“I was running 1000+ miles a year but couldn’t understand why my heart rate kept climbing while my endurance tanked. Something had to change.”

Type A, competitive, and wanting to operate at 100%–that’s how Parker, our latest success story, describes himself. At 40 years-old, this sales executive knows he’s in his prime–in his career, with his family, in his life. But a few years back, he wasn’t feeling it. Something was off. And when someone who wants to perform can’t do so, they do something about it, just as Parker did.

Parker was logging 1000-1200 miles of running annually and excelling at multiple endurance sports thanks to his cross-training regimen. Then, out of the blue he began experiencing issues: his heart rate was increasing, recovery time extending, and endurance plummeting. Something was off.

“I have an uncomfortably intimate knowledge of healthcare,” Parker admits, “and I knew I wouldn’t find answers in a traditional setting.”

Parker reconnected with Dr. Carlos Jorge, who first ordered an echocardiogram to rule out cardiac issues. The test came back clean—great news for his heart health, but still leaving questions unanswered.

Working alongside health coach Niki Hitch, Dr. Jorge began peeling back the layers of Parker’s lifestyle. What they discovered was a perfect storm of stress factors that had been building during the pandemic.

“I think he knew a lot sooner than I did,” Parker reflects about Dr. Jorge’s diagnostic process. “All the contributing factors were right there in front of me, but I needed to connect the dots myself.”

Parker shares that his diet has always been pretty clean; he and his wife share a liking of healthier food. Nutritionally speaking, he was solid. Other lifestyle aspects, however, needed a closer look.

A driven professional, Parker’s stress began to pile up with mounting work pressure . He was working until 10 and 11 pm some nights, and as the work stress increased, he began self-medicating with alcohol.

“I didn’t have any behavioral issues that correlated with alcoholism, but I was drinking about every night,” he explains. He attributes some of this to the pandemic, an issue that many others can relate with.

“Covid rocked a lot of people,” Parker says. “Things like alcohol consumption and stress went through the roof. Once we identified that and I started to break the habits, I began to notice some changes.”

Parker’s habits created a domino effect: Increased stress led to more drinking, which led to worse sleep, creating even more stress—and tanking his athletic performance. Identifying this was step one–breaking the habits and making the changes came next.

Just as the negative habits were correlated, so were the positive ones. Taming the drinking meant better sleep, improved stress management, and the icing on the cake: overall increased happiness.

Feeling more balanced in these areas, he was (unsurprisingly) ready to take things further: enter peptides.

“I wanted something to help with some of the longer effects, and peptides were part of the discussion. I didn’t know what it was that I needed, but I knew I wanted to get back to 100%.

Dr. Jorge’s suggestion to consider peptide therapy felt like a reward for hitting milestones. I had to get the alcohol under control for this to be an option. Adding peptides when I wasn’t fully optimized in other areas wouldn’t have made sense–I wouldn’t have felt the full benefits, and I wouldn’t have been able to tell if they were helping.”

Overall successes that Parker has had include:

• Weight loss
• Alcohol reduction (from 7 days to 2 days/week)
• Improved sleep time & quality
• Better stress management
• Subbing out lifting weights for running (sidenote: Parker admits that he doesn’t love lifting weights, but he is starting to see the benefits)

Parker credits his wife as instrumental to his success: “She makes this a lot easier, not harder.” He also values Niki’s coaching approach: “If there’s a setback, she encourages me to get back on track and give myself grace.”

“I really feel like my successes haven’t been perfect, but I’m a lot more present with my family,” Parker shares. “Physically I feel better, and I can manage greater levels of stress without it derailing my performance.”

Despite his humility, Parker’s transformation demonstrates how change comes from addressing root causes rather than just symptoms. As he puts it: “I made a commitment when I joined, and I definitely feel accomplished—but that doesn’t mean it’s time to celebrate. Niki may disagree with me.”

We’re on Niki’s team for sure–Parker has made great strides, and we’re certain there are more to come.