Emotional Eating & The Holidays (feat. Dr. Melissa McCreery)

What if you could forget cravings? Sounds like a fairytale, right? What if emotional eating wasn’t a problem but a symptom?

Today, Jenn Trepeck dives into the myths, misconceptions, and mindset traps around food, dieting, and emotional eating. Joining Jenn is Dr. Melissa McCreery, psychologist, emotional eating expert, and creator of Your Missing PEACE, to challenge the all-or-nothing holiday mindset and break down the hidden hungers driving your cravings. Together, they’ll explore how curiosity (not guilt!) is the key to stepping off the hamster wheel of dieting and creating lasting freedom with food. In this episode, you’ll uncover practical ways to navigate the holidays, rethink outdated beliefs, and savor life—cookies and all—without waiting until January to hit reset. Tune in and transform your relationship with food, one bite at a time!

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: 

• [1:50] Dr. Melissa McCreery shares her inspiring story
• [9:24] Emotional Eating and reasons hidden hunger can drive our cravings
• [15:11] Dr. Melissa discusses the auto-pilot mentality and asks, “What do you want to savor?”
• [21:55] Dieting’s hidden traps: why it feels like you’re running on a hamster wheel
• [26:44] Unlocking self-awareness: Dr. Melissa introduces the Hidden Hunger Quiz
• [31:25] Why change feels hard and how to navigate emotions around the holidays
• [38:54] A sneak peek at the upcoming Nutrition Nugget segment: “Chew.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• Overcoming struggles like overeating, emotional eating, or food-related issues doesn't require a lifetime of self-control, discipline, or constant management. It doesn’t require endless discipline or continuous management. Many feel trapped in a cycle of cravings and worry, but true freedom comes from shifting mindsets and reclaiming power over food. It’s about living free from the cycle, trusting yourself, and focusing your energy on what truly matters.
• Emotional eating isn't the problem—it’s the symptom. Labeling yourself as an emotional eater might feel like an “aha” moment, but it’s often useless. We all eat for a reason, and emotional eating usually points to deeper, hidden hungers—like the need for rest, self-care, or balance. Simply trying to manage anxiety or stress isn’t always the answer. It’s time to uncover the hidden pangs of hunger driving your cravings and how addressing them can break the cycle for good.
• Holiday eating isn’t inevitable—it’s a choice shaped by the stories we tell ourselves. The all-or-nothing mindset during the holidays can feel like a trap: staying hyper-vigilant about food or diving headfirst into a free-for-all. Neither feels good, and both are driven by the beliefs we repeat so often they feel like facts. Challenge those narratives to help you rewrite the story about holiday eating and reclaim control without the guilt or extremes.
• The hamster wheel of guilt keeps you stuck—curiosity sets you free. When diets fail or holiday eating feels out of control, the instinct is often to blame yourself and push harder. But running faster on the hamster wheel doesn’t work. Instead, the antidote is curiosity. Asking why things didn’t go as planned—a sudden craving, holiday stress, or shifting routines—opens the door to understanding and real solutions. It isn’t about perfection; it’s about staying curious, learning from the moment, and choosing the next step forward.

QUOTES: 

[0:00] “We eat for a reason. We always eat for a reason. We overeat for a reason. If you find yourself standing in the pantry staring at the cashews and the peanut butter and not knowing how you got there, there is a reason. And sometimes it's because you're having emotions you don't know how to deal with. “Dr. Melissa McCreery

[8:23] “It's amazing to be on the other side of it and experience it and be able to say to someone, ‘It is possible. There is this other place’.” Jenn Trepeck

[11:19] “If I'm exhausted, I can have the best tools in the world for anxiety, but I may not have the bandwidth to deal with the situation right now. So it might be helpful to know that I'm emotionally eating because I'm anxious, but actually, what I need is to address my hidden hunger for rest.” Dr. Melissa McCreery

[12:53] “Sometimes it's not even the food or the choice to eat it, it's what happens after, and beating ourselves up is worse than the food or the fact that we ate because of emotions.” Jenn Trepeck

[23:45] “That hamster wheel thinking kills curiosity, and curiosity is how you solve the puzzle. And this is all just a puzzle. So what's going on? There is a much more powerful question than anything you'll ever get by being hard on yourself in the holidays.” Dr. Melissa McCreery

RESOURCES:

Learn more about Healthy Vibe Tribe on Dec 19 at 7pm ET

Learn more about Healthy Vibe Tribe on Jan 6 at 8pm ET

Ready to jump into the Healthy Vibe Tribe? Start here:

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

Eight Chemicals That Drive Overeating and Under-Eating 

GUEST RESOURCES: 

Too Much On Her Plate - Website

Too Much On Her Plate - Facebook

Too Much On Her Plate - Instagram

Dr. Melissa McCreery - LinkedIn

Current Project Inc. - Instagram

Free Emotional Eating Quiz

The Missing Peace Program - Website

Too Much On Her Plate - Podcast

GUEST BIO: 

Dr. Melissa McCreery is a psychologist, emotional eating expert, author, the Too Much on Her Plate podcast host, and the creator of Your Missing Peace. This program supports smart, busy women in creating freedom from overeating and peace with food. She has helped thousands break cycles of overwhelm, overload, and overeating without feeling deprived and without depending on ridiculous amounts of willpower. Participants in her signature program lose their cravings and their overeating habits. Dr. McCreery’s approach to helping working mothers, busy professionals, and stressed-out business owners emphasizes leveraging your unique strengths, ditching a diet mentality, and using the power of psychology. Her perspective has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, CNN Health, Weight Watchers Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Working Mother, Fitness, Women’s Health, Real Simple, and Self.