Lifestyle

Cookbook Author Erika Schlick Helps you Find Your Perfect Diet

Published

5 years ago

February 17, 2021

Society has created a set of specific beauty standards every woman should live by. You are supposed to weigh a specific number, wear your hair a certain way, do your makeup following the latest trends, and so on. But the truth is those terms and conditions we did not sign up for can be significantly harmful to our bodies, minds, and souls. That is why many advocates have raised their voices and spoken up about this issue. They are the ones trying to motivate individuals to take care of themselves both mentally and physically.

One way women are being encouraged to dive into self-care is by choosing diets that adapt to their health needs, goals, and lifestyles. However, finding the perfect diet can be a challenging process. One of the reasons for this is that there are one too many options out there for you to choose from. But you might also be dealing with dietary restrictions that limit your options. Whatever the case may be, Cookbook Author Erika Schlick offers insight on how to find the perfect diet for your body.

A few years back, Schlick was diagnosed with Lyme disease and other autoimmune conditions, including Alopecia, Celiac disease, Hashimoto’s, and Psoriasis. Because she did not want to be on antibiotics and deal with side effects, she took a more organic route that involved changing her diet completely. This journey led her to write her cookbook: Wandering Palate: 28 Days of Meals Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free & Paleo.

Her personal experience pushed Erika Schlick to become a Health Coach who works with individuals who are struggling like she was. One of the things she coaches them on—and which she has discussed on her blog, The Trail to Health—is how to find your perfect diet. According to Ms. Schlick, there are six different ways in which an individual can find a diet that works for them.

Elimination Diet: “An elimination diet is a process of removing certain food groups from your diet at a time. After 2-3 weeks of elimination, you reintroduce the food to see how your body reacts. If you experience allergies like bloating, nausea, headaches, or fatigue, it’s likely you are allergic to this food group.”
Micronutrient Testing: “Micronutrient testing analyzes your levels of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants to discover what’s missing. With these results, you can create a nutritional plan to ensure you’re getting all the vital nutrients your body needs to operate optimally.”
Ixcela Gut Test: “Ixcela is a super easy and effective at-home microbiome test kit that tests all the metabolites in the gut. The test is a simple pin-prick that analyzes the microbiome and creates personalized nutrition and wellness plans to improve your health and quality of life.”
Viome Gut Test: “The Viome gut test helps you discover exactly what your body needs to function its best. This test gives you scores, as well as a nutritional roadmap to guide you toward your perfect diet, based on your body’s individual needs.”
Genoplate DNA Test: “The Genopalate DNA test dives into your specific DNA and customizes a nutritional plan based on your genetics. The goal is to ‘eat for your genes,’ because each of us has biochemical activity rooted in our family genealogy.”
Everlywell Food Sensitivity Test: “It’s not just about knowing what foods make us feel good, but also what foods make us feel really, really bad. Connecting the dots between symptoms and food allergies is an exhausting process to do on your own. That’s why I recommend the Everlywell home test, which tests you for food sensitivities. It analyzes your body’s immune response to almost 100 common food allergens. Once you receive your results, you can see which foods to eliminate from your diet.”

If you are struggling to figure out which diet would work best for you, it might be time to try one of Erika Schlick’s suggestions. Every piece of advice given by her comes from her personal experience with dietary restrictions and changes and her professional journey. As a Cookbook Author, she has a better understanding of food and how it affects or benefits our body. It might be time you take a closer look at your diet and decide what is best for you.

Lifestyle

Why Toba Ogunremi Believes High-Performing Teams Start with Belonging, Not Pressure

Published

17 hours ago

July 23, 2026

Michelle Langton

Most teams don’t fall apart all at once. It happens slowly, missed conversations, quiet disengagement, people doing what’s required but nothing more.

Toba Ogunremi has spent years working inside care environments where that kind of shift is easy to miss until it starts affecting everything. Leading operations at Samorem Care in the UK, he has seen how systems can appear stable on the surface while teams underneath struggle to stay connected to their work.

One experience early in his career changed how he looks at leadership entirely.

He had taken over a team that wasn’t in crisis, but it wasn’t working well either. The people receiving care were safe, but they weren’t thriving. The same was true for the staff. There was no urgency, no energy, just routine.

The usual solution would have been to tighten control by setting new targets, increasing supervision, and creating performance plans. He didn’t do any of that.

“I started with conversations,” he says. “Real ones. Not rushed, not formal.”

One by one, he spoke to each team member. What came out wasn’t frustration with the job itself, but something quieter and harder to spot.

“They weren’t disengaged because they didn’t care,” he explains. “They were disengaged because they felt unseen.”

No one had asked what they thought. No one had taken the time to understand how they were coping. Over time, that absence had turned into distance. That moment stayed with him. It shaped how he leads today.

His approach is simple, but not always easy to apply: people perform better when they feel they belong.

He believes high performance usually comes when people feel like they genuinely belong and know that what they do actually matters.

In healthcare, where pressure is constant and expectations are high, this idea can sound secondary. The focus is often on outcomes, compliance, and efficiency. Toba doesn’t dismiss those things, but he questions what happens when they become the only focus.

Even when all the processes are in place, if the people delivering the care feel disconnected, it eventually reflects in the quality of the work.

At Samorem Care, this thinking shows up in small but consistent ways. Recruitment is not just about experience. It’s about how someone responds to people, how they handle pressure, and how they communicate. Once they are in, the focus shifts to keeping teams stable and supported, rather than constantly rotating staff or reacting only when something goes wrong. He also pays attention to how leaders show up day to day.

According to him, leadership is not just about giving direction; it’s about being present enough to understand what your team actually needs.

That presence matters more in care than in most industries. The work is demanding, often emotional, and not always recognised for what it takes. When teams feel stretched or overlooked, it affects how they interact with the people they support.

For Toba, resilience is less about constant pressure and more about creating a work environment where people can do their jobs well without burning out. In his view, strong teams are not just coping; they are supported enough to stay clear-headed and consistent in their work.

His background outside healthcare still shapes how he leads. Having worked in sales and communications, he understands how important it is to read people and build trust. In healthcare, though, the impact is far more direct, as decisions affect someone’s everyday life, not just an outcome on paper.

That shift makes leadership more personal. Teams need more than instructions; they need stability, clarity, and a sense that they are understood. What defines Toba Ogunremi’s approach is its simplicity. He focuses on being consistent, listening carefully, and addressing issues early rather than reacting late.

In the end, his belief is straightforward: teams perform better not because they are pushed harder, but because they feel valued and part of something that works.