy Brockman that focused on the health benefits of strengthening the glutes. It was our most successful content of the entire year for membership conversions.

AMC: How does your week of exercise look?

LBP: I go to my local YMCA, where I do my Ladder workouts four times a week. Two of the days are more upper-body focused, the other two are more lower body. The whole thing takes me 45 minutes, including a warmup and a short cooldown.

I also do sprints twice a week; after strength training, I’ll combine one to one and half miles at all-out [speed] with walking on a treadmill.

On one day, I’ll run with my dog Willa in Prospect Park for three to five miles, and I’ll do yoga that same day.

Then one or two days of rest.

AMC: How do you approach food?

LBP: We normally cook, and dinner tends to be protein-forward.

I don’t prep it or plan it, and I’m not counting calories. I’m just focused on the protein. And I feel like if I do that, everything falls into place.

I supplement using a protein powder; I take creatine every morning and essential amino acids.

From oatmeal to oysters, protein is key

AMC: What’s next for you?

LBP: After seven years at the helm of Women’s Health, December 31st was my final day. I had a great run in traditional legacy media, but I do not aspire to be an editor-in-chief again.

I definitely want to stay in the nutrition, health and wellness space. I always wanted to start a more meaningful newsletter strategy—I’ve finally launched a Substack, and I didn’t realize how much I missed writing.

I want Best Case Scenario to be a place for positive change, with a tone that’s not snarky. But really surfacing the cool stuff, exciting stuff, the stuff that is going to make an impact.