Episode 290

An Important Relationship—You + Food

Published on: 19th February, 2025

How much mental space does food take up in your life? Do you feel trapped by food rules, guilt, or the pressure to eat a certain way? Let’s put on our curiosity hats to explore our relationship with food.

In this Salad with a Side of Fries episode, Jenn Trepeck discusses our important relationship with food.  From food triggers and guilt-free eating to breaking free from restrictive diets or mindsets, Jenn explores how our thoughts about food impact our daily lives. Plus, she highlights why seeking support can be a game-changer in creating a healthier, more balanced mindset around eating and relationship with food. Tune in next week for the second part of this discussion diving into body image with a special guest! 

The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast is hosted by Jenn Trepeck, discussing wellness and weight loss for real life, clearing up the myths, misinformation, bad science & marketing surrounding our nutrition knowledge and the food industry. Let’s dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store. 

IN THIS EPISODE: 

  • [1:51] Exploring our relationship with food, body shape and being food aware 
  • [11:29] Food triggers, guilt-free eating, and the time spent thinking about food
  • [16:28] Food restrictions, One Meal a Day (OMAD), fear food and a discussion on eating disorders
  • [26:22] Judging ourselves for food choices and how we can redirect these feelings
  • [27:40] What a balanced relationship with food looks like
  • [33:20] Exercise, activity choices and wearables

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

  • Many people recall becoming aware of their body size and food choices at a young age, often influenced by family, social environments, and cultural messaging. 
  • Restrictive eating patterns are deeply ingrained behaviors influenced by diet culture. These habits contribute to an unhealthy relationship with food, highlighting the importance of re-evaluating these mindsets for overall well-being.
  • Food choices may be driven by fear, competition, or guilt. Instead of restricting, skipping meals, or yo-yo dieting, a balanced approach involves recognizing hunger and satiety, eating various nourishing foods, and honoring your body's needs without anxiety. 
  • A balanced lifestyle allows for flexibility—being able to eat at any restaurant without stress, working out without obsessing over steps or missing a day, and removing labels like "good" or "bad" from food choices. The key is self-awareness and making mindful choices rather than engaging in self-sabotage or comparison.

QUOTES:         

[9:44] “The first time I felt I had to watch what I ate was between high school and college. - Jenn Trepeck

[14:11] “If we are choosing not to have social plans because we don't want to eat out, or we don't want to eat around other people, we are isolating. We want to look at our relationship to that. - Jenn Trepeck

[15:40] “What we learn through the Healthy Vibe Tribe and what I learned that completely changed my life is that it's not actually about the calories. It's about what calories are made of.” -Jenn Trepeck.

[2.0:06] “Are we eating to avoid something?” Jenn Trepeck

[27:05] “What does a more balanced relationship, a healthier relationship with food, look like? It means eating in a way that nourishes your body and your mind. Guilt and anxiety are not present. It means recognizing hunger and satiety and fullness.” Jenn Trepeck

RESOURCES:

Become A Member of Salad with a Side of Fries

Jenn’s Free Menu Plan

A Salad With a Side of Fries

A Salad With A Side Of Fries Merch

A Salad With a Side of Fries Instagram

Cr-Cr-Cr-Cravings

Dry Beyond January - Part One

Dry Beyond January - Part Two

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About the Podcast

Salad With a Side of Fries Nutrition, Wellness & Weight Loss
Nutrition tips that actually work. Real-life healthy eating, balanced diet tools, and weight loss tips you can use today with coach Jenn Trepeck.*

If you have searched for nutrition tips, tried to keep a healthy lifestyle, or felt stuck following popular weight loss tips, this podcast is for you. Get straightforward wellness advice that works in real life, plus strategies for a balanced diet, sustainable healthy eating, and a smarter approach to fitness and nutrition. Is your diet making you hungrier, crankier, or less healthy? Tune in and find out.*

Free gift: Schedule a 15-minute curiosity call with Jenn to explore what is possible for you. https://asaladwithasideoffries.com/contact/

Welcome to Salad with a Side of Fries, where wellness meets real life. Award-winning host Jenn Trepeck, health and lifestyle coach and author of Uncomplicating Wellness, cuts through the noise with clear answers you can trust. Ranked in the top 1.5% of podcasts worldwide, the show won Ear Worthy’s Best Health Podcast in 2024 and 2025 and was nominated for Best Independent Podcast both years. Jenn also won Women Who Podcast’s Stellar Interview award in 2025 after being named one of Podcast Magazine’s 40 under 40 in 2022.

Jenn’s motto is “wellness without the weirdness.” With more than 17 years coaching after solving her own food struggles, she knows how confusing the industry can be. Each week you get the foundations of a balanced diet, sustainable healthy eating, metabolism basics, and long-term holistic health, plus straight talk on fad diets and supplements.

What you will get by listening:
✅How to eat and how to cheat, guilt-free
✅Nutrition tips that work in the real world
✅Weight loss tips that are effective, never restrictive
✅How to build a balanced plate at home, on the road, and eating out
✅Smart strategies for sustainable habits that include your favorite foods
✅Evidence-based insights on fitness and nutrition
✅Conversations about holistic health that go beyond food
✅Wellness advice you can use right away


About Jenn Trepeck:
Jenn is a health coach, speaker, and consultant who blends humor with practical science. She has helped thousands improve energy, metabolism, and confidence in their choices through one-on-one coaching, group programs, her book, and this podcast.

Connect with Jenn and the show:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenntrepeck/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saladwithasideoffriespod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jenntrepeck
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferTrepeck/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/425796548337541/
Website: https://asaladwithasideoffries.com/

If you are ready to trade guilt for freedom, confusion for clarity, and boring salads for fries on the side, press play. Health gets doable here.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This podcast and its guests are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

About your host

Profile picture for Jennifer Trepeck

Jennifer Trepeck

“My passion for nutrition and helping others stems from “kicking my food issues” with my own weight management saga.” ~ Jenn

I believe that the greatest accountability is paying it forward! That’s why I teach the nutrition education we are all supposed to know but no one ever taught us, along with the science behind food, fitness, and health.

After I graduated from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, I founded Better Life Now LLC while working full-time in hedge funds. In 2019, I took my practice from side-hustle to full-time self-employment and launched my podcast, Salad With a Side of Fries. On the show, we offer science-based tips and tricks for how to achieve wellness and weight loss for real life – because who wants a life without fries or dessert?!

Topics we tackle on the podcast include debunking fad diets, food myths, misinformation in marketing, bad science, and general nutrition. I encourage guests whose expertise is different from my own focus on weight management to bring their unique, fact-based perspectives to talk about subjects they are educated in and passionate about.

Due to my decade-long experience of working with clients, I have gained insight into the health and food industry and the how-tos of building a business.

Some specific health and wellness topics I can speak to include debunking fad diets, exposing the BS we are fed by the food and diet industry, how the people around us can positively and negatively impact our health journey, and shifting mindsets in order to overcome inappropriate barometers of success to instead achieve happy, healthy, and meaningful change.

On the subject of business, I can help you by teaching my critical pieces every entrepreneur should know, how to make your side-hustle into your full-time job, ways to sustainably achieve success without burning out, contemporary networking, and how to prioritize wellness while pursuing your projects.

When I find some free time, I’m typically working out at Physique57, discovering hidden gem restaurants in NYC, or traveling to spend time with friends and family.

I’d love to have an in-depth conversation with you, whether it’s leveling up in business or debunking food myths!