150: 7 Gentle Mindset Shifts to Help You Reach Your Health Goals

In this episode, I’m sharing the mindset shifts I’ve seen make the biggest difference for people who want to release weight and keep it off.

After a year of coaching inside Drop It Club, I pulled together the most powerful patterns I’ve observed—especially for people who have tried everything, struggled with perfectionism, or felt stuck in the on-again/off-again cycle for years.

Whether you’re focused on the scale, overall health, or simply feeling better in your body, these mindset shifts apply no matter where you’re at.

Helpful links

• Drop It Club, our plant-fueled weight loss program (The last day to register for the upcoming session is January 14, 2026)
• Blog post with the 7 mindset shifts written out
• Droplet success stories and other podcasts

Transcript (auto-generated, may have errors)

Thank you for watching, listening—or both—to this episode.

Today I want to talk with you about some effective mindset shifts and perspective shifts that can help if you’re trying to release weight, reach a healthy weight for your frame, or even if you’re less focused on the number on the scale and more focused on your overall health.

I run a program that I designed called Drop It Club. It’s a plant-powered weight loss program, and people have had amazing results. I’m not surprised, because it’s not just about food and it’s not just about mindset—it bridges the gap between the two. It’s designed not only to help you reach a weight that feels good and is healthy for you, but to stay there in a sustainable way.

This is a different approach than what most people are used to because it’s not a diet. It has nothing to do with restriction or counting anything. That’s refreshing for a lot of people—and also an adjustment.

What I want to do today is share the most helpful “juicy tidbits” I’ve gathered from the past year of running Drop It Club. Even if you’re not in Drop It Club, or you don’t want to join, or you’re on the fence, or you are in it and want a reminder—this will be useful.

Many of the people in the program have tried for years to release weight and haven’t been able to. A lot are postmenopausal, in menopause, or perimenopausal, and there are a range of ages. This approach has worked really well across that variety.

So here’s a condensed list of the mindset shifts that I’ve seen help the most. Even if you’re not following a whole food, plant-based way of eating—though that does make it easier and is the healthiest way to do this—these ideas can still apply no matter what approach you’re taking. This isn’t just “eat plants and that’s that.” There’s more to it.

1) Stop “starting over”

A lot of people are stuck in a cycle of starting and stopping—starting again, stopping again. That cycle feeds into all-or-nothing thinking and perfectionism. It can feel helpful in the moment, but it keeps you stuck.

The goal is not to start over. The goal is to keep moving forward, no matter what.

Why do people stop? Because we’re human—and because life happens.

We set guidelines like: “I’m starting on the 10th, and I’m going to do this perfectly.” Then a birthday party happens, a vacation happens, a really hard day happens, bad news happens, or there’s an office party. We eat something outside our plan, or we miss a workout. And when the bar is “perfect,” the moment we aren’t perfect (and it’s only a matter of time), we throw up our hands and say, “I can’t do this,” and go back to old habits. Later we feel bad, get sick of it, and start again.

We create that hamster wheel for ourselves.

How do you step out of it? Stop expecting perfection. Expect yourself to be human. Leave room for imperfection—and instead of stopping, make the next best choice.

Example: You’ve been eating well and moving your body for a week, and then there’s a girls’ night out. You have chips and salsa, a margarita, and a big burrito with sour cream. Instead of going home, feeling like crap, spiraling, and then eating a bunch of sugar, you pause and say: “That wasn’t perfect. What’s my next best choice?”

That next best choice might be:

• Setting up a healthy breakfast for tomorrow (overnight oats, oatmeal toppings ready)
• Drinking a big glass of water
• Leaving the restaurant before ordering another margarita
• Taking a 10-minute walk instead of going straight to Netflix

In Drop It Club, we have three phases, and you follow each for at least four weeks. One of the rules is no starting over. Even if you drop the ball, you don’t go back to Phase 1, Week 1. You keep going from where you are and make the next best choice.

You won’t reach your goal weight or health goals by being perfect. You’ll reach them by being imperfect and continuing forward. That’s where the growth happens—and where lasting change comes from.

2) Replace judgment with curiosity

Instead of being judgmental, mean, ashamed, or guilty—get curious.

For a lot of people, jumping from harsh self-judgment to “just love yourself” feels too big and unrealistic. Curiosity is more accessible than love, and it’s incredibly powerful.

When you catch yourself being harsh, pivot. Put on your “detective hat.” Ask questions:

• “I just ate two donuts—what was I feeling before I ate them?”
• “Is there a pattern here?”
• “Was I stressed? Lonely? Overwhelmed?”

Curiosity helps you learn your patterns, your emotional triggers, and your hunger signals. And when you understand yourself, you can change.

Instead of autopilot, you become mindful. You start asking: “If stress usually sends me toward junk food, what else could I do when I feel stress coming on?”

You can also use curiosity with the scale.

Many people use the scale as fuel for self-hate or as “proof” they’ll never succeed. Instead, treat the number like data:

• “The number went up—huh. I wonder why. What was different this week?”
• “The number went down—huh. What did I do differently?”

The number on the scale does not determine how you feel about yourself. It doesn’t dictate your mood. It’s just information.

Even if you don’t use a scale, you’re gathering data somehow—pants fit, measurements, a certain dress. Whatever it is, treat it as information, not a judgment of you.

It’s not the number itself that upsets you. It’s what you make it mean. The scale is neutral. The number is neutral. The question is: “What am I making this mean about me?”

When you practice curiosity over judgment for weeks and months, it changes how you feel day to day—and it helps you stay consistent.

3) Use challenges as a roadmap (not proof you’re failing)

When challenges come up, don’t interpret them as evidence that you’re doing it wrong or you’re “not meant” to do this. Challenges are a roadmap for growth.

Life is showing you what to work on next.

Example: Every day at 4 p.m., your coworker brings muffins or donuts and it’s hard to stick to your plan. That doesn’t mean you have no willpower or you’re doomed. It means: “This is the area I need to focus on.”

When you view challenges as opportunities, you stop feeling defeated and start experimenting:

• “What am I going to try next time?”
• “What did I notice?”
• “How can I handle this differently?”

Challenges don’t disappear forever. They change. Life always has something. The goal is to stop treating challenges as setbacks and start using them as fuel.

4) Practice delayed gratification

Instant gratification feels great in the moment:

• You want the cookie, you eat it.
• You want Netflix, you turn it on.
• You don’t want the workout class, you cancel.

But it rarely feels good long-term. Delayed gratification is: “Can I have that pleasure in 24 hours instead of right now? Can I earn it with an action that supports me first?”

Example: I love my morning tea—usually matcha with toasted rice. It makes me so happy. But I don’t drink it until after I take a walk or do my movement practice, because if I have the tea first, I’m less likely to move. So I use the tea as my reward.

Another example: If I want a lazy Sunday morning but I need to batch cook, I do the batch cooking first. Then relaxing afterward feels so much better because I already did what supports me.

In Drop It Club we have tools like the urge jar and exception eating, which help you allow imperfection and enjoyment—but plan it and delay it. Planning uses a different part of the brain than reacting. You stop living in “craving → react → regret,” and you become more strategic.

One of the biggest benefits of delayed gratification is self-trust: you stop being reactive and start responding in ways that support your goals while still having pleasure.

5) Drop “good” and “bad” labels—for food and emotions

I’m a firm believer that there’s no “good” or “bad” food—just food that leads to certain results and food that leads to other results.

When you label food as “bad” and then eat it, it’s much easier to spiral into shame, which often leads to eating more of it.

A Twinkie isn’t “bad.” But eating lots of Twinkies frequently will likely lead to results you won’t enjoy. If you remove the moral label, then eating a Twinkie one day doesn’t have to turn into a shame spiral and then five more Twinkies.

This applies to emotions too.

Many people label emotions as “bad”: sadness, overwhelm, anger, loneliness. When we label emotions as bad, we try to avoid them—often by eating. But labeling doesn’t stop the emotion; it just adds an extra layer of suffering.

Emotions aren’t good or bad. They’re sensations in the body, meant to be experienced. When you stop labeling emotions as bad, you can practice feeling them—and that’s a prerequisite to stopping the habit of eating your emotions.

6) Don’t wait to accept your body

A lot of people believe: “Once I reach my goal weight, then I’ll love my body. Then I’ll accept my body.”

But your love, acceptance, and contentment with your body don’t come from your body. They come from your thoughts about your body and your beliefs about yourself.

If you’re postponing acceptance until you hit a number, fit into a certain size, or reach a certain look, you’re missing the opportunity to build acceptance now—and acceptance actually makes it easier to reach your goals.

You can beat yourself up to your goal, but it will be harder and more miserable. Or you can support yourself, respect yourself, and accept yourself now—and let that be the fuel.

Many people worry: “If I accept myself as I am, I won’t be motivated to change.” I understand that logic, but it’s not true. You can accept yourself and still want to be 10 pounds lighter. You can accept yourself and still want to get off medication. It can be “this and that,” not “this or that.”

You aren’t more worthy later than you are right now.

7) Give yourself more time than you think you need

Double your timeline.

If you’re giving yourself six months, give yourself a year. If you’re giving yourself four months, give yourself eight.

Giving yourself more time lowers the pressure, gives you room to make mistakes, learn from them, and keep going. A rushed mindset increases the likelihood of perfectionism and all-or-nothing thinking.

Slow and steady is sustainable. I would rather you take longer and do it once—so you don’t spend the next ten years losing and regaining the same weight.

Create an approach that feels doable for the rest of your life, with room for imperfection and exceptions:

• Maybe it’s fully whole food plant-based
• Maybe it’s 95%
• Maybe it’s plant-based at home and more flexible when you eat out

If you approach this like punishment, it won’t last. If you approach it with grounded, realistic consistency, it will.

Closing

That’s my curated list of mindset shifts that can help regardless of the approach you’re taking.

If plant-powered weight loss sparks your interest, and if me being your coach sounds supportive for you, check out Drop It Club. There will be a link in the show notes, or you can go to cleanfooddirtygirl.com and click “Drop It Club” on the main page.

Enrollment closes at times throughout the year, so depending on when you’re watching or listening, you may be able to join right away—or you can add your name and email to the waitlist and we’ll email you when registration opens again.

I hope this was helpful and that you got something from it. I would love to have you in Drop It Club and be your coach—the community is amazing, and it’s powerful to be surrounded by people who truly get it.

If you’re not joining right now, I still hope these ideas help you on your journey. I wish you a lovely day. Thanks for spending this time with me, and I’ll see you next time. Bye.