‘If I inspire just one person, that is enough for me’

By Erika McKellar

They say that some people eat to live — and others live to eat. I definitely fall into the latter group! It hasn’t always been easy for me to eat healthily. I grew up in California in the 1980s and 1990s, where the Standard American Diet was the norm.

I was an incredibly active kid growing up, playing every sport imaginable, and always participating in after-school activities. Although I ate a lot of processed and fast foods, at home, my family ate a balanced diet. I’m grateful for that foundation.

It wasn’t until my late teenage years that I began to notice I was more sensitive to certain foods than my peers.

My body and brain began rejecting the foods that I was eating. I started to struggle in school and sports. I developed an early autoimmune illness, and my eyesight began to deteriorate. I slowly and painfully learned that what I ate mattered and that my body could not tolerate various foods like gluten, dairy, and eggs.

It took me 20 years and a lot of trial and error to develop an intuitive nutritional approach that worked for me. Through this process, I also discovered that stress was a significant factor in my health and wellbeing.

After three years of graduate school and seven years of working in a high-stress consulting career, I realized that my stress levels mattered just as much as what I ate and drank.

In 2017, my husband and I decided to move from California to Morocco to pursue a different kind of life. A life that allowed us more balance and helped us overcome years of fertility issues.

We gave birth to our son in Morocco in 2019. During this time, I was also able to pursue my passion for nutrition. I completed a certification as a Nutritional Health Advisor from the School of Health. This program allowed me to take what I had intuitively learned about nutrition and gave me the scientific knowledge to support it.

In 2020, my husband and I decided to move our family to Sweden. I discovered Diet Doctor and started working here in January of 2021.

When I first came across this job at Diet Doctor, it was like the position had been created for me. It allows me to merge my consulting experience with my passion for nutrition. I am excited and grateful to go to work every day.

To this day, I have to be mindful of everything that I put into my mouth. I keep it simple by sticking to whole foods, low carbs, and healthy animals. For every recipe that I prepare and eat, I ask myself, “Would I feed this to my son?” If the answer is “no,” then I change my approach.

As a Diet Doctor employee, I hope to inspire others to live a low-carb, whole-food lifestyle because food can heal. If I inspire just one person, that is enough for me.

With love and light,
Erika McKellar

Previous columns

Shaan Archer: ‘I’m proud to say I work at Diet Doctor’

Bret Scher: Introducing our new intermittent fasting course

Martin Balodis: Searching for truth at Diet Doctor

Erika’s favorite recipes

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