About

Hi, I'm Ryan Mihalkovitz. People tell me all the time they wish they lived as healthy as I do, but the reality is I was not always this health conscious. Please allow me to explain. I grew up playing sports, but baseball was my absolute passion and for as long as I could remember I wanted to play for my favorite team, the New York Mets. I grew up similarly to the rest of the kids in my neighborhood; we played the same games after school, we ate the same snacks, we stayed up late playing video games and watching movies, you know just normal things kids are supposed to do. I never had a single thought about the stuff I was consuming, unless there was an immediate repercussion. Yes I did get sick here and there growing up, but who didn't and once I was given my medications, after a few days everything was good as new. When you're a kid nothing scares you, especially the idea of getting sick or hurt. This is the exact mentality I grew up with and I was fearless, until the first time I fell off my bike, sending shock-waves of fear through my system. I realized that physical dangers could be serious, but it's not too common to learn about the other dangers that are looming in most homes. For me, health class in school was as close as I got to caring or thinking about the subject and from what I remember we didn't learn much about how to actually be healthy, except for having protected sex and not to underage drink, which I agree are important but there's way more to it.

 

The reality is up until I began to have serious health issues my Sophomore year of college, I didn't question or fear anything about my lifestyle because everyone else was doing the same exact things, and worst case our medical system would be there to fix me. My idea of living a healthy lifestyle was not eating candy or fast food too often and making sure to get some exercise in every once and a while. I probably thought about health less than the average person before I encountered serious health issues.

 

It took me several years of doctors visits, MRI scans, autonomic testing, blood-work, hospital stays, grueling symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, muscle weakness, heart palpitations and so much more to truly understand what is healthy for my body to consume and what is not. The crazy part is when my health took a turn for the worst, I was in the best physical shape of my life, so people couldn't understand when I told them that something was wrong. I was a college athlete, who was double majoring in accounting and sports marketing, and working a job on campus, all while balancing the rest of my life at the same time. I can remember the exact day my life changed like it was yesterday, and as I sit here today writing this I wish I had the knowledge I do now. I say this because I know with the current health insights I have gained through personal experiences of trial and error and the education I acquired through my Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) certification, I would have been equipped to save myself years of depression, anxiety, isolation from loved ones and friends, money and simply the poor quality of life I endured. My life was ripped away from me in a heartbeat during my best years in college and one of my goals is to help those struggling with their health issues, to actually make improvements so they do not have to suffer like my family and I did for so many years.

 

Health is important to me because of the implications it has on someone's life and I have experienced this first hand. This is why I take health extremely serious. I firmly believe that everyone deserves the right to be healthy and live the life they want to. My health issues got so bad in college I had to quit playing the sport I had fallen in love with as a child and it took me two years to finally get any kind of answer. Waiting around for two years while you watch everyone around you get to enjoy doing fun things is a hard concept to endure. After an enormous amount of testing, and being shuffled around from one doctor to the next I was diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which was believed to have been the result of a perfect storm that included multiple concussions, Lyme's disease and mononucleosis. I was relieved to finally have an answer but that answer didn't lead to the result I thought it would. I was always under the impression that a diagnosis would lead to a cure, but that is sadly not how things work, especially for those dealing with similar ailments to mine.

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I was able to push through the rest of my college days, dealing with the daily symptoms, and just praying my health would return one day. After I graduated college I unknowingly moved into a mold infested apartment which after 9 months had me in and out of the hospital on a regular basis. My health had taken an even worse turn and I was forced to stop working at my job and move back to my parents so they could look after me, as I could barely get out of bed. I felt as though I was going to have a heart attack if I got up to go to the bathroom and couldn't even do a lap around my yard without feeling like I was going to faint. Doctors insisted that all my tests were normal, but I certainly didn't feel that way and hadn't for years. By a string of luck, I found a holistic medical doctor who was located near my parents house. I remember after the first appointment my entire mood had changed as I knew right away I finally found the person and method that was going to help me. This method was focused on healing the whole body and looking at it together, rather than in parts. This was a game changing concept and I have never looked back. This new path gave me my life back. I was able to work again, live on my own, workout, play baseball, and do all of the things I loved to do without much limitation.   

 

As I stated before, I studied accounting in college and never would have thought that I would end up in the health space, unless it had to do with sports. Yes I still have a passion for sports, especially baseball, but I believe I was destined to walk the health journey that I did, so I can share my knowledge and experiences with others. Nothing pains me more than seeing someone with similar health issues, suffering and not getting the answers and results they deserve. One of the most important lessons I've learned through this journey is that the body inherently knows how to heal itself. No doctor or physician has every truly healed a person, rather they put the body in a better position to heal itself. In today's world of working long hours, ordering junk food with a click of a button, air pollution, social media fights, the doomsday news, stress is found around every corner, and can sometimes be impossible to get away from. Our bodies have become so overloaded with various stressors that we have a more difficult time fighting off the important things such as disease, viruses, pathogens, and cancer. 

 

Once I discovered the idea of limiting and eradicating these various stressors from my every day life, I finally allowed my body to heal and the changes were unbelievable. The best part was, it didn't involve going to the doctor and getting put on another drug or getting another lab test. I was truly able to take control of my own health and not leave it up to anyone else, because at the end of the day no one will ever care about your health more than you will. 

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If you're story sounds similar to mine and you feel like your losing a grip on your health, I would love to help guide you along your healing journey. As an Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Practitioner I will support you in taking back control of your health by giving you access to the right lab tests and resources so you can find the missing pieces of your health puzzle; actually fix what is wrong and get back to feeling like yourself again (or for the very first time!). For the longest time, I didn't think anyone out there felt like I did, and that if doctors couldn't help me then surely no one else could, but here I am today, healthier than ever saying you can heal and live a healthy lifestyle too.     

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If you want to hear more about my story and background, check out my latest podcast episode below!

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