The Lord, through His prophet, Joseph Smith has declared:
"And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man--every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving. Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; 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. All grain is ordained for the use of man, and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth; and these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger. All grain is good for the food of man; as also the fruit of the vine; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground," (Doctrine and Covenants 89:10-16).
Granted, that was a huge wall of text, but it gives us the background to the efforts my wife and I have been taking lately to eat better.
A lot of people know about the 'Word of Wisdom', but a lot of times people just focus on the fact that Mormons don't drink alcohol, or partake of drugs, or drink coffee or tea, and that's part of the Word of Wisdom (some of the verses I didn't quote in the giant wall of text), but there is quite a lot more 'thou shalt's than 'thou shalt not's.
We were talking about the Lord's law of health in my Organic Chemistry class (It's a Mormon campus, it's bound to happen sometimes) and as we talked about what we should be eating and the chemistry involved I realized I really wasn't living as appropriately to God's law as I should have--and, by extension, neither was my wife.
With conviction in my heart, and fear of hunger about eating only salads on my mind, I went forward with faith and enlisted my wife in the struggle to eat healthier.
What we've decided to do, and I'm not saying it's going to work for everyone, is that we have gone mostly vegan--you get all the nutrients you need and it's a lot cheaper to shop for vegan ingredients for meals than huge meals planned over meat. The human body needs protein, sure, but it doesn't need a huge slab of steak with every meal.
I'm not saying we're vegan, either--we had a chicken pesto salad for lunch, today, but we're striving to watch our budget, as well.
We've been doing this for over a week, and have adjusted all phases of our meals: Breakfast consists of oatmeal or hot cereal or something else happy, lunch is healthy, dinner is healthy. I've actually lost weight, but that's not the point of everything--I feel like I have more energy and I just feel better about myself overall.
The Lord expects a lot from us, but He will help us as we strive to keep His commandments.
