How it works
Why going plant-based feels so hard
The problem with most approaches is that they push you to flip your whole life upside down overnight. But when you try to change everything at once, you basically have to be perfect or the whole thing falls apart. That kind of all-or-nothing pressure doesn't work for most people. You might make it a few days, maybe even a few weeks, but it rarely lasts.
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It's completely natural to feel excited and want big results fast, especially when you're tired of feeling the way you do. But change takes time. You're not just changing what's on your plate, you're undoing years, sometimes decades, of habits, routines, beliefs, and coping patterns, and building new ones in their place.
That’s not a quick fix situation.
Why my approach works better
I’ve found that it really comes down to six things...
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Small steps
Trying to change everything at once sounds good in theory, but it doesn’t usually work that well in reality. There's only so much we can change, remember, and manage at one time before we start feeling overwhelmed. It's much easier to change one thing, get comfortable with it, and then build from there.
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Self-compassion
Changing your diet is hard. You're going to mess up sometimes. When you can accept that mistakes are a natural part of the process, you can have compassion for yourself instead of beating yourself up. This gives you the space to learn from what happened and try again, instead of deciding something's wrong with you and giving up.
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Your big why
You can't get somewhere if you don't know where you're going or why you want to get there. "I want to be healthier" is a nice idea, but it's pretty vague. What does healthier actually look like for you? How do you want to feel? What do you want to be able to do? What would your life look like if your health wasn't constantly getting in the way? When your motivation starts to wane a little, and it inevitably will, your big why can help remind you why you started and keep you going.
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A supportive environment
When the people around you don't understand what you're doing, it can start to feel strange, difficult, and isolating. When you're regularly around people and environments that support the way you want to live, that same way of living starts to feel more normal and natural and a lot easier to stick with.
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Boundaries
Change takes time, energy, and attention. When everyone else's needs are always coming first, there isn't much of any of those things left for you. Saying no, protecting your time and energy, and making your own health a priority create the space that’s needed to actually care for yourself.
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Pleasure
We tend to stick with things we enjoy. If you don't enjoy what you're eating, it's going to be hard to keep it up long-term. It’s that simple. When you find food that's genuinely delicious and satisfying to you, eating this way stops making you feel so deprived and miserable, and you start to love it.
When you put these six things together, change stops feeling so hard.
You're finally working with yourself instead of against yourself. You're eating food you actually enjoy, you're taking it one step at a time, you've decided that your own health is worth making time for, you're being kind to yourself when you mess up, you're surrounding yourself with positive influences that motivate you to keep going, and you know exactly where you're headed and why it matters to you so much.
If this all makes sense to you, join my newsletter.
I’d love to walk alongside you and support you on your journey. Every week, I share all the things I wish I knew when I first started on this path, and what I’m learning as I go. I also share what I’m eating, so you’ll have plenty of simple meal ideas to try when you need some inspiration.