Episode 111

#PainCounts

Published on: 15th September, 2021

We notice it in our lower backs, our hips, our necks and then there’s that headache. Pain. It hurts. It aches. It pinches. All of it matters! September is Pain Awareness Month so Jenn dedicates this episode to those suffering from pain and those who know someone who suffers. Covering why typical treatments for pain are challenged and what to do instead, the focus is a multidisciplinary approach that’s biopsychosocial, just like the pain itself. To top it off, Jenn discusses the Placebo Effect and how it actually holds incredible promise. Listen now to help us end the stigma of pain and move us all forward in healing.

Outline:

  • Welcome back & welcome back, Christine
  • Intro today’s topic
  • Sources for today’s conversation & resources for you
  • Dr. Rachel Zoffness
  • Kaiser Permanente
  • US Pain Foundation
  • Curable
  • Understanding pain & the challenges in treating it
  • Who experience it
  • The causes
  • The consequences
  • Chronic vs acute pain
  • Our doctors, stigma
  • What’s happening now with pain treatment research
  • Biopsychosocial
  • Phantom limb pain, butterflies in your stomach
  • Commonalities between pain-related diagnoses…trauma
  • The biology of why this is the case
  • ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)
  • Trauma, triggers
  • Central Sensitization
  • The vicious cycle of pain
  • How opioids work
  • Part of healing is desensitizing the brain
  • Undo the stigma, undo the separation of mind & body
  • Address all 3 pieces of biopsychosocial
  • The way out is through, with measured, monitored exposures
  • CBT & biofeedback
  • Stress reduction techniques, nutrition, exercise & activity, sleep, community
  • Parts of the brain involved & which parts lead
  • Pain as a volume dial
  • Turn Up: Fight or flight, negative emotions, focus
  • Turn Down: Laughing, positive emotions, distraction/focus
  • The need for habits & routines, motivation
  • Detangling the back of the brain/middle of the brain
  • Activating the front of the brain
  • Meditation, source code meditation
  • Vagus nerve toning
  • Identifying & expressing emotions vs keeping them inside
  • Tea Kettling
  • Who we surround ourselves with & the therapeutic alliance
  • Mood & thoughts
  • Serotonin in the gut
  • Stomach aches connected to mood
  • Vagus nerve
  • Why we can’t think our way out of this things FIRST
  • Your ANTS (automatic negative thoughts)
  • The social piece of asking for others’ perspective
  • Placebo effect
  • Putting it all together: Miriam Jacobson’s story as published in Huffington Post on September 10, 2021
  • Final thoughts
  • Curable
  • US Pain Foundation
  • Dr. Rachel Zoffness
  • We want to hear about your  pain – https://bit.ly/step1anodunos

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

Tell Us About Your Pain

Quotes:

"’Pain is a ubiquitous human phenomenon…we all deserve to understand it.’" – Jenn Trepeck

"50 million Americans endure pain every day." – Jenn Trepeck

"When doctors can’t see anything on a scan or x-ray they say ‘It’s all in your head,’ and I find it SO dismissive." – Jenn Trepeck

"All health, including pain, is biopsychosocial." – Jenn Trepeck

"One commonality between pain-related diagnoses is trauma." – Jenn Trepeck

"Pain counts! Even if it’s not crippling you or sending you to the ER, it counts." – Jenn Trepeck

"The way out of pain is through it and addressing all three elements of biopsychosocial." – Jenn Trepeck

"Cursing helps us release stress." – Jenn Trepeck

“Notice your ANTS, your Automatic Negative Thoughts.”– Jenn Trepeck

“We can reclaim control of our health and healing.” – Jenn Trepeck

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

Show artwork for Salad With a Side of Fries Nutrition, Wellness & Weight Loss

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!