When it doesn't feel like the right time to commit (and what’s actually going on)

Starting over with food gets old fast, especially when you really are trying to take care of yourself.

You want more energy. You want to feel better in your body.

You want to make healthy choices that support you through perimenopause—and whatever else this phase of life is throwing at you—without food becoming one more thing you have to think about, plan, and manage every single day.

Wanting to eat “better,” starting over again and again, and still feeling like it shouldn’t be this hard is exhausting in a way that’s hard to explain unless you’ve been there, done that.

And when that exhaustion has been around for a while, it usually turns into a very familiar thought:

💬 “This just isn’t the right time to commit to this. There’s too much going on right now… maybe later.”

If you’ve ever said that, you’re definitely not alone. Especially if you already feel stretched thin and are tired of trying things that don’t last for more than a few weeks.

It can be about time, but it's also about what it means to actually commit—to changing how you eat, to sticking with it, and to maybe not doing it completely on your own this time.

So, if that sentence has been looping in your head lately, keep reading. 👇

Why that feeling makes so much sense

Life in your 40s and 50s is full. 

The kids might be older, but you’re still juggling what feels like a million things.

Work. Young adult kids. Aging parents.

Worrying about protein like it’s a part-time job.

Hormones doing whatever the hell they feel like doing, whenever the hell they feel like doing it. 

⁉️ Are you even a middle-aged woman if you’ve never said “I just can’t add one more thing to my plate!”

On top of that, there is so much conflicting information about plant-based eating... and health in general.

Some people promise fast, dramatic results that don’t feel realistic. Others make it sound like if you just tried harder, you wouldn’t be struggling so much. 🤦‍♀️

So of course your brain wants to protect you.

Saying “maybe later” can feel like the responsible choice. It feels practical. Safe. Like protecting your sanity.

But most of the time, “It’s not the right time” isn’t actually about timing. 🗓️

It’s about risk.

The risk of trying again.

The risk of committing and not following through.

The risk of investing time, energy—or getting support—and worrying it won't actually help.

Let’s talk about what that really looks like.

Why actually trying feels so much harder than wanting to

Deciding that now isn’t the right time keeps everything hypothetical—and that can feel pretty safe.

Your brain is wired to avoid risk, so anything that asks you to do something different than what you usually do gets flagged immediately. ⚠️ And it doesn’t really care whether what you’re doing now is working or not.

What's familiar wins. 

Every. Single. Time.

As long as change stays in the "someday" category, you don’t have to look too closely at anything.

You don’t have to thing about any of the other times you've to change what you’ve been doing. You can just ignore those stories you’ve been telling yourself about food, consistency, or willpower.

But once you actually commit—to changing something, to getting support, to really working on it—it gets personal.

And that’s when the uncomfortable questions show up. You know, the ones you’d rather not think about:

🧐 Why hasn’t this worked for me before?

🧐 What if I try again and still struggle?

🧐 Why can’t I just figure this out on my own?

Waiting for the “right time” can be an easy, often subconscious, way to sidestep all of that.

None of this means there’s anything wrong with you. We all do this. That hesitation is just your brain trying to protect you from disappointment, frustration, or feeling like you’ve failed (again).

The problem is that staying in the hypothetical “someday” space keeps change at a safe distance. You don’t fail—but you also don’t move forward. 😱

This is why the work I do doesn’t start with rules, meal plans, or trying harder. It starts with being honest—about where you’ve been, what’s actually been hard, and what you want now. Not to judge any of it, but to understand it.

Sometimes waiting isn’t about being busy. It’s about not wanting to find out what happens if you try again.

And when the focus shifts from “What if I can’t do this?” to “What actually works for me?” the idea of starting stops feeling quite so scary.

Why choosing the right support can feel just as overwhelming

Scroll social media for a few minutes and you’ll probably see a health coach promising you can lose 20 pounds in 10 days, or a foolproof way to never crave sugar again.

It’s overwhelming. It’s also bullshit. And it makes it genuinely hard to know who to trust—and who’s just really good at marketing.

I’m naturally skeptical, so I get the instinct to assume someone is either feeding you a line of crap or trying to make a quick buck at your expense.

Before I invested in coaching myself, I had all the same questions a lot of people have:

🤨 What even is a coach?

🤨 Can I really commit to this?

🤨 Is this actually going to help, or just add another thing to my to-do list?

🤨 What if I spend the time and money and it doesn’t work?

When there are so many options and so much information, it’s no surprise that your default response is… wait.

More research. Another pros and cons list. Another conversation with your spouse or BFF.

On the surface, it looks like being careful and responsible.

Underneath, it’s often about avoiding regret.

Because choosing the wrong person can feel worse than not choosing anyone at all—even if staying put means nothing actually changes.

That’s why rushed decisions and one-click sign-ups don’t sit right with me for this kind of program. 🙅‍♀️ Trust matters, and you deserve to understand who you’re working with and what you’re actually saying yes to... before you commit.

Taking time to decide is smart. Waiting for the perfect time is usually what keeps people stuck in that same “maybe later” loop indefinitely.

Why fitting this into your life can feel impossible

This one’s real… because sometimes it is about logistics.

You work a full-time job, attempt to fit some kind of exercise in there, and still try to have a social life and a little Me Time. Sleeping through the night without getting up twice to pee has legit become a life goal. 

Your schedule somehow feels just as chaotic as it did when you were running kids all over town. 🤪

So when someone says, “Now isn’t the right time,” what they’re often really asking is: How could I possibly fit this in?

And that’s a fair question.

And most of the time, there are usually a couple of other, less obvious questions underneath it:

💡How willing and able am I to make these changes a priority right now?

💡And what, if anything, could I realistically put on the backburner for a few months to make that happen?

And those are not easy questions.

They require you to get really honest—sometimes uncomfortably so—and do it without turning it into a judgment about yourself.

And sometimes the answer really is, “Now is not the time.”

But sometimes there is time. It just doesn’t look like the calm, wide-open calendar we think we need to get started. 

That’s why waiting for life to slow down doesn’t usually work—because life never really does. 🤷‍♀️

The only thing that sticks is something that works while life is already happening, on the calm days and the chaotic ones. 

How Empowered By Plants meets you where you are

Everything you’ve just read is the reason Empowered by Plants coaching program exists.

❌ Not because people don’t know what vegetables are.

❌ Not because they need another set of rules or a stricter plan.

Most people know what to do, but life is messy—and trying to change how you eat inside that life is the hard part.

This program is for people who have jobs, families, social lives, unpredictable schedules, and zero interest in becoming an entirely different person just to eat “healthier.”

You don’t need to shop at six stores, cook every meal from scratch, or live on salads to make this work.

What actually helps is slowing down long enough to figure out what you’re really trying to do, feel confident in that choice, and leave room for real life.

Those are the three things this work is built around. 

We start by figuring out what’s actually going on

Before we ever talk about plant-based swaps or planning meals, we slow things waaay down.

We look at what brought you here, what you’ve tried before, what’s felt hard, and what you’re actually hoping this will look like in your life.

Not what you think you should do, and not what happens to be trending on Instagram this week, but what you actually want from these changes. 

And that means talking honestly about things like:

• where things tend to fall apart when life gets busy

• what feels manageable on a good week... and a rough one

• which “rules” you’ve tried to follow in the past that never really fit you

There’s no judgment in this part.

We don’t try to fix anything.

There’s no pressure to decide anything right away.

We just take an honest look at what’s been happening… and why. 🤔

Because if you don’t understand what’s been getting in the way, it’s really easy to keep doing the same things you’ve been doing without the results you’re looking for—even when you’re motivated and genuinely trying.

And once you see all of that clearly, you stop blaming yourself for things that were never realistic to begin with.

It’s built for your busiest weeks

If something only works when life is calm, it’s not actually sustainable.

Weekly calls aren’t extra homework—they’re a way to narrow your focus so you’re not constantly wondering what you should be doing.

We talk about what actually happened the week before and what’s coming up next, so you’re not staring into the fridge at 6:00pm trying to figure out what the hell to make for dinner.

There are no rigid rules or one-size-fits-all outcomes here. If a week blows up, we don’t scrap everything and go back to square one.

✅ We adjust. ✅ We simplify. ✅ We use shortcuts when it makes sense.

That might mean leaning on pantry staples or frozen meals for a few days.

Or eating the same thing on repeat because decision fatigue is real.

Or doing less—on purpose—because that’s what makes sense that week.

The point is that one crazy week doesn’t undo everything you’ve been working on. 

You just pick it back up where you left off and keep going.

You know exactly what you’re saying “yes” to

At some point, this stops being about food and starts feeling like a bigger decision.

💰 It’s about money.

⏳ It’s about time.

🫣 It’s about letting someone into a part of your life that already feels frustrating and, well... personal.

And if you’ve ever invested in something that didn’t live up to what it promised, it makes sense to be cautious. No one wants to feel talked into something, rushed into a decision, or stuck wondering if they made the wrong choice.

That’s why you can’t just click a button and sign up for Empowered by Plants.

We start with a conversation.

You get to ask questions and hear how it actually works.

You get a sense of what working together would look like week to week.

And just as importantly, we get to make sure what you’re looking for is something I can realistically help you with.

This shouldn’t be a decision you feel like you’re talking yourself into. It should feel like a logical next step you actually feel good about.

What’s different when you’re not starting over all the time

What usually happens when people stop waiting for the perfect time isn’t some big breakthrough.

It tends to go a little more like this:

✨ You realize you’re not thinking about food nearly as much as you used to. Not because life suddenly got easier or you finally got your shit together—but because you’re not constantly second-guessing what you should be eating.

✨ Plant-based eating stops feeling like a project you’re working on or a goal you’re trying to reach. It’s just food. Something you eat when you’re hungry, not something you’re negotiating with yourself about all day long.

✨ You notice less panic when a day (or week) goes sideways. There's less of an urge to hit the “F-it” button and start over tomorrow because one meal turned into a dumpster fire.

When things get hard—because they always do—you don’t scrap everything.

You make an adjustment.

You grab a shortcut.

You do what makes sense that week and keep going.

And at some point, without really deciding to, you stop “trying” to eat plant-based, and realize… it’s just what you do.

If “Now’s not the right time” has been on repeat…

Here’s the part where I’m supposed to tell you what to do next—but you’re a grown-ass adult, so I’m not going to do that.

What I will say is this: if you’re tired of starting over, sick of thinking about food all the time, and tired of wondering why plant-based eating feels harder than it should, you don’t have to keep trying to figure it out by yourself.

💚 That’s exactly what Empowered By Plants is for.

It’s a 12-week, 1:1 coaching program where we look at your actual life—your schedule, your limits, what you’ve tried before—and create a way to eat more plants that doesn’t fall apart the minute life reminds you why it never feels like the “right time.”

[Like the night you realize the cat has ringworm, you’re seriously questioning your decision to cut out alcohol, and the only thing you want for dinner is ice cream straight out of the container. 😭 Ask me how I know this.]

Whether now is the right time or not is something only you can decide.

But if you're curious what working together could actually look like, you can learn more and apply here.