Berner Phone - Maria Menounos: Healing In Hell & Her Next Chapter

Episode Date: May 18, 2023

The icon herself, Maria Menounos, is in hell with me today! We discuss why she finally decided to tell people about surviving pancreatic cancer, understanding warning signs in her body and mind, working in a male dominated industry, and becoming a parent this summer! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Burning Heaven. It's crazy that I'm hosting an interview with one of my favorite interviews of all time, and I really mean that. I was at a Macy's event, and the lady was like, hey, Maria wants to say something to you. Now, I never know what's going on in my life. I'm living day to day. I'm living minute by minute. So I'm like, okay, Maria, Maria fucking Minunos. She appears out of nowhere, like an angel, just like, Hannah. And I'm like, how does she know my name? Second of all, she was like, I listen to your pods.

So then I start blacking out because I can't handle all this. I'm already have too much going on. So I'm like, what? And she's like, I listen to the pod. I love your banter. You guys, I remember you say, like, you don't just fart into a mic. I remember that. I took notes.

I said, I'm going to repeat this to myself when I'm feeling down. Maria Menunos, so I don't fart into a mic, even though I tell a lot of fart jokes. And I felt like that day, you did not have to make another woman the arts, as I like to call it, feel so special. And you took time out of your crazy life, which we will get into to make someone else feel good. And I just remember being like, I am Maria Manuno's stand and defender for the rest of my life. I'm loyal like that. And I'm like, this woman, you made someone. one's day when you didn't have to thank you for coming on burning in hell full circle i just did

your pod that everyone should listen to heel squad hashtag hill squad maria you're in a crazy time right now yeah it's been a crazy time since i saw you actually yeah yeah yeah we um and and and and and everywhere right by the way yes i did give you all those compliments because when i'm going to go do something i want to know who i'm doing it with and you were a part of the lineup and i didn't No, I thought we were all talking at the same time. Whatever. I thought we were on a panel. They didn't tell me you were there, by the way.

Oh, and I did my research, and I was like, okay. And I'm like, wow, because my husband who's sitting over there, Kevin, was like, all these people, they just fart into mics. And so I keep the things in the back of my head. I'm like, Kevin, they don't fart in a mics. They're actually really smart. And I really love the banter, and it's fun. It's engaging.

Like, there were so many, I was like, wow. And so I meant all of it. And it was great to meet you, and it's been great to have you on the show. And I'm glad to be on your show. And yes, it's a crazy friggin time because I have been secretly battling a form of pancreatic cancer called, it's a neuroendocrine tumor. I found out mid-January that they saw a mass on my pancreas. and I usually like to go through things privately until I get to the other side of them, whether it was even like the Miss Massachusetts pageant back in the day.

We didn't tell anybody I went. It happened to win. And I was like, hey, guys, guess what? I just did this thing. And so whether it's good or bad, I usually don't talk about it until after. Throwback. Yeah. And so for this, yeah, we were privately battling this quietly.

I also was quietly battling type 1 diabetes since last June and I'm sure there's a connection because it's the pancreas that are is involved with both things so time will tell but um I just decided maybe a week and a half ago that I was ready to talk about it I had probably got to a place where I was like okay my healing is in pretty good shape I had gotten the all clear from doctors that I'm cancer-free and I was like okay I'm looking at the clock and I'm like okay I got to be in New York for all this work I was hosting the new fronts yesterday I'm hosting my podcast live from macy's this week and I was like I then I'm you know I'm going to be traveling and my baby's coming I got to get this this out and I'm tired of hiding all of this friends family don't even know

wow um i i'm tired of hiding my glucose monitor on my body and if i have to do an injection in public i have to be able to do it and you know whatever so yeah so it just came out yesterday and it's it's been pretty wild because we had this pod set up for a while and then my phone is like blowing up of everyone talking about this very very scary health scare and it's not the first one you've had yeah and from a like but it's the last we're done after this that i mean done hopefully i pray to every universe god there is coming from someone who grew up watching you and i'm not saying like i'm that much younger but like you inspired me seeing a woman in the news whether it's pop culture whether it's like wwee stuff you were a woman that was so good

That made me be like, I want to be like her. I'm going to cry. But literally, I'll never forget that vision of seeing you on the screen and being like, I want to be like her when I grow up. And I think you come off with so much confidence, so much poise, so much class, so much beauty inside and out. So for you to tell the world about something so scary and really break the mold of like what everyone, public figures put out that like everyone's.

perfect and we are above all of you minions as you know in entertainment while we're entertaining you what is it like to have to tell the public about such a scary struggle in your life well i'm definitely not the first to to share a scary struggle um i mean i remember vividly so many different people magazine covers but yeah i i think for me i hate keeping like secrets like this. I hate, I'm a secret keeper for people, but I'm such an open book that it's really hard for me and I host a health show. I mean, Heal Squad, which is so funny because you guys are Giggly Squad too. Heal Squad is, you know, life improvement show with a real big focus on health and wellness. And to not be able to share this journey all this time is really challenging because, you know, when you go on

the mic, you want to just talk about what just happened or what's going on in your life. secrets eat at you yeah I don't think it's been helpful so my naturopath yesterday said I feel like you're going to have a real like next wave of recovery now that it's out because you're not holding it in and I instantly felt my stomach like deep bloating yesterday it was really wild but um I I like to share I like to help people those are like two really important things for me and I know that now that it's out I can I can be free of that secret or all of these secrets and I can do something with it and I can help people and I can share what I've learned because I've learned so much about health and how we need to really look at it and

approach it. So I'm glad. But also you're phrasing it like I was keeping a secret, but I think it was also more so you were protecting the fact that you had to handle your business first instead of fighting not only the press but also like your own health because you can't it's a lot it's a lot well energy is a lot too so imagine like if you come out and you say you have something like this there's there's going to be two factions there's going to be the people who are hopeful and praying for you and then there's going to be all this energy of people like she's a goner and you can't have that to me i can't have that i need to to know that everything is as protection as possible. Even my baby, like, I would love to show the picture of my dad and I holding

the sonogram, but there are going to be people who are going to have bad energy. And I just want to protect as much as I can from that. And you also, you've, you've been in the game for so long pre, like, real social media. I know you've, you had, like, the forums probably and stuff like that. So you've seen kind of the energy change with social media being a public facing person before and after. How has that affected you? I mean, initially, I thought it was Armageddon. When social media came out, I remember being at Access Hollywood in my boss's office and Billy Bush was there and he's like, what are you getting on Twitter? And I'm like, I'm so terrified of all this. I'm very intuitive. I have a very strong gut. I was like, this is Armageddon. I just, I

I was shuddering. I was so scared of it. And then, like everybody else, I knew I had to get on board, but I was like, damn, this is really, really scary. It's a double-edged sword. And then you see the social dilemma, and you're like, oh, I was right. I mean, you see what's gone on in general. There's a beauty to it, yes, because we're all connected. But I wish it would just all disappear.

You mentioned that you have a very strong gut. Have you always been into it? or did it take you a while to find your voice? I've always had really strong intuition and kind of psychic abilities. There have been moments I've embraced it and moments I've like shunned it out of fear. In terms of listening to my gut, it's a whole other story. I think that's something that you fine-tune and you start to trust. Like even recently, I remember telling Kevin,

And I just knew this is a bad move. I knew. I was like, I don't think. I don't think this is a, no, did it anyway. And then I was right. And so I still battle it sometimes because you want to give, let's say, people the benefit of the doubt. Right? If you're, you know, in a situation with somebody, you're like, oh, I'm sure they're actually really nice.

I'm sure this will work out or whatever. And then you're like, I'm freaking know. it's funny because my husband is also very intuitive and he's older than me so he has like life experiences so i'll meet someone and i'm like a labrador retriever i'm like i love them and he'll be like i don't fucking trust that motherfucker i don't see it and i'll be like you're being negative and then like three months later i was like he's always right that guy's always right but i like i love people like that because i can i lie to myself all the time but i think once you trust your gut i'm like then the universe starts conspiring in your favor yes it does i also because i'm i feel like

the greeks and italians are kind of similar we are and i feel like generationally the concept of like a nona or like a wise older woman like it's always been in history that like kind of psychic wise woman and i feel like it is in our genes to an extent oh yeah my mom is like that my mom was so so intuitive and psychic. And I used to call her for like answers to everything and I had to like detach a little to be like you have your own gut. You can't put everything on this poor woman who's like obviously going to try to be there for you. Making decisions is hard. I barely figure out my nail color without Kevin. I'm like, what do I do? Do I go pink or do I go yellow? I don't know. You said Kevin's also intuitive. Yeah, he is. He's a career intuitive. Oh. So he, oh my gosh, try going to the mall with

him he'll find someone behind the counter and he'll be like you you're supposed to be doing this this this and this is how you're going to do it he'll spend two hours and i'm pulling him with the cane i got to go and he you know yeah that is he's it's funny i feel like that too like and he's italian so that's why you're connected we're connected yeah because my grandpa was a basketball coach in like brooklyn he used to be that guy who would like pull kids on the street and be like get off the streets you got to be yes you're going to be forward on my team and you're going to make it and like he loved and I love doing that with people too not so much they want to be an agent but like I'll see something in someone that they don't always see in themselves and then I always

think like if it's too short I'm like why are you not chasing your dreams mm-hmm quit all your jobs almost bad advice I'll be like quit your job break up with that man and you need to go on broadway yeah you need people who are propping you up and make you you like yes I believe in you I see you and they're proud of you and they're excited for you if that's not what's around you you're not going to flourish and you're going to drown and then you're going to keep trying to seek their approval so now they've got the upper hand in the situation and then you're trying to seek their approval to see you like you can try anything they're choosing they might see you more than anyone and they're scared of your greatness yes and they're just shoving you down but yeah

and you could probably write a whole thesis about this connecting the emotional and the physical how connected is that in terms of illnesses and anxieties depression the physical and the mental what's going on so much i mean i had somebody on the show i think his name is dr scott lions recently and he was talking about the process that your body goes through with stress and then the hormones that are released and when he said it i had such a like ding ding ding ding ding moment and was like oh my god wait stop and he goes what i go i just had a breakthrough and he goes what i go I keep saying I got to get to the bottom of what's happening in my body hormonally. Why are all these hormonal issues?

The brain tumor was hormonal, the pancreatic tumor hormonal, the fibroid hormonal. And it's not like my hormone numbers are crazy or anything. It's your body's producing from the stress so many hormones and has to go somewhere. That's why they say stress kills. Yes. So, yes. I, if I'm thinking about it in that way, which again, I evade trying to blame and think a lot. I might crack a joke here or there, but if I think about it, I worked in really extremely stressful

situations with really toxic people, men and women. And you were like high performing, cannot make a mistake. And there were a lot of people who wanted to minimize me and not see me for their personal reasons. And intentionally, there was one person I was. worked with, his manager called my agent. I thought I was meeting and working with a friend. Got slapped in the face. And he said, we are going to do everything we can to get rid of her. I had just started this job and I was so excited to work with a friend. And if you can imagine, that was their goal. So every day they tortured me, hoping I would quit because this person was

insecure, thought I was going to take, you know, money out of the pocket, you know, whatever. And of course, I bring, I have a very strong history of bringing up ratings in major, major, major ways. And so the insecurities just got the batter of this person. And they tortured me. And I ended up with a brain tumor after. And you were not about to dim your life. I'm not blaming them for the brain tumor, by the way. Yeah. Because also I will say like on my end of it, I was thrust into a world where I was working 20 hours a day, seven days a week. I didn't know how to handle my stress properly. I don't know who does at that age, to be honest, and you're eating fast food and you're not doing anything the right way. You have no clue. We don't know how to do these things. That's why I'm so committed to my show

so I can help people start having healthier habits and start realizing how to do this. This girl that works for me, she's in production. She worked for me temporarily. I said, when you go back into this world of production, just do one thing for me. I know you're going to work crazy hours. I know it. You're trying to live your dream. That's great. You have to do that to win. but just please try to eat as healthy as you can and get your sleep that's it just do those two things and you'll be way ahead of what I was when you say don't give away your power can you explain that so you give away your power when you don't own your own value your own worth and it's only based on whether they say you're good or they say you're worth it or any of that you give

away your power in in situations when I mean you're being gaslit and then you you just you allow it too right like and it's hard because it's for me people are like well why didn't you leave these jobs and I'm like I had a family to support I was taking care of two ill well one ill parent for a while and then a second ill parent like financially responsible for everything and there's also a job that you probably dreamed of to get exactly why should I leave my dream job because someone's being an insecure little child? And no one prepares you for those situations. No. I actually, I like to call it betraying yourself. I like that. That's like giving away your power. I've betrayed myself and what Hannah wants and Hannah needs because I'm trying to conform to something or make someone else feel okay.

From high school, I remember having to dim, not shower, wear horrible clothes because I like started high school wearing like my cute clothes or whatever and it was just like not good not a good situation and then in the different jobs I would always have to keep I remember going to one job and be like okay I'm not going to I'm not going to talk at this job at this job I'm just going to go in do my job and really toxic relationship it was so unbelievable my favorite thing because I'm Sicilian so I love revenge and I love I love I love long slow revenge I want long Sicilian too. I wanted to come when they at least expect it.

But the thing with this, I use it as motivation. I fucking love you. When he met me. I don't want to get you pumped up right now. I put him in Sicilian recovery. I'm like, we do not retaliate. Look, don't cross my family is what I'm going to say. But this is the thing.

When I've gotten in these like, I use it as motivation because I never want to hurt people. The only way I know as revenge is to like to win. or to just be what they don't want me to be, which is myself. And then when you're so deep in that revenge, you literally forget what it was about. And I don't wish harm on them anymore. And the next thing you know, you're getting revenge on someone else. Like, you're on to the next revenge.

So I don't care where people get their, like, confidence to want to wake up in the morning. But, like, my thing is use that to get you to wake up next morning and not betray yourself. But this is why I said I love her after the interview we did too. I go, Kevin, for her age, she's so smart and so aware. And you're already on the path. And I'm so I'm so impressed. And so I kept saying, I'm like, I really, really, I really love you for that. I was like, oh, this is so cool to watch.

That means the world to me. Like I was taking tips and learning things. I was like, oh, I'm going to take it. I'm going to use that. Well, I think because I was a tennis player, it was a lot of critique. and self-analizing and I've had like I just have failed a lot for my age like and been in really dark places that and refused to like be stuck there and also I it's so funny Kevin reminds me my husband so much and that like he's so tough and so like he's experienced so many things and his

advice to me was when bad things would happen to me he was like stop like being mad at at them and I'm like but they did this to me and he's like every second you waste being mad at them is just hurting you because they don't give a fuck they're out here doing it to the next person they don't give a fuck about you and he goes you know what you should do you should forgive everyone and I'm like oh this is saying to me was like don't fucking listen to this guy but he was like you release it and watch you get your power and I was like that is way too mature for me and I'll get there but I'm with this older man who's and he's I'm mean he he's made those mistakes which is why he'll tell me this and I'm like it's easier said

than done honey yeah but you now are very entrepreneurial and you came from like corporate corporate stuff like a face of like cable networks corporate how has your life changed now that you're kind of your own boss oh it's amazing I laugh because when I was at E I came home one day, and this friggin maniac, I go, what happened to the garage? He goes, this is your future. I go, honey, what happened to the fucking garage? And he's like, this is your future. I'm building you a podcast studio. And I was like, what is he talking about? What a weirdo. So he builds a studio. Now, by the way, he had me podcasting when it was just Adam Carolla. I was literally one of maybe five podcasts. I started one and then they didn't let me finish it at extra. So he

knew where this was all going and he's a visionary ahead of his time always but so he built the studio and then of course I ended up with a brain tumor and then the only thing I could do was crawl into my studio with my walker and do my show what's been beautiful about the transition is I always say god just threw a couple bricks at my head and was like you don't belong in these places and I was too scared to do it for myself for sure and also I was succeeding so wildly I it just didn't really make sense right so i always say just because you're good at something doesn't mean yeah just because you can doesn't mean you should yes yeah so i and i was literally draining and dying like draining and dying also if your people please are like me unless the universe punches you in the face

you won't go anywhere yeah but the universe knows how to break me and that's why like i like i've been it has to be like i have to get fired i have to be like have horrible like betrayals happen to me for me to be like I can't do this anymore but just like a little uncomfortableness I'm like I'm used to this I can handle it but it's hard to know from the universe do I need to work harder or do I need to quit and that's what we talked about in your pod where I was like sometimes quitting is I say your first dream like my first dream was to be a tennis player and I failed but you shouldn't succeed at your first dream how do you know what you really want to do I feel like your first my real dream if i think when i was a kid was entertaining but i happened to be athletic

and kind of went that direction yeah but enough about me um that i'm just traumatized my tennis career you know that big bargain detergent jug is 80% water right 80% water i thought i was getting a better deal because it's so big if you want a better claim tidepods are only 12% water the rest is pure concentrated cleaning ingredients. Oh, pass me to intercom thingy. Attention shoppers. If you want a real deal, try tidepods. Don't pay for water.

Pay for clean. If it's got to be clean, it's got to be tide pods. Water content based on the leaving bargain liquid detergent. Before we play a final game, you've been through some life-threatening shit. Let's not like just go over it easy. how is Maria a different person now versus a year ago before the diagnosis? Well, in this last year, I've really embraced meditation, Dr. Joe Dispenza in specifics. And that's really changed my life.

So I'm a much calmer person. And I'm more kind of, I'm more aware of what works for me and what doesn't work for me, right? like if I do too much in a day I just I start fritzing I can't do it like so I'm more I'm paying more attention to that stuff I I really really really really really really know what it's like to be like oh I might die like this I might not be able to meet my kid that's coming this summer like I I really know and Kevin really knows now what it's like to be like oh life is this might be real. I might not make it. And so it's a crazy thing because then, you know, we go into the steps of like what you have to do when you have your surgeries and you get past

it and then life starts happening again. And so I'm currently in the moment of I really need to process this in a deeper way because it's been such a secret that it's only becoming real to me now that I'm talking about it. Yeah. And so I still have a lot of processing to do so that I can see how I really want to live this next chapter, which I already know some of it, obviously. I know that I really want to live. I really want to not hold back. I want to have fun. And you're back to be a mom. Yeah. And I really want to give this baby everything I got and really enjoy her. And I want to be healthy for her. I want to be there to go the distance with her. And so I have to change things, I still have to change things about myself so that I can live that healthy life because I still can let stress get the better of me, even knowing now what I know. And so I still have to make some adjustments.

Selfishly, I always felt like the more success I had, the more lovable I was. So you're a high performing, very successful person on paper who then starts struggling physically. and then you have your partner who's standing by you, how do you, did you feel that you weren't like a burden or like that why would this person still love me when I'm now, you know? Needing so much? Yeah. Oh yeah.

No, that's happened since way back, since the brain tumor. I felt so bad. I was like, you should just leave. Like, this is crazy. My mom, me, like you're having to carry so much. Yeah.

And then this and then, I mean, then they both got COVID my parents. and both of them were in hospitals with, you know, one with brain cancer, the other one with type one diabetes and all this stuff. Like, we've gone through it. But I will say we're really good at crisis, so we know how to do it. We know how to do it really well, I think, at this point. And I'm just grateful to have him by my side.

And I'm grateful for his strength and his Sicilianness, although sometimes it's too intense. We are obsessed. And I'm grateful. I'm joking because my mom's Sicilian, so she's anxious about everything, but then when a crisis happens, she's like, I've been preparing for this every second of the day. I'm ready to take this on. I know exactly what to do. I'm like, oh, yeah, so we don't have to stress about traffic because someone has a brain tumor now and she's like, I got you, like the calmest person in the room. I'm dead. I love it. Oh, my God. Well, it's, it's great to kind of see you two also together. I wasn't even expecting this, but you understand someone more when you see like their support system. Like, you can tell that here. You can tell that here. He is such an important part of everything you do and is such like a life partner. Like a real team you guys have created, which is really fucking awesome considering famous people

have some shitty relationships. Yeah, well, it sounds like you have a really good one too. Like you have your teammate who's like behind you and your rock and setting you straight. I mean, you think in life that your mom and dad are only going to be the ones that like love you like that and that like believe in you like that. My mom believed in me so intensely.

And then I was so lucky that I got dealt somebody else who really, really sees me, but also knows how to help execute it too. And also it shows you can find someone who is so great for you and perfect for you, but life isn't perfect. So you're not choosing someone based on we're going to have a perfect life together. It's who's going to be the best to battle the crazy shit that comes at you in life. like we got engaged when I started to have some like crazy tough career stuff happened so I felt not it's obviously very different but like you have a baby coming which is so beautiful and incredible I'm so excited for you guys then you're also battling for your life so it's a dichotomy of like to process that is so complicated yeah but it's like life throws you stuff and you just need to know that you'll handle it and you can and like so it was funny you Kim Kardashian and I weren't just messaging she was like you're so strong and I was like I

now have been praying and thanking God every night for the strength that he's given me because I really see kind of that crazy strength that I have now more than ever he used to tell me he's like you're so strong I'm like no I'm not I'm so weak and now I'm like oh no it's funny because you just know yourself because the first time I met you that was the word that came to my mind I was like oh she's strong really Yeah, you just have an aura about you where it's like, she can do anything, you know? That's so funny. I can't handle you too.

Oh my God. Can you guys, we have to do a double date once. Yes. Because my husband is Irish from Queens. Let's just say, the two of you. Are you, you're Boston? Yeah. Same thing.

So an Irish Boston is a New York, sorry, Italian Boston is an Irish person from New York. Yeah. my ass cold you are 84 what is your skincare routine italian no he uses vitamin eat cream every day him and my mom and they never had any like aging stuff i was like damn can i get some quick before we start our game which i will do just some quick tips because you in terms of you said you had to change your lifestyle your eating habits is there any off-the-cuff things i know it's different for everyone but in terms of like fitness working out skin care that you're obsessed with right now health stuff i do every single day on my show

um one of the things that i love was uh elisa vt she's a like a hormone expert endocrine system expert she taught us to eat our veggies first so your endocrine system has to be happy i'll tell you why so in the morning when you drink coffee first and you have your bagel or your And your endocrine system is like, what the fuck are you doing in here? Holy shit, we got to produce all this insulin to take down all that sugar. And that's how you're starting your morning inside your body. You don't know that, but that's what's going on inside. And then what happens is just your blood sugar spikes so high.

And then it crashes down. And then you need more coffee. You need more coffee. And then you get your candy. And then you have your cheeseburger and your fries and whatever. And then you're like, why I'm having a full panic attack? over an email right now yeah and your body's just going crazy so she talks about like to make your endocrine system happy eat your veggies first it creates almost like this fiber basket in your body

eat your veggies first then layer your protein and your fats so like your chicken your tuna your feta cheese whatever avocado then if you're going to have carbs eat the carbs then after that you can have your tea or your coffee caffeine after that will tell your endocrine system your body's like, oh, I see what's happening. I got the veggies in here right now, but I see all this other stuff coming. I get time. I can just gently release the insulin that I need for this. And the fiber and the protein and the fats is all going to help balance everything.

So it's not going to spike up like crazy. I wish we learned this in school. I wish we learned this in school too. This is so much more helpful than the Pythagorean theorem. Yes, I had to go through so many fucking health battles to get to a place where I start a show every day where this is what I learned that I should have learned when I was younger. So I'm a stomach early. I always thought that I had like allergies or something. I'm like celiac.

No, I have no allergies. I just always have stomach aches and it's anxiety. And I've like recently realized that like before every tennis match, she's in the bathroom. It's ugly. And it wasn't because I try to eat different things before the match. Your body is telling you something. And I recently got off birth control. Oh, well wait until you see Ricky Lake's documentary about birth.

control I've never had her on your show no have you seen the documentary no both must I'm obsessed with documentaries and I love Ricky Lake so it's on my to-do list yep I'll connect you I feel like the most energy I've ever had and this has been two months off it I've been on for 10 years and I was on low low disaster I was on it for years and when I went to conceive and they checked my follicles they're like oh you can never have babies you have no follicles you have nothing. I'm like, wait, there's no way. I'm like, I know my body. I'm fine. Got off the birth control, did some acupuncture, and then soon after everything flourished and came back. And I go, oh, so I didn't have anything? That was the birth control. Now, I still didn't get pregnant,

but that's a whole other story. Yeah, yeah. We don't have time. Yeah, we don't. But, yeah, so on the health front, there's that. And I have a zillion other of these things on my show. So If you guys ever want health stuff, this is your thing. Listen to your squad, definitely go. On the fitness side, I've just recently in the last, let's say, six months been working out with my trainer from years ago again. I was like, you know what? I've been so cheap with myself.

I really need to invest in myself. And I really love working with her. She's really smart. And so we do a lot of like Pilates-ish kind of movements, kind of very old-fashioned stuff. And I love that because I feel strong. And then on the beauty front, I... Your skin's amazing. Thank you.

I've always loved Dermologica. I really love true botanicals as well. There's this little laser wand that I actually saw a difference with. Oh, hold on. I have the thing of all things. But I'm afraid to use it. I've only used it once. It's called Snatched.

Everyone in Hollywood is using it. A Zempec. No. Well, that too. So it's this device and I'm scared to eat. even promote it, but it's this device that literally snatches your face before your eyes. And so I'm scared of what that does. The girls on my team were like freaking out, so I got it for them for Christmas, like, but with a real heavy heart. And I said, please, you guys just only

use it like once if it's like a big event or something. It's like face gym, but it'll do it for you. Yeah, they were desperate for it. I'm like, please can I get you like a nice bag instead? But it's also a thin line. Like at what point does your face have to look as like thin as possible? like whatever happened to a cute little plump face i love plump face i love a plump face yeah by the way people spent a lot of money to have plump face i know also you're naturally very very beautiful how have you not turned to um just doing plastic surgery all over your face well i'm grateful for jeans and i don't want to poo poo on anybody that has done it because there's people who are equally beautiful and decide to fuck with their face they they do they do they do

do make that choice um i will say that it's really hard to for me to judge anybody with that stuff because you don't know how someone feels inside when they see themselves in the mirror and it's really hard so yes i've seen people who are really beautiful and i'm like oh my god i wish i wish but um i am really lucky that i do have good genes of course i use botox everybody does whether I like using something that's toxic or not. So I know that's also helped. But this psycho also didn't let me be in the sun for since I was 22. I hadn't been in the sun.

My husband wears a shirt everywhere. We'll not take a shirt off because of the sun. Oh, really? Oh, he's Irish. But here's a thing. When you listen to my show, when you listen to Dr. Alison Monette's episode, we talk about the importance of light and how light is literally medicine. And if you think about the one common denominator with cancer is a low vitamin D count. So we need sun.

We need sun. So what do we do? I'm out in the sun constantly now. It's a thin line. I might get really old fast, guys. It's like I was able to preserve all these years by being out of it. But my health is taking a toll. So now I'm like, I'm outside naked sun bathing all the time.

Well, we have to sun our perennium. Yeah. Really quick, because you have to leave in the next five minutes. We're going to play a speed round. of the Seven Deadly Sins. Okay. Seven Deadly Sins. What are you greedy about?

Food? What kind of food? I don't like to share my food. I'm a pig. I love eating. Does he get one? Yeah, but kind of begrudgingly a little. He's very giving with food.

I'm a bit of a grinch with food. Am I right? A little bit, right? Not bad. Not evil. who are you envious of and it could be a kind of person too oh my gosh i am envious in the best way of people who give zero fucks that's a good answer like like people who just don't and then i'm i'm envious of people who can really just focus on what they want to do and don't get distracted

and i think giving zero fucks is like very healthy for your body listen I think there are people who take it to extreme I think I need more of that I'm an imbalance so I need that but then like there are the people who give zero zero fucks who need a little bit of fucks in their life it's okay to have a little fucks they got to give they got to have a few fucks to give so we need more balance yeah there's a balance of fucks um when's the last time you experienced extreme wrath or anger do you have a fiery side uh this morning when I'm texting people clear directions on things and they don't listen. I'm like, it's in black and white, just reread it.

I just wrote it down very clearly. I'm actually like that because especially if people are doing something for you and you're the face of it and if they mess up, you look bad. And I'm like, this is really important to me. And like, I just do it myself at this point. When was the last time you were a sloth or like lazy? Oh, excuse me? What was that?

I'm slothy and lazy. You call it being greasy with my pajamas in the morning. So on a weekend, I really love to be slothy. I love to wake up slow. I go out and get my sunrise. I get my sun. I'll make my breakfast. And you have a kid that you're about to throw in the mix, but you're ready.

You're like, let's go. Let's wake up. Middle of the night, let's go. Final question for the little devil's listening. What advice would you give? to the listeners on how to cope with your hell when you're going through it when it's dark and if anyone's gone through hell recently it's you okay i have a bunch of coping mechanisms i've learned on the show that have been helpful so first of all empathy we're in hell for a reason something horrible

fucking happened right whether it's a diagnosis whether your your boss fired you you were just broken up with your best friend broke your heart i don't know what that's like um so empathy And then some of the tools I use is life is happening for me, not to me. So it's a tool. Hard to apply sometimes. But sometimes I'll say, well, how could this be working for me? How could this be something that's good? Sometimes I get no answer.

Then I move on to the next thing. The next thing is, let's choose wonder over worry. Oh, I love that. That was Ida, right? That taught us out. She's wonder over worry. So I wonder what it's going to be like when the doctor actually comes in and gives me good news this time. I wonder what it's going to be like when I get through this surgery.

And I'm actually fine. I wonder what it's going to be like when I meet a better guy. And he loves me for me and he actually encourages me rather than, you know, being toxic. You're kind of manifesting a little too. Like you're just putting positive energy out there. It's worked every freaking time for me. Oh, I love that. And so.

And then I can't. say enough about having a good meditation practice like Dr. Joe's where he's changing the way you think and believe. How much time in the mornings? You can do. He has even 15 minute ones, but it really isn't about the time. It's about changing who you are. It's changing your personality to change your reality. It's major guys. It's literally changed my life. This man was like, who is this and where did my wife go? What aliens took her? Because I've changed so much. since I started it. So you need tools and then you need to surround yourself with people. You are who you are the company you keep. You need to surround yourself with positive people who

are going to lift you in those moments and help you because I'm going to come kicking and screaming, right? Kevin's going to keep trying to lift me out. I'm going to like, no. But eventually I'm going to get out of my little dark hole and I'm going to lift myself up with these tools and with encouraging words from people that love me. Maria, you are so incredible. Thank you for coming on and being so vulnerable about your private life. And, you know, you're on this crazy press tour talking about this incredible thing that you overcome.

And I'm just so thankful that you left space for us to come in and hear all your wise words. Where can people listen to you, follow you? Give me kind of the tea. Okay. You can listen to the Heel Squad podcast. on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. It's called Heal Squad by Maria Manunos. And then I'm on Instagram at Maria Manunos and the same thing for all the other platforms.

And thank you for having me. And when I commit, it's really hard for me to uncommit. So I was not going to not be here. You're the best. I appreciate it. Thank you. Talk to you later, guys. Bye.

Thank you.