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MIAMI LIVING 105 EXCLUSIVE On a book tour to promote her debut book, The Stash Plan: Your 21-Day Guide to Shed Weight, Feel Great, and Take Charge of Your Health, collaborated on with nutritionist Elizabeth Troy, Laura is noticeably excited to talk about the lifestyle change that altered her body. Having grown up fascinated with nutrition and food, —and with a mother who's a chef and father who's a doctor— she knew that a book on these subjects were in her future. "I didn't want it to be another celebrity cook book. I wanted it to mean something." After landing her well-known role as Donna on That 70s Show, the New Jersey-born, Los Angeles-based actress began to experience several different ailments. "It was embarrassing… I'm like, 'How am I supposed to do a book about nutrition and food if I can't figure out my own body?'" Laura pushed herself in the gym and wasn't overeating – yet the weight clung to her 5'10" frame. Ravenously, she imbibed books on the body and food – searching for a remedy. After enduring a litany of tests and doctors (she even indulged a shaman who shook maracas over her head. "I was desperate.") over a fifteen-year time span, she was finally referred to Elizabeth Troy. "Her viewpoints on food were really different. I started learning a lot of cool stuff and I got really inspired to write a book. Between my knowledge of the body and food, and the fact that I was already a chef, and her kind of food-based science, based on Eastern philosophy and Chinese Meridian Theory –that's why this book came about. And there's nothing like it on the market," she beams. "I can honestly say when we pitched all of our publishers, everybody wanted it because —and that's not like me being, 'Ayyy'" she says in a Fonzie voice. "They were like, 'There's nothing like this that's out there.' We educate people in a way that's not condescending or makes you feel like a dummy, literally just through my personal experiences and through Elizabeth's personal experiences too." The Stash Plan, which made The New York Times bestseller list, centers on creating a stash of food twice a week, drinking bone broth, stretching, and Chinese Meridian Theory. In adhering to this lifestyle, Laura has leaned out, kept the weight off, and her vigorous workouts —that entailed a morning that began with spinning, followed by kickboxing, then weight training which adversely "inflamed" her body and caused her to hang on to weight— are a thing of the past. You get to workout less? "Girl, I started dropping weight when I stopped working out. Ask her." She motions to Jodi. "She's my best friend and she knows. When I stopped kicking my ass at the gym and started stretching, swimming, sweating in my sauna, and getting massages religiously, that's when I actually started to lose weight," she says. Laura had to train herself to relax and be nice to her body, which was challenging. "I love going to the gym and listening to Zeppelin and lifting weights —that's one of my favorite things to do and I can't do it, because then I'm completely inflamed for a week… I'll fall back sometimes into those habits, as we all do." To stay on track with The Stash Plan while traveling, she chooses hotels with kitchenettes so that she can prepare her stashes. But it's all about living by the 80/20 rule, and as someone Irish and Russian, she loves a cocktail, she adds. "We won the SAG Award a few weeks ago for Best Ensemble and we drank champagne and ate chocolate. By the time we got to the after-party, we were eating whatever we could off those trays, and I didn't give it a second thought. The next day, woke up, made my breakfast with my stash —didn't even think about it. You have to enjoy your life or what's the point?" The other 20% of the time, she allows herself some good ol' dive bar food like gluten-free sliders, French fries, and chicken wings. "Jodes, we should open up a dive bar where all of the stuff is crazy organic, hormone-free, and amazing," Laura says excitedly. "Dive bars are the best. You go in. You listen to some Creedence. Get a drink. Get some fries. Wouldn't it be great to have that?" she asks wistfully. "Absolutely, I'm in," Jodi replies. "Great. I'm going to think about that," Laura says carefully, citing that she tends to dive into many different ventures. "The last thing I need is another one, but that might be the way to go." Speaking of indulging, Orange is the New Black's fourth season returns June 17th. Let the binge- watching commence! The award-winning Netflix show, which films in Queens and upstate New York, was picked up for not one but three more seasons. Unfamiliar with TV protocol, I ask if a multiple-season pickup like this is common. "Back when I was on 70s Show… Friends was on when we were on, back when that show was on the air, that's the last time I really heard about shows getting picked up for two or three more seasons. That's kinda the old school way of doing TV. I was shocked when we got picked up for three, especially now with all the different media platforms… all these shows that are everywhere. The fact that we, number one, rose to the top and that we're such a cultural phenomenon is incredible… It was insane, like, amazing." She smiles widely. The racy role of Alex Vause, Piper Chapman's love interest, continues to push and challenge Laura as an actress –which she loves. "When I'm reading the script, 'Oh crap. I have to do that this week? Whoa!' I love that. That's my favorite, 'cause that's when I grow and improve as an actress —when I'm scared. And I tend to do things that scare me. For me, she's just a lot of things: She's awesome, a total badass, but she's really vulnerable and this relationship she has with Piper is so tumultuous, but they love each other so much. And they hate each other. And it's this constant tug-of-war mentally. And physically. We get pushed out of our comfort zone all the time, which I love. To do a show where I'm not pushed out of my comfort zone, I would not be happy." The natural redhead, who has gone blonde in the past, dyed her hair black to play Alex –and has found that she feels the most herself in this hue. "Growing up as a teenager, nobody knew where to put me What is your fondest memory from That 70s Show? "Awe man, that's tough. I have two. One was when we were shooting the pilot and Topher [Grace] and I did our scene on top of the hood of the Vista Cruiser, where we kiss for the first time. We're so young. We're so naive. We're so cute. And it's when you first see Eric and Donna have their first kiss. It was so special. And then, in the finale, I can't even talk, I'm going to start crying," she says as her green eyes well up with tears. "It was amazing, all of us together doing the finale in the driveway when it ended. Mila [Kunis] was balling. It was crazy. Those are probably the two, bookends."