Uncomplicating Wellness Part 2: What Health Means for You, Trend Superlatives, and Kiss Marry Kill | Ep. 149

I'm Bridget Walton, a Women's Hormone Coach helping ambitious women ages 25-40 naturally restore hormone balance, fix irregular periods, feel confident in their fertility, and resolve gut health issues without restrictive dieting.

If you struggle with missing periods, PCOS symptoms, bloating, or unpredictable cycles, this women's health podcast will teach you how to support your hormones through strategic nutrition and lifestyle changes that actually fit your busy life.

On I'm Hormonal, you'll discover natural solutions for period problems, learn how gut health impacts your hormones, and get practical hormone balance tips from a functional nutrition perspective - no more guessing what your body needs.

👉 Download her free resource: It's not what to eat, it's how to eat
👉 Buy the book, Uncomplicating Wellness

Today you'll hear the second part of this conversation between Jenn Trepeck and Bridget, talking about Jenn's new book, Uncomplicating Wellness! Listen to their thoughts on wellness trends: the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

Jenn is a health coach, host of the Salad with a Side of Fries podcast, business consultant and the author of Uncomplicating Wellness. 

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👉 Have some questions? Not sure if we're a good fit yet? Book a free 15-minute chat at imhormonal.com/start
👉 DM us on Instagram @im_hormonal - we want to hear your biggest takeaway

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome Back And Setup
• 1:29 The Hardest Trend To Kill: Calories And Low Fat
• 4:35 The Gateway To Wellness: Community Or Cutting Alcohol
• 6:33 Desert Island Essentials And Banning “Fat Is Bad”
• 8:24 Fasting’s Glow-Up And Real Limits
• 11:07 Menopause Awareness And Birth Control Questions
• 12:52 Kiss, Marry, Kill: Systems And Media
• 14:16 Can The Industry Improve? A Capitalist Reframe
• 17:03 Kiss, Marry, Kill: Cold Plunges, Guilt, Cheat Meals
• 18:50 Kiss, Marry, Kill: Carnivore, Vegan, Keto
• 20:05 The Protein And Fiber Rule
• 21:07 How To Connect With Jen And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Hello and welcome to the I'm Hormonal podcast. I'm your host, Bridget Walton, a women's hormone coach helping busy, ambitious women through personalized coaching and science-backed solutions. If you have troubles with your hormones, if you were trying to figure out what is going on with your period, you are in the right place, my friend. Today's episode is going to be part two of a conversation that I had with our girl Jen Trape. You can listen to the first part of our conversation on the earlier episode that came out this week. Would really encourage you to check that out first. It will make the second half make a whole lot more sense. If you haven't yet checked that out, then you'll want to know that Jen is a health coach. She's also a podcaster, and she just wrote a book called Uncomplicating Wellness, really diving into how you can make your wellness journey personalized to you. How can you make it work for you? What are the strategies to make it successful? It's not a step-by-step plan. She's really clear about that. It's not a you should do this, you should do that. It's more of a holistic view at how you can figure out what is going to work for you and what is the right mindset that will also best serve you. So I hope that you loved the first part of this conversation. Let's just go ahead and jump right into this second part, and I will see you on the other side. I wanted to assign some superlatives to different wellness trends too, right? So maybe going from overhyped, that'll be a good segue into um what wellness trend or habit would you assign to the superlative of the hardest wellness trend to kill?

SPEAKER_00: 1:51

Calories. Just counting calories. Eat less, move more, count calories, calories.

SPEAKER_01: 2:00

It is easy to do and not actually that helpful for real life. It's not how the body works. Full stop. Yeah, where did this whole thing start? Who decided that they were gonna tell everybody it's calories in, calories out?

SPEAKER_00: 2:16

Our doctors. Um because when you don't think about nutrients and you just think about um energy, right? Technically, calorie is a unit of measure of energy. The part that all of that ignores in eat less move uh move more is the quality of the calories matters. And so the old thinking was if we tell people to watch the calories, they will go toward the things that are more nutrient dense versus calorically dense, but then you end up in our world of processed food and every diet fat. And exactly. So I, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 3:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 3:09

Calories.

SPEAKER_01: 3:10

My pick for this one, mine was similar because it plays in a lot to people trying to achieve low calorie intake throughout the day is low fat. I just, this is one I could really shop from the rooftops. Like we're not gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00: 3:27

Just that like fat, eating fat means fat on your body. It does not.

SPEAKER_01: 3:33

Does who can we write a letter to so we can like change the word fat? One of those words fat, they're same three letters, two different things that we're talking about. Yeah. I'll find out who we can write a letter to to get a lot of different things.

SPEAKER_00: 3:45

Well, there was so the whole thing about fat creating cholesterol, you know, was part of, you know, fat is bad for you. Was one study that was never able to be replicated. And in fact, the same people who did the study debunked the study.

SPEAKER_01: 4:01

Yeah. What's that book? Or for anybody listening who's like, this has just gone against everything their mom has ever told them. Um, is it called The Big Fat Lie? Did you read that?

SPEAKER_00: 4:11

No, but that sounds right. And then um I'll have to think of it too. But there's a I'm like looking at my bookcase. I'm like, is it here? No. Um. But that I think that they do talk about it in the Big Fat Lie also. Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 4:28

Yeah. Regardless, there are resources out there to learn more. But overall hardness, wellness, trends to kill um counting calories and low fat. All right. What for this next one? Like, what is the gateway drug to wellness? Like, what is the trend or habit that you feel like a lot of people start with and that ends up like getting them right into, you know, other trends for good or for, you know, bad. But anyway, what's what's the gateway drug to wellness?

SPEAKER_00: 5:00

I actually think it's group fitness. Are you a group fitness gal? I am. Same. Um, but the reason why I say, do you remember the movie, or did you ever see the movie Britney Runs a Marathon? No. So highly recommend. Everybody go watch Britney Runs a Marathon. But essentially, she decides to train for this marathon. And inevitably, what happens over time is that then she's like, wait, I get a better run when I don't stay up late. I have a better run when I don't drink as much. But I feel better when. And it snowballs into all of these other things. Um and I think it's a piece that people feel more accessible. Like I think there's too confusing of information around nutrition that I don't think that's where people start and have it snowball in the same way that somebody who starts with um group fitness ends up gravitating toward the people that they work out with and then all the other things.

SPEAKER_01: 6:09

Yeah, I love that. I had a similar train of thought, um, but mine was cutting out alcohol. I think once you like minimize or eliminate alcohol and you're like, wow, I can like feel better just by doing nothing, by sleep, I have more time to sleep. I can go do all of these things. You're changing your, you know, pattern throughout the day. I think that's a good, you know, gateway to getting into all the other good things that are out there. What is the one habit or trend or wellness thing that you would uh consider to be your desert island essential? You're on a desert island, you can bring like one thing. What is it? I mean, I'm like food. Is that yeah? It is like, are we trying to survive here or are we trying to like bring there's no wrong answers. What's your favorite food? What food do you want to bring in?

SPEAKER_00: 7:00

Oh man. Well, my podcast is called salad with a side of fries. I almost called it French fries and cookie dough because those are two foods that I will never give up. Um I'm also a total peanut butter junkie. I I mean, there's a lot in there. But there's a lot? Yeah. But then I was thinking too, was this question about a wellness trend I want to send to a desert island or what I'm getting with me to a desert island?

SPEAKER_01: 7:31

You know, there literally are no rules here, so we can do both. If you have one top of mind that you want to send to an island and never let it come back, then let us know.

SPEAKER_00: 7:40

So the reason why I thought about it, because that was my thing or fat is the enemy. Send that to a desert island, never to come back.

SPEAKER_01: 7:48

It's gone. Out of here. Out of here. Um, this will be the fourth and final superlative, but what like wellness trend or habit? Wait, what's your desert island? Oh, yeah, I didn't even say it. I, you know, I was thinking like magnesium. I thought, oh, if I'm on an island, I'm probably gonna be a little bit stressed out. I probably want to sleep better. I don't know. I just thought I love magnesium. I think I'm taking magnesium. Maybe if I can sneak in a multivitamin.

SPEAKER_00: 8:18

I'm with you. I'm with you.

SPEAKER_01: 8:19

Yeah. I don't know if I'm gonna be eating a lot of fruits on this random island. But okay. So then look at the biggest glow-up. What's top of mind for you?

SPEAKER_00: 8:30

Well, I'm conflicted because if it's a glow-up I'm on board with, or a glow up that's just there that like Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_01: 8:40

Okay, let's start with the one that's just there that you're not enthusiastic about. Fasting.

SPEAKER_00: 8:46

Yeah. And I say that with a caveat. Um I'm not the biggest fan of intermittent fasting for women or for those with metabolic health challenges. Um I like it better for men than women, blah, blah, blah. Also, 100% fasting is what a lot of people just decide to call when they forget to eat, and they're like, oh, well, I'll just call it fasting. That's not how this works. Um if somebody is really interested in the cellular health benefits of fasting and some of those kinds of things. I'm a fan of like a three-day fast a couple times a year. Um, but even with that, what frustrates me is that it's people are on board with it feeling like it's going to be this miracle and this cure-all and this thing that you know is the answer to everything. And it's just not. You cannot bio Yeah, and you cannot biohack your way out of your everyday life.

SPEAKER_01: 9:56

I like that one. I I don't know if I feel as passionately about it as you do, but it I definitely I get a lot of questions about that. And it and it is something where if you're not feeling very well, yeah, then you need to really talk to somebody or I don't know, find the smart side of your AI tool to really like think of the pros and cons and how this applies to you. So love that. What is the good glow-up that you've that you want to shout out?

SPEAKER_00: 10:27

So I think it's menopause, perimenopause. There and there's pros and cons to all of it, right? Like there's never been more conversation about it than now, which is the part that I love. And sometimes that's also even more confusing for people. But I do think there's a glow up there in terms of understanding and prioritizing understanding this phase of life. And an extension to that that I'm hoping for is around birth control. Yeah. Um, and I believe, like I'm a millennial, I think we are all experiencing perimenopause symptoms even earlier because of how much time many of us spent on birth control. That's my theory. That's not proper research. That's me. Like, I have a lot of my own theory. I mean, I'm big into understanding. And I will tell you when something is my own theory. That's my own theory.

SPEAKER_01: 11:32

Yeah. No, that will be interesting to see what happens, what studies come out X number of years from now about it. Um I think we could probably do like an entire podcast series about birth control.

SPEAKER_00: 11:45

I did a two-part series a couple years ago on it. Uh, everybody go back and listen to that. It's yeah, the more I learn, the more frustrated I am.

SPEAKER_01: 11:58

I'll put a link to it in the show notes so they can find it real easy. Let's just transition into a uh this Kiss Mary Kill sequence. Um, no wrong answers. We'll just hear like what are your thoughts on it? So um, for this first one, we have the medical system, the insurance system, and media portrayal of wellness. Oh I know, yeah. It's uh it's not the dream lineup, but I'm interested to hear like how you I am definitely killing insurance.

SPEAKER_00: 12:35

Dead. Consider it dead. I will kiss the medical system because I think that there is tremendous like what we've been able to learn and discover and treat and cure is miraculous. Um and I will marry the media because of those, it's the easiest to change the conversation.

SPEAKER_01: 13:05

Hmm, okay. I love that because that, well, from a second, uh, a separate game section, I wanted to ask you, and maybe I'll just do it quickly, like, because in your book you mentioned that you know the diet industry is what, like 70 billion plus? I forgot I didn't write it down exactly. Uh but billions of dollars. So many, you can buy so many Chipotle breatables with that. Um so I wanted to ask you, like, do you think, are you optimistic or pessimistic? Do you think that the mainstream like diet or wellness or health industry can improve to be what people actually need to support their best health? Or do you think it'll always be more like really profit first and not be able to evolve to where we as human beings need it?

SPEAKER_00: 13:53

So it's interesting you asked this question because I was thinking about this earlier for a social media thing that, you know, I feel like I need to rant about this. So forgive me for a hot second. No, it's just um I am a capitalist. I went to business school and I think the capitalistic piece is what will save this. The the issue is in how we have the carrots and the sticks. So right now, like I love how much attention there is on food additives. And the amount of time, effort, and energy it took to get one food additive removed from our food system, we will not live long enough to fix our food supply in that way. So to me, if we go back to understanding profit and capitalism, then what we need to do, we are one of the handful of countries in the world where the healthy foods are the expensive foods. We need to subsidize the healthful foods. We need to make it easier and less expensive. We need to tax the highly processed foods. We need to tax every sugar and sugar substitute that you put in something. We need to add fees for every ingredient that you want to put in there for more for every degree it comes from nature, right? If it's further away from nature, it is more expensive. We need to completely overhaul how our meat is processed such that it is less expensive to do less to the food. So that so to me, it's the answer is what everybody thinks is the problem. And that's part of why we are not making the progress that we need.

SPEAKER_01: 15:51

Okay, you've really inspired me because my answer to this that I have me pessimistic. But now I'm feeling a little bit better. You know, I never thought about, you know, taxing a certain, I don't know how me, hormone coach, I don't know how that would work in real life in the government, but that is a really interesting thought of yeah, how processed or not is something. And like, how do we make that more or less accessible from that and the subsidies perspective? I really think.

SPEAKER_00: 16:20

Yeah, and the reason why all the food companies are drawn to all of these wild ingredients is because they're less expensive. They make the food last longer, they achieve all of these objectives that they are rewarded for. We have to switch that reward system. Interesting.

SPEAKER_01: 16:36

Okay. All right. I'm glad that that was already on your mind. I really liked hearing that. I might have to ask you for that clip, Sylvie. Let's um come back to the much uh less consequential uh next kiss, Mary, kill of love it. Cold plunges, food guilt, and cheat meals.

SPEAKER_00: 16:57

Oh I'm gonna marry a cold plunge. I do love it. I'm just gonna say there's nuance to that also for all my ladies. There's nuance to the cold plunge, and you will not cold plunge your way to health. It has its place. I love them, but it is not going to undo every other piece of our lives. Um so I love me the cold plunge. We're gonna get married. What were my other two?

SPEAKER_01: 17:24

Perfect. You um have the opportunity to kiss or kill food guilt and cheat meals. Which kind of go hand in hand now that I'm saying them out loud to you, but anyway.

SPEAKER_00: 17:40

I really want to kill them both. This is very difficult. I don't know. I'm gonna tell you my rationale and then you can tell me which one fits for which, okay? Perfect. My answer to how to cheat is to remove the word from your vocabulary. The more you identify with a cheat meal or a cheat day or any of those things, it is the same on, off, good, bad, black, white of food. Full stop. Guilt is not an ingredient. I believe guilt shows up when we don't keep the commitments that we make to ourselves. So by that token, maybe I am killing the cheat meal and kissing the guilt because I think we can learn more from the guilt and learn to transform it and not have it be part of our life than the cheat meal.

SPEAKER_01: 18:42

I like it. I think um yes, and based on your rationale, I think that makes sense. Okay. Getting rid of the guilt is also like a byproduct, I guess, of killing the cheat meals. So that is a little two birds, one stone kind of option.

SPEAKER_00: 18:56

Yes.

unknown: 18:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 18:58

Next, kiss mary kill. You've got the carnivore diet, a vegan diet, or a keto diet. I can't kill them all. No, no, unfortunately, just one. But which one is which one do you think is like the least worthy of consideration?

SPEAKER_00: 19:17

Carnivore diet, I'm killing. 100%. Keto diet, I will kiss because short periods of time, occasionally, it serves a purpose. Please don't marry keto and try to live in that forever. Um, I will marry vegan, although it depends what your vegan looks like. But I think there is more benefit from more plants than from any of those other options.

SPEAKER_01: 19:50

Beautiful. I would do the same thing. I would do the same thing. I think um I talked about this recently too, actually, on an episode about carnivore diet. But I think people love the idea of it because you can get rid of inflammation, you can like feel better sooner, but it's not a long-term game.

SPEAKER_00: 20:11

Or if there's similar to keto, where like for a finite period of time, it carnivores essentially an elimination diet. If you start to put it in that category, then it has its place. And we maybe do this for a period of time for a specific reason, not till the end of time, not forever.

SPEAKER_01: 20:31

Perfect. Okay. We are well aligned. We are well aligned there. What is the one health topic or rule like that all of your friends, all of your family know you for that you'll you can't help but bring it up? And they're like, Yeah, yeah, Jen, we got it. What's that one thing for you with your people?

SPEAKER_00: 20:48

Protein and fiber at every meal makes removing fat, no big deal. I say it all the time in my podcast, everywhere. It's become the thing that people know me for. Protein and fiber at every meal makes removing fat, no big deal.

SPEAKER_01: 21:00

Perfect. I'm gonna get that bumper sticker.

SPEAKER_00: 21:02

I will uh I'll send you one once I've gone. I do have a magnet in my merch store that says protein and fiber. So, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 21:09

Perfect. Perfect. That was actually one of the one of the games I put together was uh rental car bumper stickers that you would least prefer to have, but we'll have to save that for, you know, round two, I guess. I love that. Um, this has been really fun. This was a lot longer than we expected, but this is really fun talking through things. I hope this is helpful for the listeners to just hear different ways to think through certain aspects of wellness and health. And um, yeah, how can folks connect with you from here?

SPEAKER_00: 21:37

Absolutely. Um, all social media. I am at Jet and Trapic, J-E-N-N-T-R-E-P-E-C-K. Website is a salad with the side of fries.com. Pick your platform, send me a message. I truly love hearing from you on my website. I have a free download for you called It's Not What to Eat, it's how to eat. And the book, Uncomplicating Wellness, is available wherever books are sold. Of course, you could also go to the website and click through there to find it too.

SPEAKER_01: 22:04

All right, my friend, that is it for this episode, where I just finished up my conversation with Jen. I hope that you loved listening to this conversation. I hope you had some interesting insights. I hope that it challenged you to think about, you know, how you would rank certain priorities or certain uh decisions that you make about your health. So if this episode resonated with you, if you liked listening to it, share it with a friend. Check out Jen's book. You'll see all the links so you can connect with her and learn more about uncomplicating wellness in the show notes. And that's it. That's what I've got for you today. I want to say thank you so much for listening. I really love doing these interviews and putting together these episodes for you all. And of course, it wouldn't really be so joyous for me if nobody was listening. So thank you for being here, especially for those of you who have stayed and listened all the way through the end. And I will see you on the next one real soon.