Episode 259

Make it Last! (feat. Heather Heynen)

Published on: 17th July, 2024

Do you struggle with binge eating, and no matter what you’ve tried, you just can’t stop? Or maybe you’ve tried to lose weight by eating less and then threw in the towel because it was just too hard? This week, Jenn is talking to therapist Heather Heynen about how to make progress for the long run, not just for a short period of time. 

Today, Jenn is joined by therapist Heather Heynen to discuss overcoming binge eating, restricting, and yo-yo dieting once and for all. She explains some common causes behind eating disorders for many people, and the steps that can be taken to heal our relationship with food. Heather breaks down some somatic practices that you can try, as well as how to name your feelings so you are able to lower the temperature on them and recover without leaning on something else, like food or substances, to numb those feelings. She shares the valuable difference between state and story, and why changing your story can change your habits...for good! Tune in to learn more about these wonderful tools! 

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: 

  • [6:28] How does binge eating, restricting, yo-yo dieting and anxiety all play into Healther’s work today?
  • [8:15] How often does Heather see these issues as a mental health therapist?
  • [10:00] What are some of the biggest mistakes Heather sees people making when it comes to trying to change their behavior?
  • [12:38] What are somatic practices and why are they so much more effective?
  • [16:01] What is big T trauma vs. little t trauma?
  • [20:05] Where do you start with healing your relationship with food?
  • [24:49] How do these tools lead to long term behavior changes?
  • [26:27] If you process your feelings more in your head, what can you do to work through it?
  • [28:39] What is state vs. story?
  • [32:02] How can we help children feel their feelings or tolerate distress better?
  • [34:39] What lessons has Heather been able to learn through her solo bike packing trips?
  • [38:24] How can you cultivate giving yourself grace?

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

  • When you learn how to feel and experience your emotions, you will no longer need other things, i.e. food or substances, to numb and avoid those feelings.
  • Long term results come from consistency, being patient with yourself, giving yourself a lot of compassion and grace throughout the process.
  • You either hold your emotions in your body (energy) or in your head (thoughts). Learning how to process both of them can lead to freedom from unwanted habits.

QUOTES: 

  • [8:32] “The biggest disordered eating pattern is binge eating disorder, overeating, emotional eating, that sort of thing. In my practice, I do specialize in treating that, so I personally see it, but if we look at statistics, that is definitely the biggest type of disordered eating that we have going on.” - Heather Heynen
  • “I think anybody can do anything for a finite period of time...then it becomes a function of how we can create the things we can do for an infinite amount of time." – Jenn Trepeck
  • [13:03] “Our thoughts create our feelings, our feelings drive our behaviors, our behaviors give us our results, so you can understand why working with the thoughts and shifting to the more helpful ones is really important when we’re talking about sustainable behavior change.” - Heather Heynen
  • [13:42] “Our feelings, our emotions really are energy within our bodies, and if we don’t learn how to process emotion, it gets stuck. It gets stuck within the body and it can lead to physical issues with the body, it does lead to weight gain, that’s another physical component. It can lead to a lot of anxiety and depression, so processing emotions is really important.” - Heather Heynen
  • [24:58] “Binge eating is related to emotion, meaning we are eating to try to numb, we’re eating to try to change an emotion that we’re feeling. We don’t want to feel whatever it is that we’re feeling. So if that is one of the biggest reasons that we eat, we get triggered to binge all these things and we want to stop that long term, then learning the skill of feeling our feelings, even the horrible, awful feelings, just learning to feel them and experience them, it’s amazing.” - Heather Heynen
  • [28:56] “Learning to have this more helpful narrative, helpful stories, can really help us create a state of being that’s a lot more peaceful. But the other side of the coin is that if we can create a more peaceful state, then our story happens to be more helpful as well.” - Heather Heynen

RESOURCES:
Tickets to Salad with a Side of Fries LIVE in NYC on July 25, 2024

Jenn Trepeck's Episode on Weight Loss and Wellness For Real

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

GUEST RESOURCES:

Heather Heynen's Website

Heather Heynen’s Instagram

Heather Heynen's Facebook

Heather Heynen Wellness YouTube

Weight Loss and Wellness For Real Podcast 

GUEST BIO:

Heather Heynen is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Mental Health, Qualified Mental Health Professional, Life Coach, FMS Certified Exercise Professional, Health Coach, Podcaster & Writer. Heather has been working in private practice for over 20 years as a licensed mental health therapist, life coach & health coach. Along the way, she worked for some years as a part-time personal trainer, owned a Cross-Fit gym and created an online weight-loss & maintenance program. 

Heather is 50 years old and a mother to one child. She loves to travel and is an avid rock-climber, mountain biker and has taken on multiple solo multi-day bike-packing challenges over the past few years. 

She is a recovered binge-eater, restricter, yo-yo dieter and suffered with anxiety for years. This led her to creating and hosting the podcast Weight Loss & Wellness For Real and also creating online courses all with the purpose to help others find food and body freedom as well as purpose and joy in life. Her mission is to bring whole-person health (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) to individuals so they can live their absolute best lives.

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About the Podcast

Salad With a Side of Fries Nutrition, Wellness & Weight Loss
What to eat and when to cheat! Let's decipher between all the “diets” out there. You know what to do but it itsn't working. In fact, your diet could be making you fatter.

Ever wondered if cryo-freezing your fat cells would really work? Should you try acupuncture? A hypnotist? If you do, how do you know if someone’s good?

Salad with a Side of Fries is the podcast that will answer all these questions and more! Talking wellness and weight loss for real life, because most of us are going to drink, eat out, skip the grocery store and who wants a life without fries or dessert?! Host Jenn Trepeck’s expertise as an optimal health coach, in practice for over a decade, along with experts in various modalities will clear up the myths, mis-information, bad science and marketing to reveal the truth of HOW TO EAT and HOW TO CHEAT!*



*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This podcast, its content and 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!