Women's Health August 27, 2026 0 Comments

Unlock the Surprising Secret to Embracing Grief and Finding Authentic Joy Again—Here’s How!

Ever wondered how grief morphs from an all-consuming avalanche to a quieter companion you learn to co-exist with? Amanda Kloots’ journey through unimaginable loss—after her husband Nick Cordero’s battle with COVID-19—offers a raw, unfiltered look at this very transformation. Imagine juggling the heartbreak of a loved one’s decline while powering through the whirlwind of motherhood and life’s relentless pace. It’s not about “getting over it,” Amanda reveals, but about carving out room for hope, joy, and even ambition amid the shadows. Now, with her new podcast, Good Grief, she dives deep into the many faces of loss and how we can all find our way forward, sometimes in the most unexpected ways. Ready to explore resilience in the tough stuff? Let’s dive in. LEARN MORE

4 min read

In March of 2020, Amanda Kloots’ husband, fellow actor Nick Cordero, became critically ill with COVID-19. He spent 95 days in the hospital while Amanda cared for their infant son, Elvis, communicated with his doctors, and shared his progress with millions of people following their story. Nick died that July at the age of 41.

Over the past six years, Amanda, also a model, dancer, and fitness entrepreneur, has spoken openly about the trauma and loneliness that followed and about the therapy that helped her navigate them. She describes grief not as something she left behind, but as something she has gradually learned to live alongside while making room for ambition, motherhood, love, and joy. Now she is launching Good Grief, a podcast examining the many kinds of loss that can rearrange a person’s life.

In the latest episode of the Future You, Amanda sits down with host and editorial director of Men’s and Women’s Health Rich Dorment as well as Women’s Health executive editor Abby Cuffey and Thea Gallagher, PsyD, a clinical psychologist at NYU Langone Health.

Here’s a look at some of the themes covered in the episode:

How Amanda has remained an optimist—and herself—throughout her grief journey

“When your world is turned upside down, everything becomes very crystal clear to what is important in life,” Amanda says. “When you go through these really hard times in your life, it’s like who you truly are just comes out.”

What’s happening in your body when you’re in “survival mode”

Dr. Gallagher says that it’s called survival mode because you don’t have the time to think. “It’s about prioritizing just the next step and then later down the road, we hope that people get into more of a thrive mode and process, debrief, and think about what’s happened.”

The concept of affective forecasting

“It’s the idea that we’re actually not very good at predicting how we’re going to handle a really hard situation, and we’re actually much better at handling it than we think we’re going to be,” Dr. Gallagher says. But while we may surprise ourselves with what we can handle and how we adapt and grow, we also have to process what we’ve been through at some point.

How grief has evolved for Amanda over the past few years

Amanda originally thought she would heal linearly—and feel better each year. But that wasn’t the case. “I remember the second year of my grief because I was hosting a talk show, and I was having the worst anxiety of my entire life,” she says. “I could barely breathe.” Staying curious about the grieving process has helped her continue to move forward.

How Amanda’s relationship to exercise changed after Nick passed away

Sitting next to Nick while he was in a coma gave Amanda a new perspective on having the ability to exercise. “It is a privilege to move my body every single day,” she says. Whether it’s fitting in 10 minutes of jump rope or going for a walk, she never misses a day.

How Amanda instill’s an appreciation for exercise in her son

Amanda watched her mom work out, and now she’s providing that example for her son. “Elvis has been working out with me since he was in the womb, and so he very much knows the privilege of fitness.

How she found joy even in the darkest days of grief

“Anytime I’m in a dark place, even still to this day, six years down the road, I always think, “What would Nick want me to do?” Then she goes out and finds the joy.

How to handle guilt around getting back into dating

Dr. Gallagher says that the thing about grief is that it probably won’t completely go away. “Sometimes we have to feel guilty and do it anyway.”

Amanda’s inspiration behind her Good Grief Podcast

“I’ve found such a saving grace in community and it’s helped me so much just by connecting to other people who understand this pain, it’s helped me move forward, it’s helped me find the light,” she says. “[Grief is] always with me, and I’ve learned how to love myself now in it, and I just want other people to have a safe place they can go to, to also find that light.”

What to do first if you’re experiencing grief

Dr. Gallagher says if someone is questioning whether they should go to therapy, the answer is usually yes. Self-monitoring can also be helpful, as can finding a community such as a grief group as well as someone not in your direct line of suffering who can give you a different outlet.