Martha Stewart Shades Ina Garten's Pandemic Coping Advice to Drink More Cosmos: 'Not Charming'

"I do not agree about taking to drink to cope with things like the pandemic," Martha Stewart tells PEOPLE

Photo: Getty (2)

You won't catch Martha Stewart sipping a giant cosmopolitan anytime soon, that's for sure.

Earlier this month, Ina Garten commented on a post of Reese Witherspoon's and revealed that her "formula" for coping with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic includes drinking "more large cosmos." But Stewart isn't totally on board with that advice.

"I do not agree about taking to drink to cope with things like the pandemic," the lifestyle expert and businesswoman tells PEOPLE in this week's issue. "To me that's not charming."

Instead, Stewart prefers to keep busy with new projects, like launching her new chardonnay, Martha's Chard, with Australian wine brand 19 Crimes. "To me it's continuing to work really hard, to be as productive as I possibly can be, to enjoy my grandchildren," she says.

19 Crimes

Stewart, 80, is "not a big drinker," she says. "I never have been." She'll have a glass of wine or two with dinner and will extend the glass with the addition of ice cubes (a tactic she promises is now totally acceptable, even to fine winemakers).

For more on Martha Stewart shading Ina Garten, listen below to our daily podcast on PEOPLE Every Day.

She credits her productivity to her daily routine at home in Bedford, New York.

"I have a lot of energy and a lot of curiosity. I get up early every single day," she says. "I live on a farm, so the farm life starts early. At 7 a.m. we're all at work — snow, rain, sunshine, we're here. Animals don't wait."

Ina Garten/Instagram

Garten joked about her own coping mechanisms after seeing a video from Witherspoon where she laid out some daily habits she was working towards, like drinking more water, avoiding late-night TV binges and reading 30-60 minutes per day.

The Barefoot Contessa commented on the video: "To quote Reese Witherspoon, that sounds great but I'm probably not doing any of those things! LOL!!"

She then went on to lay out her "formula," which she said "is easier to follow":

1. Drink more large cosmos
2. Stay up late watching addictive streaming series
3. Stay in bed in the morning playing Sudoko instead of reading a good book
4. Spend more time (safely) with people you love."

"In a pandemic, I do what I can," Garten said.

Michael Kovac/Getty Images

Stewart may not agree with number 1 on Garten's list, but she is all about number 2.

She tells PEOPLE she watches TV "only at night" rather than during the day. "I have two iPads, and I might use up all the power in both during a night watching something," she says. "I just binged season 3 of Yellowstone. I loved it. Kevin Costner never looked better."

The entrepreneur is also looking and feeling her best. Her secrets? "I just brought Frederic Fekkai home from California to cut my hair. I continue with my facials at Mario Badescu," she says. "And the pandemic has been okay to me physically because I haven't been eating out as much. I've lost some weight. I feel good."

For more on Martha Stewart, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.