In the summer of 2008, after six months spent studying abroad in Europe and losing all sight of health and wellness by drinking and eating everything, I needed some sort of reset, but I wanted it to be more of a lifestyle change since I had spent a lot of my years in college thus far yo-yo dieting. I discovered veganism through a friend, read a book about it, and I realized I had been living in blissful ignorance! I had no idea about the environmental impacts veganism could have on the world, let alone on our own bodies. I cold turkeyed becoming a vegan (literally, when I finished the book, I went inside, looked at my fridge and excitedly made the saddest hummus and cucumber sandwich).

I was vegan for three years and found it to lead to extremely restrictive, obsessive behavior, quickly. I lost a lot of weight (about 30 to 35 pounds) and was extremely restrictive with myself, losing sight of the original reason I had become vegan: to eat healthier and be gentler on the environment I live in. Then, toward the end of my veganism, I was getting lazy with making nutritious vegan meals and found myself eating lots of toast for meals and snacking on sugary bars and popcorn to fill me up. I was a vegan just to "be" a vegan, and my life had changed post-college. I was living in New York City, my livelihood wasn't subsidized by my parents anymore, and I started "cheating" on my diet here and there, and seeing it as "cheating" was the first red flag. I started thinking of foods as "good" and "bad," and I wasn't eating well-balanced and started spiraling into some binge-eating behavior.

All in all, I needed another lifestyle change, and I decided that I could incorporate some of the main ideals of veganism while including some non-vegan foods into my diet. To offset the environmental detriments caused by consuming animal protein, I started switching over to nontoxic household and beauty products, being careful with water usage, using more public transportation, and making other small changes like swapping glass containers for my plastic ones. Now, I eat 70-30 vegan (70 percent vegan, 30 percent omnivorous). It fluctuates depending on each stage of my life (for example, I'm nursing now and find myself craving more animal protein), but veganism taught me a lesson that'll last a lifetime: Listen to your body; it knows best.

—Ali, Jersey City, New Jersey