Episode 126

Grand (meal) Plans Not Required (feat. Heather McConochie)

Published on: 29th December, 2021

The last week of 2021 and the last full-length episode of 2021. Jenn sits down with Heather McConochie to talk about what she learned through her experiences as an ER nurse and her own weight management journey which inform her work with her clients and the insights she's offering the Salad with a Side of Fries Community. It's so tempting to make grand commitments for the new year but what if that's actually not what we need, at all? What do we want to focus on instead? Solid principles! Let go of those resolutions and meal plans that may sound tempting at this moment and listen in!    

Outline:

  • Welcome back
  • Meet Heather McConochie
  • Heather's story - from film industry dreams to nursing then nutrition
  • Key learnings from what Heather saw most in the ER
  • The biggest mistakes many people are making
  • Quantity
  • "What my friends eat, I can eat"
  • You can eat whatever you want, as long as it's "healthy" or "clean"
  • Working out & its impact on nutritional needs
  • Appetite & hunger signals
  • Heather's experience with Intuitive Eating
  • Anti meal plan
  • The opposite - knowledge, systems, frameworks underpinning nutrition
  • Instead of meal plans, core principles
  • Your unique macronutrient formula
  • More protein
  • Your unique insulin sensitivity
  • Tips for drinking alcohol
  • Find your frequency - your ratio of quality foods to play foods
  • Understanding macros & the role of fat
  • Taking activity into account
  • Focus on how you're feeling, are you getting the results you want?
  • Know your step count
  • Measuring winning/losing, success/failure
  • The Olympian model
  • Stress & hormones
  • Tests to request, the DUTCH test
  • Your alternative to a New Year's Resolution
  • Final thoughts
  • It's about personal responsibility and our environments

Links:

Become a Member

Connect with us! FB Page & Private FB Group & Jenn's Instagram

Take the free Weight Loss Profile, Jenn will send you a Menu Plan

Heather McConochie on IG, FB, Website & The Positive Thread Podcast

Heather's Recipe Fix

Quotes:

"I think so many people are taking their health for granted."  – Heather McConochie

"It's great to get fit and lose weight but I want to stand up off a toilet, by myself, when I'm 85."  – Heather McConochie

"What you do today has a future consequence for you."  – Heather McConochie

"You can plateau from undereating."– Heather McConochie

"You can be hungry but actually not need more food, biologically; and you can also be not hungry and in a deficit."  – Heather McConochie

"Done-for-you-meal-plans are the opposite of owning your nutrition."  – Heather McConochie

"If your plan is holing you back from living your life, it's not the plan for life."  – Jenn Trepeck

"What's your ratio of quality foods to play foods?"– Heather McConochie

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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!