131: How Stephanie Lost 25 Pounds (and counting) With Drop It Club, Our Plant-Based Weight Loss Program

In this episode, I chat with Stephanie, a longtime member of our community and a Droplet! Stephanie opens up about her journey with food, weight loss, and reconnecting with her health after years of struggle, even as a vegan for over nine years.

She shares how she went from binge eating and feeling stuck to losing 25 pounds, improving her sleep, and feeling amazing, and doing it without dieting, counting calories, or depriving herself. We talk about the importance of mindset, the sneaky all-or-nothing thinking that can sabotage progress, and how powerful it is to simply commit and keep going.

Stephanie opens up about what brought her to Drop It Club, the fears she had to push through, and how she made the switch from diet culture to body awareness and food freedom. She talks about falling in love with movement, letting go of “goal weight” pressure, and embracing the magic of slow, steady progress. Spoiler alert: That’s where real, lasting change happens. 

If you’re burned out by diets or feel overwhelmed by the idea of change, this is a must-listen.  

Helpful links:

• Join Drop It Club with the coupon code PODCAST to save $100 off for the first three months

Transcript (auto-generated, may have grammar errors)

Molly (00:01.876):
Okay. Hello everybody, and thanks for listening and watching this episode of the Clean Food Dirty Girl podcast. Today I have a guest on the show. Her name is Stephanie. Hello, Stephanie. Thanks for joining us today. So Stephanie is going to be sharing with us her experience with plants, with eating plants, with losing weight, with Drop It Club, with all the things.

Stephanie (00:15.128):
Hi, Molly.

Molly (00:31.080):
Stephanie, you started in January when we first kind of launched, right? You were in that original kind of crew in the very beginning. Okay, and you decided to jump on board. Tell us what made you kind of decide to do this.

Stephanie (00:50.202):
Well, I actually didn’t jump as quickly as I should have. I missed the first deal. When the first offer came out, I think it was early November, that it was first kind of launched. I looked at it and I thought about doing a reset before and I just thought, I can’t afford it. I’m a single person. I just bought a house. I’m living by myself. There’s no way I can afford it. And so I kind of put it on the back burner and didn’t think about it again. A couple of weeks later, I was visiting my boyfriend and some friends in upstate New York and got another one of the emails saying, “Hey, it’s still going on. You can still save this.” I thought about it. I was just sitting there drinking coffee one morning and thought, “I do have the money. I’m not destitute. I don’t have a lot of money, but I don’t live paycheck to paycheck. And if I’m not going to invest in my health, then what am I going to invest in?” I felt like over the last year, my eating had gotten out of control and I could easily justify spending $300 in one month on binge food without even thinking about it. So I took the jump right after Thanksgiving, signed up, and then proceeded to have three or four weeks where I ate complete shit. Right around Christmas time, I thought, “What am I waiting for? I don’t have to wait for January 6th to start. I can at least just clean stuff up a little bit.” And that was the beginning.

Molly (02:41.612):
That was the beginning. Well, you hit on something and it’s so interesting because I used to be the same exact way with alcohol and cigarettes. If something was like a hundred dollars and I really wanted it, I’d be like, “I couldn’t possibly,” and then I’d proceed to spend a hundred dollars at the bar without even thinking. It’s really interesting how the human brain, like the priorities, can be really just really messed up in ways, right? When we stop and we’re like, “Wait a minute, I do have the money.” If you don’t have your health, what do you have?

Stephanie (03:19.758):
Absolutely.

Stephanie (03:40.098):
Right. The more I was thinking about it, I moved down to central Florida, so I’m kind of a little fish out of water here. I moved down here to help my parents, and I’m watching them get older and their mobility decrease. I’ve seen it before in other people. I thought to myself, I’m 48 years old. If I don’t get ahold of my health and mobility now, what is the next 30 or 40 years going to look like? If I don’t make the choice to do something about it now, then the joint problems I’m already feeling, the discomfort in my body I’m already feeling, is only going to get worse as I get older.

Molly (04:26.862):
Yeah, it’s so true. And you said it really well: it is a choice. We all know that. We might not be in control of everything, but we do have choices to make. You made the choice to sign up and start with us in January. Now, when people sign up, they don’t have to wait because it’s a rolling program. Did you have a specific goal in mind when you joined — like an amount of pounds you wanted to lose, a clothing size you wanted to get to? What was that like going into it?

Stephanie (05:09.070):
I try not to be specific with myself. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t want to set a goal and not reach it, or if it’s because I just really don’t know what a healthy goal weight would be and I want to let my body tell me. I had gone through a period in my early twenties — I’ve always been overweight — but probably mid-twenties, I lost a bunch of weight doing Weight Watchers. I exercised like three hours a day because I had nothing else to do. With all of that time, effort, and energy, I got down to about a size 12, what felt like a comfortable weight, around 170, maybe 165 once. I thought, “Okay, that’s a comfortable weight for my body. This is where my body wants to be.”
In retrospect, I’m thinking about that and realizing, yeah, that’s where it wanted to be with three hours of intense work every single day. And at that time, I didn’t know anything about nutrition. Now, I’m curious to see where my body ends up if I just keep giving it what it needs. I’m trying not to put a limit on it, you know?

Molly (06:22.060):
Yeah. That’s so cool, and I’m so glad — like, I’m so glad that this program exists. I know I’m biased, but really, approaching it in a way where you let your body lead is such a beautiful way to do this. And it sounds like you were already kind of on board with that, so it was a very natural fit. You’ve been there since the beginning, so you know — I talk about it all the time: be a detective of your body. This is your body’s journey. You’re there to support your body, but your body will tell you, especially when you start eating really healthy, your stress levels come down, you get good sleep, and you move your body.
And not three hours a day — no need to do that! We have very practical 10- or 20-minute types of movement.

Stephanie (07:08.195):
Right.

Molly (07:16.450):
Then just see what happens, because we don’t know. And you brought up such a good point: how do you know what your goal weight should be? People just pull this number out of their ass, really. And I understand why — we don’t really know. I think a lot of us have this idea, “Well, this is what I used to weigh, and I liked that, so maybe I’ll go for that.” But your body, present day — you don’t know what it’s going to do. You don’t know when it will plateau and just feel like, “Okay, this is where I feel good right now.”
Going about it like that is such a beautiful and freeing way to go, because then you’re just going with the process instead of trying to force the process.

Stephanie (08:02.284):
Right. What I know is, I’m nowhere near where I want to be yet. That’s all I know. I’ve just got to keep going. And I’m okay with that. I’m making progress.

Molly (08:06.146):
Yes! You’re going to keep going. Yes! Making progress.
So let’s just talk about it. From the time you started — so you kind of started in December cleaning things up a little bit, realizing, “Okay, the crappy eating has got to pump the brakes.” So you started transitioning more. Was it just getting the junk food out, or how were you eating in December once you started to slow your roll?

Stephanie (08:37.390):
I had graduated from veganism to vegetarianism, sadly. I was ashamed of that because I had been eating vegan for probably eight or nine years, definitely for the animals as well as for my health — probably more for the animals. So the fact that I started to reincorporate dairy into my life, I was… I think “ashamed” is the only way to word it. It really hurt my heart.
When I decided to start cleaning stuff up at the end of December, I thought, “Okay, I need to be a hundred percent back on the vegan train.” I got through all the processed stuff I had bought — the faux meats and that kind of stuff. And by “got through,” of course, I mean ate, because that’s what I do — but with the understanding that when it’s gone, it’s gone.
It’s interesting — I’ve said that to myself so many times before, and that’s why I’m so thankful for the program. I’ve been a binge eater my entire life. If it’s in the house, I have to eat it until it’s gone. I was the same way with drinking; I quit drinking over a decade ago. If it’s something I feel addictive tendencies toward, I’m going to use it or consume it until it’s gone.
So I got all that out of the house and went fully vegan, started pulling in more whole-food plant-based recipes. I’ve been either a member or at least getting your recipes from the blog probably for — I feel like it’s been ten years.

Molly (10:44.812):
We’ve been around for ten years, so it’s very possible. Amazing. Wow, that’s so cool!

Molly (10:54.978):
Gee, yeah, wow, that’s so awesome. I don’t think I knew that. Maybe I knew it, I don’t know — but I think it’s so cool. We have so many amazing people who have been in this community for so long. I love it. Wow.

Stephanie (11:00.300):
I don’t know if you knew that or not.

Stephanie (11:07.082):
Yeah. And you know, due to financial constraints, I’ve either been a fully — I don’t know what they’re called now — meal plan club member, or I was just using the blog recipes.

Molly (11:18.476):
Meal plan club member? We’ve changed it a couple of times over the years, yes.

Stephanie (11:36.278):
Yeah. When I went through a divorce, it was shortly after that you started your coaching series. And you actually coached me right after I lost a friend to suicide. It was a very emotional short call because I started crying. Then I went back to being a recipe club member.
I love the fact that if you’re okay with just doing the recipes and doing the work of putting your own stuff together, it’s only $12 a month.

Molly (11:47.756):
I remember that call. I remember that call. I do. Yep.

Stephanie (12:05.964):
I’m looking forward to, in probably three or four weeks, being through all of the recipes from Drop It Club — and then I’m gifting myself Recipe Club again.

Molly (12:15.264):
Nice, nice.
So you were like, “Okay, vegetarianism has been a thing — now we’re going to hone it in a little bit, do totally vegan, and then focus on whole plant foods,” which of course in Drop It…
The first two weeks of Drop It, you’re basically getting ready. You’re not following any guidelines; you’re kind of doing what you had already started to do in December.
The way Drop It works for people who don’t know: there are three different phases. You follow phase one for at least four weeks. Only when your body plateaus — your weight plateaus — will you move on to phase two, then phase three.
Are you still in phase one? Or are you in phase two now? I don’t remember.

Stephanie (13:04.526):
I’m in week 13 — still in phase one.

Molly (13:06.838):
Week 13, phase one. So your body has not plateaued with the phase one guidelines, which is so interesting, right? You just never know.

Stephanie (13:11.427):
Nope.

Stephanie (13:15.886):
Yeah, it teases me. It’ll plateau for six or seven days — I think I even made it as far as ten days — and then all of a sudden it’ll just start dropping. Like, I lost three pounds last week, and I was like, “What?”

Molly (13:28.396):
Yeah, it’s wild, right? Three pounds last week — because you had been losing like half a pound-ish for a little while, right? And then suddenly three pounds.
This is why we need to give our body time to adjust. And so often with weight loss — maybe you used to be like this as well — it felt like a rush job, right?

Stephanie (13:35.532):
Right.

Molly (13:50.392):
Even at 13 weeks, you still have that feeling a little bit?

Stephanie (13:50.392):
I’m still like that. I’m fighting that battle constantly in my head. Just last night I was thinking, “I’m still not where I want to be.”

Molly (13:56.590):
It’s a good thing you have coaching.

Molly (14:02.816):
Okay, and so tell me — how many pounds have you lost so far? Because I know your number from the last time you updated, but tell us.

Stephanie (14:10.072):
I hit just over 25 pounds this last weekend — 25.3 pounds since January.
And my brain still looks at that and says, “You should be losing faster,” even though that’s a healthy rate of weight loss. That’s the perfect way.

Molly (14:14.858):
Yeah, which is crazy.

Molly (14:23.660):
Right, of course, yes.
In Drop It, we have these weekly connection calls where I’m coaching people and cheering people on, and really inviting people to celebrate their humanness and their imperfections and their mistakes — because you can do all of that and reach your goal weight.
I think on every single call, pretty much, I remind people: have this take longer than you think it’s going to take. Give yourself permission to have this take twice as long as you think it should take.
Even 25 pounds is such an amazing accomplishment, and still the brain’s like, “Eh, it could be more.”
We’re so programmed that way.
But 25 pounds is awesome.

Stephanie (15:08.014):
Right. Yeah.
I picked up a five-pound bag of potatoes the other day and thought, “This is heavy.” I’ve lost five of these.
And I’m still annoyed with myself — annoyed is probably too strong a word. Maybe not annoyed, but…

Molly (15:16.695):
Five of those, right.
We’re so in the brain about it.
It’s almost like a programmed expectation from a long time ago. I think so much of this is just rewiring our brain and setting new stories and letting go of the stuff that really isn’t helping us anymore.
And one of those stories with weight loss is: it should be fast. It should be faster than it’s happening.
And unfortunately, that mindset can derail us if we aren’t careful.

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Molly (16:51.374):
It’s so important just to be even aware of that — just having that awareness is huge. Because then you don’t have to let that old thinking take over and make decisions you ultimately don’t want to make.
You’re on a roll with this.
So phase one guidelines are basically: eat a whole food plant-based diet, avoid coconut products, eat three meals a day, no snacking in between, no eating after dinner. There’s some movement involved.
It’s basically like a whole food plant-based diet with just a few tweaks.
Now, because you’re 25 pounds down, you’re not going to move to phase two yet — you don’t have to. You’re just going to keep going until you feel good, because you don’t have that set number.
You’ll just go until you feel awesome.

Stephanie (16:56.236):
Yeah, and I’m ready to go to phase two when and if I need to.
It was early — maybe the third or fourth week — and I probably had a week where I only lost a couple of tenths of a pound. I was like, “Oh, I must be plateauing already.”
Ever since then, every week or so, I’m like, “I’m going to phase two next week. I know it, I just know it.”
But I’m so thankful the program has those phases built into it.
I think I posted about that one day: it calms my mind when my mind starts spiraling — like, “Okay, this must be a plateau.”
Well, you’re supposed to plateau! That’s how the program is supposed to go.
When it happens, there’s this safety net in place: jump to the next level. And guess what? It’ll probably happen again.
Then there’s another level. And if it happens in phase three, we get on a one-on-one call and tweak things even more.

Molly (17:56.718):
Exactly, exactly.
That’s what I tell all of the Droplets — which is the name, which I love — that if you’re on phase three and you’ve spent four weeks there with no change, either your body is exactly where it needs to be (because sometimes people are at a healthy weight but mentally want to be 10 pounds lighter), or we tweak things.
We check BMI, waist-to-height ratio, and really assess it properly.
If needed, we jump on a one-on-one call. I look at your food journal and help tweak from there.
I’m so confident with this program because it works.
And so far, nobody has gotten stuck yet on phase three — people are on phase two, but not three!

Stephanie (18:02.168):
No, I haven’t heard of anyone stuck either.
I’ve heard of some people who are feeling close, but not quite there yet.

Molly (19:21.624):
Feeling close, but like you — they’ll plateau for a week, and then suddenly, boom: two pounds, three pounds lost.
The body is in charge; you’re there to support it.
So tell me — you’ve been on Weight Watchers and diets before. What’s different this time?

Stephanie (19:51.746):
I feel like this time, if I don’t take it seriously, then I’m going to feel like this for the rest of my life.
In my mid-twenties, you think you’re going to live forever, right?
But now, if I don’t make the change now, I’m just going to accept that my hips hurt, my feet hurt, I’m uncomfortable — and live that way for the next 40 years, if I’m lucky.
And that’s not what I want.
I truly believe the aches I feel aren’t just because I’m 48. They’re because I’m overweight and 48.
I can’t change my age — but I can do something about my weight.
And for the first time, I realize that control is in my hands.
The coaching calls, the journaling — they’ve helped me really own that.
I’m the only one who controls what goes into my mouth, and how much I choose to move my body.
And when I give my body what it needs, I crave more healthy foods.
That 10 minutes a day of movement has now become closer to 25–30 minutes a day as a baseline.

Molly (22:08.904):
Yeah, so it sounds like you’re at the point where it’s riskier for you not to take your health seriously.
And you’re really empowered by realizing, “If I don’t take action, I’m choosing discomfort.”
That’s huge.

Stephanie (22:21.198):
Yeah.
This is my “shit or get off the pot” moment.
If I don’t do it now, I’m signing up for discomfort the rest of my life.

Molly (22:33.740):
Yeah. And it’s really powerful how you put that.
Because it’s realizing: no one else can do this for you.
And if you don’t make a change, it’s a conscious choice to be uncomfortable.

Stephanie (22:42.721):
Right.
I’ve taken marketing classes. I understand how companies market junk food — where they place items, how they design packages.
I’m not naïve to it.
So if I still fall into those traps, it’s on me.
I know better.
I know they make food hyper-palatable on purpose to be addictive.
And I know I need to stay away from that.

Molly (23:27.778):
Yeah. It’s so sad how much food marketing is designed to hook people and make them unhealthy.
It’s heartbreaking.
So tell me how you’re doing with following the guidelines.
Because unlike a diet, Drop It isn’t about deprivation — you eat a lot of really good food.
There are things we avoid, yes, but we aren’t starving ourselves.
So how has it been for you following the guidelines — easy? Hard?
Tell me about that.

Stephanie (24:27.278):
There were parts that were challenging in the beginning.
I might have cleaned up my eating before starting, but I had not had a regular movement routine in a long time.
Having moved to central Florida, I didn’t know anyone besides my parents.
I had even stopped walking my dogs regularly.
They had a yard to play in, and I’d just sit outside while they played.
I definitely got into a funk — eating more, moving less.
Mentally, I kind of shut down from loneliness.
So even the 10 minutes of movement felt undoable at first. Not physically — mentally.

Molly (25:04.758):
Wow. Interesting.

Stephanie (25:18.124):
Yeah.
So I started small. I have a little stationary bike.
I made a rule: the only time I could check the news was while riding the bike.
I called it “rage cycling” — I’d catch up on current events, get angry, power through, and leave all that energy on the bike.
It was really cathartic.

Molly (26:31.334):
That’s smart — setting boundaries like that.

Stephanie (26:34.686):
Yeah.
It probably took three or four weeks before that movement routine became a daily habit.
And after that, I thought, “My dogs probably deserve walks too.”
I have some foot issues that make it painful, but I’m balancing both now — biking and walks.

Molly (26:58.018):
That’s great.

Stephanie (27:02.764):
The three meals a day guideline?
That didn’t take long to get used to, surprisingly.
I thought it would — because I used to snack between meals a lot, especially after teaching.
But it was less than a week before I didn’t feel hungry at snack times anymore.

Molly (28:06.136):
Yeah, interesting.
Because for some people, not eating after dinner is super hard.
But for you, it sounds like the movement piece was harder.
Everyone has their own journey with which guidelines feel challenging.

Stephanie (28:56.898):
Right.
And being a detective of your own body helps you figure that out naturally.

Molly (29:03.362):
Exactly.
Ultimately, we want this to work with your life so it can be sustainable forever.

Molly (29:03.362):
In the past, when you did Weight Watchers and dieting, you knew about healthy eating and plant-based eating. But was there ever a time you were really counting calories or points and approaching it from a more deprived angle?

Stephanie (29:49.708):
Absolutely.
With Weight Watchers, it’s counting points.
My mom actually worked for Weight Watchers for almost 30 years.
She lost 60 or 70 pounds when I was in seventh grade and ended up working for them until she retired and moved to Florida.
So I grew up with Weight Watchers cookbooks everywhere.
There was always this feeling of scarcity: “You can’t have that,” “Everything must be low fat.”
It was always very top-of-mind.
And when I used Weight Watchers myself, it worked — but that was when I was also exercising three hours a day.
It was very much a diet mentality: “Once you hit goal weight, good luck.” There was no real plan after.
It wasn’t sustainable.

Molly (30:41.230):
Yeah, exactly.
That’s the problem with diets.
They do work to lose weight — restrict calories, lose weight — but there’s no aftercare.
And as soon as you stop, the weight comes back because it was never about a true lifestyle shift.
When you started Drop It, how was it adjusting to not counting anything?
Not micromanaging food — was that hard or easy?

Stephanie (31:57.998):
That was the beauty of the program for me.
I don’t know if it’s because of the addictive personality in me, but as soon as I feel scarcity, it’s all I can think about.
Knowing that I can eat abundantly — as long as it’s within the guidelines — is huge.
And I remembered from when I first went whole-food plant-based before:
I’d have these giant plates of rice, beans, veggies — feel full — and still lose weight.
It was so freeing.
Right now, a coworker of mine is trying to lose weight by doing calorie deficits, and she struggles a lot — weighing food, calculating everything.
Meanwhile, I’m over here shoving my face full of quinoa, tofu, and veggies in our 15-minute lunch break — and I’m still losing weight!
I don’t feel deprived.
And if I want something outside the guidelines, I know I can figure out a compliant version, or plan an exception meal intentionally.
I’m still learning to eat until satisfied instead of stuffed, but I’m getting better.
I’m recognizing those body signals earlier than before.

Molly (33:52.330):
That’s awesome.
This process naturally tunes you into your body.
You don’t even have to overthink it.
And especially for people with a history of binge eating — like you mentioned — it’s so important to approach it with abundance, not deprivation.
If you want something off-plan, you plan it intentionally — no guilt, no shame. Just enjoy it.

Stephanie (35:07.342):
100%.
It’s definitely helped me.
The exception meals are just that — meals, not days or weekends.
For example, I had a friend visiting recently.
We went to a restaurant, and they had a grilled veggie sandwich on sourdough.
I asked for no mayonnaise, no goat cheese — and it came with tater tots.
I thought, “I really like tater tots.”
So I planned it as my exception meal.
And I savored every single bite.
It was so good!
But afterwards, my stomach said, “We don’t want all that grease anymore.”
And it’s like… okay, that’s a natural consequence.

Molly (35:58.742):
Yeah, that’s the thing.
It’s almost a bittersweet realization.
You still love certain foods, but your body doesn’t.
Same thing happened to me recently — I made a muffin recipe with a little bit of oil, and even though it was delicious, my body immediately knew.
I got that “oil stomach ache” feeling like I was a little kid with a tummy ache.

Stephanie (36:34.318):
Exactly!
It just aches.
And now I even notice it when I air-pop popcorn versus making it in oil.
When I started Drop It, my boyfriend was kind enough to buy me an air-popper.
Because usually I cooked it on the stove with oil.
And I debated it — thinking, “But it’s a snack after dinner… should I really have it?”
Then on a connection call, someone asked about popcorn, and I remember you saying,
“Listen, if this is the difference between you sticking with the program and not, plan your bad popcorn once a week.”

Molly (37:40.940):
Yes!
Have the microwave buttery popcorn if that’s what keeps you from feeling deprived!

Stephanie (37:59.558):
Exactly.
So once a week, I plan it.
Sometimes I do air-popped; sometimes, if I’m really craving it, I make it with a little oil.
I don’t feel guilty about it at all.
Every time I’m making that big bowl of popcorn, feeding a few pieces to my dogs, I say, “Molly said we could have the bad popcorn!”
And honestly, that mindset shift — planning for it, not beating myself up about it — has kept me consistent.

Molly (38:28.564):
Yes!
That keeps you out of the all-or-nothing mindset.
And it’s all about liking your “why.”
If your why for eating something is intentional and feels good to you — that’s a win.

Stephanie (38:57.932):
Exactly.
Like if I’m having popcorn because it’s my planned treat — awesome.
But if it’s because I had a shit day and want to binge, then I need to think it through.
Being intentional has been huge.

Molly (39:20.642):
Exactly.
It’s so easy to fall into all-or-nothing thinking, especially around food.
But staying in an intentional, abundant mindset — not scarcity, not shame — changes everything.

Stephanie (39:37.538):
Yes.
And honestly, having that freedom to plan indulgences without guilt has helped me stick to the overall structure so much better.
Because I don’t feel like I’m missing out.
And I don’t feel like I’m punishing myself either.

Molly (39:37.630):
Yes, and that’s going to be different for everyone.
Because it doesn’t matter what I think about someone’s “why.”
If they don’t like it, it’s not going to work.
But setting that intentionality — that’s what keeps people realistic and sustainable.
Because all-or-nothing thinking feels helpful at first… but long term? It’s what derails most people.

Stephanie (39:54.746):
Yeah, absolutely.
That has been key for me.
If I can plan it and enjoy it intentionally, then I don’t feel like I’m falling off track.
It’s just part of the plan.

Molly (40:05.166):
Exactly.
And look — you’re still 25 pounds down, still in phase one, and you’re doing it in a way that fits your life.
That’s why this program can truly be a forever thing.
There’s no “getting to goal” and suddenly falling off — it’s life.
It all blends into life.
And I love seeing all the non-scale wins people post, too — it’s not just about weight.
It’s everything.

Stephanie (40:32.812):
Right.
Honestly, the mental health wins might be even bigger for me.
I’m more joyful, my stress is lower, I have more energy.
The weight loss is great, but it’s just one part of the picture.

Molly (40:34.070):
Exactly.
So in the past when you did Weight Watchers or other dieting, you mentioned it was very deprivation-based — “can’t have this,” “can’t have that.”
Whereas now, even though we avoid certain things, it’s coming from a place of abundance and nourishment, not scarcity.
Was that a hard shift for you at all?

Stephanie (40:49.708):
Honestly, no.
It was such a relief.
I don’t have to measure or weigh anything.
I don’t have to log every bite into an app.
I just eat real food, when I’m hungry, until I’m full — and it’s working.
That freedom has been huge for me.
It feels sustainable in a way nothing else ever has.

Molly (41:14.880):
That’s so beautiful.
And it’s so cool that you’re now naturally craving good, nourishing food — not because you’re forcing yourself, but because your body actually wants it.
That’s huge.

Stephanie (41:24.184):
Yeah.
And if someone is on the fence about joining Drop It?
I would say: just do it.
It will be the best investment you ever make in yourself.
But — do the work.
Because the magic isn’t just in signing up.
You have to actually engage with the coaching calls, the guidelines, the journaling.
You have to show up for yourself.

Molly (41:36.738):
Yes, exactly!

Stephanie (41:53.760):
Also, something you said really stuck with me and now it’s posted in my fourth-grade classroom:
“You are the only one in charge of controlling your own actions.”
I make my students read that all the time!
It’s ingrained in me now.
I’m the only one who can control my choices.
And I don’t know if I would’ve gotten here on my own without the support of this program.

Molly (42:07.630):
That makes me so happy to hear.

Stephanie (42:20.302):
The coaching calls have been amazing.
I can only make the Saturday ones live, but I watch all the replays.
And I get something valuable out of every single one.
The Facebook group is amazing too — so supportive.
Honestly, this whole program has changed my life.
Forget about the 25 pounds — my mental health is better, I’m moving more, I’m sleeping better, my mood is more stable.
I’m just more consistently joyful.
It’s amazing.

Molly (42:49.582):
Crazy, right?
Wow. That’s so incredible.

Stephanie (42:50.542):
Yeah.
Best investment ever.

Molly (42:58.286):
I’m so glad you made the choice to say, “Okay, screw it, I can afford it. I’m doing it.”
And it really is worth it.
I talk to people sometimes who ask, “Well, are people getting results?”
And I’m like, “Oh yes — if they do the work.”
If people engage with the process, they see results.
Because it’s baked right into the program.

Stephanie (43:03.318):
Exactly.
I was lying to myself when I thought I couldn’t afford it.
And I’m so glad I took the leap.

Molly (43:24.330):
And you’re seeing so many amazing changes — not just in your weight, but in your whole life.
And honestly, it hasn’t even been that long!
It’s April 7th now, and you started January 7th.
It’s only been three months.
I can’t wait to see where you’ll be a year from now.

Stephanie (43:42.626):
Yeah.
Actually, I had a doctor’s appointment today — just establishing myself with a new doctor.
I mentioned, “I’ve lost 25 pounds in a few months from going whole food plant-based.”
And I said, “Probably next time you see me, I’ll be down more.”
And I know that’s true now.
Because this isn’t a diet — it’s a lifestyle.
It aligns with my morals, too.
And it’s sustainable.
Cooking this way isn’t as difficult as people think, either.
Sometimes I get creative and make multiple recipes when I have energy.
Other times — like last week — I didn’t batch at all over the weekend.

Molly (44:31.758):
Right.

Stephanie (44:43.282):
Last week, I literally cooked a giant soup pot of whole wheat pasta, diced tomatoes, cubed tofu, Brussels sprouts, and walnut parm.
I ate that for lunch and dinner every day.
Not a ton of variety — but it got the job done.
And that was the week I lost three pounds!
It felt like my body saying, “See? You’ve got this. Just keep doing the work.”

Molly (45:16.918):
Yes!
You’ve got it!
And honestly, you absolutely deserve to be on this podcast sharing your story.
Because it’s such a beautiful example of not just physical transformation, but emotional and mental transformation too.
And it’s all connected.
So thank you — truly — for coming on and talking with me.

Stephanie (45:44.470):
You’re welcome.

Molly (45:46.558):
I’m so excited to watch your journey continue.
You’re doing amazing things.
Thank you, Stephanie!

Stephanie (45:53.238):
Absolutely.
Thank you, Molly.
Bye.

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