Uncomplicating Wellness and Redefining Personal Wellness

Welcome to the Satiated Podcast, where we explore physical and emotional hunger, satiation and healing your relationship with your food and body. I'm your host, Stephanie Mara Fox, your Somatic Nutritional Counselor.

Something my husband and I keep chatting about is the idea of taking back the concept of wellness. Currently, it is tied to detoxes, cleanses, eating only whole foods, green drinks and smoothies, biohacking, red light therapy, supplements, I could go on, but you get the picture. This is NOT what wellness is. This is what wellness culture has turned the idea of wellness into so that it could sell something to people and capitalize on their fears of getting sick, of discomfort, and of pain. So I've been sitting with this idea of reclaiming wellness and what that actually is and looks and feels like. Somatically, wellness would feel like ease, relaxation, energy, vibrancy, charge, expansion, presence, softness, and steadiness. Now some of these wellness culture acts might lead to this felt sense experience, but often they also have an edge of fear, anxiety, and worry. What can actually lead to this bodily experience of wellness is not fancy or sexy or complicated. It is being a part of community, it is connection, it is quality sleep, it is drinking water, it is spending time outdoors in nature, it is taking time to let the sun shine on your face, and laugh with friends, and yes eating meals that feel nourishing, regulating, and resonate with your body.

When I found out Jenn Trepeck was coming out with a book called Uncomplicating Wellness, I was excited to have her back on the podcast to chat. Jenn has been described as a "force of nature" in the wellness space. Recognition includes Podcast Magazine's 40 under 40, nomination for the 2022 International Women's Podcast Award (Visionary Leadership), 2024 and 2025 Ear Worthy Best Independent Podcast; plus winner of 2025 Women Who Podcast Award for Stellar Interview and 2024 and 2025 Ear Worthy's Best Health Podcast. She is a Health and Lifestyle Coach, Podcaster, and Consultant. Along Jenn's food and body journey, she learned the nutrition education we’re all supposed to know but no one ever taught us. This completely changed her life and allowed her to say she “kicked her food issues.” From then, Jenn set-out on a mission to pay it forward and help people help themselves. After over a decade of working with clients, Jenn started Salad with a Side of Fries podcast. Based on science, yet lighthearted, Jenn talks about living life while still making ourselves and our health a priority. Jenn’s debut book, Uncomplicating Wellness, offers a science-based yet practical approach to cut through the noise of the wellness industry and help readers finally trust their bodies again. We explore what uncomplicating wellness looks like and means, biostacking rather than biohacking, the basics of wellness, defining personal wellness, the impact of diet culture, and what she has explored in her book about what wellness actually includes.

If you've been loving the Satiated Podcast and receiving immense support from it and feeling called to give back or connect further, check out all of my affiliate links, join Satiated+ and be able to Ask Me Anything each month, or check out working with me 1:1 or in any of my programs. All links HERE. Now, welcome Jenn! I am just really excited to have you back, and really glad that you're here, and I'm so excited that you wrote a book and to talk about that today. And, you know, for anyone who missed our first episode together, just reintroducing yourself for a second and like, how you got into your work, and you know, then we can get into all the things absolutely.

Jenn Trepeck 04:33

Well, first of all, I'm so excited to be here. And like, I know I'm with my people when the first word is, oh, I am with you. Yes. So, so excited for us to continue our conversation today, and for those listening, whether you heard our last conversation or not, hi, guys. I'm Jenn Trepeck. My background is business and marketing, and I came to all this wellness stuff through my own I call it a saga of trying to figure out my health and my weight. I was a dancer growing up, so I was very aware of my body, and always surrounded by diet culture. There isn't a diet out there that I haven't done, my family hasn't done, or we don't know somebody who's done it. And when I started to gain weight between high school and college, I was like, okay, I know what to do, right? And I lived on that roller coaster. I remember times feeling like I would just breathe and gain weight. It was just so frustrating. You know, there was always something else I had to try. You know, you had to run through all the things ultimately, I learned about the curriculum that I based my practice on, and when I learned this, it completely changed my life, like, to me, this was the information that we all deserve to know. Nobody ever taught us this, and it shifted all of these food decisions from being emotional, of like, why do I suck? Why can't I just walk past the plate of cookies, you know, why does the tray of croissants in the office has a voice and, like, it calls my name, you know? Like, why is that the case, versus, like, just being able to walk past, right? And so those decisions shifted from that emotional response to an intellectual one of like, oh, I get why the cookie and the croissant are appealing to me right now. What that means is that I actually need this. So let me go have that and then decide how I feel if I still want the cookie or the croissant completely changed my life. Like I kicked my food issues, and I really believed everyone deserved this information. So it was like back in late 2007 started health coaching on the side of my full time job. July of 2019 I left my full time job and launched my podcast Salad With a Side of Fries in August of 2019 and now you know, end of October 2025 I published my first book called Uncomplicating Wellness, and the book comes not only from the show Salad With a Side of Fries, but also from the questions that I was getting. You know, over almost 20 years of doing this, the questions that people had have changed, and it's the questions over the last couple years have been so specific and detailed and in the weeds, like, well, cucumbers or carrots. And I'm like, what? Right? Like, if we're in a place of cucumbers or carrots being the question, we're fine, it's like, oh, is eating two cups of beans the thing that I'm missing? You know, is it really that I just need to cold plunge every day and that's gonna fix all the things? Right? Like, we're in the weeds and we're so focused on these small things at the expense of the big things that really move the needle. So uncomplicating wellness is really about understanding kind of how we got here. And it's not a plan. So like spoiler, sorry everybody, it's not a plan.

Stephanie Mara 08:21

You won't be getting a diet here!

Jenn Trepeck 08:24

It's a new lens. It's a new way for us to look at everything coming at us, so that we can say, oh, that might fit for me. I can play with that and that, no bueno for me, I'm gonna pass and I am cool with that, and we can keep making progress, instead of this almost shiny object syndrome of we forgot to eat breakfast, so we call it intermittent fasting today. It's like we're not seeing the progress. And then we think we are the problem, and that's just not the case at all.

Stephanie Mara 09:04

Oh my gosh, I resonate so much with what you are referencing right now, where all of this, like biohacking and optimizing, and even in the I always like to bring in the somatic worlds, just because it's the lens that I look through, but even there it's I get a lot of the questions of like, but what somatic practice can I do right now? And it's similar to what you're pointing to, is that we've lost connection with ourselves, of what actually just helps us feel grounded and contained and energized and vital, and it's not all of these fancy schmancy things. And so I'm curious of the basics that you feel like in reclaiming, you know, kind of this wellness journey for someone that you feel like people are missing.

Jenn Trepeck 09:59

Yes. So I love that you brought up biohacking, because part two of the book is biostack over biohack. Biohack, by definition, is like a 10% improvement, like a marginal improvement, okay, if we're at 90% health, then like absolutely incredible. Going from 90 to 99% is unbelievable. Statistically, though 88% of the US population is not metabolically well, which means if most of us are operating at maybe 30, 40% health, and we add a biohack, and we get a 10% improvement. It's not that noticeable. It's not getting us those big leaps. So the biostack that gets us those big leaps are like these foundations that we have to put in place first. Then we can add the biohack. So the six pieces that I have in that biostack are nutrition, fuel, movement, hydration, which is more than just water, sleep, stress and connection. We need something in those categories every day. And I think part of what makes us feel like we're failing is because the plans, quote, unquote, that we're going to follow, whether it's coming from someone else or we've concocted it ourselves, we create this plan for a textbook, perfect day that doesn't actually exist. And then life happens. We oversleep kids wake up sick like life, right? And then that textbook perfect thing day plan doesn't happen. And we think we've failed. Well, you haven't failed. The plan failed you because the plan wasn't designed for your life. So here, while it's not a plan, there are tips and ideas and things that you can play with in every chapter so that you can design the plan that works for your real life. So I say to everybody too, like, create the benchmark for your most chaotic, hectic, stressful day. And then on the days that aren't like that, maybe we could do a little more, but that becomes the bonus, rather than the baseline. And then we start to approach this and go, wait, I'm really consistent with a 10 minute walk. I'm really consistent with 10 squats when I go pee, and then that's my favorite, dwds: drink water, do squats. We can come back to that, but when we're consistent, that's what moves the needle. And then we start to see this health improvement, and then we get momentum, and momentum leads to motivation. And now we're like, wait a minute, what happens if? And we start to notice that 10% improvement when we start to play with things. The other piece that I think I'd be remiss if I didn't mention in answering your question of like, what do each of us need? The introduction to this book is, WTF is wellness anyway? Which is, like, there's this word that is thrown around all the time. But if any of us ever pause to be like, what does that mean? And for what it's worth, your definition is going to be different than mine. Yeah, and PS, it's also different than the person on Instagram and the tech bro who's telling you about his latest biohack. Like, you know, I remember marathon day in New York City, first weekend of November every year. It is my favorite day in this city, and I have zero desire to ever run a marathon, okay, but because I love marathon day, my feed becomes entirely marathon related for a period of time. If I wasn't clear that I have zero desire to run a marathon, I would be following all of these recommendations for a goal that's not mine. And so for even for us to sit back and go, like, as part of this lens of, is this something that I want to experiment with, like, well, what's their goal? What's your goal? Are we after the same things? Is this something that also based on what we know about ourselves in our own body, to your point of disconnection. Do I know that that's going to work for me? Because we outsource, as you were saying, right? Like we're disconnected, we are looking for every plan or doctor or any guru to tell us what to do, and, spoiler this is also in chapter one, you are the magic bullet that you are looking for everywhere else.

Stephanie Mara 09:59

Completely agree.

Jenn Trepeck 09:59

You already know, like, even when we went through that biostack, people say, well, where should I start? And I'm like, you know where to start, because it's the one where you were like, oh, right, like, the one that gave me that visceral reaction is probably the one that you might want to play with first.

Stephanie Mara 10:52

Yeah, it's like, oh, do I really want to look at that? I go to bed at like, 1 am every day. Do I really want to look at that?

Jenn Trepeck 11:09

Exactly, exactly. And that's why, like, I think the ones everybody wants to start with the nutrition and the movement. And when I work with my clients, we start on the nutrition plus, but especially if you know that, like you're going to bed at one o'clock every night, like, I love you girl, but let's just set an alert in our calendar to go off. Like I have one in my calendar every night that goes off that says, stop what you're doing and get ready for bed. You know, like, I need the interruption. I need the reminder that, like, it's time.

Stephanie Mara 16:06

I love all of that. And something that I hear in that first of all is how much like wellness culture, and it's a culture that has been cultivated over decades of period of time that has co opted so many words and things to make it feel unattainable,

Jenn Trepeck 16:28

Yes.

Stephanie Mara 16:28

to make it feel like it's only for

Jenn Trepeck 16:31

The elite, healthy...

Stephanie Mara 16:32

some elite person, right. And that it's not something that is accessible. And so it's always feels like you have to be on this hamster wheel of kind of orthorexia and perfectionism to feel like you could even attempt to achieve this idea of wellness, rather than it being like, well, let's actually go back to how do you first want to define wellness for yourself. And oh my gosh, I'm so with you. I have no interest in my entire life to run a marathon like that is not on my bucket list here at all.

Jenn Trepeck 17:10

And if it is for you, like, have at it. I am so excited. I will cheer you on every mile. And...

Stephanie Mara 17:17

Yes, 1,000% and, and so it's like, yeah, first getting clear on what is this for me. But I find that, you know, because we live in this world, and I know we were even recently, like talking before we started to hit record around, like GLP-1s and everything that we're living in this time that is so externally focused that when we're asking about people redefining things for themselves, that means getting to know you in your body and how things feel. And we are in times that feel really disconnecting right now, where it's like we're getting these messages. And I know a lot of people that I work with are really confused of like, what to do, what to eat, how to move. Should I take a GLP-1? Should I not? Feeling tempted. Why is everyone shrinking? Like panic around like, what should I look like? And it's further causing panic that distances from ourselves even more that makes it hard to come back to wait a second. What is wellness to me, and how do I do that for myself? And then also, I think a piece that you're pointing to as well is like, can it be good enough that, you know, I imagine that someone listening to this might feel like, you know, you're saying, hey, I'm really consistent with a 10 minute walk. And it's like, I'm supposed to get 10,000 steps a day. What do you mean a 10 minute walk? That it's like something that I say to myself often, regardless of how much physical movement I can get in a day or not, because I do love being in movement in my body, that I'm always like something's better than nothing. I say that to myself all the time. Oh, I took a 30 minute walk with Tato this morning, my dog. Something's better than nothing. That's great. That's awesome that I did that. And so I find that it's also like really, kind of turning down the volume on everything we've been told of, what are these benchmarks of wellness and kind of coming back to what's just good enough.

Jenn Trepeck 19:22

Yeah, it's first of all. I feel like there's so much to unpack. Wellness is just the new name for diet culture.

Stephanie Mara 19:31

Totally.

Jenn Trepeck 19:32

They are exactly the same. And when we can start to mentally put it in that bucket and recognize that everybody has their own agenda and the thing that they're trying to sell us, or the recommendations that they're giving, or whatever it is, which is why I'm also saying to everyone, like this book is not a plan, like you can take it and play with it, like you don't have to read it cover to cover, like open a single chapter and see what resonates and like, if nothing in there resonates for you, go to a different chapter and ignore it all, right? Like it comes back to this, like what you're saying of tuning in. And if we can say to ourselves, what is wellness to me, and start to separate the messages that are coming at us from truly what we believe, and it's a challenging exercise. And this is where I do think, like working with someone like you or someone like me, where we can have that dialogue and have somebody ask us some of those questions. Because, like, even on the GLP-1 thing, and we can go down that rabbit hole, if you want, but like, what is your expectation of what's going to be different if your body is smaller, because a different number on the scale just means that there is a physically smaller body with less gravitational pull. What is our expectation of what's going to be different, and most of the time that's inside stuff that doesn't actually require a change in the scale. And with that said, I think GLP medications, there's a whole spectrum of them now, right for some people are so life changing, and sometimes we need the tool that's going to get us over a hump. My thing about it is to make informed choices, and that means that we have as much information as we need to feel confident in the choice that we're making is the choice for us. And by the way, no choice you make is permanent, so you can always choose something and then choose again if it doesn't play out the way you thought it might. And that's also okay, you know, I think with making informed choices and the GLPs, like, if we can have that conversation to the point of diet culture and what is expected, and everybody around me seems to be physically shrinking. This is one of my primary concerns. As we've seen diet culture evolve and then these pharmaceuticals come to market, like when I was growing up, it was the era of the supermodel, and, you know, America's Top Model, and she was, like, pointing at people's dimples on their leg, you know, whatever, like, all of that wild stuff. And it was thin at all costs. Then remember the Dove campaign, like Dove every woman campaign, right? Then we had those. And it was like, oh my god, there's people who look like me, you know, like, oh, they're human. And then for a while, we had the Health at Every Size. And one of the other things that I think evolved in that was in the be a smaller body, the supermodel era, the perception was that if you were living in a bigger body, it was a moral failure, it was a lack of will. It was you, something's wrong with you, or you did this right, like it was very much like a you issue as we progressed, and especially with the Health at Every Size. One of the things I loved about this conversation is that people started to realize that, like, there are genetics involved, there's biochemistry involved, there is neurobiology involved. Like, there's a lot of pieces at play here, where, in fact, it has nothing to do with your morality, you know, like zilch, right? And so my challenge with where we are now is that we are back to well, if there's an easy button and you're choosing not to use it, well, then it is a you problem, and that, for me personally, is part of what I struggle with myself, just living in this world and looking at this and like feeling that pain of people who I get it, like, I know what it's like to sit there and look in the mirror and think, like, how could this possibly get any worse? And like something's wrong with me, and like, there's this thing that's dangled out there, but we're also not sure about it, and I think it's okay to not be sure, but it's very difficult, because the outside perception is, well, why wouldn't you just and I think that's also a lack of information that we all really need.

Stephanie Mara 24:38

Yeah, you know, I actually, literally just put a post out of this the other day of that it continues to keep the focus even talking about all of the shrinking bodies. It continues to keep the focus on the external body as something to be objectified and interpreted, rather than to be understood, and that we have no idea of people's stories or what they're navigating, or the trauma in their background or their family lineage, like we just don't know.

Jenn Trepeck 25:09

And to top that off, how much does it matter? Like it matters for them, right in our existence and in our lives, but like the other piece, because, you know, my world is so metabolic health, cardiovascular health, right? Like even coming from the health perspective, like there are zero, I can say this with 100% confidence, there are zero diseases that exist only in bigger bodies. So if our objective is a health outcome, let's be very clear that the size of or the amount of gravitational pull on that body does not determine our health outcomes.

Stephanie Mara 25:54

Yeah, and I appreciate you bringing that back around. I mean, a somatic practice that I've been exploring to have people just play with more often is just to, like, actually make contact with your body, yes, like, actually, like, squeeze and feel and it's like your body exists regardless of its gravitational pull. Like, if you can actually, like, squeeze your arm or squeeze up and down your leg, and it's like this leg exists, like regardless of what shape, size, whatever it has, it exists, and it is here, and it is functioning the best that it can, and whatever you navigate in your body. And so we're continuing to lose touch with that your body exists and how do we support this body in existing the best that it can, which I think comes back around to what you're talking about of we first have to start with the basic pillars. And I love that one of them is also community, because I think that's also so important that, you know, like you said, a lot of people are first drawn to like the food and the physical movement, but it's like we are not just machines that are like sleeping and eating and pooping and moving.

Jenn Trepeck 27:09

We need so much more than that, exactly. So the title of that chapter is called, just hug a person. Like, you don't have to do a million wild things. Just hug somebody like the human touch holding hands. By the way, holding hands sends physiological signals that someone is sharing our stress. So literally, holding someone's hand can remove stress from their entire system. Physiologically, you don't have to do anything but hold their hand. Unfortunately, it doesn't really work to hold your own, right? It doesn't really work, but you could hug a teddy bear. It's actually the same as hugging a human. Hug a pillow. I don't care, but there's pieces of this that are so wired within us that we minimize, especially as we get older, that really like, it's the small things that move the needle, you know, like, laugh, find something, and this is where, like, as much as social media can be whatever, by the way, does everybody know that you can reset your feed? Every app has different instructions, so you can Google or ChatGPT, but like, reset your algo, and start to look at comedians and start to look at like, whatever makes you laugh and happy and like, how fun would that be? You know?

Stephanie Mara 28:37

Right. Yeah, the suggestion I usually give which that's great to know you can reset your feed. I'm not sure I knew that one, but I'm like, stop looking through your feed and specifically search for things, because your feed could be who knows what. And if you're not in the mood to see whatever is going to feed you, that you get to choose what to feed yourself and say, okay, I specifically want to see corgis today.

Jenn Trepeck 29:03

Yeah, and like, there's something amazing that happens when we start to laugh and when we connect with people and when we prioritize that, because going back to your thing of like, well, is a 10 minute walk enough. That's also marketing and nonsense, the 10,000 steps, that's not actually what the research shows. The research shows us that 7500 steps, so 7000 to 7500 steps is actually what we're after. So if you don't hit 10, who cares? Right?

Stephanie Mara 29:31

Yeah.

Jenn Trepeck 29:31

And, but we have this idea where, like, it doesn't count unless, unless it's hard enough, sweaty enough, long enough, whatever. And also that's not human it's not how the human body works. So if we can continue to come back to, what does our biology really respond to? And the other piece is, and this is my theory, like I do a lot of research. Everything in the book is like research based. But this particular thing is my theory. So you know, full disclosure, but I have a theory that we try to beat ourselves up into compliance, that we are on some level, afraid that if we acknowledge the 10 minute walk as enough that we'll never feel motivated to do more that. Well, that's all we'll ever do. And when I work with my clients, part of our process is to shift what motivates us, from what we don't want to what we do want to shift what we focus on from everything that's not happening to everything that is happening, like you were saying, it's still something, you know, yeah, and like, but I think we have this idea and this fear that if we acknowledge what is happening, those other things will never happen. And I promise you, it's not the case, and just play with it and see what you notice approaching it slightly differently.

Stephanie Mara 31:07

Yeah, I completely agree with that. You know, I've been very open about my long covid healing journey here. And you know, when I first started healing, my lungs got hit pretty hard. I couldn't really do long, sustained physical movement as much as I could previously, and I'm back to what I can normally do now, many years later. But at the time, it was like one my body could only handle yoga. I could not do really much of anything else. And I was practicing sometimes for like, 75 minutes, 90 minute, you know, classes and things like that. And I could do like, a five minute class, and it was like, both sad, and it was like, okay, I did five minutes today, great. And then it was the, you know, a few days later, okay, did five minutes again, awesome. And it was never like, oh, I'm gonna get stuck here at five minutes. It was like, no, I'm so happy that I'm able to do five minutes. And I wonder what it would be like at some point to do 10 and then 15 and then 30, and eventually it got back to my regular practice again. But I agree with you that sometimes there's this fear if we say that it's good enough, that we won't do more. And it's often the opposite, that when we feel so good and acknowledging ourselves for what we are doing, that is a much more somatically grounded place to feel like you can launch off of of like we can't hate or punish ourselves into change, but when we are acknowledging ourselves and cheering ourselves on and being like way to go for what you did today, doesn't matter that you didn't walk out the door you put your sneakers on today, like that is actually more inspiring internally, and also safety producing and grounding that you're going to want to do it again.

Jenn Trepeck 33:04

Yes.

Stephanie Mara 33:04

You know, if we think like if we're creating a feedback loop that wasn't good enough, why would we even want to do the thing that didn't feel good enough to begin with.

Jenn Trepeck 33:14

100% and even tying that into the GLP-1 piece, what is the piece that we're looking for that's enough? And if we're looking for this thing to be the answer to everything, is it really and what else do we need to add to that equation so that we truly live into this new identity that we're creating? You know, there are a lot of tools out there that just happens to be one of them.

Stephanie Mara 33:45

Yeah, and I love what you're posing here. It's kind of like you could put that on anything. Like, when is it enough money? When is it enough attention? Like, if we don't really know, like, what is it that we're going after, kind of going back to our original thing, if you're not defining what you're trying to create for yourself in your life with your body, it's gonna kind of always, never feel like it is enough, right?

Jenn Trepeck 34:09

And we're always seeking that magic pill, whatever it bullet from outside, instead of recognizing that like you are the magic bullet that you are looking for everywhere else you know your body better than anyone else, better than any doctor, any influencer, any coach or god, like, you know and like, that's the part too, that we forget and we hide and we disconnect, and if we can start to use ourselves as part of that barometer for making choices, then I think we end up with more of that clarity that truly helps us get that momentum, helps us get from five minutes to seven minutes to 20 minutes.

Stephanie Mara 34:58

Yeah, well, I'm curious of your pillars, do you feel like there's one of them where you're like, people are not talking about this enough? Like you're like, yeah, nutrition is important, physical movement, yeah, we know these things are important. It kind of gets a lot of attention. And so I'm wondering if there's one of these that it's just like people aren't talking about this thing enough when we're talking about creating your own wellness journey.

Jenn Trepeck 35:22

Well, it's like kind of all of it. But, you know, I think there are pieces of each one that I think aren't getting the spotlight they deserve. But as I have these interviews and conversations about the book, I mean, we talked about sleep already, so there's that, but also the stress piece everybody kind of wants to brush under the rug, because I think the expectation when we talk about also the title of that chapter is not to be dramatic, but your stress is killing you, and it is for all of us. But then again, it goes back to that same, on, off, good, bad, black, white. We think that the answer is no stress, and we feel like we can't create that because, duh, we're living lives in 2026 right? Like, and so we sort of just abandon it, because we feel like, well, we'll never get to zero stress. Well, PS, not the objective. What we call eustress. There are stressors that are helpful for the body. Cortisol has gotten such a bad rap, like, we need cortisol. Cortisol gets us out of bed in the morning. Cortisol gives us that get up and go and do the thing and like, motivation is basically cortisol, so we want it to follow this, like, appropriate sort of pattern of when it's high in the day and when it's lower in the day. And our modern lives shift that so, especially for people who start their day with caffeine before food. I love you. I get it. Caffeine with food or just after, not before, we can, you know, dig into all that, but so the role of cortisol. But the bigger piece that I think is overlooked here is that there's a difference between what we experience as stress and what our bodies experience as stress.

Stephanie Mara 37:16

Yeah.

Jenn Trepeck 37:17

So do you remember those old posters about success, where there was, like, the iceberg and the water line, you know I'm talking about?

Stephanie Mara 37:25

Yeah.

Jenn Trepeck 37:25

So, again, this is my theory, not real science, but my theory is that our awareness of the stress is the water line, and we think that the stress that our body is experiencing is what's above the water line, and it's not our body is experiencing that entire iceberg. So what we need to do is build into our daily routines, stress reducing activities, somatic exercises that send signals of safety to the body, so that we can regulate our nervous system so that we can get out of fight or flight and continue to sort of chip away at that iceberg. Because if we're only ever doing something like a stress, you know, in air quotes, right? Like a stress reducing activity, when we have this piece above the water line, we're never addressing everything that's been built up. So if we can have these things that are part of our everyday, no matter what we're, you know, mindfully experiencing and you know are aware of, then we can start to make that iceberg a little bit smaller. And for what it's worth, all these other systems in the body that more or less shut off when we're in that stress response we'll come back online and all of a sudden these things that felt like your body was just fighting you every step of the way, like then we can be on the same team as our body and make some real progress in a lot of this stuff, and go, oh, this is what you needed. Sorry, you know?

Stephanie Mara 38:58

Yeah.

Jenn Trepeck 38:59

But I think that stress piece is a big one.

Stephanie Mara 39:02

I agree, and I like what you're pointing to also. And I offer this as well, is that we have this frequency, although I know for a lot of people, sometimes I can struggle to get inconsistent meals and and I get that, and let's say, just for this example, that it's like we have this frequency of eating, maybe at least three meals consistently through every single day. But we don't, kind of are not necessarily taught that we need the same thing for our emotional body. You know, it's like we're always meeting the physical body and like, okay, the physical body needs quality nutrition every single day. It needs sleep, it needs physical movement, it needs, like you said, hydration, water. But then we're not really addressing the kind of like flossing every day, activities that we need to have every single day for our emotional body, and that is kind of things that, like you said, it's not with the attempt of trying to not feel stressed. I'm always trying to update people on that like somatic or embodiment practices are not to make what is happening go away. What they do is that they turn down the volume enough that then you feel like you can show up for yourself more and what you're experiencing, and then just life feels a little bit easier because it's like, oh, I'm just a human being feeling things, rather than feeling like you're drowning in what is showing up in your body at any moment.

Jenn Trepeck 40:32

100%.

Stephanie Mara 40:32

So yeah, we need those things. And I'm curious, are there any things that you specifically found in your research, or you offer in your book that you felt like are kind of like you're flossing every day, kind of things.

Jenn Trepeck 40:44

For me, part of it is having something in all of these categories, right, that happens every day, more or less on autopilot, right? Like that, flossing and so even with the stress reducing thing, right? So quality fuel sends safety signals to the body.

Stephanie Mara 41:03

Yeah.

Jenn Trepeck 41:04

My movement. So I start my day with a workout that also I do group fitness, so it also checks that community and connection piece, where, like, I feel like I'm part of something, and I'm doing this with other people, and they know if I show up or not, and it's not about if I show up or not, but it's like, it's a friend thing, right? Like, yeah, it's feeding all of these pieces. I listen to podcasts that I really enjoy and that also helps manage my stress, because it's things that I enjoy doing. I have a gratitude journal, also just known as a notebook, right? I have a notebook on my nightstand where I write the date and five things I'm grateful for that day, right? Like, doesn't have to be sophisticated, but I do it at night before I go to sleep, because one, it's more likely to happen. I've tried to add things in the morning. It's not my time, right? Like, I don't do as well when I try to add things in. So it actually happens at night. But bigger piece is that it shifts my focus. So instead of getting in bed, and then my mind is running, I get in bed, I'm literally leaning over onto the nightstand with the pen thinking through five things that I'm grateful for that day, and it completely shifts what my attention is on as I go to sleep, you know, as I go to wind down. And that's a huge piece, you know. And by the way, like push for five, three is simple. Five forces us to find the little thing. So like I said, I live in New York City. Sometimes it's it wasn't raining when I had to be outside today, or I walked down into the subway and the train was right there, you know, like, it's okay. Find the little things.

Stephanie Mara 42:49

Yeah. And again, these are all so accessible.

Jenn Trepeck 42:53

Yeah.

Stephanie Mara 42:54

Just really want to come back to this idea that, like, we have, I don't even want to say we, but like, you know, the beings that be out there that have made wellness feel so complicated and so unattainable, like we really have to redefine and reclaim this and that that is not what wellness is, whatever we have defined it as, or as taught it to be, that it is actually in these tiny little things. And I think you're right that, because it feels like it's supposed to be this, like, unicorn I've seen that sometimes of like, oh, is that it like, is that all I have to do, like, oh, I just need to, like, take my walks and get sun and create community and, like, talk to people and like, write what I'm grateful for. Like, that's it. It's like, okay, it may sound simple, but try doing it for a week and then two weeks and then three weeks and then four weeks. And like you said, I think very earlier on in our chat, of it's the consistency and the repetitiveness and that makes such a big difference that you start to feel differently in your life. But it's not just kind of like, ever a one and done thing, right, where, like you said earlier, like this magic bullet, or, you know, I'm going to call it a unicorn, that's just going to, like, create an entirely different life for yourself. But it's in these tiny, small, subtle things consistently done every single day.

Jenn Trepeck 44:23

Exactly. It's our health outcomes, our goals, our whatever it is we're after, comes from the seemingly small things that happen day in and day out, whether we think about them or not, whether we realize it or not like and you actually know this, because it's not like you sit here and go, well, I don't need to move my body because I went to recess in second grade. Like we know, like we know that it comes from the things that we do every single day, and yet what we create these plans or follow these plans that have us having this one day, maybe twice a year, that we think is, quote, unquote, on plan, and then we think we're failing, and it's like, well, of course not, right? Like, like, the outcomes are exactly what we would expect if we look at what happens most of the time.

Stephanie Mara 45:23

Yeah, and that takes, like, what do you find support someone in maybe zooming out, to start to assess that for themselves. Like, I don't know if you have any practices in the book or things you explore with your clients, because it does take some reflection of, like, where am I at with these pieces and what do I maybe need to start consciously bringing some more attention to.

Jenn Trepeck 45:53

When I work with my clients, it's part of what we do together, and it's part of what my role is as the coach is to point out, you know, like, I had this conversation with somebody the other day where I was, like, by the way, if I told you six weeks ago, when we first started working together, that you were going to get a call from your sister in law that there was an emergency, and you were gonna pack yourself berries and carrots and like, you know, a little snack bag to like, get in the car. You would have told me I am certifiable, that that is not what you would do, but look at what you just texted me that you chose to do today. I think sometimes it does take someone else to see it and point it out and help us kind of look at over the course of this time, part of that also is, I recommend people take measurements once a month. If you're a scale person, divorce the scale. Not like beyond every day, no, not even every week. Let's go to once a month. What that allows us to do is see more time and then reflect on like, well, what have I done to get there, right? These are the things that I've done over the last four weeks, versus what happens when we get on every day and we hyper focus on something that may not even be all that relevant because it was one day, versus all of the days, you know, or most of the days. So I think that's a big piece thinking about how we measure progress, what we're focusing on, what are those metrics that we're going to look at? Because, by the way, also on the scale, it is the worst metric and the last one to catch up to the actions that we're taking. And then I think it also comes back to like in each chapter. So like we said, like you're going to know the one that you've probably been ignoring. But then, in each chapter, with the things that we talk about, of like, you might notice these things if we're not addressing this. Okay, here are some ideas of what you could play with, and you can start to use those to say, I'm not doing that, and it gives you some ideas to get moving. No pun intended, but like taking a few actions toward that objective, toward that pillar, and see what you notice being different. And so over time, we eventually want to get to a place where all of those things are happening every day. And like I said, I mean, even for me, like my workout checks a whole bunch of those boxes. One thing ticked off a whole bunch of things. So it doesn't mean that it's like completely consuming our life, but we can start to look at those ideas and say, oh, there's actually a lot that I could explore here. There's more for me to play with in this chapter than I thought. Like I thought I had this, you know, down pat, but now that you're talking about it like I'm not feeling as great as I could, you know, I do feel like I'm pulling myself out of bed in the morning, huh? Let's look at that.

Stephanie Mara 48:58

Yeah, and I love what you're also bringing in of, you know, I think of it as like a check in. Like, you can set goals for yourself, but then what are the markers where, you know, the only marker that we're ever taught is, like a physical appearance markers where there are so many other things that you could be tracking of, like, okay, if your goal is to start going to sleep earlier. Don't just look at it after a single week. You know, I love that you're like, extend out the timeline here where you're like, okay, so I focused on this for an entire month. Let's just look at what worked, what didn't work. Am I in the exact same place? And not even judging or shaming yourself for being in the exact same place because it's only been one month, and so it's like, okay, I'm recommitting, in some way, to the continuing on this journey to look at my sleep for another month. What do I want to tweak? What didn't work? What would I want to try now, so that it gets to be an evolution rather than this like, oh, I tried it, it didn't work. And then there's all this self blame and self judgment that happens rather than I am in the process of change, and that takes time and repetition. And how can I continue to support myself in the process of change that it's not easy and it's really hard, and that you just are going to keep going and keep creating tiny little baby steps for yourself.

Jenn Trepeck 50:26

Exactly and like when somebody does want to assess their daily wellness, here's what we ask. How's my sleep, how's my stress, how's my energy, how's my confidence? And scale those, each one of those like zero to five, that's what we check in on a daily basis. And then, like, I had this conversation with a client this week, like he texted and he was actually having physical pain, you know, like, weather, moisture, whatever. And I said, So what are you doing to help yourself feel better? And like, oh, so wait a minute, if I'm at not a four or five, if I'm not at a three on any of those, what could I do right now to help myself feel better? Because, like, we're not doomed, we're not stuck. And it's sort of just thinking about that tool belt that we have and pulling out the next thing. And by the way, if you pull something out that worked yesterday and it doesn't work today it doesn't matter. You're not broken. The tool is not broken. We just need more things, like we want to have enough tools in the tool belt that we can keep pulling things out till we find the one that helps us in that moment.

Stephanie Mara 51:34

Completely agree with that. You know, I always say that about somatics as well, that you need a large amount of somatic resources available to you, because you are a different person in a different body every single day. And so what worked in one moment may not work in another moment. Like, always, kind of like to use the analogy of, like, think of your body like a baby, and we wouldn't just abandon a baby if we're just like, well, I tried to change your diaper and you're still upset, okay, baby. Like, figure it out. No, we'd be like, okay, do you need food? Do you need a walk? Should we take a drive? What do you need now? Like, we would just keep showing up for that baby all day long, even if the entire day it felt really difficult for that baby just to exist in the world today.

Jenn Trepeck 52:17

Totally

Stephanie Mara 52:18

We kind of have to do the same thing for our bodies and not expect any outcome from it, like I get that the outcome is we want to feel better, but it's like the goal gets to also be, I am committed to showing up for myself, right? So even if it didn't make you, quote, unquote, feel better, you already met the intention of I just showed up for myself, even if it didn't, maybe make me feel the way I wanted to feel. I am in the practice of showing up for myself, and I'm doing it.

Jenn Trepeck 52:48

Full stop. Yes, I'm with you.

Stephanie Mara 52:49

Yeah, I feel like I could talk to you forever, but I'm curious as we go towards wrapping up here, you gave so many amazing baby steps already today, I always like to wrap up with, like a baby step that people can walk away with. I'm wondering if you have any baby step that you felt like we didn't maybe touch on or talk about yet, as someone is exploring wellness for themselves.

Jenn Trepeck 53:12

Yeah, so we didn't really talk much about the food stuff. So I like to give people something there, because I think also, as we think about our nervous system and the vagus nerve and the mind body connection, like you're never going to out think the biochemistry of what you're giving your gut, so protein, fiber, quality fat, but how we start our day is so critical. So we mentioned, you know, no coffee or caffeine before food, our most powerful breakfast, for energy, for mental clarity, for blood sugar, balance for health is a protein and fiber packed breakfast. Eat what you like. Don't eat what you don't like. But I will tell you my favorite breakfast is a breakfast salad. And you're probably going to think I'm certifiable until you try it, and then you're gonna go, oh, so my breakfast salad, whatever greens you have in your fridge, a couple handfuls, whatever vegetables you have. Maybe it's leftovers from dinner. Maybe it's something, whatever. Chop them up, throw them in there. Cook your eggs, but leave the yolks runny. The runny yolk creates a creamy salad dressing. And then add, you have avocado. Great. Add some avocado. I also add everything but the bagel seasoning, sometimes, like a little balsamic, if I need, like more of a dressing, if you're a bacon or turkey bacon or turkey sausage person, great. Throw some in there. You want a cheesy flavor, get some extra protein and add nutritional yeast, you know, like you have some leftover potatoes, throw a little bit in there, right? Like, throw it all in there, this giant bowl. I feel so energized and satisfied for so long, from that start to the day, it's a game changer. And I remember the first time I tried it, I was like, I don't know about these flavors at breakfast, like, whatever we're gonna try it. And I was blown away, simpleish, right? Like, we can make it as simple or as complicated as we want it to be. The other thing by that token too, is we talk about protein and serving size and breakfast and all that stuff. A proper serving of protein at a meal is four to six ounces. So that's your whole hand. A snack is two to three, your palm, or a little less, by the way, biologically male body, it would be six to eight ounces. Whole hand for everybody, the snack is two to three. Two eggs is two ounces, that is a snack. So for all of you, and I say this with love, because I see you, you eat two you eat two eggs, and go, okay, I had my breakfast, and then you're hungry a couple hours later, and you think, but I'm not supposed to be hungry again, right? I'm supposed to eat less, move more. Two eggs was supposed to be enough. No two eggs is a snack. Of course, you are hungry a couple hours later. Yes, it's time to fuel again. So if you're baking that breakfast salad, maybe it's three eggs and some nutritional yeast for the fourth ounce of protein, you know, maybe it's a couple whole eggs and a couple extra egg whites to get us to more of that protein. I know some people feel like, you know, it's a lot to eat that many eggs I get it. Our protein doesn't have to all come from one thing. But just to understand the balance of what we're actually giving ourselves versus what we're expecting fuel to do that's really insufficient for what we're looking for.

Stephanie Mara 56:37

Yeah, what I hear in that is like everything but the kitchen sink kind of salad where it's like, throw everything in a bowl and like, how little I see people eating for breakfast, and it's like, no, we need a hearty, hearty meal at the beginning of the day. And I even, I know people are like, well, what about intermittent fasting and all this stuff? And I'm like, if your physiology is so stressed out why would you do something that's just going to stress out your body even more, like you have to be in such a stabilized like parasympathetic nervous system functioning body for it to feel like it can last for longer periods of time without nourishment. And so sometimes we have to kind of just wipe the slate and say basics here, of like, eat a hearty breakfast. And so that's what I really hear in that suggestion of, like, don't try to decrease your appetite first thing in the day with caffeine and skipping breakfast, because it just kind of backfires.

Jenn Trepeck 57:39

It does. I mean, under eating the first half the day is directly connected to overeating at night. So like, if you identify as a nighttime eater, let's look at this. But I love what you said, you know, but what about? So part four of the book is, but what about and it's all of the things that you're thinking as you're reading all of a sudden you're like, but what about intermittent fasting? But what about GLP-1s? But what about coffee? But what about oatmeal, but what about SIBO? But what about, like, all of the things there's, can't remember how many we ended up with, like, 40, 50, things in there that are, like, short answers to tackle that for you, because if you're getting stuck on that, like, but what about piece like, I got you, I get it and, ya know.

Stephanie Mara 58:20

Yeah. Well, I just loved everything that you shared today, and I'm wondering how everyone can keep in touch with you and where they can find your book.

Jenn Trepeck 58:28

Yes, thank you. Uncomplicating Wellness is available wherever books are sold. So Amazon, Barnes and Noble, bookshop.org, whatever makes you happy, by the way, like Barnes and Noble probably doesn't have it in the store, but they can order it for you, or you can do Barnes and Noble online. My website is asaladwithasideoffries.com. So there you can get the book, my podcast salad with a side of fries, more information about working with me as a health coach. I do group of one on one coaching for 12 weeks like this is not for the rest of your life. My objective is for you to not need me and all social media. I am @jenntrepeck, J, E, N, N, T, R, E, P, E, C, K, so please send a message like, I really love hearing from you. So please reach out. Like, what questions do you have if you completely disagree with anything we said. I want to hear that too.

Stephanie Mara 59:17

Yeah, awesome. Well, I will put all of those links in the show notes and just thank you so much for coming on here again and it was just so wonderful to reconnect.

Jenn Trepeck 59:25

Thank you. Yes, for sure. I loved our conversation.

Stephanie Mara 59:28

Absolutely. Well to everyone listening. Yes, email me as well with all of your insights support@stephaniemara.com and I hope you all have a satiating and safety producing rest of the day. Bye!

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