The Incredible Transformation: How Functional Medicine Saved John's Life

0:00 Alright guys, it's Dr. Ryan. And today we're gonna talk with one of my patients who's been with me for a little more than a year. This is John, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, what you do some great hobbies and what your family situations like. 0:14 I am 43 years old, and I live in Alabama. And I am the president of a construction company married my Washington medical field, I have two kids 10 and eight. And at the point in life, where it's constant, go and busyness everyday all day long. 0:35 Very good. Well, it's good to be busy. And it sounds like you've balanced work and family quite well, which is, which is really awesome. And to be honest, I think you're being quite modest by your position, your construction company is extremely successful. And so as your wife, she's a CRNA, correct? 0:51 That is correct. Yeah. Yeah, we are very blessed on the front of woods, work and family as well. And very blessed those avenues here. 1:00 Very cool. Very cool to start, what was it like, before you started with the clinic? What problems were you trying to solve specifically? And I'm thinking in terms of your business and your family? What were some of those issues that you're trying to find a solution for? 1:14 I don't think it doesn't happen overnight. It didn't happen overnight with me from a standpoint of I was a college athlete had an opportunity to play baseball. And so obviously, at one point in my life, I was in shape and in really good shape. And so it just kind of slowly happened over years to where, obviously, working out my health wasn't a priority, I was growing a business and, you know, and a family and things like that. And so I think I just kind of came to the realization one day of, you know, my son is 10, and playing all kinds of sports, and I'm like, you know, I'm bringing heavy just shooting basketball where they, you know, I gotta get back into shape and, and lack of energy at work and things like that, or, you know, just just day to day routine, I was kind of dragging and kind of made a decision like, Hey, I gotta turn this around. 2:03 So it sounds like it was kind of your decision to get started was motivated by not keeping up with your son and, and not keeping on pace with your business. Do you feel like you weren't able to work the hours you wanted to? Or you weren't getting? The contracts that you want to? How exactly was it affecting you specifically? 2:22 Well, I think I think focus and you know, I can work the hours I want to, but they were nowhere near as productive as I needed them to be. That's been the biggest changes. It seems like I work less, but I'm more productive now. You know, and so mental clarity is way better, and stamina, you know, just just energy on a day to day basis, getting things done become a much easier task. 2:43 Yeah, I think one problem that I see with a lot of my patients, particularly those who are entrepreneurs, is they find that they are constantly stuck working in the business rather than working on the business, they can't make those executive decisions to take their business from point A to point B to point C and, and scale, right. And if you don't have the energy and the focus and the concentration do so it's really hard to get out of working in your business and outsource or delegate. So that's a that's a really common point. And you focused on your son and your business. But what about your relationship with your wife was that affected at all prior to were there any issues in that regard, prior to starting with Suma 3:23 just would lack of energy and you know, being able to run, run run all day long. We got we didn't marry man, it'll be 19 years 3:33 here. Congratulations. That's a big deal. 3:36 Been married a while. But you know, that was great. But it's obviously better. Because obviously I'm more productive not only at work, but at home and just a lot more energy to be able to get things done on a daily basis. That's just everyday life, you know? 3:50 Gotcha, gotcha. You're probably familiar twin diaries. Motivational speaker, Are you famous psychologist, and he did a lot of mindset work. And one of his beliefs was that our thoughts and feelings are critically important because they lead to actions which in turn lead to outcomes, right. So it's really key to keep your thoughts and feelings in a positive, uplifting state, right. At this point, prior to starting to starting with sumo how to the situations that you're, you're dealing with how did that make you feel? Or some of the feelings and the thoughts that were going through your head? 4:23 You know, I think I think I had the thought all the time of man, his age really creeping up on me like what's going on here? Like, I mean, it's just five years ago, I didn't feel like this. And you know, and I think it just goes to show you how, you know, neglecting tons of different things with your body. It'll catch up to you quick, quicker than you think the biggest thing for me has been just the commitment because it's like, once I've made the decision to commit to something, it's a done deal. I mean, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do it 150% And stay committed to it and that's been outstanding. I mean, my whole journey has been phenomenal, but it's not over. So 5:06 yeah. And just kind of before we transition on to that, I think for a lot of us, you know, we may recognize that we have a problem or may have symptoms of a particular issue that we know we need to correct. But it takes a while before we finally garner the strength or the courage to seek out treatment options. Was there like a step in this process where you're like, alright, enough's enough, I gotta go ahead and start taking a look at what options I have out there. What clinics are out there. Who's the right fit for me? 5:38 Yeah, you know, there was my Washington Medical field goal. And she has several doctors that are in the functional medicine stuff. And so I just started doing my research, you know, kind of with her advice, like, hey, just just research it and find a good fit. And, and that's what I did just, you know, researching Functional Medicine and finding something that would help me get out of that rut. And that's how I landed on you guys. And it's been, it's been a great decision and a great, great team, if you will. 6:06 Great. Well, actually, let's talk a little bit about that decision. How exactly did you find out about the clinic? What did you find it was an ad, or was it a referral, 6:15 I was searching like crazy, digitally internet day after day after day for functional medicine, landed on your guys's website and just felt like it was a better fit for me than a lot of the other ones I saw. I think a lot of the other ones, oh, I just kind of had envisioned of 70 year old people. Not at all with that. But I just I just, I felt like this was a better fit for me as a middle aged man. And it's been phenomenal. 6:44 And I can understand that there. In some cases, a lot of anti aging longevity clinics, they tend to have a slant towards. And there's nothing wrong with this, but the towards individuals in their 60s 70s and beyond. But we have a wide variety of patients in our clinic, some as young as their mid 30s. And all the way up to their ad. So the variety is I like it a lot because it gets to talk with many different people at different stages in their life. But it is something that I can see can be attractive. Was there one particular thing that finally made you say yes to the clinic? Because the reality is, there are many options out there. 7:18 I don't recall there being just one thing that made me say, Okay, I think when, you know, I had an initial call. And after that, I was like, Yeah, I mean, you know, because the call went great, you know, knowledgeable, all those things. Were just kind of checked every box for me that I wanted answered. And so after that first initial call, I mean, it was yeah, it was good. 7:43 Very good. After joining the clinic, what changes do you notice in your body and your overall health? 7:48 Oh, man, pretty quickly, I started dropping body fat man, it was incredible how to watch it, probably in a 90 day period. I mean, really quick, from a, through an exercise, you know, body composition standpoint. I mean, I didn't think it would happen that fast. And incredibly, it's still happening a year into the program now. But I mean, I was I was at the heaviest I'd ever been. I was probably around 225 to 227 Ferreira came in. And right now, I'm sitting right around 202. You know, I've always been kind of muscular, but my dad that was blessed with good genetics, but the body fat disappeared quick. I mean, really quick that that that was the biggest thing I noticed. Very, very fast. 8:41 Well, yeah, I was I was pretty amazed by that as well. Where do you say your percentage is now instead around like, 10% you think? 8:48 I think around 10. You know, obviously diet plays a 99.9% of that, and I'm eating cleaner than I've eaten. Here she years years. And therefore I'm getting results, you know, but it's been it's been good. I have the best results ever in my life the past year. So 9:07 very good. So like the changes in your energy, the mental clarity, you're experiencing the concentration, the decreased body fat, the increased muscle mass, and we didn't really touch upon this, but maybe we alluded to this, maybe a component of increased libido probably has made a lot of changes in the way that you interact with your colleagues, your and your children and and your wife of course. So let's kind of talk a little bit about that. So what changes after joining the clinic did you see in terms of your career 9:38 pretty quickly the in my early energy levels went through the roof I mean, way more productive way more mental clarity a lot easier to focus, if you will, I feel like that I can work 24 hours a day if I wanted to. I mean the energy levels are great. I mean, I'd get up every morning at four and and work out you know before I go to work and It seems like when I keep that schedule, like my energy throughout the day is just insane. 10:05 That's amazing. And how is that manifested in terms of your business? Have you seen like, have you seen a lot more contracts, garner more contracts? And are more employees are seeing an increase in revenue. We're definitely 10:19 growing. Obviously, we're trying to grow and we're growing. And it's just been, it's been good all the way around from a standpoint of just just being able to go go go, and not really kind of have to hit the pause button. It's been, it's been refreshing to say the least, very good, 10:34 very good. What about the changes in relationships with your family, your children, your wife, any changes that you've noticed that are positive after starting the clinic? 10:44 Yeah, I think the biggest thing is just, you know, with my son, just come home, I'm not tired. I mean, we'll go do whatever he wants to do from a standpoint of cheap basketball, throw baseball, whatever. And, you know, it's been for me to say, Hang on a little girl, she's a soccer player. So I'll kick soccer balls with her or whatever, you know, for parallel, I want to, it's been really good. 11:09 That's after working a full day. So you might get up to like, five work out, work a full day, and you'll be back around like six or so you'll still have the energy to spend time with your, with your children, and athletic endeavors, which is great. What about your colleagues and your wife any changes in those relationships that you've noticed? Well, 11:29 I think I think I'm in a better mood, a lot more. Definitely in a better mood, just I think the energy levels and all those things just relate to a much better mood being more productive. And, you know, and we have at work, we have phenomenal people. So my interactions with them are very few because they don't need me, you know, they're really good. Thankfully, we got the right people. But yeah, it's been better in every aspect of my life, just being able to get back into shape and commit, you know, that I think that's a that's a huge word and in strength training, or just just total, you know, health in general is just commitment. 12:07 Yeah, it's it is it is somewhat difficult, I think, to to get over that hump. But once you do, and you recognize the difference that optimizing your hormones, utilizing supplements, having the appropriate diet, and of course, using the right exercise program can do and your life is just, it seems like a no brainer. A lot of your experience is not unlike many of the other patients in my clinic who are entrepreneurial as well. They've also seen very, very positive and, and remarkable benefits after optimizing those things. And then just to sum things up, what would you tell someone who's watching this testimonial now, but it's still uncertain about joining SEMA up and working with me, 12:50 I think the biggest thing I would tell them is, you know, especially entrepreneur or business people, things like that, I mean, what better investment to make them than yourself and in your body? That's kind of the way I looked at it. And, you know, it's like, you know, I can't think of a better thing that I want to invest in than that than me. And it's definitely been worthwhile to say the least it's been I would recommend it to everybody. 13:18 Thanks so much for sharing experience, John, and I really appreciate you being patient in the clinic. Yes, sir. I'm glad I'm here.