Well with Arielle Lorre - 309: Girl Chat with Brocc Your Body’s Carissa Stanton: How to Leave a Happy Relationship, Anxiety & SSRIs, Comparison Traps & Food Restriction

Episode Date: April 22, 2024

This episode was brought to you by the House of CHANELCarissa Stanton is a content creator, cookbook author, and woman behind the popular website Brocc Your Body. Her content mixes in healthy, simple recipes that are easy to make, with touches on lifestyle, including mental health. In this episode, we cover all things girl chat, like leaving happy relationships to comparison traps among women we're close to. We also talk about the mental health aspect of her life, from her experience with SSRIs and getting off of them to her struggles with anxiety and burnout. We also talk about all things food, how she comes up with her consistent posting plan, food restriction, and her new cookbook!Carissa's cookbook: https://rstyle.me/+0OrfogM-ABPOlpEIM11xuAThis episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The following podcast is a dear media production. Welcome to the Blond Files podcast. I'm your host, Ariel Lorry, and I'm here to talk all things wellness. From how to achieve optimal health and well-being to the best beauty tips and everything in between, no topic is off limits. I know there's so much information out there, so I'm bringing on expert guests and sharing my own experiences to help you sift through all the wellness stuff without the BS. Enjoy the show.

Hi, everybody. to the show. I loved today's conversation and I love today's guest so, so much. I feel like this is an episode that we all just need. We need to cleanse our palettes. Hear some girl talk and just hear a really candid, vulnerable conversation that covers everything from anxiety to SSRIs to leaving a good relationship or a good enough relationship. We talk about comparison traps. We talk about food restriction and food in general and so much more. And we have a lot of laughs along the way. In fact, what you will not hear is nine minutes straight of nonstop crying laughing. You guys will probably hear the part that I'm referring to. But Carissa, my guest, myself and Ashley, my producer,

could not stop laughing, crying, laughing, sweating, nonstop for nine minutes. It was so funny. I feel like that happens to me like once a year, if that, and I think we all needed it. So anyway, I am talking to Karissa Stanton. She is the creator of Brock Your Body. What she does, essentially, is she makes cleaned up craveworthy recipes. I'm sure you guys are all familiar with her. I'm sure you've made some of her recipes. She specializes in taking your favorite comfort food and making simple easy swaps to make you feel good when you are done eating. She also has amazing quick recipes and she shows people that eating healthy doesn't have to be hard or expensive. She has a new cookbook out called Seriously So Good and seriously every recipe in it is so good. I mean such a perfect

fitting name. So definitely go check that out as well. We will link it in show notes. And I think you guys are going to really love this episode. So enjoy Carissa Stanton. Ready? Yeah. It's always like funny to get started. I'm like, we've been talking for 20 minutes. Okay. Now it's official. Official talking time. Yes, it is official. Welcome, Carissa. Thank you. Really excited to talk to you. I feel like we've been doing the pre-podcast before the podcast. I know. Talking about all the things. There's so much that I am excited to dive into with you today. Me too. We were just talking before we started recording about breakups. And this is obviously way in the past now for you. I think it was four years ago, right? I can't even remember. Yeah, I think it was like four and a half. Yeah. So you know, like five. Oh, really? Yeah. Pre-COVID? Pre-COVID. Okay. So I thought that would be a good starting point because I was just telling you that, you know, when I did my episode about getting divorced and breaking up, like it's such a relevant topic always. But for whatever. reason, it seemed to really resonate with a lot of people right now. Yeah. And I got so many questions about how to leave a relationship, how to know if you should leave a relationship, having the

courage to do so. Yeah. And, you know, I can say for myself, like being on the other side of it, just a few months out, what I was just saying to you, I can't imagine my life how it was a few months ago. But when you're in it, you can't imagine your life any other way. So I'd love to, like, hear your perspective on that? Yeah. So I was in a relationship for six years. I was engaged and we met when I was 21. And I feel like all of my whole friend group at the time, they were all in serious relationships. Some of them were starting to get engaged and starting to think about starting families. And I wanted to keep up with them. I'm like, I'm in a relationship with a guy who's really sweet and nice and treats me really well. And, you know, on paper would be a great husband. So that's what I'm

going to do. So I kept trying to like convince myself that I was doing the right thing and that I was happy and that everything was going to be all right. But deep down, I just like knew something was wrong. And I almost feel like if you're questioning it and you're not feeling 100% great about it, then like maybe you need to like dive a little bit deeper. And just the feeling of making such a big for me always in life is really hard. I'm really bad at breakups just in general. Like if I have like a personal trainer or like anything, I'm just really bad at doing that. So it was extremely difficult, but it was so extremely worth it. I think the hardest part was I was 27 at the time and I felt like if I ended this relationship and I was going to be single, who knows what's going to happen. Am I going

be, you know, single at 30 or whatever, never find anyone. It's kind of like scary going into the unknown, but looking back at where I am in life now, so extremely happy that I made that decision. And yeah, I think the hardest part of the whole situation for me was towards the end, being in the relationship and knowing that I wanted out and not really having the courage to do it. Once I did it, it was not scary at all. It was so freeing. It was like the most fun, amazing time of my life. I moved from San Diego to L.A. Didn't really know anyone and just had such a great time, like making a bunch of friends and feeling like I had this like brand new, amazing life. So 10 out of 10 recommend. Yeah, I could relate to so much of that. And I felt

the same way. Like, it's scary. And I think that you get these scarcity lack kind of thoughts. And I think that's totally natural to feel like, well, if not this person, then who? Because you just can't picture anything different. But the longer I lived in limbo, the more turmoil I had emotionally. Like, it was so hard to live in that place. And I think that if anybody is in that place where like they're thinking about doing it, but they're scared and they're living there. When you take action, everything changes. I found for myself and I would love to hear what happened for you because sounds like your life just blossomed. Yeah.

As soon as I unblocked that stagnation in my life, so many things have happened so quickly that I almost have like, my head is spinning because so much is happening so quickly. But it's because I was just stuck for so long. So what was that like for you? Like what happened for you socially, career-wise, everything once you made that move and you moved to L.A. and like started your life in this new chapter? Yeah, it made such a world of a difference. It's actually crazy, everything that happened. So once I finally ended my relationship, I made the decision to move to L.A. because a lot more career

opportunities were opening up for me. I did real estate for a very long time. And then I started my blog. And so right around the time I breakup, my blog started kind of flowing up. I got a lot more followers on Instagram. I was doing a lot of fun events and stuff in L.A. And I'm like, all right, I'm going to embrace this. And I made the move and just started really connecting with other people in the industry. And I got signed to a new management company with DBA. So got signed to a new management company had just like all these incredible opportunities through work. I met amazing friends when I moved. So yeah, I feel like it's very like woo-woo to say. But, you know, when you make these hard decisions and you do these things that are really good for yourself, the universe will reward you.

You know, like, it's so like, it sounds so funny to say. But I think we can both speak to the fact that it's true. Yeah. Yeah, I think my life completely turned upside down. Like I think about my day to day when I was living in San Diego and it was just, you know, it was very calm and, you know, it was fine. You know, nothing to really complain about. But now I feel like I have so many amazing. opportunities, so many things going on all the time. And yeah, I'm very, very grateful that I made that choice. Can you talk a little bit about the transition from also like working in real estate to working as a full-time content creator? Yeah. It's crazy because I, so I started my blog in 2017. Okay. So I've been doing it for seven years now. So when I first started it, I had a full-time job. I was doing real estate. I was answering phones at the front desk. And then I kind of started like trying to work my way up. I had some like side gigs helping other agents and things like that. I've always wanted to make money. And I was kind of like a hustler. So I was trying any

which way I could to make some extra money. And I have like definitely a creative side to me and really like working. So I would get home from work at like 5.15. And I'm like, okay, now what do I do? So I've always loved cooking. It's always been my number one thing. ever since I was little. I was like following my mom around in the kitchen and my friends' parents and always asking them how they made certain things. So I've always been very interested in it. And I was always cooking for my girlfriends. They would ask me for recipes. And I'm like, all right, let's just do a page where I post my recipes. My friends can see them and we'll see how it goes. My main goal was to get 10,000 followers. Like I thought that would be so cool. I really wanted like a vital proteins PR package. That was on my vision board. I just thought it would be amazing to get some

free food and some free wellness products. I was a broke, you know, fresh out of college, basically kid at that point. So that was how it all began. And then I just kept posting my like easy weeknight recipes. I was, you know, working full time. So they weren't anything crazy or fancy or special. They're still not. They're still like very much basic and easy. And it's literally still what I post to this day. But it was a very slow, I mean, we didn't have reels. I know. We didn't have like this quick way to get a million views and, you know, blow up on Instagram. So I like feel like I did it the old fashioned way. Same though. Posting static photos of my, you know, bowl of soup or whatever. Yeah. And it was like word of mouth almost. Like people

would tag me on their stories. And it was just a slow, gradual build up to what it is today. I know. I started in 2006. 16. I mean, same thing. Like, I was doing it on the side. I was working in another job. So it wasn't until 2018, I think, that I also started my website. And then I started getting some offers. And I was like, oh, this could actually be a career. But same. I mean, there was no discoverability that you can compare to today. I mean. Oh my gosh. It's insane. I've seen. People will get like a million followers in a month. Yeah. Yeah. I'm jealous. I am a little bit. But at the same. time, I feel like I wouldn't know what to do with that. And I feel like once you have that

kind of overnight success, then you have to sustain that. And I feel like that's so much pressure. So while at times I feel a little bit frustrated with growth, I just kind of have faith that like everything works out in the timing that it's supposed to. And I feel like I just would not know like how to manage that. What do you do? And I keep all these people happy. Yeah. And, you know, people turn on you. Like people love to love you. And then they love. love to hate you. And I mean, maybe not so much like in the food space, you know. Oh my gosh, no. It's they do not discriminate. Really? Do you get a lot of judgment? I get a lot of judgment. It's never the food. People never critiqued me for that. So I'm like, okay, I guess that's good.

At least you guys can't talk shit to my recipes. But I get a lot of hate just in general, like when I post like my outfits or when I post my boyfriend, people just like love to send like a you know, mean message here or there. But like, I was actually talking about this in therapy the other day. And she was like, my therapist was like, does that get to you? And I was like, I actually thought about it. And I'm like, I'm being so honest with you right now. Like I actually do not care. Like I actually don't care at all. No. Yeah. I'm just like, you would never send a message. Like my friends would never do that. No. I'm like, I just don't care. I know. It's like that saying like something about not accepting criticism from somebody who you wouldn't want advice from or something like that. I mean, and I always think

about that. Like the people who are saying these things are definitely not in a good place in their life because to your point, like, everybody that I know who's like happy and fulfilled, like they're not sitting there in the internet, like saying nasty things to people that they don't know. But I feel like sometimes it depends on where they catch, I'll speak for myself. Yeah. What state they're catching me in. You know what I mean? Oh, 100%. Definitely when I was going through like the unraveling of my marriage and like these major health issues and everything that I went through the life. last six months and then people were like, what the fuck is wrong with your face? Just stuff like that. That can be a little bit hard. I've gone off on a multi-paragraph response every once in a while,

where you just like have had it. Like you have extra time that day. I'm like, no, I'm not dealing with this. No, no, no, I've been there for sure. It's more so like the actual trolls that are just like you're ugly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those don't. Yeah. Yeah. I get that. So, okay, so you were posting your recipes. You said you were always into cooking. What was your well? illness philosophy, I guess, when you started posting because I know that you were a little more kind of health food-centric. I know that you talked to Liz years ago about doing like the cauliflower smoothies. And I was laughing because that was me too, just for the aesthetic picture. We were all drinking cauliflower. Like God forbid you put a banana. Yeah. Yeah. So funny. But what was it like in the

beginning? In the beginning, I was very much trying to do what other people were doing. Like following the trends. And I was like, oh, yeah, no, don't. Don't. a banana in your smoothie. And like deep down I was drinking the clawflowers movie. Like this is so disgusting. And at that point, like none of those posts that I did performed well. Like nobody cared about that. It was when I posted my dinner that I was actually eating that people really engage with my content. And it took me a while to get comfortable with what I was actually wanting to put out there. At first, it's like scary being like, hey, this is me. This is what I stand for. You kind of like are trying to hide behind.

what other people are doing. So yeah, the beginning I was definitely trying to follow other the trend, other people's trends and whatnot. I was very, very wellness focused when I was living in San Diego. I was eating very, very, very healthy, clean. And I was also very unhappy. And I kind of think that they went hand in hand. Like I was almost like punishing myself for being in this bad place in my life. I can't really explain it. But I feel like what I eat and what I post because what I eat is what I post has changed so much. Now, I just live a very balanced life. My tagline is simple recipes for balanced life. So I mean, I don't spend longer than like 20 to 30 minutes making dinner because I'm just kind of lazy, but I still like to eat really good food. So that's kind of my thing

is like a lot of like busy moms or people that just like don't necessarily want to spend a ton of time cooking dinner but still you know like to feel good and you want to be healthy. That's like what I eat for the most for like during the week. But then I also really love some good pasta and I'm not afraid to like add some butter in my meals. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not adding a stick of butter to my dinner on like a Tuesday or Wednesday night because I'm just like you know, it's not really worth it. Yeah. Yeah. I would say I don't really have like a certain. diet that I follow or I don't avoid any foods, but I definitely pay attention to what I'm eating and how it makes me feel, which I feel like kind of guides you into a little bit of a

healthier direction. You know, I like to eat lots of lean protein, lots of fruits and veggies. But again, I'll like, you know, drizzle some ranch on tops, wrinkle some cheese or, you know, whatever it is to make it, make it taste good and make me want to, you know, keep eating it again. Yeah. I feel like I went through that journey, too. like where years ago I was like very extreme where I was counting macros and everything, but I was super restrictive and not eating gluten, not eating dairy, not eating sugar, which like certain things I still avoid because I make the choice. Like, do I want to feel good?

Or do I want to indulge? Sometimes I want to indulge and I don't mind like feeling like shit afterwards. Yeah. But I look back on that time and I have to give myself a little bit of grace because I thought that I was like being healthy. Like I didn't really know what that meant at the time and how to go about it. But I was just not like that happy. I always say I'm like if you eat a boiled chicken breast and steamed broccoli and you feel

really sad afterwards and that is not a healthy meal. Yeah. Like I don't care how healthy it is for your body. Like that's not good for you. Like you got to you got to make sure that you're happy and enjoying the food that you eat. Totally. Because that is just so incredibly important for just your overall health. like your mental health is huge and for me eating good food is like very crucial for my my mental health.

Same. Yeah. Like it changes it changes my day. If I like to go out to a good dinner, I'm like, wow, that was the best night. I was the happiest person on vacation. One, because I was on vacation and it was nice and 80 degrees and I wasn't working. But also, oh my God, like the best like fried calumari ever, everything fried. I was eating everything fried. I was like, fry it, I'll eat it. And I was in heaven. Yeah. And I think because I had that attitude where I wasn't like, oh my God, is this like canola oil or does I have gluten in it? Like I just wasn't thinking about it. I didn't have any kind of reaction. Whereas years ago, like, that would be such a stressful thing because I was so fixated on like not eating certain things and like not having the gluten or dairy or whatever. And I think so much of how your body reacts to certain foods, aside from like real intolerances and allergy is your mindset for sure if you're super stressed out and you convince yourself that gluten is going to make you feel terrible then you're probably going to yeah you're going to like get bloated

feel terrible afterwards yeah like it's that's not going to be great it's funny though because you do see these wellness trends change and I have always been like eat whatever you want in moderation pay attention to how food makes you feel like you're going to be able to determine what you know is best for you. But it's so funny because I see these people now that are like, oh, I don't eat dairy. Dairy's terrible for you. And now they're like putting cottage cheese on everything. Yeah. Or drinking raw milk. Yeah. I know. And I'm like, oh, okay. So now we're back on dairy. It's just so funny. Okay. It's funny. Yes. But it's also so sad because there's people we know that follow these things like their rules and they listen to it. So I try as best as I can to just tell people like, no one on the internet is going to tell you

what you should and should not be eating. Like you are in control of that. Only your body can tell you what's going to be good for you. You got to lean in and pay attention because people will switch up on you real quick. Yeah. They will. And I was one of those people where I was following what other people were doing because I didn't know really how to tune into my body. So have you always had that strong intuition? Or is it something that you kind of honed over the years of like trial and error. I would say I always had a healthy relationship with food. I never really went through anything where I like was avoiding certain food groups or anything like that. But I definitely think back to when I was living in San Diego and I was unhappy and I definitely was not eating enough or eating

things that really made me happy. And again, I just think that was like I wasn't in the best mental state. But yeah, I've always had a really, I've always been really confident. And like, I think that that plays a big part in your diet weirdly. Because if you are confident in yourself and you're not really worried about exactly what you look like or the number on the scale or you're not worried about what everyone else is doing and you can sit down at a restaurant and eat three pieces of bread when no one else is eating bread or whatever it may be. So I think that actually is like a huge crucial part of it. And I honestly don't know. I think it's maybe my mom was what was always telling me my sister like, you guys, it's the prettiest best girls ever. And I'm like, okay. And it just

stuck. So I think that's kind of where it stemmed from. Yeah. I was going to ask you like where you think that comes from. And I mean, that's amazing if it was like instilled in you and you were able to receive it because I feel like I can speak for myself. Like I was super insecure. And I think that was part of what led me to like drug addiction and alcoholism was like, I didn't feel comfortable in my skin, even though I had the same thing, like from my parents. They're like, you're amazing, you're beautiful. But for whatever reason, I just didn't feel it or something or hear it or I don't know. I'm sure there was a lot more going on there. It's just interesting. And I know that you've talked about this in other interviews, but you get compared to your sister a lot, right? So how did that affect you? Or did it just

make you feel more confident? Because you're like, no, like, I'm my own person. and I'm beautiful and like we're completely different people. Yeah, it's funny because me and my sister are not competitive at all. We don't, we don't compare each other to each other. You know, it's kind of like an outside thing. Yeah. And growing up, I remember like people would make comments. You know, I actually think that you're the prettier sister kind of thing.

They said it in a way of like, well, I know everyone else thinks that she's prettier, but like, I actually think you are to like try and make me feel better. And I'm like, this is just so weird. for like anyone to say and to like compare us because and they would never do it if it was a boy like your brother oh my god no like he's a more attractive brother of course not we are just so different and I think that any comparison or judgment is it was always from like an outside source and it was hard you know because she's very small and petite and blonde and we just have like I'm a little bit more curvy we have different body types but honestly yeah I've always kind of just been like I'm

own person and we both support each other and like are you know we've never really been competitive or anything it is such like a weird thing that like people immediately see two sisters and are like let's compare them and like you know who's jealous of who it's so weird yeah why do we immediately do that do you feel like your career success has not that you needed the help with confidence but do you feel like that has lent itself to your overall like constitution at all because I feel like in some ways for content creators, people putting themselves out there, you can start to nitpick yourself. And then I think on the flip side, it does lead to confidence because you become comfortable putting yourself out there in the world as your authentic self. And like what you were saying

before, you kind of stop giving a shit what people think about you. Yeah. You develop a really thick skin. Yeah, for sure. Definitely starting out, I was posting only food and stuff like that. And it wasn't until, like, I've always, you know, been confident and, like, feeling comfortable talking about my life, like, all these different things that are happening. And when I first started talking about my anxiety and how I was taking LexaPro, people were really interested. And that was, like, the first time that I was talking about something other than food that people were really interested in. And so I started talking about my journey with anxiety. and how I made the choice to get on an SSRI and what that looked like for me. And people really resonated with it.

So I think feeling sure enough in yourself that you can address these shoes to, you know, a bunch of strangers and not be like scared that you're feeling judged and stuff like that, you know, it's definitely a huge part of my success. There's people that follow me and are like, I've never made one of your recipes, but I follow you because you talk about body confidence or you talk about anxiety. or relationship or whatever it is. I think it's definitely helped me become successful. Yeah. Yeah, I wanted to ask you about the anxiety piece, actually, because I heard you talking about that. And I was like, hmm, I wonder if I need an SSR. Oh, we could talk for literally hours about this.

Yeah, but it's so interesting because I think in the wellness world, there's this like resistance to turn to medication when, I mean, I heard you talk about this somewhere else, but you were like, you don't think that I've tried everything else. Yeah. You think I've tried sniffing lavender? Yeah. Sometimes people just like need the help. And I mean, I've always like run kind of anxious and it comes and goes and I do all the

things. But sometimes I'm like, I feel like I have a few days a month where I feel like, oh, this is how a normal person feels. Yes. And then it goes away. And I'm like, fuck, what did I do differently? Like I'm doing all the same things. Uh-huh. Do I need medication?

Yeah. It's funny because I have been off of. Lexa Pro for almost three months now. So I have this weird relationship with it because it changed everything for me when I got on it when I was 17. I had terrible anxiety. I couldn't drive a car. It was like really bad. And it helped me so much. My panic attacks went away. And then now that I am off of it, coming off of that drug is so insane. I mean, I feel like I can't talk. to you about this because you've been through probably so much worse than me. You're like, shut up. No, no, no, it's okay because I took a non-therapeutic dose of, it was either a lexapro or Zoloft years ago. I was having

terrible gut issues. And my doctor was like, oh, some people use non-therapeutic doses, meaning a super low dose that doesn't affect you like emotionally, but affects the serotonin. They were just kind of doing an off-label thing. So I was like, sure, why not? Didn't even think about it. And then I had to go off that. And it was like the brain zapping. Oh my God. Craziness. Are they so bad? Yes.

Yeah. Oh my gosh. So that's what makes me like hesitant to. Yeah. Go there again. Yeah. So I will say I am still an advocate for it. Like I don't regret ever going on it.

But I wish that when I was prescribed it, that someone would have been like, hey, just to let you know that like this is a process. You're going to go through withdrawal and it's going to be, it's going to be a thing. Like you have to get off of this drug one day. And I, and I just had no clue. And I feel like that there's no really education around it. which is just terrible because it was definitely a process. So yeah, I don't really know. I'm still trying to like figure out what my stance is on it because I loved it. And now that I've been off

of it for three months, like I immediately lost weight. And I'm like, okay, well, that would have been nice to know that this drug like made me gradually gain weight throughout, you know, the years that I was on it. Like I didn't even realize that that was really happening. I thought I was just getting older and there's all these different side effects from the drug that I just think people just need to be made aware of. But I mean, as someone who's very anxious, I still have anxiety and I'm still like, oh, I kind of miss my Lexero. I wouldn't be feeling this way. Like I had crazy anxiety this morning. But I feel really mentally strong now that I went through the whole withdrawal process. And I'm like, sure, you can relate. And I'm like, no, I can deal with this. Like, I got it.

Yeah. I'm fine. I'm also in a different place than I was when I was. 17 and I'm like much more confident in the fact that like I can deal with my anxiety and panic attacks. I used to be like, oh, I'm having a panic attack. I'm going to die. Yeah. And now I'm like, no, this is just a feeling. It's going to go away. Yeah. But yeah, I have such a love, hate relationship with it. Because like now that I'm off of it, I'm like, I feel amazing. I have so much energy. I'm losing weight. I feel all of these amazing things. But on the other side, I'm like looking back, I would never be like I wish I never started taking it. So. Yeah, double-edged I'm like, I don't have an answer really for anyone.

I mean, I just share my experience. Yeah, no. And I think a lot of people listening will appreciate that. And I appreciate that too. And you're right. I mean, I think that it is just kind of handed out with not a lot of discussion about potential side effects and the withdrawal thing. And I remember when I was taking that, I was like, it's not even doing anything for me

mentally. And yet I can't get off of it. Like, this is fucked. And I was like, and if I travel and I like forget it, then I'm going to have that withdrawal. Like I am that dependent on this thing that's literally doing nothing for me. But then like, you know, I go through these periods where I do have that anxiety where it's like not even really about anything. It just feels like I just wake up and it's just there. And I'm like, why do I not feel normal? And like the breathwork and the meditation and the

journaling and the walking and the sniffing lavender or whatever and the Epsom salt baths and everything like doesn't work. And to your point, what you were saying, like, I feel. I feel. like I've experienced it enough in my life to know it passes and like I can get through it. And when you get more life experience, you have more tools. Yeah. But sometimes I'm just like, I just want to feel like those good days. Well, it's not fun feeling uncomfortable. Yeah. All the time or like feeling like you're in like fight or flight mode when you're literally just sitting there. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I definitely have moments where I miss it. But as someone who's been on boat, like I'm so glad that I weaned off of it. And I think a lot of people are like,

oh, I'm just going to get on it for like six months and then get off of it. And I'm like, okay. How long did it take you? Not to turn this into like an essential. Sorry episode. I'm just curious. It took me two months to get off of it. I did like a very slow taper. And it wasn't that bad. Like my side effects from getting off of it were fine until I did my like last taper of like 0.25 to 0.0. And then it was like very gnarly for a full month. Ooh. Brainsaps. Nightmare. sweating. Like, it was really gnarly. How did you function and continue to work and show up and put yourself out there? I just, I'm good at, like, hiding it. I'm someone that will just, like, show up and just do it.

Yeah. I've heard you talk about using work as a way to deal with your anxiety to begin with. So was it kind of a helpful outlet or did it feel like it was depleting you at the time? I'm like, I'm not sure if this is good advice. But like I'm a workaholic. Yeah. I'm like I just you know, cover it up. I just stay busy. Yeah. It's just what makes me feel really good. I was actually listening to like your solo episode like getting out of a rut and how like objects in motion stay in motion. And it's like I fill my days up to where everything is planned. I'm very like every single day, write down all the things I need to get done and I wake up and I just get to it and I put my head down and I work. And it's when I'm, not busy and I'm sitting on my phone and I'm scrolling and I'm comparing myself and I'm

not doing anything productive that I feel terrible and that I feel anxious. So even though sometimes I do put a lot of my plate and work sometimes says make me a little anxious, it's better than feeling anxious because you feel like you're not good enough or you're comparing yourself to someone on the internet. So yeah, I just stay really busy. And if I have an open night or something, I'll make a plan with a friend or I'll like, you know, sure that I'm making something for dinner or like whatever it is. See, I'm like a huge advocate for keeping really busy and not like having too much downtime. I'm not like a person that can sit and relax and like my boyfriend is so good at relaxing. I'll look and he'll just be sitting in the

backyard like not on a sandwich with sitting there like raw raw dog relax on it into life. It's so crazy. I'm like, can you teach me how to do that? I have to be like reading like I'll literally be like finish work and then I'll pick up my Kindle and like start reading. I need to be like distracted. He's so good at it. But yeah, I'm like, I need to be very busy at all times. So that was just honestly very helpful with me and my anxiety. I feel the same way. I think that I want all this idle time. And then I get it. And I'm like, I don't like this because I just end up like scrolling or doing something. And then I'm scrolling on my phone. And then I get anxiety. Like if I'm looking at a screen too long, and then I'm like, why am I doing this? Like that is so funny. I'm the same way. I'm like, oh my God,

I just want one day off. Yeah. I have one day off and I'm like, this is terrible. Yesterday I didn't have anything to do. I ended up working for half the day and I feel great. I feel productive. And I was actually talking about this in therapy too because I'm like, is it bad that on a Sunday I'll work? I feel like I should be taking the day off. And she's like, it sounds like you're being hard on yourself for being a hard worker. And I'm like, you're right. Like I shouldn't be get down on myself. Love those therapy mic drops. I know. I'm like, oh, you're right. That's so mean of me to do to myself. And I feel like I we're both in the position where like we generally enjoy what we do. My job is I like literally

made brownies and filmed it. I'm like really, why am I being hard on myself? Like this is hilarious. Yeah. So yeah, I think that there's the exact same way where I'm like, I really, really want a full day off and then I'll end up working. Same. Yeah. What else am I going to do? I know. Well, it's interesting too because being a content creator, so many people just do social media and it's not their job anyway. You know what I mean? So like the fact that. it is a job. You're doing something that people are doing every day. Like most people are like scrolling on their phones. Maybe not most people. So when it's your job and you can be creative and interact with people and come up with new ideas and make new recipes, whatever, like it doesn't always feel like

work. Sometimes it does, but not always. And it's still, yeah, it definitely still feels like my hobby. I think like the work aspect of it is like when I have to like do brand deals and emails and all that, that's work and then making recipes and filming it. I genuinely think if I never started this whole food Instagram and never blew up or anything, I think that I would be on my, back on my personal Instagram account, like still posting. I used to post my food and stuff on there too. I feel like I would make recipe videos and stuff just for fun. Yeah. I love it. How do you come up with new ideas? Because I go through phases with recipes where I'm like, ooh, like coming up with things. But I look at people like you who are putting something out constantly.

How do you not burn out and how do you keep coming up with fresh new recipes? That's a great question. So it's definitely not constantly all the time. I'm thinking of new recipes. It'll be like a week or two where I'm like, I don't have one good idea. And I think by like not putting pressure on myself, I used to be like, you got to put something out. And then I would post a video of something I like wasn't really proud of and I wouldn't do well. And then it was just like, why did I do that?

So now I'm like, give yourself some time. If you're not feeling it for a week or two, like, that's fine. And I now that I know, like give myself a break and to relax the next week, I'll have like a million ideas. And then I'll like write them all down. And then I like can't even cook them past enough because I'm like so excited to get it all done. So it's just kind of like ebbs and blows. It's like this is kind of how it is when you're like, you know, have a more like creative job. I feel like my ideas kind of just stem from like what I'm. craving kind of. I also, I always say this, but like I'm a lazy cook. I'm not going to like anything that requires like two or more pans. I'm out. Like I have a good like one pot like sheet pan. I get a lot of inspiration from like my audience too. Like when whenever I post a recipe and a ton of people make it and they're like I loved this one. I'm like, okay, how can I make something? I made like a one pot chicken orzo dish that did really well. And I'm like, okay, maybe now I'll make like I made one that's like Italian turkey one pot orzo. So I kind of like take certain things that I know people really liked and like tweak it and make it into like a new thing. I'm just literally always thinking about food.

I'm always thinking about it. So I have like a app on my phone. It just says ideas. And there's like 100 titles of like random things that I just think about and write down. And then one day when I'm ready, I'll be like, okay, I'm going to try and make this come to life. What app is that? Notes. Oh. It's called notes. You can download it in the app store. My code is brought your money. I was like waiting for like the hot new app. I'm dying. Oh my God.

They're going to like see the video like why. Why are they crying? Oh my God. So what was the inspiration behind the book? The inspiration behind the book was I really wanted to make something that my audience would love and use every single day. So I wanted it to be recipes that you would make. after a really busy day. If you have meetings all day and you have like 30 minutes to make dinner, you're going to turn to the book, open it up, cook something from there. Or if you're having

friends over, you have a dinner party, if you want to make some fun appetizers or a fun cocktail. So I just, yeah, wanted it to be something that you would turn to for really any occasion. And it comes back to my tagline, which is simple recipes for a balanced life. So I wanted all of the ingredients to be very simple, nothing crazy that you've never heard of, that you need to go to a special grocery store to find. You can really find it at any grocery store. And I took like a really good look at all of my most popular recipes from my blog. And that's kind of how I determined all of the chapters. So there's apps, 30 minute dinners. There's a soup chapter because I love soup. And I have a lot of popular soup recipes, desserts, cocktails. Yeah, it's really fun. It's laid out kind of

not necessarily like, you know, chicken or beef or whatever. It's like more your mood. Like, okay, I'm going to do the dinner in 30 because I want to make a quick dinner where there's like a feel good food chapter. So something maybe a little bit more healthy. Like you just got back from your vacation, you're eating all the fried food. Like you would turn to that chapter and look for something to make in there. So yeah. But I think my audience, my big inspiration, I wanted to make the book that they would love. You manifested it because I heard you talking on that episode from 2020. You and Liz were talking about cookbooks and you were like my dream one day is to have a cookbook and she was like, it's so cool to like see people have it in their home. And you guys

were talking about like how it doesn't really make a lot of money, but you were just saying that you wanted to do it. So it's crazy. Like I was listening to that and I was like, whoa. I know. Four years later and she did it. I've been working. I think I was like, I mean, it was definitely like wanting to write one at that point. It's been in the works for like three years. Wow. It's crazy. It takes so long to write a cookbook. Like it's insane. People think that it's a lot easier for process than it is. But you have to write every recipe, get it professionally tested and then do the whole photo shoot and all of that. So it's a crazy, crazy process. I've been working on it for so long. Of course, I'm like, oh my God, I can't have to come out. And now that it's like actually

a month away. I guess this will be released like literally when it's coming out. I'm like actually so nervous. Really? Yeah. It's like your baby. Yeah. And it's like getting released into the world. And like I just hope people love it as much as I think they are. It's kind of scary. I wasn't expecting these feelings. Yeah. I'm sure everyone's going to ask you this. So I'm doing your media training for you. Okay. What's your favorite recipe from the book? I need to have one ready to go because I can't think of one. It's literally like my child. The one I make the most is from the dessert chapter. They're flowerless espresso brownies.

Oh my God. And my boyfriend is obsessed with them. And I make them so much. And they're so good. I literally ate one before I came here. Oh my God. Sounds amazing. They're so good.

Which is funny because I'm not like a huge dessert person. And I wasn't like super excited to write the dessert chapter because it's like not my go-to, but I actually ended up being fully in my baker era. and it's actually really fun. I'll pick another one because I have to pick like a dinner recipe because it's pretty much a dinner recipe cookbook. Most of them are dinner recipes. I am going to say there is a really good.

I make this one all the time. It's a one pot chicken pasta. And it's like chicken, sundried tomatoes, spinach. You make it all in one pot. And it's like nothing crazy special, but it's so delicious. And it's great. Like I'll make like a big back. bit in the beginning of the week and like eat it for lunches and it's just it's got protein it's got

veggies it's just like perfect amazing I love one pot anything one pot one pot one pan like you were saying before anything more than that like I'm out I hate doing dishes same like anytime it's like okay boil this and then do this I'm like no no no out well that's amazing I'm so happy for you your dream came to fruition and I can't wait to try all of your recipes because they are so simple And I love that. So tell everybody where they can get the book. We'll link it in the show notes, of course, and where they can find you if they don't already follow you, which I'm sure they do. Yeah. You can get my book. It's called Seriously So Good at any major book retailer, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, any of those places. And then my Instagram handle is at Rock Your Body, B-R-O-C-C, Your Body. And my website is rock your body. And my website is rock your body. And my website is rock your body.com. All my recipes are on there. If you don't want to follow my Instagram story. If you think I'm annoying, you can just go on there and get all my recipes there. Amazing.

Thank you so much. Thank you. I hope you enjoyed that episode. And if you liked it, and if you liked the show in general, please take a second to rate, review, and subscribe. It goes a long way. And it's actually the best way to support the show. Also, if you want to see more about each episode, you can head over to the Blonde Files

podcast on Instagram. You can go to areallory. and I'm always posting about each episode over on my personal page at Ariel Lori. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode. Auto-hure with Sunny Cars feels as if the children not with me say. Diesel straddle.

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