Success comes in all shapes and sizes. It also comes in its own time.

This month’s success story is about a man who started his journey with functional medicine just nine short months ago, which is considered a very short time when it comes to actual healing. How did he do it?

In the case of Rick G., a 54 year-old banking executive, it was a combination of personality, desire, accountability and support.

A West Point graduate who played Division 1 basketball throughout his college career, Rick is clearly no stranger to discipline and hard work. He has been a follower of functional medicine for two decades, and a few years ago had noted how some friends were members of a different concierge practice. Combining the two (concierge + functional medicine) seemed like the ideal solution. And so he jumped in with 100% devotion, consistent with his approach to life.

“I was pretty disciplined growing up,” says Rick. “Being an athlete helps.” 

Post college, Rick became Active Duty and was stationed in Hawaii for 4.5 years. “You’re not actually really prepared until you get there,” he recalls. “It taught me a lot more about attention to detail and being extremely detailed in how you approach things.”

Dr. Jorge identified some of these traits in his initial visit with Rick and thus paired him with a health coach who has a similar way of thinking, creating a team that has been a slam dunk.

“One thing I wanted to re-address was weight management,” Rick says, of his initial goals. He also wanted to get his inflammation markers back in check, as well as some of his cardiovascular markers. To do this, he focused on diet (where he already had prior knowledge), by changing up his protein sources (based on diagnostic testing) and including some ProLon fasts, as backed by Dr. Jorge. His health coach worked with him on fine-tuning his diet for his current needs, noting how these change over the course of our lives, and also provided education on Rick’s alcohol intake. Exercise-wise, our member-of-the-month was obviously well-versed … but looking back, he notes the shift that he’s made from cardio, cardio, cardio to strength training. Doing triathlons, running six days a week and not lifting any weights were not the best individual approach for Rick, and consistent with his methodical approach, he was able to accept the information given to him by Dr. Jorge and incorporate the changes.

On that note, Rick sums up his experience at our Charlotte-based functional medicine clinic as follows:

1. Knowledge and awareness (with a plan). “Understanding what you need to do front to end in a way that it’s given to you so that you digest it all is first and foremost,” he explains. His health coach was invaluable in this area.
2. The support from his provider. “No questions are off limits,” he continues. “Once you are comfortable with this, it’s game changing. It’s nice to know that you can ask a question and get a quick response.”
3. Accountability. “Everyone holding my feet to the fire,” he says of this part of the program.

“Throughout the process, Rick has been curious and open-minded,” says his health coach. “He takes the lifestyle suggestions to heart, puts them into practice, and has seen tremendous progress across all aspects of his health including nutrition, sleep, exercise, mindfulness, and stress management,” she continues.

“It’s great to see the pieces fall into place as you work with a client, and Rick’s experience is a perfect example of how we tailor each client’s program to their experience and goals,” continues his provider, Dr. Jorge.

Ever the team player, Rick has also undoubtedly done his part, which is proven by his success.