Arielle Lorre On Hitting Rock Bottom, Overcoming Addiction, Fitness, Eating Disorders, Transcendental Meditation & Trauma
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Harris to 500-500. The following podcast is a Dear Media production. Hi guys, it's Mari and you're listening to The Pursuit of Wellness.

Hi guys, welcome back to the Pursuit of Wellness. Today on the show we have Arielle Laurie. This is probably one of my favorite episodes I've ever done and I felt like Arielle and I had so much more of a connection than I could have ever imagined. And I'm so happy to be here with her.

Although our stories are different, there was so much overlap in our experiences and I felt like we were both having epiphanies as we had a conversation and discovering things about ourselves through each other's story. I don't know if you guys know what I mean by that, but do you ever just meet someone where you feel like, wow, this person really gets me?

And I also learned so much from her. What I appreciate so much about Arielle is she doesn't fluff things up. She was super candid and honest about her rock bottom experience and what that looked like for her. She also gives us super tangible tips when it comes to meditation and wellness and how she basically became the best version of her out of her alcoholism and addiction. Now, I do want to give a little bit of a trigger warning. We do talk about alcohol, drugs,

trauma. This is definitely a heavier episode, but it's so worth the listen, guys. This was a really, really good one. I hope you enjoy it and I can't wait to hear what you think.

Today on the show, we have Arielle Laurie, the host of the Blonde Files podcast. Arielle is a wellness guru and influencer. She has the best healthy recipes. I mean, the best. Thank you. However, her life is drastically different to how she was living a few years ago. Arielle has an inspiring story from the grips of addiction to living her best life.

She's super candid and open when it comes to her experience and tools that have helped her along the way. She's the perfect guest for the pursuit of wellness, and I can't wait to learn more from her. Arielle, welcome to the show. Thank you. I am so excited to learn more about you. We were just saying we kind of have a similar timeframe of when we started our journeys, so I can't wait to hop in. I want to jump back a little bit because anyone looking at your page, you have this very like calm wellness vibe to you, but

after hearing your story, it's so different. Where did you grow up? What was your childhood like? So I grew up on the East Coast in Rhode Island. I had a very idyllic childhood, I would say. I think I've said in other interviews, like everything but the white picket fence. You know, I went to private school. We had a golden retriever, like all of the things that you think of when you think ideal childhood. I had no trauma, nothing like that. I had a really good upbringing. I

But as you know, since you've been researching me for a few days, like it all kind of came crashing down when I was like 17. So in what way did it start crashing down? When I discovered alcohol, I will never forget the first drink that I had because I

Especially in high school, I just started feeling really uncomfortable in my skin. I wasn't as outgoing as I wanted to be. You know, I wanted to be this extroverted, bubbly, like life of the party person. And that's just not who I am naturally.

And I just always felt like I was just kind of half a beat off from everybody else. And I wanted to be like the girls who had everything. They had all the right clothes, designer, you know, the amazing cars. And, you know, in private school, like there's a lot of that. And I just felt really kind of inferior. But I also felt really ashamed about that. So long story short, I went to a party and those girls were there and I had a drink and

And it was like, all of a sudden I felt comfortable. I felt confident. The voices in my head telling me that I was like less than and all of that and all in a way. And

And I was, you know, outgoing and it was a social lubricant, all of those things. And that night I got violently drunk. I remember my dad came to pick my friend and I up from this party and I peed my pants waiting for him to come pick me up. And next morning I was like vomiting everywhere. And it was like, I could not wait to do it again. Whereas my friend who was there and was also violently hungover was like, I'm never drinking again, you know? And that's kind of like the...

differentiator, I think, between like an alcoholic and somebody who's like a normal drinker. And so that just set me off and I was off to the races.

I think what you said is so relatable regarding feeling uncomfortable in your skin. I felt that way throughout high school. I hadn't discovered drinking yet when I was in high school, but I definitely felt one beat off constantly. One, because I lived in a super wealthy town in New York and I had just moved from the UK. My family wasn't that wealthy and I just kind of had this hard time entering the space. And I felt like I couldn't keep up with the Moncler jackets and the... I couldn't even get Uggs. I was wearing the Costco Uggs and I was mortified, but...

I personally found drinking in college. And when I think back to that time, I don't consider myself an alcoholic, but I was absolutely abusing alcohol. It is interesting. Like, how do you differentiate for anyone listening who may be drinking excessively or using it as like a crutch for their pain? How do you know when you're an alcoholic versus not? That's a really good question.

I think that it's kind of what alcohol does for you, not what alcohol does to you. And for me, alcohol was my solution to everything. So I had friends that were binge drinkers, but then they could stop. Whereas I had this obsession. I think that's another component of it. And that's something that I've learned in sobriety. You know, it's like this obsession with drinking. And once you take that first drink, like you cannot stop. They say like the

The drink takes a drink. And that's what happened to me. Like, even if I would say, I'm just going to go out tonight and have one glass of wine. Once I have that glass of wine, all bets are off. You know, I might not stop for days. And the other thing was that I just think I'm just a little bit chemically different from non-alcoholics because I would drink the same amount as friends, but I would be blacking out, you know, like just drinking.

From the start, like I was that girl that was blackout. And another really good thing, if people are listening, they're, you know, evaluating their relationship with alcohol. A really good way to tell if you have a problem with alcohol or not is to try to stop. And if you're having trouble stopping alcohol,

that might be the information that you need yeah no that's a good tip and i think i wish that i had had someone like you online back then i mean i wasn't even really on instagram and there for sure were not like sober influences or even really celebrities to look up to back then being sober wasn't cool and now i think it is like now i think there's a whole community yeah oh yeah i mean i always say like i thought that getting sober would be the worst thing that

thing that could ever happen to me. I got sober in my 20s. I thought my life would be over, you know, and yeah, you're so right. At that time, almost nine years ago now when I got sober, there was nobody

So I just didn't have any like concept of what a sober life could look like. I thought it just meant that you stay home, you don't do anything, you know, you can't go anywhere, you can't be around alcohol. Like I just had this like misconception. I think it's still so stigmatized and it drives me crazy. It's interesting because it's like the one thing in our culture that's like accepted, but it

It's awful. Yeah. I mean, you know, I don't judge people and their relationship with alcohol. Like, I don't want to be that sober person that's like, oh, you're drinking. But, you know, I heard somebody say once, like, if

I'm trying to remember the analogy. It's about like if you don't drink and people judge you. Like if you went out and you weren't doing heroin, people wouldn't be like, well, why aren't you doing it? Like, don't you want to do it? But alcohol is just so part of our culture. And, you know, there is sometimes judgment if you don't drink. And it's like it just doesn't make sense. But I do think that it is getting more accepted, especially in health conscious places like L.A.,

LA, New York, you know, these cities and just with people kind of embracing wellness more. Like I think that it is more normalized now. What did rock bottom look like for you? Rock bottom for me was living in an empty apartment in West Hollywood and

In a blackout from December to February, complete blackout, no idea what happened, a little bit of an idea and it wasn't good. I think the blackout kind of protected me, you know, from a lot of trauma that I just don't, I don't need to like know the details. I was having seizures. I was in and out of the hospital.

I had nobody in my life except for my neighbor who was a drug dealer. And I had been doing alcohol, coke, Adderall and Xanax. Those were like my four and they all kind of worked in concert with each other. And I was like,

doing a chemistry experiment every day. You know, I would have to drink when I woke up or drink at like two in the morning when I would wake up, fall back asleep, drink when I woke up around seven, take an Adderall to get going a little bit, drink a little to come down from the Adderall. Then in the evening, like do some Coke and then take a Xanax at the end of the night after drinking and doing Coke all night to try to come down. And that was like day in, day out. It's

Towards the end, that neighbor was giving me meth, which I didn't know, but they found it in my apartment and it was in my system. And what happened was...

I think my parents called the West Hollywood police to do a wellness check on me 'cause they couldn't get in touch with me. And they saw me through the window, face down on my floor, unresponsive. They had to break in. They took me to the hospital. Somehow I got out of the hospital, went back to my apartment. I have a vague memory of snorting something off the floor. I think it was dust. Like I didn't have anything at that point.

And passing out, next thing I knew, my parents showed up at my door from Rhode Island. I opened the door, I dropped, and I had a grand mal seizure. What does that mean? A grand mal seizure. I'm probably going to get this wrong, but it was a long seizure that they couldn't get me out of. Wow. And I went back to the hospital. I was there for...

four-ish days, I think, until they stabilized me and then I went to rehab. So I had a very low bottom. That was after 10 years of, you know, progressive alcoholism. But I always want to say, like, that's not what made me an alcoholic because I was an alcoholic when I started drinking, you know, and there were so many times when I actually could manage it for months. I would just have the one or two glasses of wine and, you know, maintain a job or, like, stay in school and then inevitably, you

it would just unravel. Right. I'm curious because I talk about trauma a lot on my platform and I have the tendency when I look at my old self and when I was doing things that I treated my body badly or I treated other people badly, whatever it may be, I kind of detach who I am now from that old self. I literally talk about it like it's a different person. Do you have the same thing? Totally. We were talking before about like disassociating and detaching a little bit from trauma. And I've done so much work around this stuff.

And it's not like it was before, but I think there is a little bit of a survival mechanism or something that kicks in. And yeah, I think that even like when I've seen videos of me talking about it, I kind of go a little bit blank. And people ask me how I reconcile the two and I'm like, it doesn't even feel like it was my life. I feel in some ways that I still have that trauma in me a little bit,

But it also feels like I'm so far from that person that I was that it's almost like watching a movie and I can have compassion for that girl and I feel sad for that girl. But I'm also really grateful. And I've heard you talk about this, like where, you know, somebody asked you, like, if you could take away what you went through, you know, the hardships, would you? And you said no. And I wouldn't either. Like, I really look at.

sobriety and everything that I went through as my superpower and it's like my biggest asset, you know, because it turned me into who I am today and it's character building. What would you say are the best things that came out of your addiction? I know that's a weird question, but just based on that. I mean, my whole life is built on my sobriety. That's the foundation for everything. And

And sobriety and the work that I did when I got sober taught me how to be a good person. And it gave me so many coping mechanisms. And it taught me how to deal with life on life's terms. And I see that a lot of people who aren't alcoholics

don't have those skills, you know? And I really am so grateful for this way of life where I can be present and I can accept life as it is. And, you know, I can regulate my nervous system without any kind of outside help. And it also helps

gave me a work ethic and it enabled me to kind of hone in on my passions and this whole career and everything that I have today is built on that. So there were just so many gifts. It's like, I can't even pick. I feel like a lot of people who don't hit that rock bottom kind of get okay with living in a mediocre way or they have dull pain that they never realize how to fix because they don't hit that moment and they don't learn how to regulate their nervous system like you have.

For anyone listening who may have a troublesome relationship with drugs or alcohol, what were your first steps to pulling yourself out of addiction? I mean, I didn't really do it willingly. You know, I had to be intervened on because I got to the point towards the end, but I went to rehab kind of sporadically, like throughout the years.

It was so scary to me, the idea of a life without alcohol. So daunting that I just had to get to the place that I got to. You know, I had to be so desperate and know that I was completely shit out of luck in order to embrace a different way of life. And so, you know, I'm so grateful that I was intervened on and I was kind of put in rehab for long enough for that fog to clear and for me to see that like,

Yeah, I really, I really need help here. Like, I cannot do this on my own. And when I was in rehab, I did a lot of intensive therapy because, you know, I learned that the drinking and the using drugs, like, that's not the problem. And I think that's a big misconception. People think you take away the alcohol and the drugs and you're good.

I learned that that's a symptom of problems with my thinking and problems with processing my trauma and, you know, all of these things that I had to deal with underneath that. So I did intensive therapy and then I found like-minded people who were going through it. And that was like the

the saving grace really. And I learned how to, you know, live sober through watching people who had more time than me and through having a group of girlfriends that were, you know, around my same age and similar interests and all of that. And we were doing this together. And that was like, I think the most important thing. I'm really into my morning routine right now. So what I do is I wake up

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Once you became sober, did you realize that you had any underlying issues that you hadn't been dealing with? What were those issues and how did you begin to tackle those? Did you have to first figure out the sobriety and then the underlying issues? Yeah, I mean, there were some really obvious things in the beginning, like really obvious traumas that I had to deal with. And...

It was kind of interesting, though, because I did have issues with eating. You know, I was bulimic. When I first got sober, I would throw up a raspberry, like if I ate one. I mean, it was just raging. And I...

I don't know if I should say this, but somebody told me who had 25 or 30 years of sobriety at the time, that if I straightened out spiritually, I would straighten out mentally and physically. Meaning if I took care of the sobriety and the underlying things, the other issues would probably kind of work themselves out. And that was what happened to me. I didn't have to do anything specific for my eating disorder. And I know that that's not everybody's experience, but that was mine, but that had been a huge issue.

And then kind of over the years, especially the first few years, I would just notice things like, oh, I'm really sensitive and I'm really anxious. I run super anxious. I know that you do too. You're nodding. And so that's something that I had to pay attention to and, you know, learn how to cope with that and learn what helps and learn what exacerbates that, you know? And so there were just kind of little things. And I think ultimately, like, what really...

drove my drinking and drug use was that kind of sensitivity, that anxiety that I told you about earlier, like feeling uncomfortable in my skin and feeling like I was different from everybody else. And that was like the main thing I think was the anxiety because that kind of like bled into everything. Yeah, I can relate so much. It's really refreshing to hear you talk about this. With the anxiety, what would you say are your main tools that you use now to handle it?

Meditation is number one. I know you meditate too. Well, okay. No, I don't. Not like you. You do transcendental meditation, right? Yes. I've taken one class back in the day and I really want to learn more about it. Like what would you say is different about TM to other meditations? So for me, I had tried different meditations over the apps and different platforms and stuff, guided meditations. And

And I still think there's a time and place for those. And I do use those occasionally now, but I always just kind of felt like I was listening to something and then I would be done. And I was like, okay, well, that was nice and relaxing, but it wasn't doing anything for me. And when I started, this is back in 2018, I started noticing that a lot of people kind of in my orbit who were people that I looked up to who just had this thing about them and

that you just can't really put your finger on. They were all doing TM. And I was like, okay, I'm going to try it. My husband started doing it. My parents started doing it. So I was like, I guess that's my sign. And the way that you learn TM is you go and you do a four-day class. It's only like an hour or two a day. And I noticed in that first day even that it just

brought my nervous system down and I felt so anchored. Like that's the only way that I can describe it. And I felt energized after, but in like a calm way, I felt like my sleep was better. Like when I started doing it consistently, it was just so crazy effective for me from the beginning. And I

Yeah, I've heard that. I've heard the analogy. So if you think about the ocean and you think of like a small boat on the surface of the ocean, it's going to rock with every single tiny little wave and current and all of that. And what I learned in TM is

is that that kind of meditation is kind of like going down to the floor of the ocean where there's still a current, you know, you still might move a little bit, but you're not so like at the mercy of what's happening up there. And it's not so turbulent. And that was like really what,

I felt so I'm a little bit of like an evangelist about it. I try not to. I'm influenced right now, honestly. Yeah, it's amazing. If you can do it and it does cost money, it goes to their nonprofit foundation. But you can also like scholarship. And if you really can't afford it for anybody listening, like they do like an honor system. They're like, if you can pay ten dollars, you know, we'll take it. That's amazing. Yeah. So you do that now.

Twice a day? Twice a day for 20 minutes in silence. They give you a mantra and I was so intimidated. I was like 20 minutes in silence, like in my head. Are you fucking kidding me? Sorry. But I mean, it was like really scary.

And you just think of the mantra and you're going to lose the mantra occasionally. And then you just think of it again and bring it back. And the whole thing about TM is that it's effortless. You're not trying to clear your mind. You know, our brains have thoughts rattling around in them 24-7. And the thing about meditation, and this is not exclusive just to TM, is that like you notice that and you can detach from the thoughts.

And that was like a huge benefit that I got from that because, you know, I tend to take thoughts as fact. Yeah.

Yeah. And when I could just kind of observe that, I was like, oh, this is just craziness in my head. Like it doesn't mean anything. It's kind of like observing the thought rather than being the thought. Yes. I think Jay Shetty said, if you say that you don't have time for meditation, you need it more than anyone else. Yeah. And I think that's so true. I'm so inspired by that. I really want to try that. What other tools have you used? Because I know you've mentioned. OK, can you explain stoicism to me?

Yes. Well, I don't know. I think I can. But it has a lot of similarities to like a lot of the principles in recovery. And it is kind of accepting life on life's terms. It's not placing judgment on anything like, you know, we tend to be so reactive and assign, you know, good or bad to anything happening like, oh, this is terrible. And stoicism is just like, no, this is just what it is. It's like acceptance, like radical acceptance. Yeah.

So I don't know if that's a good definition. No, I love that. Yeah. Something that I'm striving for. Your story is so inspirational and so refreshing also in the wellness space. I don't think I've come across someone like you before. Do you feel like your audience has become kind of like a sober community? Do you get a lot of questions about it? About sobriety? Mm-hmm.

Occasionally, yes. I do have some people that I'm really close with who reached out to me initially on Instagram trying to get sober. And I was able to help them with that. And now they've been in my life for years and that's really amazing. I noticed a lot over the pandemic that I got a lot of messages. I think people were really reevaluating their relationship with

with alcohol because when we started working from home and all of that, you know, it's like wine every day at five o'clock. And I think people after a few weeks of that or months or whatever started feeling like maybe this is not the most healthy thing. So I did notice a correlation with that. I always say like my DMs are always open for anybody who's curious, you know, how to get sober or questions if they think they might have a problem.

I'm always happy to help in that way. But yeah, I mean, my community is really amazing. Like they're just really supportive people. So let's talk your fitness journey, because I know we both started around the same era in the fitness world. How did your fitness journey begin?

I started doing BBG. So if people are not familiar with that, it was bikini body guides, Kayla, it's seen as Australian trainer. And at the time I was like a year and a half or two years sober. And I felt like I had worked on the mental health piece. And at that point wanted to get in shape. And I knew nothing about wellness, nothing about fitness, nothing about nutrition. And

Nothing like that. All I wanted were abs. Like I thought that if I got abs, that would mean that I was healthy. And BBG was high intensity plyometric training, like a lot of jumping. And at the time it was just huge. Like, especially in LA, there was a huge community here and I did meet a lot of people doing that. And it was like three, I think I was actually doing five days a week of these 28 minute workouts. And

And, you know, I did kind of like lean out and get in shape really fast. But what happened eventually was I started tracking macros and I got a little bit disordered and I got a little obsessive. And it's really hard. Like I went from not working out at all to this plyometric jumping around for 28 minutes, burpees and jump squats and jump lunges like day in, day out. And my body just kind of had enough. Yeah.

What does your routine look like now versus then? Like what's changed? I noticed that my body and my mind respond so much more to mindful movement. So that's like Pilates a few days a week where there's like that mind-body connection and then resistance training with my trainer like two or three days a week as well. And that's like some weights and strength training. I don't do well with jumping.

I don't do well, like really getting my heart rate up. I do well with slow, intentional, you know, still really hard workouts. Like I worked out with my trainer last night and I was dead after, but in a good way where I felt energized instead of feeling depleted. How do you feel like your relationship with your body overall has changed since the addiction versus now?

I hated myself when I was in my addiction. And even when I started doing BBG, when I was sober, you know, I still was trying to mold myself into something that I thought was acceptable and that I thought would make me feel better about myself or something like that. I'm still...

I never really thought about it that way, but, you know, it was not coming from a place of love and nourishment and acceptance. And, you know, now I just want to feel good. That's like I want to be healthy and I want to feel good. I spent so many years feeling like absolute shit and treating my body like shit. So now the biggest motivation for me is just feeling

feeling my best. And I do notice that when I make that the priority, my body responds really positively. I can relate to that as well, because although my life was better when I was on the fitness journey, it was still a form of self-torture. And I know that sounds kind of dramatic, but it was like, it was like, let me work myself into the ground because that felt so

similar to destroying my life through whatever I was doing before. It was kind of like self-harm, but in a healthy way, if that makes sense. Yeah. Sounds a little weird, but... No, I totally get that. And I think there's also an element of control, right? Like I can control this. And when I was doing like macros and BBG and everything that I was doing at that time, like it gave me a sense of control. And I realized like, oh...

I can do this many macros and not feel hungry. So I'm going to reduce them even more. And, you know, I got down to like really low calories. I see pictures of myself now and I was super lean and skinny. And I remember at the time I didn't see that in the mirror. I saw, oh, I need to like lose weight in this area, tone up that area. Like it was never enough. Yeah. And, you know, ironically, I kind of just had to let go of control. My body told me like I've had enough.

And I had to stop. Like my hormones were out of whack. My gut health was out of whack. I had no energy whatsoever to do anything because it was all going into these workouts and the tracking my food and like all of these obsessive things.

And like I hit that wall and I had to just stop and slow down. And, you know, slowing down turned out to be the kind of solution that I had been looking for the whole time. I feel like when you've lived in chaos for so long, finding that control is so helpful, but there comes a point where you need to let that go too. That's why I feel like the fitness world is such an evolving journey. Like you never really have it fully figured out because you learn new things or you figure out something that works better for you as you evolve.

Is this around the time that you started your content creation? Yes. So I started my account under the pseudonym The Blonde Files when I started BBG because I was posting before pictures from the neck down. And it was really encouraged with BBG to, you know, have an account for accountability. And, you know, I would post like

before pictures and my smoothie. It's like very Instagram at that time was very basic. The filter is like crazy. Oh, my God. Yes. I went through my account and deleted like so many of my old things. And I was just like, wow. I should do that too, honestly. Oh, my God. Like it's come so far in such a short amount of time. So I did that anonymously. And I

I really did build a pretty, you know, a small community at that time. And then we were talking about this before when I started doing the before and after pictures, those would go viral and they would get picked up by like people and daily mail. And I would get so many followers that way. And so at the time I was like, okay, well, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to throw these in strategically because I knew that that was what helped me grow. Yeah. I did the same thing like that. My entire career was kind of built on this one perspective.

before and after photo. And after a while, I realized I didn't have any other before photos because I wasn't taking pictures when I was insecure about my body. So you only had one or two to choose from. And everyone was like, where are the others? We want to see more. That was an interesting era in the fitness world. Yes, it was.

I feel like the wellness scene now is so much more about how you feel versus how you look. I mean, they're completely different things. As you said, like you can have a six pack, but feel like shit on the inside. Yeah. And, you know, I'm curious how like a before and after would be received now. I mean, I know that there are a lot of before and after videos and I've done those myself. And I know that you do some of those like of you when you were younger and then how much you've grown. But it's the emphasis is on the inner growth. You know, it's not so much the growth

the external, I think. Yeah, and I agree with you. I think it's definitely leaned towards people not loving the before and afters from a physical standpoint, but I do, it's interesting because I feel like I've even become known for that physical change, but to me, it's a mental change. Like when I think of my journey, it's not physical. Yeah. Now that you have a platform where you inspire and help others in the position you once were, do you kind of feel like your career has had this full circle moment? Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I think that I always, I always wanted to share all those parts of me because I felt like, again, like what we were saying before, like that's my greatest asset. You know, I never wanted to hide my story or hide the struggles because I think that that's what people crave. Like that's what people relate to most. So that was always a big part of

my career from the beginning and of the platform and everything. But it is kind of crazy to see, like, where it's gone in the last few years, you know? And it's just like we were saying before, too. Like, I'm so...

just such a different person from who I was when I got sober, from who I was before I got sober, even from who I was when I started the fitness thing. You know, it's like we're constantly evolving. And I don't know. I think that there's so much value in going through those struggles. And, you know, people I'm sure you get this a lot, like people will reach out and want to know, like exactly what the workout regimen is and exactly what the diet is or whatever. And I'm like,

Figure it out. Find what works for you. Like all of our toolkits are going to be different. And there's so much growth and going through all of that and experiencing that for yourself. Like and what I do is not going to be the right thing for you. And it's not going to be right for whoever's listening. 100%.

So you have some amazing recipes on your page. I'm thinking of making the best fucking cookies. Okay. Should I do the full version or the regular version? Do the regular version. Okay. Really wow them with the classic? Yeah, yeah. Okay. What is your go-to healthy dinner recipe? It's very boring right now. I'm doing like brown rice pasta, pasta.

some broccoli and turkey. I mean, that sounds incredible. I'm a simple eater too. There is this other thing. So I had food poisoning a few weeks ago. The worst. I'm traumatized from that. Like I have never been so sick in my life. You have to tell us where from. Well, here's the thing. Here's the thing. I think I poisoned myself. So I got salmon and some other things and

pre-made and I picked them up around three o'clock in the afternoon. I had to go do an errand. I got home at four. I was like, oh, I have something at five. I'm going to go for a quick walk. Left it on the counter, just not thinking because it was like a go, go, go kind of day. Came back, ate some around five. So it had been out for two hours. I was fine.

Left it out for three more hours. And at eight o'clock, I was like, I should eat a little bit more so that I'm not like starving in the middle of the night. And I ate it at eight. So at that point, I had been out for five hours. For everybody listening, the rule is two and then bacteria starts growing, which is like so. Is that true? I can't even think about it. Yes.

Yeah, it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria after two hours. Okay, because I'm bad about things like that. Like I don't really care. Yeah, no, I don't either. And I had not had any issues with in the past. I don't think that I ever left salmon out for five hours in the past, but I ate it instantly. I was like, oh God, this is not good. And I took like a medication for nausea before I went to bed. And then I woke up at midnight

Just violently ill. No. I won't even go into details. I'm sure most people listening have had some kind of food poisoning. I'm not unique in this. But anyway, after that, there was only one thing I could eat. And it was this chicken that I would make in the Instant Pot.

And I have the recipe on my Instagram and you just mix some like soy sauce or coconut aminos with some ketchup and honey and then some herbs and stuff. You cook it and it's this like honey glazed kind of delicious. I do chicken thighs, so they just kind of fall apart. And then I would do jasmine rice cooked in bone broth. So it was like this really nourishing meal. And I ate that

pretty much for like three weeks after I had the food poisoning and that was it. That's why I'm taking a break right now and doing the pasta situation. Yeah, I feel like food poisoning, you can only stomach so much. I know. Yeah, I'm still not like 100%. I can relate. I got food poisoning in Vegas and I don't think I'll ever go back. Oh my God. Eating healthy in Vegas is not a thing. Okay, no one try and do that because I had a shrimp salad and I almost died.

Oh, God. I heard seafood is the worst, too, with food poisoning. Oh, like, I think it might be. Yeah. Things were coming out of a lot of places all at one time. I'm glad you're here still with us. What are three non-negotiable wellness habits in your routine? Meditation, going to bed early.

I always say like my night routine and my sleep is the foundation for everything else. If I don't do that, my habits the next day are kind of like I'm just unraveling. So meditation, sleep, and I would say exercise because when I do some form of exercise, even if it's just walking, I'm more likely to do the other things. I'm probably going to make healthier food choices. I'm going to feel less anxious. I'm going to want to meditate, you know, and

I feel like those three things kind of affect all the other areas of my life in a really positive way. Love it. Okay. I started this podcast because I believe everyone's pursuit of wellness looks different. What would you say wellness means to you? Oh my God.

I feel like wellness to me is just doing everything from a place of self-love and nourishment, whatever that looks like for you. Because I feel like a lot of wellness is trying to fix things and change everything. Like, I don't know. I just feel like wellness, like real wellness is about nourishment, really. Yeah.

I love that. That was nice. No one said that yet. That was a good one. I don't do well under pressure. No pressure here. And then where can people find you online? Where can they find your healthy recipes? I would recommend starting on Instagram at Arielle Laurie and everything is linked from there. My podcast also on Dear Media is the Blonde Files podcast. And my website is ArielleLaurie.com. But yeah, Instagram is kind of like home base.

Thank you, Arielle. This was awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to today's episode. Go comment on my last Instagram at Mari Llewellyn with the guest you want to see next. I'll be picking one person from the comments to send our bloom greens to. Make sure you hit follow so you never miss my weekly episodes. If you enjoyed the conversation, be sure to share and leave a review. See you next week.

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