By: Leilani Gómez

I decided to be a vegetarian in the summer of 2011 before joining the LDS Church. I had already given up red meat because of all the information I had heard and read about it being bad for our health. As I slowly began being exposed to more information on the meat industry, I decided to give up chicken as well. I decided I would eat fish and shrimp on occasion, but then I stopped eating that too.

Prior to becoming vegetarian, my family and I began making changes in our diets, such as not buying cookies and other processed foods, not buying sugar, not drinking soda or sugary fruit juices, and not drinking coffee, etc. Being vegetarian was part of my newfound interest in being healthy. I was still not eating an ideal diet, though, and I found myself constantly lacking energy and not feeling my best.

When I started investigating the Church a few months after becoming vegetarian, I felt great about the Word of Wisdom and the way it seemed to perfectly support my ideas about an ideal diet (including not drinking coffee and vegetarianism).

After joining the Church, I had lots of up and downs with my diet. I struggled because I didn’t always replace meat with nutrient-rich foods. I’ve been through phases of eating lots of meat and dairy substitutions, junk-food binging periods, and even periods of skipping meals because of lack of hunger (I need to gain, not lose weight). The Word of Wisdom and the Church’s emphasis on physical health (and how it affects our spiritual health) has kept me happily struggling through it all, though, and I am making changes as I go.

Now, in 2014, I feel like I have finally reached a stable point in my diet and my lifestyle in general. I strive to eat plenty of raw fruits and vegetables. I avoid processed foods, and I try to make sure that I am meeting my daily nutritional requirements as well as eating enough calories. I had been eating cheese and eggs occasionally since going vegetarian, but I’ve recently decided to become fully vegan. I was starting to develop some kind of allergy to eggs and dairy, which is another reason why I went vegan. Not eating those has definitely eliminated discomfort and itchiness.

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