You want the benefits of plant-based eating – but 100% feels like too much. Here’s what you need to know.

You’ve finally reached that age. The kids are old enough to fend for themselves, and you’re finally starting to think about doing the things you want to do again. 

In your head you’re 28 and full of enthusiasm, ready to take on the world again, but your body? 😂😂😂  Something always hurts, you never seem to feel 100% anymore, and you’re convinced if you even think about food, you gain five pounds.

You want to wake up without feeling like you just went to sleep. You want fewer mood swings, less bloating, more energy, and a whole lot less brain fog.

You know eating more plant-based will help you get there. But there’s this little voice in the back of your head saying “But what about that work dinner next week? And what about that vacation next month?”  

And if you can’t commit to 100%, why bother starting at all if you actually want to see results.

Here’s the only 100% you need to remember: 

Perfection is an impossible goal that ends in failure 100% of the time. 

And chasing it is exactly what’s been getting in your way.

The good news is you don’t need to be 100% plant-based to feel better in your body. You can still enjoy the foods you love and make steady progress toward your health goals.

You can absolutely do plant-based in a way that works for you. 🙌

Before you know it, you suddenly realize you didn’t spend half your day obsessing about food. You made plant-based choices without overthinking them. You felt good about what you ate. And you didn’t feel like you were missing out.

So, let’s talk about what’s really getting in your way – and what to do instead.

Why all-or-nothing thinking is a trap (and why it’s not your fault you’re caught in it)

It’s easy to resent that little voice telling you you have to be 100% plant-based for it to be worthwhile, but the fact that voice is there in the first place isn’t your fault. Years of diet culture have conditioned you to view food as either ‘on plan’ or ‘off plan.’ 

👎 A ‘diet’ means you measure and weigh and log and track.

👎 It only “works” if you follow it to the letter. 

👎 If you “slip up,” you failed. 

👎 There’s no room for imperfection if you actually want results. 

But that kind of rigidity doesn’t leave space for birthday cupcakes, a restaurant without any plant-based options, or realizing after that fact that there was egg in your bean burger or butter on your toasted bun.

Not to mention there’s so much conflicting information out there about plant-based diets that it’s hard to know what “counts.” 

It can get confusing fast, and 100% plant-based can, in some ways, feel easier than trying to navigate the gray area. It feels simpler and more straightforward – until life inevitably throws you a curveball.

But a plant-based diet isn’t really a diet… at least not in the sense of the word most of us think of when we hear it. It’s a lifestyle. And there are very few things in life, if any, that people do 100% of the time. It’s simply not realistic for most people. 

Especially when you’re changing something you’ve done a least three times a day for YOUR ENTIRE LIFE.

So if your only definition of success is perfection, you’re making eating plant-based a whole lot harder than it has to be.

How this mindset holds you back (in ways you might not even realize)

It’s not always obvious when you’re in the thick of it – but thinking eating plant-based has to be all or nothing is quietly sabotaging your progress… adding stress and pulling the joy right out of something that’s supposed to help you feel better.

Let’s break down the three biggest ways it’s getting in your way.

1. It keeps you from starting at all.

When you’ve been eating a certain way for 40, 50, 60 years, the idea of doing everything differently, perfectly, can seem entirely overwhelming. And it’s setting you up for burnout before you ever press a block of tofu. 

When your brain believes that “going plant-based” means getting every meal right, avoiding every non-plant-based ingredient, knowing what to buy, cook, and order in every situation – of course you want to give up. Who could possibly do all that? (Spoiler alert: I’ve been doing this awhile and I sure as hell don’t!) 

So, instead of easing in, you talk yourself out of starting at all. Because what’s the point if you’re just going to mess it up anyway?

2. It turns small, human moments into major setbacks.

At some point, you will eat something that isn’t 100% plant-based – and it won’t even necessarily be on purpose. Maybe you didn’t know the soup had dairy, or that the dressing at the restaurant had egg in it. Maybe your veggies went bad and your only backup was a box of mac & cheese. Or maybe a coworker brought you a cupcake for your birthday and you didn’t want to seem ungrateful. 

These aren’t moral failings. They’re just... life.

But when you believe 100% is the only option, these moments feel like big screw-ups. You beat yourself up. You feel like you “blew it.” And instead of just moving on, you throw in the towel and say, “I’ll start over tomorrow” or “Monday.”  Again and again and again.

On top of that, you start missing out on things because you’re trying to hold yourself to an unrealistic standard. You skip the party because you’re afraid there won’t be anything you can eat. You go to girls’ night out and order the sad side salad because it’s the only thing that looks remotely vegan. You wonder what's wrong with you when you “cave” and order the buffalo chicken egg rolls you used to love. 

Trying to do this perfectly doesn’t just make eating harder – it makes life harder. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

3. It actually makes cravings stronger.

Here’s the thing no one talks about: When you tell yourself you can never have something again, it suddenly becomes all you want. Even if you weren’t craving it before. So when you tell yourself cheese, donuts, or grandma’s sugar cookies with butter cream icing are completely off-limits, those foods suddenly hold a lot more power. 

And when you eventually “give in” (because you’re human), you go overboard or you feel guilty… or maybe a little bit of both… which leads to more starting over, or even giving up.

But when you give yourself flexibility and permission to enjoy those things occasionally? You take away the power they have over you. The cravings quiet down, it’s easier to stick with plant-based choices the rest of the time, and you can get back to your day with it feeling like a big deal. 

So how do I know this for sure?

Because I’m a recovering perfectionist, too. I’ve seen it play out in my own life, and in other people’s lives. 

When you learn to let go of that all-or-nothing mindset – and give yourself permission to do this in a way that actually fits your life – it’s a total game changer.

You stop obsessing over food. You stop restarting every few days. You start feeling better. And before you know it, you’re making plant-based choices without even thinking about it.

Letting go of perfection does not mean letting go of progress. In fact, it’s the only way to make progress that actually lasts.

What to do instead: 3 ways to start letting go of perfection

Before we dive in, let’s be clear: these aren’t rules. These are tools. Read through them, pick the one that resonates with you most, and give it a try for a few days. That’s how sustainable change starts – with a shift that looks a whole lot more like progress than perfection.

1. Redefine what “success” looks like.

Repeat after me: There is no prize for being 100% plant-based.

Real success isn’t about getting a perfect score – it’s about consistency over time. So instead of counting success as "100% plant-based," focus on the small wins that actually help build your long-term habits:

✔️ I made a meal plan for the week.

✔️ I ate plants at every meal today.

✔️ I tried a new plant-based recipe.

✔️ I grabbed fruit for a snack instead of Doritos.

✔️ I ordered the salad instead of the mac & cheese.

Success isn’t just about how many plants you eat. It means showing up imperfectly, learning from what didn’t go as planned, and building foundations for habits that will continue to grow and support your goals over time. 

Because if you’re doing all of those things and continuing to move forward, I’d call that success. Even if you also ate a piece of pizza with a chocolate chip cookie chaser.

2. Celebrate the plant-based choices you do make.

According to a 2016 study, most people make about 200 food-related decisions a day: when, what, and how much to eat. That’s a lot of freakin’ food decisions!

And let’s say your goal today was to eat 3 healthy, 100% plant-based meals and a plant-based snack. But…

• Someone brought donuts to work... and you ate one.

• Yes, chips are technically vegan, but you told yourself you were only going to eat a few with your sandwich at lunch… and you ended up eating way more than you planned. 

• The teenager who’s never home and never wants to talk asks if you want to go get ice cream after dinner… and hell yes you do!  

At the end of the day, you’ve got two choices:

😢 You can focus on those 3 ‘off-plan’ choices you made and mope around feeling like you screwed up your whole day.

OR

😁 You can flip the narrative and choose to celebrate the 197 ‘on-plan’ choices you did make.

Which one makes you feel like a badass? And which one makes you feel like you failed?

197 out of 200 plant-based decisions means you were 99% plant-based. If that same teenager came home with a 99% on a test, you’d be ecstatic. So why hold yourself to an unrealistic standard that doesn’t allow for real life?

Celebrate that win for yourself, too! 🥳

And it might sound like this is a permission slip to make alllll the exceptions and eat whatever the hell you want, whenever the hell you want. But it is absolutely NOT that.

It’s just a way to shift your focus back to all the awesome plant-based choices you are making every day instead of wallowing in the ones that make you wonder why you can’t just stick to the plan.

And it also leads us to the next strategy.

3. Stop “starting over”… and start adjusting.

Don’t look at that donut you ate at breakfast as an excuse to say screw it for the rest of the day and just start over tomorrow. Use it as an opportunity to get curious… and adjust.

🤔 Did you eat that donut because you didn’t want to answer the questions you knew would come if you didn’t eat it, because everyone knows how much you love donuts?  

Ok, what could you say next time that will make it feel less awkward?

🤔 Were you actually still hungry, even though you already ate breakfast? 

If so, what could you add to your breakfast to make it more satisfying and keep you full longer?

🤔 Did you skip breakfast because you were running late, so you were actually quite hangry?

What low/no-prep emergency breakfast could you keep on hand just in case that happens again?

Or maybe you just eat the donut and move on. 🤷‍♀️

Because one donut doesn’t mean you “ruined” your day. Or that you need to wait until Monday to get “back on track.” It just means you're human.

These are just a few examples of strategies I use inside my 1:1 coaching program to start moving you from “I feel like I need to go all-in” to “This is a realistic way to make plant-based work for me.” When these situations come up (and they will!), we can walk through them together so you don’t have to navigate it alone. 

And maybe we just build a donut or two into your plan. 😉

I really do get it – because I’ve lived it

That donut example? 🍩 Yep, that was me. 

I literally could NOT pass up a donut. Even after I’d been plant-based for a while. And everyone knew it. 

So, instead of wondering what personal flaw made me unable to walk past a free donut without stuffing it into my mouth, I embraced the imperfection. 

I told myself that if someone brought a box of donuts to work and I wanted one, I’d have one… and I wouldn’t feel bad about it. It didn’t happen often, so even if I ate one every time this happened we were talking 3 or 4 times a year… certainly not enough to undermine all the other healthy, plant-based choices I was making.

🤯 And then one day, it happened. 

I walked into the workroom, looked at a box of donuts on the table… and JUST WALKED RIGHT PAST with barely a second thought. Because I gave myself permission to eat them a few times a year, they lost their appeal as this ‘forbidden’ thing I couldn’t have anymore. 

Do I still love donuts a little too much? Yep. But now it feels like a choice when I do choose to eat one… and I don’t feel like I’m missing out if I don’t.  

And that shift is what leads to long-term, realistic, plant-based change.

How I help you create these changes (and stick with them)

Inside my 1:1 coaching program we customize this whole journey to you.

We define what plant-based looks like for you, in your real life. We talk about what foods you want to include, what’s non-negotiable, and what kind of flexibility feels supportive, not stressful. And we start to build habits that make plant-based choices feel just as easy and natural as ordering pizza used to be.

Every session is tailored to your current challenge. And between sessions, you have coach-in-your-pocket support to get through tricky situations, celebrate wins, or just vent when something didn’t go as planned.

We walk through real-life situations together, dig into what happened, and come up with a better plan for next time.

And we build in that flexibility so that the default answer any time the teenager asks you to do anything that involves food and spending time together, the answer is always a resounding, empowered “Hell yes!”

But c’mon… don’t I really need to be 100% plant-based to see actual improvements in how I feel?

Short answer: Not necessarily. But let’s unpack that a bit.

There are a ton of factors that influence health outcomes. Research shows that most people see health benefits somewhere around an 80-90% whole food plant-based diet, and there aren’t huge differences in outcomes between 90% and 100% whole food plant-based.

Of course the more plants you eat, the better the results, but you don’t need to be perfect to see real changes. 

And there’s a lot of evidence showing that whole food plant-based diets have been associated with:

💚 Lower cholesterol

💚 Lower blood pressure

💚 Improved energy and sleep

💚 Better digestion

💚 Reduced inflammation

💚 Weight loss

But remember, there are no guarantees. Everybody (and every body) is different.

It’s also an important reminder that I’m not a Registered Dietician (RD). I don’t ‘prescribe’ certain foods or meal plans or treat specific conditions. My role as a coach is to support you and help you build habits that align with your goals and your version of mostly plant-based. (And if that is something you need, please talk to your doctor or an RD.)

You can do this. And it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Changing the way you’ve eaten your whole life can be challenging, and most everything we’ve learned about “diets” has led us to believe that if we don’t go all in and do it perfectly, there’s no point in even trying. 

But it bears repeating that the great thing about plant-based eating is that it’s not a diet… it’s a lifestyle. 

You’re making changes designed to create habits that can (and will!) last a lifetime and that bring you closer to your health goals.

And when you stop chasing 100% and find your perfect balance of plant-based and the other things you still want to enjoy from time to time, eating more plant-based isn’t something you have to think about… it’s just something you do. 

✔️ You make plant-based choices with confidence – even in tricky situations.

✔️ You stop beating yourself up over every ‘off-plan’ bite.

✔️ You see actual progress toward your health goals.

✔️ You enjoy better energy, easier digestion, less bloating, more stable moods, and better sleep.

✔️ Food no longer takes up all the space in your brain.

So, all those food and diet related thoughts that have been living rent free in your mind all these years? You can finally serve them an eviction notice and kick them to the curb once and for all.

Because when progress starts to show up? Motivation follows. 🌟

Ready to get off the all-or-nothing rollercoaster?

Eating more plants doesn’t have to mean eating only plants. 

🌱 It’s about finding your perfect mix of plant-based and everything else so you feel great and keep moving toward your goals without feeling like you’re missing out. 

That’s exactly what we do together inside Empowered By Plants, my 12-week 1:1 coaching program.

Each session is focused on what you need most right now. You learn real life strategies and get the kind of accountability you need to feel supported. And when stuff comes up between sessions, I’m just a message away.

👉 If you’re ready to ditch the all-or-nothing mindset and finally find your mostly plant-based sweet spot, apply now… and let’s do this together.