Man ‘Cheating’ on Religious Wife’s Vegetarian Diet Backed Online

A man has gained support online after sharing his struggle with his wife’s religiously inspired vegetarian diet, which she has been enforcing on their entire household.
The post, shared under u/Total-Dingo5709 on August 14, has resonated with numerous readers, garnering over 14,000 upvotes and sparking a heated debate about dietary choices and marital compromise.
“I want to start by saying I love my family and wife, and I have never been the type to do anything like this before,” the 38-year-old wrote.
He added how his wife, 35, had converted to a new religion 12 months ago, which included giving up meat. Initially, the entire family, including their two young boys, supported her decision and held a vegetarian-only dinner to show solidarity. Life continued unchanged for another eight months, with the boys and their father continuing to eat meat while their mother abstained. However, tensions rose when his wife began to impose her new lifestyle on the rest of the family.
“Along with not eating meat, my wife now no longer wanted to be around it,” the man said.
This led to a series of substitutions in their household, replacing pork with jackfruit, eggs with plant-based alternatives, and ensuring that only “clean brands” for clothing and personal hygiene products were used.
“To say this was creating a rift would be an understatement,” he said.
Carole Lieberman, a psychiatrist based in Beverly Hills, California, told Newsweek: “It’s one thing for your wife to choose to be vegetarian or vegan, but it’s another thing for her to insist upon you and the children adopting her values.”
The situation escalated to the point where the couple’s sons started having their friends smuggle them meat from their houses, as it was no longer available in their own home.
The breaking point came when the man’s wife went on a business trip, leaving him in charge of their children for a few days.
“Basically, and I’m a bit ashamed to type this out, but the boys and I mostly ate meat, basically every chance we got,” he said.
Upon her return, his wife was deeply disappointed to learn about their dietary rebellion.
“I have never seen her so disappointed in us,” he said. “We argued for hours.”
Lieberman said that the wife’s behavior was creating an unhealthy atmosphere that could lead to anxiety disorders for the husband and children.
“She is putting all of you on edge and afraid to eat or buy some forbidden item,” the psychiatrist said. “It also doesn’t help your boys adjust socially when their friends feel sorry enough for them to bring them meat.
“You need to put your foot down and tell her that she can do whatever she would like, but you and the boys are tired of living on eggshells.”
Viewers online largely expressed support for the husband’s plight, commiserating with his struggle to balance his wife’s fervent beliefs with his own and their children’s preferences. Many emphasized the importance of mutual respect and compromise in such situations, and agreed with Lieberman that the man should do as he pleases.
“She said she got rid of it because she couldn’t be around it,” one user wrote. “Well, she wasn’t around it. Also, you guys did NOT convert to her religion, so she can’t expect that you follow it… Not really sure what the problem is when she wasn’t home.”
Another added: “Agree. I think if she cooks the meals for the whole family then they are leaving the menu planning up to her. However, she was not home at that time.”
“She wants respect for her decisions without offering any respect for anyone else’s decision,” a third user shared. “It’s ridiculously hypocritical.”
Newsweek reached out to u/total-dingo5709 for more information via Reddit.
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