“Trusting God has made all the difference”

By: Tiffany Mortensen

My challenges began at the age of 13 when I started to put on weight. Although my mom had studied nutrition in college and was a wonderful resource and support to me, my struggle to achieve and maintain a healthy weight would continue through the remainder of my teenage years. Although I was young, my observations of other family members who struggled with their weight and similar health issues was a great motivating factor in establishing healthy patterns of living and learning to take care of my body.

My devotion to health and my effort to eat in a healthy manor was valiant, but the results did not match, leaving me, and at times my parents, perplexed and confused. As a result, I began to believe that my body was unable to achieve a healthy weight. Although I did notice a positive difference in the way I felt when eating wholesome, healthy foods, eating became a daily ritual largely centered on self-denial and self-deprivation, not to be thin, but to avoid becoming more overweight.

Then I began having children.

Each of my pregnancies began the same: with a commitment to healthy eating for my baby and to stay within the recommended weight gain range.

Each of my pregnancies ended the same: with a confusion as to what I did wrong and how my eating habits could have resulted in so much excessive weight gain.

My second pregnancy with my son was especially difficult as I struggled with wide fluctuations in my post-meal glucose levels, the excessive accumulation of amniotic fluid, excessive weight gain, and a very large baby. I received diabetic counseling with a registered dietitian, but after looking over my food journal and reviewing my eating habits she was just as perplexed as I was and commented that I not only ate healthier than any patient she had ever worked with, but that I ate healthier than she did.

After my son was born, I was advised to lose weight and change my lifestyle habits to avoid becoming diabetic. I was also diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome).

I was confused. My only beverage of choice was water. I did eat treats, but not on a daily basis. I avoided sugary cereals, chips, crackers, and most prepackaged foods. I typically ate a large salad for lunch with some type of animal protein, and I was careful to not drench it in salad dressing. I predominately ate whole grains, lots of fruits and vegetables, and thought my dinners (which were typically made from scratch) were a healthy balance of all of the food groups, including meat and dairy.

Not knowing where else to turn, I decided to read the Word of Wisdom, a law of health given to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although cultural practice of the principles found therein centers on abstaining from the don’ts (alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea) there is an incredible list of do’s that is unfortunately largely ignored.

As I read over the words, I paused and wondered what was meant by the recommendation to use meat “sparingly” and that it pleases God if we do not use meat except in times of winter, cold, and famine.

I decided that I wanted to try a vegetarian diet, however I was met with resistance by family and lacked a supportive community and the scientific research to support this diet as a means of reversing my health challenges and maintaining a healthy weight. I also faced the challenge of not really knowing how to cook without meat in a way that was filling and satisfying, and so my constant hunger made me think that my body needed meat and that a vegetarian lifestyle was great for lean individuals who lacked a big appetite.

I did, however, commit to eating less meat and over the next several years slowly decreased the amount of meat in our diet to make it a more “sparingly” component. I also began to research diet and to make changes in where our food came from (buying local and organic when possible) and how we ate (not eating late at night).

There is so much more to this story, including a short-lived experiment with both Keto and Paleo diets following my diagnosis with Hashimoto’s, but the place I want to take you next is my pregnancy with Rose last year.

I finally believed that I had the answer to my challenges regarding excessive weight gain during pregnancy and this time was the time I was going to get it right. I needed to eat a low-carb diet and keep my insulin levels low.

I was highly discipled, not just to avoid gaining weight, but because I was determined to do everything I could to ensure this pregnancy ended with a live birth. Because we had no answers as to why our two daughters were stillborn in 2017, I wanted to minimize any complications and give this baby and my body the best chance of success.

Unfortunately, I failed my one-hour glucose test so miserably that they didn’t even bother to have me take the three-hour test. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 28 weeks. I cried, feeling like a failure, not just in this pregnancy, but in my nearly twenty-year pursuit to avoid my family history of diabetes. Now here I was administering daily insulin shots and, as in previous pregnancies, testing my blood sugars after every meal.

The glucose numbers that I collected and presented to my doctor were always met with praise. Despite the discouragement I felt, I thought I was doing an excellent job. I ate low glycemic index fruits and vegetables, religiously abstained from all types of sugar including maple syrup and honey, limited my starches, ate lean protein, and included a generous amount of healthy fats in my diet—which I had learned was essential because it did not impact blood sugar levels.

Thankfully my pregnancy with Rose was a success, something I tried to keep in the forefront of my mind as I came home from the hospital and stood on the scale. However, there was little that could soften the blow of discovering that I was the heaviest I had ever been post-delivery. I tried not to cry and to tell myself that I had done an amazing job, but ultimately feelings of failure weighed heavily on my mind, and I felt lost because I had no idea what I was doing wrong.

I spent the next two months waiting for my body to relinquish some of the weight, as it had after my previous deliveries, but as Rose crossed the two-month milestone I faced another unpleasant reality: the scale hadn’t budged, not even by a pound.

In addition to my lack of weight loss my thyroid was giving me a lot of problems, I was waking up with swollen hands and feet, and my joints, especially in my hands, ached.

The Word of Wisdom promises blessings of health and energy to those who abide by its principles. For nearly a decade I had tried to live by its teachings, for nearly two decades I had made it a priority to eat healthy, exercise, and educate myself on the subject of nutrition. I wondered what was possibly keeping me from receiving the promised blessings of health found therein, and so I once again opened my scriptures and reread the passages. A thyroid doctor’s recommendation nearly two years ago to try a vegan diet came to mind as I reread the words:

nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine (D&C 89:14).

I looked outside my window on a sunny, summery day and thought “it’s not winter, it’s not cold, and we are not experiencing a famine. I guess I will try to not eat meat for a three-month period of time and see if my health improves.”

That moment changed everything.

I immediately started losing weight and lost a total of 40 pounds in an eight-month period of time, while still eating a generous amount of food to support my desire to exclusively breastfeed my daughter.

The swelling in my hands and feet has completely vanished. My joints no longer hurt. I have more energy, and my thyroid symptoms have mostly subsided. My doctor decreased my thyroid medication. My TSH, T4 and T3 have all improved. My antibodies continue to decrease. My cholesterol has dropped. My A1c has improved to an astonishing 4.6. And more than anything else, my mental health has improved dramatically!

My physical stamina has also improved dramatically. I love feeling light on my feet, I love the ability to attend a fitness class without feeling like I am going to die, and I love not needing an afternoon nap every day after lunch. It’s amazing!

One of the other amazing changes has been the ability to eat until I am full, to feel satisfied after a meal (rather than still feeling hungry), and to not be hungry for hours! This is a first in my life!

Once I made the decision to try a vegan diet, resources began to surface. I dove headfirst into consuming anything and everything I could about whole food, plant-based nutrition. No pun intended, but I literally devoured the feast of information before me with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and truth.

I think back to nearly a decade ago, to when I first turned to the Word of Wisdom and desired to try a vegetarian diet. My instincts were correct, the promptings from the spirit were real and true, but I let cultural traditions and the wisdom of men get in the way of trusting God and His wisdom in how I should eat, a way that made me more sick and exacerbated my problems. Trusting Him has made all the difference and helped me discern truth from error as I have looked more closely at the science of nutrition and sought learning “by study and also by faith.”

Over the past few months my understanding and gratitude of the Word of Wisdom has increased tremendously. I’ve seen these changes bless my life, my husband’s life, our children’s lives, my parent’s lives, and many of our friend’s lives as well. It is my belief that the Word of Wisdom extends far beyond the cultural adherence to simply abstain from “strong drinks” and “tobacco” and that as we adhere to it more fully, we will experience the promised blessings to a greater extent in our lives.

Tiffany Mortensen (32) is the author of the blog Tiffany’s Epiphanys where she shares her many creations including (but not limited to) food, fashion, home decor, music, and her “epiphanies” on life, motherhood, religion, and health. Tiffany is a certified health coach, recipe creator, professional singer, and public speaker. She currently resides in Utah with her husband Nate and their four children. 

To view the whole food, plant-based resources Tiffany recommends, see Tiffany’s original post about her story, My Story and Resources for a PLANT BASED DIET.