Well with Arielle Lorre - 460: Hollywood Burnout, Redefining Wellness and Balancing Beauty & Health with Maria Menounos

Episode Date: May 27, 2026

Maria Menounos is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, television host, producer, bestselling author, and host and founder of Heal Squad. Known for her years on Entertainment Tonight, Extra, and E! News, Maria has also become an outspoken advocate for health, wellness, and self-advocacy after facing a series of serious health challenges, including a brain tumor and pancreatic tumor diagnosis.In this episode, we talk about what success and wellness meant to her during her peak Hollywood years, the toll the entertainment industry schedule took on her body, and how thyroid issues became the gateway to deeper chronic health struggles. Maria opens up about balancing health anxiety with advocating for yourself, what it was like navigating both her and her mother’s brain cancer diagnoses, and how those experiences completely reshaped her priorities and approach to life.We also get into the wellness practices and tools she genuinely relies on today, including foundational habits, red light therapy, trampoline jumping, Botox, face taping, and the trends she thinks are overrated versus truly worth it.We discuss:* The hidden health cost of hustle culture* How stress impacted her body and hormones* Thyroid issues and chronic illness* Brain tumors, pancreatic tumors, and self-advocacy* Balancing wellness with health anxiety* Foundational wellness habits that actually matter* The benefits of red light therapy* Trampoline jumping and lymphatic health* Botox, face taping, and beauty trends* Underrated vs. overrated wellness practices* Learning to prioritize herself after years of burnoutWant more Maria? Follow her on Instagram @mariamenounos, and check out her podcast @healsquad.This episode is brought to you by:Save 15% off my favorite Red Light Mask from BON CHARGE by using code BLONDE at www.boncharge.com.Head to Nutrafol.com and use code BLONDE for $10 off your first subscription and free shipping.Head to paleovalley.com/well, or use code well at checkout for 15% off your first purchase.Get $25 off your first purchase when you go to TheRealReal.com/well.Visit quo.com/blonde for 20% off 6 months. Get 15% off your sitewide purchase and use code well at drinkspindrift.com. Head to ladder.fit/WELL for a 7-day free trial and $10 off your first month.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.Produced by Dear Media See 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. This is Well, a podcast about wellness in all its forms. I'm Ariel Lorry, and each week I'm sharing unfiltered conversations with the people shaping how we feel, live, and look. Come for the substance, stay for the honesty, and leave with the tools to be well, inside and out. Today's guest is Maria Manunos, and I don't think that there are many people who have navigated both Hollywood and serious health challenges with as much honesty and resilience as Maria has.

She probably needs no introduction with you guys, but she has an Emmy Award winning journalist. She's a television host, producer, bestselling author. A lot of people know her from hosting shows like Entertainment Tonight, Extra, and e-news. She is also now the founder and host of Heal Squad. But behind the scenes, she was dealing with an absolutely relentless schedule. and burnout, which she gets into in this episode, and eventually major health issues that completely changed the way that she thinks about wellness and success. So in this episode, we get into all about. We talk about what success and wellness meant to her in those peak Hollywood

years and just the toll that hustle culture and the entertainment industry took on her body. We talk how thyroid issues became kind of the gateway to deeper chronic health struggles, which I know so many women deal with. We also get into something I think, so many people will relate to, which is balancing health anxiety with genuinely advocating for yourself and listening to your body. Maria opens up about both she and her mom being diagnosed with brain cancer, discovering her pancreatic tumor, and how those experiences forced her to reevaluate everything from stress to boundaries to the way that she prioritizes herself. And then, of course, we have to lighten things up and get into her favorite foundational

wellness practices, underrated and overrated trends, benefits of red light therapy, trampoline jumping, Botox, face taping, and just all of the little routines and tools that genuinely make her feel her best now. This was such an honest, grounded, and really refreshing conversation. And I cannot wait for you guys to hear it. So please enjoy Maria Menounos. Welcome, Maria. Thanks. Thanks for having me. Of course. So just to set the tone a little bit, I like to do a little bit of this or that with my guests. Okay. We'll probably get into some of these in more depth.

But prevention or optimization. Prevention. Traditional medicine or functional medicine. Both when needed. Data driven or intuitive. Intuitive. Biohacks or basics. Hmm.

Basics. Red light or sunlight? Sunlight and red light. I do both. Cold plunge. sauna. Sona. Morning or nighttime routine.

Both. Coffee or macha. Coffee. Red carpet glam or sweatpants at home. Sweat pants. And then I didn't have this on my list, but I wanted to add because I was listening to you on another podcast. And I know that you're into like I or Beda and all different kinds of approaches when it

comes to health and medicine. TCM or Ierbatic medicine. I remember really. I kind of blend a lot of everything. I learn from all of the different modalities and take what fits in the moment, what feels right, what makes sense to me. Like I'm doing Chinese medicine right now with the acupuncture treatments I'm doing. So I do a little bit of everything. And then I like to ask my guests, what makes you well?

Oh, man. What makes me well? I think the sun, my baby, and just. doing things I'm passionate about. So I want to rewind a little bit. You've had such a crazy trajectory. Yeah. That's the really only word that I can find to describe it. I would say like crazy and also unexpected, right? But I want to rewind a little bit to when you were in those like peak Hollywood years. What did success mean to you at that time and what did health and wellness mean to you at that time? Great questions. I think success.

early on, I remember like when I first met my husband, he was like, why do you want to make it so bad? And I was like, I want to give my parents the life they never had. My parents were immigrants. They were janitors, cleaning nightclubs all over Boston. My brother and I used to go with them from the time we were really, really little because I couldn't afford babysitters. And I just looked at it as, A, it was something that was just in me from go, what I wanted to do. and I knew it would be a vehicle to make our lives better. And so success was only exciting and fun if I could share it with them.

And so I took them everywhere, wherever I was, whatever, red carpet, Tom Selleck kissed my mom on the cheek and the Emmys, and I had my dad on the Jimmy Kimmel show. And they were like my American Express card. I wouldn't leave home without them. But I think success was also like just trying everything I ever had thought and just seeing what happened and just kind of going after the wildest ideas. Like, you know, I never thought I would be able to write a book, let alone New York Times bestsellers. I never thought that I would be able to break kind of barriers and be a journalist and be an actress and be in commercials, which was very challenging.

And I definitely had a very, very hard time being the one kind of pushing those boundaries. And now it's funny, I'll hear like, oh, they let everybody do everything now. And I'm like, they murdered my soul for trying to do these things. And now it's like encouraged. What? So success was, yeah. I mean, I had wild dreams. I was like, oh, let's just try for everything.

And then health, health was interesting because my dad was type one diabetic. And it was pretty severe because with the language barrier, they didn't really understand a lot. And my dad is kind of like a yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You go to the doctor, doctor's like, does this hurt? Is that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, everything's good. And we're like, wait, you've been complaining about this. You've been complaining about that.

And he's still the same way right now. He's very challenging in that place. But I think because I watched my dad with the diabetes. and those struggles. When I got to college and I gained all this weight, I knew that I had to make a change for my health and I lost all this weight and re-adopted the healthy lifestyle that I was kind of raised with. And then it all went to shit again in the industry because now I'm thrust into this business where I'm working. I remember it was like 48 out of 52 weeks, seven days a week, at least 16 plus hour days, 18 hour days, nonstop, traveling. And I had no idea how to keep up

with that schedule. And now I've mentored over the years so many kind of newbies coming in because I was like, you guys are going to like come apart at the seams. I know. It's so hard to figure out everything all at once. And so I was eating fast food nonstop. And then I'd be in and out of the hospital for like dehydration or like low potassium, I remember, whatever. I just wasn't getting nutrients because I was just running through drive through. And then my best friend kind of really sat me down. She was like, I'm not going to speak to you ever again. You have to cut fast food. And so, thank you, Rachel. I finally cut fast food. But yeah, I definitely abused my body because I think a lot of us are really taught as we're young, grow up, get good grades, go to an amazing college, you know,

succeed, make a lot of money, get married, have kids. Health is never part of the equation. And so it took major life crises for me to really then focus on my health. Yeah. And I think that still in this day and age, that hustle culture and that grind is still glamorized. I think people are a lot more cognizant of their health and wellness and different practices that are out there and modalities to try to offset some of the stress and all of that. But it's still very much our culture to like hustle, hustle, hustle and grind, grind, grind and success and chase and all of that. And it's no wonder that like everybody feels so burnt out. Almost everybody feels so burnt out, so depleted. Do you feel like that? Sometimes, yeah. And I do all of the things.

You know, I do all of the things. But sometimes like I've realized when you're doing all of the things, you're stressing yourself out on that side too. Yes. And I always say this, like, I think there's maybe a misconception about me and my wellness practices that I'm very, very rigid. And I was at one time. And then that same thing happened where I realized this is one more stressor in my life. Like, I don't need this. So I say now that I have tools, I have a toolkit and I know when to pull out which tools and when to use them. And it's not all the things all the time, but it's a lot of things incorporated throughout my day if I can. My problem is that I put so much pressure on myself. And so I internalize this pressure. So that looks like overwhelm, you know? And it's like I take so much on and then

I'm overwhelmed. And I mean, I'm sure everybody listening can relate and you as well. But I know that when you were in that time in your life, I always make the analogy of like a faucet dripping. right? So you were starting to have some things happening, right? Hashimoto's, thyroid issues. At what point were you like, this is not sustainable for me? Like, never. Oh. Yeah, no, because it was just pushed through. I was working 80 jobs and going nonstop. And so it also had been so normal for you to get something like a thyroid. and still is. This is why I do what I do with my show because I'm like, guys,

the thyroid is kind of the first. It's the gateway. Yeah. It's like the body is like, shit isn't going right. And then we just kind of like, oh, it's just a thyroid thing. No big deal.

And then we just keep on going. But it's really the engine in the car being like, hey, something's wrong. We got to fix this. We got to make some changes. And so eventually the accumulation, of those poor choices continues to create more and more diagnoses. And so for me, it wasn't until I had the brain tumor that I like really, I mean, it was a hard stop because I

could barely walk after I was like using a walker. And I had a lot of recovery that I needed to do after that. So I had a lot of time to think. And I was like, wait a second. And I realized in the hospital, I'll never forget, I've been chasing. the top performers in our business thinking like, if they can go that hard, I can go that hard. Like, we're competitive, right? I like to say I'm competitive in the most fun of ways. And so I'm like, I can work all day and work all night. I can do this. I can do that. And then I realized, wait, that's been completely going against my own grain. That's actually not who I am. But I had a false belief. Unfortunately, one of the things my dad said to me when I was young,

stuck with me. He was like, Maria, you lazy. And then what do you got to do? Yeah. Seeds planted. You've got to go the other way. Now, he didn't mean to do what he did. But even like the other day, it was raining here in L.A. And it was president's day. And I was like, you know what? I'm not doing anything today. And it was like a big deal for me to be like, I'm not doing anything. I'm going to have a lazy day. and someone who works for me was with me and she's like, I've never heard you say that. And it's hard. Like sometimes those things kind of get embedded in you. And so I realized this is not my nature.

I'm going so hard and I'm not happy. I'm pushing so hard. The kettle's running hot. And so now I really just keep a very calm schedule. And then the second it's not calm. And I'm like, I know. Oh shit. I did it again. I over scheduled. I over did it. Nope, nope, nope. We're going to pull back. We're going to pull back. What does that feel like for you? Is it in your body, that tension and like the frenetic energy? It's, I'm angry. I'm stressed. Nothing's going right.

I'm like, ah. Yeah. And so then I'm like, okay, we are going to chill. Yeah. So I can relate to that. It's like I noticed that I start to hold on to things really tightly. It's like I'm white knuckling. my day. And when I feel myself like this, it's like, oh, my God, let go. Yeah. You know, but it's easier said than done. Yeah. Because again, like I feel like now that we're in this time when everybody is a content creator too, there's so much opportunity in the digital world. So we're all putting, you know, our output every day on social media, on podcasts, like media has changed. And there is no off button. There's no off time. It's not like the show is on at seven to eight and that's it. You know, it's 24-7 and we're seeing what our competitors or peers are doing all the time. And so

if you have that in you, that drive in you, it does make you want to push harder and harder and harder. But to what point? Like it very much feels like a hamster wheel. I don't know if you feel that way. A hundred percent. I now look at things so differently. And also, see people who are just going to die, unfortunately, because they won't stop. They're going to have that heart attack. They're going, they're headed in that direction because they aren't giving themselves anything. And definitely women are, you know, really, really depleted and really giving to so many people. I had a conversation with a friend the other day. And I, I was like, are you okay. And she was like, no. And there's so many people she is like serving in a sense, right? Whether

it's kids, husbands, whatever, there was nothing left for her. And what I always say is, and I've seen this in so many women, we're always waiting almost for an excuse to matter. So it's like you're waiting for, and I know you're not officially waiting for a diagnosis. But most people, when they are diagnosed. Like, I remember even my mom, I think my mom was actually happiest when she got brain cancer. I know that sounds messed up, but we all doted around her. She was the queen. We took care of her. Before we were all just taking and taking and taking. Now we were putting in. And she was so happy. And it's like, do you have to wait for that to matter? It's really, really, really upsetting for me. Like I went to a dinner that was hosted here in LA once, a lot of really

powerful women. And it was like some, I think the question was like, what do you do for yourself? Like if you had 30 minutes, what would you do? Oh my God. If I had 30 minutes and everyone walked, you know, went around the room and I go, are we okay guys? I started crying. And they're like, why are you crying? I'm like, you're not even giving yourself 30 minutes? That's. That's, That's like mind blowing to me. But I've had so much time to like deprogram where 30 minutes, I mean, that's probably like, I mean, that's nothing for me. That's, I'm doing so much more for myself.

I mean, A, because I have to. My number one goal is I need to live a very long healthy life for my baby. But it was really sad to think that the way people reacted to the idea of just like 30 minutes to themselves a day. And yet, I feel like so many of us will spend that scrolling our phone at the end of the day or something, you know, because that's like become self-soothing. But yeah, as you were talking, I was thinking about something that I said recently when my schedule was in that place where it was so crazy. And I was talking to, I think my manager, and I was like, I just want to get sick right now. Oh, my God.

And we were kind of laughing about it. But I was like, I just want to get sick so that I don't have to do anything. and I can just be in bed for a few days. And I didn't think anything of it. But when you're talking, I'm like, yeah, that's kind of like twisted. Like, that's not the goal. I mean, if you think about it, like, there were so many people I remember being like, I wish I could just get COVID and stay home.

Yeah. Yeah. COVID was like kind of good in that sense. I know it was horrible for a lot of people. But also it was like getting perspective on the pace that we had all been going, like the that we had been living and how that wasn't sustainable. And I know a lot of people re-evaluated their lives and their jobs and their marriages and their relationship with alcohol. I'm sober 12 years. And during that time, I never have had so many people reach out as during that time

because everybody was like forced to confront the state of their lives essentially. But as quickly as we adapt to one thing, then we go back to the other thing. It's like now that life is back, you know, we're all kind of back in that mode. But yeah, I mean, I didn't want like a real illness. I just wanted like a cold for like two days that would just like take me out for two days. I get it. But like now if you think about it, what do you have to do to not get to that point? Yeah. Right. Or do you say, okay, I'm in a red line, you know, a couple days here or there and I'm just going to get through it. And then I'll make sure that I have rest on the other side. Mm-hmm. We have to figure out how we, we give our bodies and our minds what we need. Like I listen to this interview with Hoda Copy. and I put this in a practice and I really love it.

And my version is my version. It's kind of the same thing she was saying, but I can't remember exactly what she said. But it was like, I have a little notebook in my bathroom on the little toilet, you know, paper holder. And it says, what does my body need today? What is my soul need today? And what does my heart need today?

And I'll answer those three questions, thanks to her, every single day. So I'm checking in with myself and giving myself what I need. before everyone else's demands of me come in a play. And it can be very simple. It's like, my heart needs an Athena hug. My body needs some movement. I'm going to get on the treadmill, just move a little bit. My soul needs like something to tell me that everything's going to be okay.

Or some, a Bible verse or something like a Psalm. What do I need right now? I need something like that. I think that we just, we just give, give, give. And we never plug back in. But I do think, like you said, this time, everything is changing. There's so many places people are now going, you know, whether it's their gym and they've got red light and they've got all these things at least they're

like plugging in a little bit back into themselves. But I also think we need to be plugging back in spiritually into ourselves, not just all the lasers and the red lights and that this isn't that. And we need to be doing kind of like the deeper inner work, the trauma work. Like, you're lazy. Like, okay, how is that affecting you today? How is it making you make choices? Because I do. I still never feel like I'm doing enough, even if I'm doing so much. Now, against all of that, I'm fighting it. I'm like, nope, I'm not going to over-scheduled. I'm not going to do all of that. And I do have to sit with that feeling of like, I'm lazy. And now I'm realizing in this interview, I'm like, shit, I got to get to my purpose and talk about that. I heard you're doing EMDR. I've done it. Yeah.

We are talking a lot in this episode about our favorite holistic beauty and wellness routines. And one thing that kept coming up was red light therapy. And I mentioned that I recently heard a dermatologist explain one of the biggest benefits of red light in a way that really clicked for me. And that is that it can actually help prevent the degradation and breakdown of collagen, which is obviously huge when it comes to maintaining firm, healthy, glowing skin as we age. And that is one of the reasons why I've been so concerned. with the bond charge red light face mask. I love that it combines both red light and near infred light in one device. It's so easy to work into my routine because I usually wear it in the morning when

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So as I said in that episode, I do hold on to things that. think I might want in maybe even five to ten years from now, things that have sentimental value. But Aaron was talking about how important it is to really know your personal style and make space for pieces that you genuinely love and wear. And it really motivated me to swap out a lot of heavy winter stuff and do a full summer reset. And one of the easiest ways I do that is with the real real. So I shop and sell there constantly because it makes the whole process so easy instead of having beautiful pieces sitting in the back of my closet, collecting dust. I can sell things I'm not wearing anymore and put that towards something new for the season.

So if you're trying to refresh your wardrobe for summer, it's also such a good way to be more intentional about your style instead of constantly buying random trend pieces that you only wear once and then they sit in your closet. You can sell what no longer feels like you, keep what does, and slowly build a closet that you actually love. The Real Real is the most trusted name and authenticated luxury resale with over 10,000 new arrivals daily.

No one does resale like The Real Real. Yet $25 off your first purchase when you go to the Real Real dot com slash well and this may only you can get an extra $200 to shop when you sell for the first time. That's at the real real.com slash well. I want to go back to when your mom got sick because that was a huge turning point for you, right, in your life. And then subsequently you diagnosed yourself and then the doctors found a brain tumor in your brain. Like what was that time like for you? It was really shocking. I was also so burnt out and so I told a kinesiologist and he's like, how you doing kiddo?

And I'm like, I'm just dying to be me. Because I think that that life I was living, I was so over and tired. And I mean, it was just not serving me anymore. And so I remember because of my mom, mom, it was a little easier because I watched her get wheeled in and have surgery and I'm about to have it from the same doctor, Dr. Keith Black. And he's amazing. And she came out. And I was like, okay, you know, I have a good role model. And, you know, there were moments where like the Mack truck would roll over my chest. I'm like, holy shit, I have a brain tumor. What? But yeah, I mean,

who would have known that would have been the first of many of those moments? But. And then how long after that did you find the pancreatic? So 2017 was the brain surgery, 2023 was the pancreas. I predicted that too. I didn't even realize it because someone who listens to my podcast, Heel Squad, was like, you predicted this in this episode with Marianne DeMarco, the medium. And I'm like, what? How did you predict it? I went back and listened and she had written this book and she was going to teach us how to kind of connect with our inner guidance. And so I'm doing the intro for the show. And this was in April. And at that point, I had been searching and searching for answers because I knew something was wrong with me. I had like a bloated gut. Something was wrong. And I kept searching and searching. And I wasn't getting the answers.

And so I said, for example, I would connect. I look up and I go, and I would say, there's something wrong with my pancreas. And then we start talking. And then a month and a half later, I got diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which is a pancreas issue. And I didn't connect the dots because I've since really understood how intuitive I am, but I'm not trained. So I blurt. Marianne was telling me, she's like, Maria, you're so psychic, you just, you don't know how to refine it. So you just blurt it. And so I was blurting the pancreas thing and then I got diagnosed with diabetes and now I'm thinking was it diabetes was it the pancreas tumor we'll never really know what came first but then months later we found out about the pancreas tumor and can you tell everybody how you found that so I had a full body scan

and I had been scanned at a you know medical institution and they told me I was fine same scan or like a full body MRI This wasn't a full-body MRI. It was an abdominal CT scan. Okay. And with contrast? Yeah. Yeah, I had to drink the shit. Yeah. And they still didn't find it.

You feel like you're like peeing yourself, right? Yeah. Yeah. And the thing is, is like, you know, Tony Robbins talks about it in his book. He's like, doctors can be sincere, but they can also be sincerely wrong. And unfortunately, the system is very overwhelmed and it's human error. So it was missed. But luckily, so I was just grateful that we found it and it hadn't spread anywhere.

So hallelujah. What is that like? Because I would imagine after everything that you had already been through, I would imagine, for myself, at least, my health anxiety would be extremely high. Yeah. And then to hear that, which is usually not a good prognosis. Nope. how have you learned to navigate those challenges? Because you do it with such grace. I've listened to you in other interviews. And you've really found a way to, as you say, like instead of worry, wonder.

Yeah. And kind of change the narrative because what we tell ourselves and how we look at things and that narrative is going to dictate how we feel and our experience. And I know that you've said, like, I don't want to live my life in that negative narrative and worrying all the time and all of that. But I would imagine in those moments, it's like you just said like a Mack truck. How do you handle that without letting that stress consume you? Well, it's it's definitely an everyday journey because when it first happened, I mean, I was in the fetal position because we had a baby on the way and I was like, how are you going to take me right now? This is not okay. And this is like beyond belief. And then I used that tool, choose wonder over worry, and it really helped. And yeah, I mean, it took a lot of

really great friends, like, you know, Dr. John Amaral, who is, you know, my friend, he does a lot of energy work. I remember vividly talking to him the night before surgery. And I was like, I'm scared. And he's like, oh, God forbid, you be scared. He's like, of course you're scared. You should be scared. That's natural to feel scared. And, you know, and he helped me a lot. And, you know, it was, it was you know, very rough surgery, but then since then, yeah, when I feel stuff, I get scared. And then I just deal with it instantly. And then I try to remember, I'll say things like, nope, not my story. Nope. Athena's ushered in a new era. Only health from here. We're fine. All is good. All is well. But I still will have that moment of like, like, for example, the other day. I'll give you a good

example. I, because I don't be able to think that I'm like perfect and like, oh my God, how does she do? No, I lose my mind sometimes. Yes, absolutely. But it's like how long do you stay in that place? Yeah. So the night before Thanksgiving had a remake of the hangover in real life. My family and I went out for happy hour and past two hours later. I don't remember anything. And so just video and photos. and people's accounts. So anyway, I took off my shoes and was dancing barefoot in some bar, and I had a blood blister on my pinky toe. So it wasn't going away.

And then I'd forgotten about it. And the other day, I was sitting in the sun with Athena. And I look and I'm like, I have skin cancer. I'm telling you, I Googled it. And they say, like, it will pop up on your toes sometimes. Or your palms. I just had a biopsy on my palm last week.

because something, yeah, same thing. So I look at this. I Google the picture. Yep, it's like malformed. It's got the dark spot. It's the left. Oh my God. And my stomach was in knots.

And I was texting friends. I'm like, I need a dermatologist right away because my dermatologist wasn't responding yet. And then she calls me and I text her a photo. And she's like, Maria, that's a dry blood blister. And I was like, oh, are you sure? And she's like, yes, and I go, okay. So she's like, if you can come in Tuesday, I'll show you with a blade.

I'm just going to pop it right off. She's going to peel right off. I'm like, okay. So I calmed down after that. I was like, okay, she's an expert. I'm going to just have faith. And then I went in. And she just went, boop.

And it came off. And I was like, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord for another day. I woke up. Yeah, I woke up last week with something on my palm or two weeks ago. And I was like, I know what that is. I always knew like palms and feet, not good. Yeah.

No, no fly zone. So I was like texting my dermatologist. I went in. He was actually like, I don't think it's anything. He's very hyper vigilant with me because I have a family history of skin cancer. I was a sunbed addict for years when I was growing up in Rhode Island. Yeah. We were all doing that.

So he's like, I can take it off for peace of mind. I was like, take it off. Yeah. I don't want to just get it off me. I know. It's scary. But here's a thing. We're being vigilant.

We're paying attention. And so, you know, if something is happening, if something doesn't feel normal, the worst thing to do is ignore it. Yeah. Or think, I don't want to know, which is the thing I battle with a lot of friends. Like, I don't want to know. I'm like, no, you really do want to know. Take it from somebody who got lucky. Yeah.

Because they found the pancreas tumor. At biopsy, it was stage one. After surgery, it was stage two. That was a matter of two weeks, I think. I think it was like maybe less than two weeks. I can't remember right now. It was a very short amount of time. So I'm like, by June, that was January, February, where would I have been when my baby was born?

And Steve Jobs passed of the same thing. So it's not like, you know, anyway. Oh, my gosh. So what do you do now? Like, after the healing, the initial healing, what does wellness look like for you now? And how do you manage, like, staying out of that health anxiety while also being proactive? and advocating for yourself. I think that this is something that women especially have a really hard time with

because so often we go to the doctor and we have a concern about something and we're brushed off. And I'm always, I always have to put the PSA. I'm not anti-Western medicine. I believe in it. There's a time and a place, you know, but things get overlooked. Like you said, human error in that first scan for you. And women are historically just told it's anxiety, it's stress, you know. and sent home on their way. So what does that balance look like for you? You live a really healthy

well lifestyle. You also have this history that you probably need to be cognizant of and be vigilant and advocate for yourself without going to that scary place. Yeah. I think I'm still working on what the balance is like mentally and physically. You know, my routines kind of change all the time. I'm also traveling and not kind of in one place all the time. So it's like, you know, on this coast, I'm like, I'm using my trampoline. On the other coast, I feel like I'm not using it as much. But over there, I'm using the sonimore and over here, I'm using, like, I kind of just, I'm just doing what I can.

But I am being vigilant with my screenings and scans and blood work and paying attention to everything that's happening and trying to do the best that I can. I mean, it's, there's a lot going on under the hood. So I feel like sometimes I'm playing whackamol. But what I'm grateful for is that I have been shown, thank you God, that I will persevere and that there's a mission and a reason why I'm still here because for all the things that I've had, one of just the few could have taken me. So I feel like there's a reason I'm here. And I think it's because I'm meant to go through these things and find a way. So find a way for the things that people don't have yet.

I don't know. I'm always just trying and exploring and researching and making connections. And even recently, I realized, you know, I had this kind of like belly that was just showing. I'm like, who is this person? I was on like every fitness cover. Where is all the shit coming from? And, well, it could be so many things. It could be some of the health things I'm dealing with.

It could be perimenopause, which apparently I'm in. It could be lymph, which I only realized after I got a lymph massage. And it went down. And then I did it again and it went down. I made the connection. And I started researching and I was like, holy shit, there's something called lymphedema. So if you've had lymph nodes removed, 17 of them. Wow.

you could be having stagnation in those areas. If you've had radiation, like my best friend had radiation for breast cancer, I call her, I'm like, I think I figured out why you're having issues and you can't, you know, you're having whatever. And she's like, Maria, you sent me to the specialist and he did one session with me and he told me it was the lymph. I go, well, why didn't you tell me? But anyway, so I'm always figuring it out.

And I am getting a high off of that. And I'm trying to make healing fun because I think it can be really depressing and arduous and all of those things. So my new thing is like, all right, guys, we're going to make this fun. Somehow we're going to make it fun. And yeah, but I'm still balancing the everyday focus. I escaped from it for a little bit a couple months ago. I was like, you know what? I'm not thinking about it at all.

I'm just not. And I think it was good. And now I'm, you know, kind of getting back into it again. But it's a process. It like sounds like it comes in phases and it ebbs and flows. And I think that's totally healthy. I mean, I think sometimes you do have to just kind of like put it on the shelf. It's there, but it's on the shelf and you're focusing on other things.

Yeah. And then you can go back to it when you feel like you're ready. And it sounds like you do also take precautions to make sure that you are looking under the hood and all of that and you're being vigilant. So I think it's like a balance and there's no right or wrong way to do it. Yeah. If your team's communication is messy, customers feel it from missed messages to dropped threads, slow replies. It's one of the easiest ways to lose momentum, which is why today's episode is brought to you

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going outside at the end of the day in the early evening, sitting by my pool and having a nice beverage. So you guys know that I don't drink alcohol. So what I have been having that feels elevated but still light and refreshing is spin drift. It is my go. It is my go. too. So if you've never had it, you can genuinely taste the difference because it's made with real squeezed fruit, not just fruit flavor. You guys know that funky fruit flavor taste. It's not good. The flavors actually have flavor. My personal favorites right now are the cherry and the nohito. The cherry is so good on its own ice cold and the nohito is perfect if you want a little moktail moment at home. I also find myself reaching for the blood orange and tangerine throughout the day.

I'll pour it over ice with lime. It feels way more fun than just opening a regular sparkling water. And I also love that the ingredients are really simple and straightforward. It's unsweetened, lightly bubbly and just feels a little more elevated than your average sparkling drink situation. And going into summer, I'm always looking for those little swaps that make everyday routines feel more enjoyable, especially if I am hosting, sitting outside, or just wanting something refreshing in the afternoon that isn't overly heavy or sugary. Spin Drift has basically become a staple in my fridge and everyone who comes over loves it too. And right now, my listeners get 15% off their next order of SpinDrift at Drinkspindrift.com and use the code well at checkout for 15% off your next order. That's Drinkspindrith.com and the code is well for 15% off. I am going to admit to something that is making me a little bit nervous that I haven't talked about before. But first, I'm going to rewind.

So I've been in one of the best workout modes that I've had in so. a long time. I really feel like all of the consistency with strength training, Pilates, walking, just everything combined is really compounding. I feel stronger. My body feels different. My energy is better. And I've built so much momentum that I can honestly say I'm a little nervous about summer travel throwing me off because usually when I travel, I lose structure. I don't have my trainers. I don't have my classes. And that is why I am using and bringing ladder with me. It basically acts like a personal trainer in my pocket. I have a specific program tailored to my goals. And every week, the workouts build on the last. So I am actually going to be progressing instead of starting over every Monday. I also love that there's in-ear coaching during the workout. So even when I'm in a random hotel gym this summer, I will still feel guided through the whole thing. The app tracks my reps, my weights, and progress automatically. And it completely removes the mental energy of figuring out what workout to do. I just open the app. And my plan is there. waiting for me. So remove the guestwork with Ladder and get a real coach in your ear telling you

exactly what to do for every workout, no thinking, everything planned for you. If you have an iPhone, head to join Ladder.com slash well and take a quick quiz to find your perfect ladder plan. Use my link and get a free seven day trial with no credit card and $10 off your first month when you join. What are some of your non-negotiables? Like I would imagine that stress is probably your number one offender that you try to keep at bay. My new solution was CBD coffee the other day. Really? Tell me more about that. Have you done yet? No. Okay. So there's a coffee shop that I love called Latry's female owner. She's amazing. And every time I'd gone in there recently, she had CBD and adaptogens and ghee and all this stuff. So I was doing the ghee coffees and I was like, this is great.

And I have just found that I've just been really stressed this last like two weeks. And my jaw's tight. I don't know. I chew the insides of my mouth. I grind. I do all the stuff. And I was like, I need help. Give me the CBD coffee.

And so I took the CBD coffee. I went right for this massage after. And I was like, oh, everything just like melted and it felt so good. And I was like, I need. I need another one. So the next day I went again. So I think I'm at like five in a row now. Wow. And what it did is it almost, and maybe it was the combination of that and the massage. Yeah. A new baseline kind of happened. Because then I stopped chewing and grinding and my shoulders just went light. And I was like, I like this. And then I wonder if she does match. CPD

Matra. I'm sure. But you can just buy CBD and put it in. Yeah. This was a broad spectrum, I think. Mm-hmm. Anyhow, yeah, I think anything at this point that's safe is on the table because stress is what kills us. And I was starting to feel like my insides were like getting hard and not moving and it's just like because stress just goes right to your gut. And so I was like, like, okay, I need help. I'm raising the flag. If it's the CBD copies every day, this is what I'm going to do. That sounds amazing. Yeah. I like the idea of that combo. Well, I was like, am I doing a Red Bull and vodka right now? It's kind of like a healthy speedball. Yeah. I was like, I did it once and I blacked out. Yeah. I remember like back in the day and like the heyday. And I was like, is that kind of what's happening here? But whatever it is, yeah, it's working. I like it. I mean, I used to do like Coke and alcohol. No, it's like the same thing. Oh my God. Wait, did I, maybe I did it with a decaf the first time. Maybe that's the difference. Oh, shoot, I'm going to explore that. What is it called again? The place?

Laidries. And it's here? It's in the valley. Okay. I love it. Everybody running to Laidries when this episode comes out. So good, right? Oh, you bet. So cute. Which one do you go to? Oh, yeah. Tarzan is going to. great. Have you had the CBD coffee? Is it good? I'm wondering if the effect was stronger because I did the decaf the first time. Yeah. And then you just realized it. Yeah. Because it's still working with the regular, but I don't think it felt quite as good as it did with the decaf. So yeah, I think I did the Red Bull and vodka or the, what was it, Coke and alcohol? Yeah. That's not fun. It's not fun. the trajectory of our lives. Like I think back to the things that I used to do, like just

anything. I would ingest anything that anybody put in front of me. And now I'm like, does this bread have unbleached white flour? Like I'm just like, well, you know, the more you know, the better you do. Like, I used to be a sour strip candy fanatic. I would eat them until my scalp sweat. Like crazy. Yeah. I loved my candy. Andy. To be like young and naive, you know. I just didn't know. What are some of your other foundational things? You mentioned spirituality. I know that that's a big piece. Anything else? You mentioned jumping, the trampoline is literally the greatest thing you can do. Really? Like the greatest thing you can do. And now that I made that connection with the lymph, I'm opening up my lymph channels myself because I did some like

tutorials and I'm doing it myself and then I get on to the trampoline and I just get on the trampoline and that is moving your lymph just naturally. But I think they said like just bouncing softly on the treadmill is even better than like walking or running, no running is way better than even running and not just because of the low impact because of all of the benefits that trampolining brings like NASA studied it, Harvard study. It's incredible. full for your body and your health. So generally, that's a non-negotiable. I was out there this morning. I did it. I did my red light this morning. I got on the treadmill. Are you doing like a red light panel, full body? Full body. Okay. Yeah. And so I actually think the red light was, is pretty anti-aging,

too, because I didn't do it for the last year. And boy, did I notice. Really? What did you notice? I noticed aging. And before it was like I was reverse aging because I was. I was doing the red light every single day. Yeah. Yeah. And I was like, oh, we got to get back into this. Because my, my panel on the East Coast broke and it just weren't getting it fixed. What panel do you have? It's from EMR tech. Okay. Anyhow. Well, yeah, it's, it's protecting and preserving that collagen. Yes. I was reading a study about it. Maybe it was a dermatologist who was talking about how a lot of people think that you put the mask on and it just makes your skin look smoother. And, more even and yes, it can do that. But she said that the way that it's really, really effective is in that it's preventing the breakdown of collagen. So it's not necessarily always going to

build. Yes. But it's preventing the breakdown. Yeah. It's like propitia holds people's hair in place. It's not going to grow more hair. It just saves what you have. Yeah. I always have stupid analogies. I can't help it. That's a great analogy. But I do find like with consistency, I feel like I do get more of like a bounce and a firmness and all of that. I'm also doing all the skincare and everything, but she was like, no, it's very protective and like the degradation of collagen. I noticed. So that's amazing that you notice that difference. Well, because I just doing it every single day for like two years and then I stopped cold turkey and now I'm getting back in, but I'm also seeing it make a difference again. What other benefits do you notice? If you're doing full body,

Is it just anti-inflammatory besides your skin and aging? I mean, it's definitely, it just feels good to be in that warm red light. It's like a healthy tanning bed, I always say. Yeah, exactly. It feels good. I do some yoga nidra when I'm in under there, some kind of killing two birds from stone. I hate that analogy.

But I don't want to kill two birds. But yeah, I really like how I feel in there. but I do think it has made an overall difference health-wise because when I look at like all the things that I've done over the last three years, I did this true age test and I reversed age two years. Wow. Whereas before, actually, not only did I reverse age two years,

actually I went down, I think, four years because I was two years older than I was when I first did it three years ago and now I'm two years younger than I am. So that's four years when. Wow. And so red light was a big part and then obviously all the other things. Are there any wellness trends that are out there or habits that you think are underrated? And conversely, any that you think are overrated? I mean, I'm, I am very basic with a lot of this stuff because I feel like everyone's into longevity and all this stuff and biohacking.

And it's great. It's not for me. I'm not into NAD stuff. I'm not into all the face lasers and all these things because I'm like the second you're putting it near your neck, has anyone done the research on what that does to your thyroid? No. Everyone does their specific thing. And then they praise all those results, but then they don't talk about the rest of the system. And so I'm a little hesitant on stuff like that. I really just kind of kept it very simple. by the way, it doesn't mean that I'm not doing other horrible things like Botox that I was going to ask you. I wish I, you know, didn't. But I did bring a beauty shaman on my show who I had seen on Instagram. Oh. And I think she's called the Beauty Shaman, right? Oh. Oh. And I know who you're talking about. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Okay. So one day I'm in my bathroom and I'm looking at this Instagram and she's like, you don't need Botox. You can just do this. Yeah. And whatever. And I did it and it worked. Yeah. I went two and a half years with. out because I had a horrible adverse reaction to Botox in 2023.

Wow. Life altering, debilitating horrible reaction that I didn't think was even possible. Oh, yes. And yeah. And then I went back to it recently, like baby, baby dose I tried. Yeah. Because it's hard. Well, because it's a commitment to do all the stuff that you have to do to maintain it.

Yeah. But you can do it. You can. I did face taping religiously. Wait, what's facetaping? because I feel like I probably know, but I'm not sure. So face taping is using like a very, very gentle, not like kinesiology tape, but very gentle, light, soft, flexible tape.

To lift your face? I mean, it helps with lymph. So the idea is that it's kind of mimicking the outer layer of tissue. The same way that like KT, kinesiology tape is used for athletes who have pain, you know, and their muscles, they'll tape it. And it creates kind of like a lift so that more blood flow goes in there. and it can heal more quickly. And it's so funny because that's like very widely accepted in the sports world.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But then when people do it on their face, everyone's like, no, that doesn't work. You know, doctors. I haven't. Very effective for me, for my forehead especially. And what did it do? So I would tape at night and I would notice that I would wake up in the morning because I'm an eyebrow razor. I can't do it as well now because now I have focused.

Yeah. But I would wake up with like deep lines in my. forehead. And so it prevented that movement because even though it was really soft and I could move my forehead at night, it creates this feedback so you just don't do it. So I did that. I taped around my eyes a little bit. It helped with like the lines. And also when you're sleeping on your side, you're like smushing that skin. You need nurse Janie's pillow. I know. But I'm not. I just can't be like a back sleeper. I would rather get eight hours of sleep. The whole point is you sleep on your side and the pillow goes like this on your eyes. I do silk pillow cases. And I do a silk mask.

And I did the tape and I was doing guasha and I dabbled in face massage. But I have a place here that I like to go for facial massage. No way. So I'd rather just go and have them like, do it. I know. Do it. Yeah. Is it good?

It's unbelievable. Oh my God. You have to send me a lot. You have to go. I will. They're like face massage angels. Like it's amazing. I've been wanting to try it.

Oh my God. It's amazing. Only because what I saw with the beauty show. And I was like, wow, this actually does work. And she used to be an injector, right? So she really knows the face? Yes. Yeah.

Oh, I want to try. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, people who are like super, super committed to it. There's a few that I'm thinking of. Catherine Romaine is one. Olga, natural face bible. She sells the tape that I use, the Japanese face tape.

Beauty Shaman. The proof is in the pudding. It does work. Yeah. And then I think there are people who are kind of like scammy who look like they are doing surgeries and have things done. And they're like, it's face massage. Yeah.

But there are some like legitimate qualified people who have like dedicated their lives to this practice. And, you know, it's not Botox. It's not going to go in there and freeze the muscle or paralyze the muscle. But you can still get a really nice like lifted, sculpted open look. And there were a lot of things that I loved about not having Botox. I actually liked my face better for the most part without it. I know. Yeah.

And anytime I go in, I'm always like, do I really need this? Yeah. But I hope we're moving away from it. Yeah. Yeah. But I think I think I'm going to get to the place where I'm going to master the face stuff because I've also noticed that when I do all the lymph draining on my face, like now my eyes aren't staying puffy generally as long as I'm doing it.

And when I sleep on my temples, I think I'm blocking like a flow. And that's why things are getting puffy. But I'm a pretty good back sleeper. I look like I'm in a coffin all the time now. I'm like this. It does make a huge difference. I had years ago, I had my boobs done and then I had them taken out shortly thereafter. But I slept on my back for a few months.

And I was like, wow, it really does make everything look better. But for me, I'm such, I'm like a stomach sleeper. It's the worst. But I haven't stomach slept in so. Really? Yeah. So I'd rather do that. Whatever's working.

Yeah, yeah. But yeah, I think we're moving away from the frozen look. Like even in public figures, you know, you're starting to see more movement and I don't know. I mean, I think no judgment, whatever anybody does. Exactly. It's like the women judging other women is so old to me. You gotta just be happy. Yeah.

With, you know, whatever you need to be happy. Yeah. Because life is short and it's really hard. I mean, my dad, I remember when I was at entertainment tonight, my mom was telling me how the reason why he wears glasses is to hide the back. under his eyes. So he had like the, you know, Bill Clinton like little puffers. Yeah. And I remember being like, well, let's fix it. I'm like, I know people here that we interview on the show. So we got him taken out. He took his glasses off and he was so much more confident. He felt so much better. And I was like, why, why should he have to live his whole life like that? Yeah. So yeah, no judgment. Do what you

need to do to feel good. Yeah. I love that for him. I know. I'm. I know. I I mean, yeah, I can be so transformative for people. I don't understand the attitude online. But, okay, I have a couple closing questions. I am so curious. What do you wish more women knew about their health? What do I wish more women knew about their health? I think that women just really need to know how much more they need than they give themselves.

because we are born nurturers and we're then trained to be good girls and people pleasers and all these other things. And so our cups usually are empty and we're pouring from an empty cup and the empty cup and an empty cup and like I said, these all accumulate. And it's kind of a not if, it's more of a when. So you have to really listen to your body and you have to make the time and you have to to just do it. You know, like sometimes my husband will look at me. He's like, I just wish I could be more like you. He's like, you just are like, yep, this is my red light time. Yep, this is when I'm

going to do this. I wish I could be more like you. I'm like, you can. It's literally a choice. You have to make yourself matter. And, you know, it's probably easier for me, like I said, because I've had so many things happen and it's a non-negotiable because I know my baby needs me. and I'm going to do everything I can to be here as long. I'm going to see every milestone. I know I am. But you need to matter. But only you can make that decision.

No one else, not your husband, not your partner, not your friend. Only you can make the decision to choose you. And you absolutely have to. And sooner than later. Like I know you were saying hustle culture is still there.

See a lot of young people across from us. But I usually tell. the younger people across from me is, can you just do a couple of things for me? Can you make sure you get your sleep at night? Like eight hours, non-negotiable? Can you get your eight hours? Yes. When you're eating, can you make better choices so you can get as many nutrients in that will fuel your body?

Like if you're putting gas in the car, you want to put good gas in the car. Because you want the car to keep going, right? make sure your car is getting good gas so that anything you're doing that is maybe not healthy can be counterbalanced by those other healthy choices. Sleep is so essential. You know this. I know this. But most people don't know how many processes are being run, the clean out, the detoxing,

all these things while you're asleep. So if you're staying up all night to watch TV and then you're missing the window and all that light is now completely messed up your circadian rhythm and your sleep habits, you're not getting all that clean out. And then it's just kind of going to keep on getting worse. So you got to get your sleep and you got to eat well and you got to get some sun. Your body needs sun. Your eyes have UV receptors on them that are meant to take in that sun. Sunrise is the best time to be outside to get that light on as much of your skin because you have photons. on your skin that take in,

give all these receptors that take in all that light. That's your immune system right here, guys. All this is your immune system. You're not going to get hurt by getting sunrise sun. So you do a few of those things.

Good. And, you know, eventually you'll accumulate more and more habits. That will be good. Maybe you'll find some time at the gym to get into a red light or a sauna or something. But I know.

You can't have it all. You can't think you're going to succeed and give 50%, 75%, 80%. You got to give 100%. If I went back, I wouldn't change how hard I worked. I would have changed making sure I stopped to eat a real meal. And I would have made sure I got my sleep. And I would have eaten, you know, good when I had those meals. It was like very simple.

Yeah. It's not complicated. I think we overcomplicate it so much. The foundational things are. are really, really simple. And you have such a great community for women. Thanks. Heel Squad. So everybody can go check out your podcast. You're such a great follow. You have so much amazing knowledge to share and guests on your show. And you're such a light in the space. And it's just great for women to have other like-minded women who are into the same things, I think, to learn from.

Because it's hard. I was talking to a friend on the podcast this week. And we were like, we go to Dr. Google because like we don't know. It's so hard to find this information, you know, and we have to piece it all together. To be the CEO of your health. Yeah. That's what I talk about all the time. Yeah. We have to use our own intuition, get opinions from experts and see what makes sense. And we're not going to be right all the time. But yeah, Dr. Google, I, Dr. Google a lot. Yeah. I have a PhD MD from Google University, as I'm sure you do too. Yeah. But you're such a pillar in the space. So thank you, much for coming on. It was so fun to chat. Thank you. I know we too. Yeah, where can everybody find you? You can find me at Heal Squad on Instagram or at Maria Manunos and of course,

Hill Squad's on all the platforms. Thank you. Thank you. I can't wait to go get my face massage. Yes. I hope you enjoyed that episode. If you liked the episode and if you liked the show in general, please take a second to rate, review, and subscribe. It goes such a long way in supporting the show. follow the show over on Instagram at well.pod. You can also follow my personal Instagram at Ariel Lori. I'm always sharing great clips from the episodes. And we also have full episodes on YouTube as well if you want to watch in entirety. Thanks for listening. Hi, I'm Pia Barangini, a creative director of LPA, an entrepreneur, a wife, and a dog mom based in Los Angeles. This is my new podcast. Everything is the best. where we basically ask interesting people,

how did you go from zero to yacht? I'm always curious how to help people became successful, and I figured you would be too. Get on the internet with me. Let's laugh, let's cry, let's overshare, and let's get inspired to live our best lives. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. It's all for you, baby.

Thanks for listening. Love you, mean it. 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.