The Top 3 Mistakes People Make When They Decide to "Get Healthy" (And What I Tell My Clients Instead)

If you've ever decided okay, I'm doing this, I'm getting healthy, and then two weeks later you're back to square one, exhausted, discouraged, maybe even feeling worse than when you started, I want you to know something first: it's not because you don't have willpower. It's not because you're not disciplined enough.

It's because almost everyone makes the same three mistakes when they start. I've watched it happen with hundreds of women over the years, and honestly, I made every single one of these mistakes myself before I figured out what actually works. So let's talk about them.

Mistake #1: Trying to Do Too Much at Once

I get it, when you finally decide you're ready, you want to go all in. And sometimes going all in, at the right time, with the right support, is exactly right. I still do full cleanses when the season calls for it.

But when I'm forcing myself to overhaul everything at once, out of pressure or panic, it backfires almost every time.

Here's what nobody tells you: the diet I eat today would look extreme to a lot of people. But it didn't happen overnight. It was one small, honest add-in at a time, over years. Sometimes that came through an intentional reset where I was laser focused on one goal. But mostly? It was just... small. Consistent. Barely noticeable while it was happening.

And there's a real reason small works better than all-at-once: when you change five things simultaneously, you have no idea which one is actually making the difference. You can't feel the win. But when you add one thing, say, lemon water first thing in the morning, or swapping cow's milk for almond milk, or wheat pasta for rice pasta, you actually get to feel that it's working. And that feeling is what makes it stick.

The tip: Pick your lowest hanging fruit. What's one small thing, within easy reach, that would actually move the needle for you right now? Start there. Not everywhere.

Mistake #2: Expecting Immediate Results

We've been trained, by everything from 10-day detox teas to before/after ads, to expect fast results. So when we finally start actually healing from the root, and it takes time, we assume it's not working.

But root-cause healing was never going to be fast, and here's why: your body already knows exactly what it needs to do, and it prioritizes its own healing in order of importance, whether you've decided on a timeline or not. If you're working on weight, for example, that often starts with supporting an overburdened, sluggish liver so the rest of your systems can actually free up and function. That's not a quick fix. That's foundational work.

Think of it like a house. You could slap on a fresh coat of paint and call it done, looks great from the curb. Or you could actually rebuild the foundation underneath, which takes longer, isn't as flashy, but means the house is still standing solid decades from now. You're not just getting a paint job. You're building from the inside out.

Mistake #3: Comparing Your Healing to Someone Else's

This one gets people more than almost anything else.

Back to the house analogy, from the outside, someone's house might have a beautiful paint job, and you'd assume they're doing great. But you have no idea what's actually going on inside. Maybe it's wall-to-wall clutter that's about to come pouring out onto the porch. We don't know what toxins someone's been exposed to, what they inherited from their parents and grandparents, what pathogens they've been quietly dealing with, or how much stress has kept their body stuck in acidic, hard-to-heal conditions. All of that shapes someone's healing timeline, and none of it is visible from the outside.

Someone who starts a protocol and wasn't carrying much stored "stuff" might clear out fast and move straight into the remodeling phase. Someone else might be working through years, even generations, of buildup. And here's the part that trips people up: that process can look and feel worse before it looks better. Ever cleaned out a garage and had it look like a bomb went off halfway through? That's not failure. That's the clear-out stage.

So if you're mid-reset and feeling more bloated, more tired, more something, it doesn't mean it's not working. It might mean you're deep in the clear-out. Compare and despair is real, but it's not useful here. Stay on your own timeline. Pace yourself. Ease off when you need to. This is your journey, not a race against anyone else's.

If this resonated, come sit with me in person. I'm hosting Transform Your Plate, Trust Your Body at Dharma's in Capitola on Sunday, July 26th, we'll dig into this and more, with food included. [Link to register]

Quick Questions People Ask Me

How long does it actually take to see results from a health reset? It depends entirely on what your body's working through, but most people start noticing real shifts (energy, digestion, sleep) within a few weeks of consistent small changes, not overnight.

Why do I feel worse before I feel better when I start cleaning up my diet? This is often a sign your body is finally able to start clearing out what's been stored for a while, sometimes called a healing or detox response. It's uncomfortable, but it's usually a sign of progress, not failure.

What's the best way to start getting healthy without feeling overwhelmed? Pick one small, doable change, not ten. Add it in, let it become a habit, feel the difference it makes, then build from there.