Does your New Year's plan already feel like a struggle? Here's the truth bomb you need—motivation is fickle and commitment is your secret weapon. If you're tired of the same old "just have more willpower" advice, this conversation is about to change everything about how you approach changing your habits.
Jenn Trepeck keeps it refreshingly honest on Salad with a Side of Fries as she chats with Dr. Sherry Price about what actually works when you're trying to create sustainable habits. Dr. Price gets vulnerable about her struggle with overdrinking and why the "perfect plan" kept failing her. They dive into the gloriously messy middle of change, why progress over perfection isn't just a cute saying, and how giving yourself grace (yes, actual grace!) is the missing ingredient in your wellness journey. No BS, no toxic positivity—just real talk about behavioral changes that stick.
What You Will Learn in This Episode:
✅ Why motivation vs commitment makes all the difference—and how to shift from white-knuckling your goals to honoring your deeper desires for sustainable habits
✅ The truth about the messy middle of transformation and why the uncomfortable middle phase is actually where the real magic (and learning) happens in your behavioral change journey
✅ How to navigate the witching hour cravings and understand that your body needs time to reach a new homeostasis—plus why knowing cravings will eventually disappear is game-changing
✅ The power of radical honesty with yourself and finding the right support system that aligns with your actual goals, not someone else's version of perfection
The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast, hosted by Jenn Trepeck, explores real-life wellness and weight-loss topics, debunking myths, misinformation, and flawed science surrounding nutrition and the food industry. Let’s dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Dr. Price shares her personal story of overdrinking, the witching hour and why knowing better doesn't always mean doing better when it comes to breaking unhealthy habits
09:31 The critical difference between motivation vs commitment and why toxic independence keeps high achievers stuck in unhealthy patterns
13:37 Progress over perfection for lasting behavioral change and learning to give yourself grace through transformation
18:22 Why cravings are normal during habit change and how understanding your body's need for homeostasis makes the process less mythical and more manageable
23:31 The importance of radical honesty with yourself, defining your next phase, and navigating social situations without fear of judgment
27:30 Focusing on what you're gaining rather than what you're giving up—reframing desire to support sustainable habits and feeling good the next day
30:56 Practical strategies for handling the moments when your body signals cravings
33:20 Exploring different wellness focuses beyond alcohol—stress management, sleep, hydration, and movement as areas for habit change
37:05 The role of self-compassion in creating lasting change and why beating yourself up never leads to sustainable transformation
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
💎 Willpower is finite and eventually runs out—true transformation comes from building commitment to yourself, not relying on fleeting motivation or beating yourself up when things don't go perfectly according to plan
💎 The messy middle is where real growth happens during behavioral change—people who get from A to B in a straight line often haven't learned the skills needed to maintain their changes when life inevitably happens
💎 Your body needs time to adjust to new patterns and reach homeostasis, which means cravings and discomfort during habit change are not signs of failure but normal biological responses that will eventually pass
💎 Finding support from someone who shares your actual goals (not society's version of what your goals should be) accelerates your journey and helps you avoid the trap of toxic independence that keeps many high achievers stuck
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Sherry B. Price, PharmD, APh, MBA, BCPS, is an advanced pharmacist practitioner, certified life and weight loss coach, and host of the Health, Habits and Epic Living podcast. Through her transformative holistic programs, private coaching, and healing sessions, Dr. Price has empowered thousands of women to break unhealthy habits, shed stubborn belly fat, and reclaim their health – all while creating a life they truly love.
Dedicated to helping women take charge of their health and well-being, Dr. Price integrates lifestyle medicine, mindset shifts, and sustainable habit change to foster lasting health and vitality.
Before becoming a life coach, Dr. Price co-founded RxPrep, Inc., an exam preparation company that helped thousands of students each year become licensed pharmacists. Dr. Price spent over a decade working as a clinical pharmacist in critical care, cardiology, academia, and the pharmaceutical industry. She graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and completed residency programs at Duke University and Barnes-Jewish Medical Center. A Pennsylvania native, Dr. Price now lives in beautiful San Diego with her amazing husband and daughter.
RESOURCES:
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QUOTES:
07:25 “It started to bother me more and more, especially the next day when you're missing your workouts, or you're not getting up on time, or you're needing that extra cup of coffee or two. I know better, but why am I not doing better?” — Dr. Sherry Price
18:40 "Nobody told me it takes time for your body to reach this new homeostasis. So the cravings are normal, natural, and should be there. I'm thinking they shouldn't be here. But it wasn't until somebody said, no, no, they're supposed to be there." — Dr. Sherry Price
21:36 "We assume that everybody has the same goal as us and then we're following their recommendations, but actually they're training for a marathon and I have no desire to run a marathon." - Jenn Trepeck
24:43 “That next phase might be a focus on sleep, hydration, stress or movement, the alcohol, whatever it is. I love the idea of being selective about who we share it with, because there may be moments when we want to do less sharing.” — Jenn Trepeck
30:57 “Thinking about nutrition or that food piece, if we could say more veggies, less processed food, more protein.” — Jenn Trepeck
38:42 “The piece I'm coming away with is gentleness to our experience and the things that we want to do and most desire for 2026, we can do them and not in a way that requires a hundred percent or zero.” — Jenn Trepeck
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