Podcast Transcription: Success Story: How a 44-Year-Old Attorney Dropped 25 lbs Regained His Confidence, and Transformed His Energy in 5 Months

Ted Ryce: John Custis, thanks so much for joining me today. It's been an absolute pleasure working with you, seeing your progress and really excited to hear how you describe your journey. It's always interesting to have these conversations because you and I knew each other well, but we haven't had sat down and had this type of conversation. So thanks so much for doing this.  

John: Absolutely. I'm excited to, it’s been a blast.  

Ted Ryce: Yeah. And, just to get started, can you briefly introduce yourself? You know, what you feel like people should know about you.  

John: Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate it. You know, I'd probably say my pride and joy is my family. So, I'll start there first, married, with three little guys. I've got a 13-year-old Baker and 11-year-old Wayne and a nine-year-old Matt, married to my wife, Abby - Oh God, Ted I should know this off the top of my head -15 years now. We're almost 15 years, yeah. They're my pride and joy.  

I'm a local attorney here and I'm on the eastern shore of Virginia, which is located on the Delmarva Peninsula, if you know where the Chesapeake Bay is, in Virginia, I live right on it. 

So live here with them and, entrepreneur at heart. I'm a lawyer, by my day trade, but, start businesses, always involved with two or three or four going at the time, just started to about three or four weeks ago. So excited about 2025.  

I'd say I'm an entrepreneur first, family guy first, entrepreneur second and lawyer third. But, but yeah, it's just, one of those that worked really hard for a long time and lost myself, which is how I found you.  

Ted Ryce: Can you just share the results that you've gotten? How long you've been in the program, the results that you've gotten, and then we'll rewind and talk about how you got there and what the process was. 

John: Yeah, absolutely. I'm pretty excited to be talking to you today because my last weigh in, which was a few days, I'm actually scheduled for tomorrow, but my last weigh in was my, was my personal best in the program with you. So, I started June 22nd, 2024 of this year. And as of, and I'm, I think five months in, we're here right at the beginning of December, probably about five months, five and a half months in, and I'm down 25 pounds on the dots. 173. I went from 198 to 173, over that period of time.  

Ted Ryce: Yeah. Just incredible progress. And before, before we started working together, can you talk about what were you doing? What, where were you, you said that you lost yourself a little bit because you have this entrepreneurial bug, you're like a lot of our clients, they start businesses, they get really excited about business and making deals and collaborating and, but sometimes the health gets put on the back burner. 

Can you talk a little bit about like where were you before you joined the program? What was going on? What did you try?  

John: Yeah, I would say, my, my realization that sort of that slap in the face for me was COVID. And I turned 40. I was supposed to have my 10 year anniversary, wedding anniversary, my 40th birthday, all within six weeks of each other. And then COVID hit.  

So we'd put everything on pause and, we like, I think a lot of people had some difficulties in our relationship. My wife and I, as well as just life took a hard left turn. I think it made me look in the mirror and realize, what I had been doing for really 15 to 20 years of my life was build a career, build a profession, worry about maybe money first and providing for my family with the absence of focusing on myself at all, mentally and physically.  

2020 I'd say was my worst year, probably being stuck inside, eating way too much, probably drinking way too much, and I, at 5, 859, hit like 225. So I was just unhealthy, period. And my primary care physician started to voice concerns. I'm fortunate enough to have both my parents, so they voice concerned. 

Of course, I looked in the mirror and saw a healthy, great guy who was balding and fat, but thought I was fine, And started to do some things, right? You get out there and you do some research, but it's a lot of noise. And we'll get back to that, cause that's why I found you, which is what I love about you. 

For me, it was a lot of noise. I tried fad diets. I tried low carb, no fat, all this, that, and the other, but I wasn't consistent. I wasn't consistent whatsoever in any of those. It was a try for three weeks or two weeks or six weeks. And I might've lost two, three pounds here and there, it wasn't anything serious. 

For about two years, I think I bounced around, maybe lost a few pounds. But ultimately, it was just one of those things that I needed to figure out what's, I needed to figure out something a little more serious, which is how I found you.  

Ted Ryce: I've heard that a lot. I had a different COVID experience, but I got chubby a little bit after the world got back to normal, but I'm super fit. But from a lot of our clients, I hear that so often that people who didn't have the, maybe the best habits, it made things a bit worse being locked inside and the craziness of that period. 

Don't need to revisit that. How did you find me? What made you resonate with what I was saying versus the other options out there? Because there's a lot of options.  

John: There's a lot of options, a funny story for me. I was brand new to Twitter. I was just scrolling through and, their algorithm algorithms are fantastic. 

So I read one of your posts that said, are you over 40, an entrepreneur, hardworking, need to lose 25, just I kept checking the box. And I was sitting with my wife, probably with a glass of wine in my hand, I said, Holy shit. I, this is, he's talking to me, she's like rolling her eyes. And she said, why don't you DM him? 

So I literally, that's how it happened in June of this year. I just, I shot you a private message. You responded back quick and we had our call. And, for me, Ted, it was, I, of course I dove into a lot of your other posts and things, but your, the clarity of the program, you don't have to kill yourself to do this, it really is a, you need to reflect on who you are, you need to make time schedule it, but it doesn't take, living in the gym. It doesn't take major, major changes. It's tweaks, right? And it's consistency in those tweaks that I have found over the last, five, six months that really are amazing. 

And you build habits. After two to three weeks of being in the program with you, you start to see the, you felt bad after eating some bad meal. I didn't want to do it anymore. And then I got to the point where I really appreciated not having alcohol several nights in a row. 

And then I'd started to go a few weeks in a row and then. All of a sudden my wife and I are in great habits. She's a yoga vegan. So she's always had, but she's really appreciated me stepping up. I saw benefits with the family. I saw benefits all the way around. So it was your marketing that got me, but it was then the digging deep and, the theory, it just spoke to me and, it is tried and true since I've joined. It's been awesome.  

Ted Ryce: Yeah. Thanks so much. It's always great to hear that. It's tricky because so many people just want to diet and, you know, fast results. But when we did that earlier, people would regain the weight and it got really frustrating for me. It's like there's got to be a way to do this to really help people on a bigger level. So, awesome.  

And when you first joined the program, you go through phase one and then you go into phase two. So, phase one, if you're listening now, it's rapid fat loss. Phase two is sustainable fat loss. There's a phase three, which is muscle and fitness maximization. But that comes after you, after we get you as lean as we can get you. 

So right now, John, you've been through phase one, you're in phase two, you've lost a total of 25 pounds as of the last, weigh in five months into the program. What would you say, what would you say was been the, like the biggest Aha, the biggest lesson, through this whole process,  

John: The biggest Aha for me, Ted has been, it's that realization of, and I've said it a few times on our calls, a commitment to consistency which you guys preach all the time. For me, it was, I just always thought in the back of my mind, again, noise out there, that I had to be in the gym and be a gym rat and lift the, the maximum that I could possibly lift, and I had to eat nothing or just vegetables to have results. And the Aha for me was probably when I bust through, and you'll remember this story I've told you before. 

When we had our first call, I was like, man, if I could lose 15 pounds, that'd be awesome. That'd be like, I would, be the greatest thing ever. And I blew through that with, and you called me out. It was like, you're not done, man. You're not, you got a long way to go. And so for me, it was that aha. 

Holy shit, man. I can really do this. I can, if I continue to do this consistent focus on myself, and to get to that real quick, I now schedule, right? I've got a crazy schedule like a lot of us in our world and I'm scheduling myself for 30 minutes or an hour every now and then just to reflect or to do my workout or whatever, which in the past, it was always, if I had time now, it's one of the most important things that I do. 

But, Yeah, the Aha for me was just that consistency and realizing that again, it's, small tweaks to the diet, it's not having three or four cookies a night. It's, you still have a cookie. You just need to, you just need to manage it overall and make sure that, what you're doing it fits into the program and you're consistent over time. 

We're here, it's December 3rd or 4th. I think it's the 4th today. Thanksgiving last week, right? I did, you just mentioned phase one. I made sure I had some phase one tools in my tool belt last week during Thanksgiving to help me get through a time where a guy like me loves to eat, be with family, will have a couple glasses of wine, but I used phase one tools of limiting calorie intakes at breakfast and lunch to make sure that I could still have a blast with my family for three or four days. 

So now I think it's. Again, to get back, the Aha for me was just commitment to consistency. And it is just a realization that I'm getting a tool belt now of things that I don't have to use all the time. I get to use them every now and then, but I can pull them out. And it helps me get through these times to maintain where I am. 

I'm excited to stay where I am and excited to get even more lean as you say, that I never thought I could, I'm excited to continue down the pathway.  

Ted Ryce: I love that. I love that. And yeah, thanks for sharing that because I remember being on a call with someone who wanted to join the program and I was, this was a few years back and I was trying to explain like, you don't have to give up your favorite foods. 

And what he took that to mean, he's yeah, but then you're talking about, I can have a bite of a cookie or a scoop, like a spoonful of ice cream. But that's BS, right? Because that's I might as well not eat it at all. And I'm like, no, you don't have to do that. You can eat like a normal person, but you're going to have better strategies.  

The difference between the diets that you tried versus the, what the systems that I've taught you and, what you feel is the difference. 

John: Yeah, absolutely. So the diets, they were all fads, right? It's, it was low carb. I didn't know why I was doing it, right? I was just doing it because some person talking had told me to do it or some magazine article said to do it. Low fat again, same gig.  

And I'd go to my primary care physician, they're like, yeah, go ahead and try it. And there was just no, there was nobody that was educating me on why I was doing it. And I'm getting that out of your program. What I heard a lot was just, Hey, try this and you're going to have instant results for what I've really learned through all of this. 

And we know this, but it really takes that, an aha moment to realize that there's not a silver bullet out there, right? You just got to find a way to adopt a lifestyle that works for you and goes, so the tools that you've taught me that I've been able to quickly realize really work for me is the calorie restriction, right? 

I need to plan my day out. I need to plan my meals out during the week. I realize that, yeah, like tomorrow night, I'm going to Northern Virginia, outside DC for a buddy's retirement party, right? So what am I doing tomorrow morning? I'm going to have a really lean breakfast. I'm gonna have a really lean lunch. 

I'm still going to get my calories in. I'm still going to get my protein in. I'm still going to focus on the things that I need to get done, but I'm going to, I'm going to enjoy whatever foods there, in moderation. I might have a beer or a glass of wine with them. I'm not having to give up anything. 

It's really just in moderation and making sure that it fits into the entire program. So it's not a meal by meal. It's right, I'm going to take it week by week. And kind of plan things out. We've gotten, my wife and I, Abby have gotten into doing a lot of cooking on Sundays, so I've gotten into bringing in leftovers, which by the way, are better than what I was, the crap I was eating at restaurants and stuff going out anyway. 

The tools there are simply just looking at the entire week, planning it out, and it's not major changes to the lifestyle. I'm still doing what I was doing before. It's just, I'm eating less, or I'm eating better and, and I'm focusing on the macros like, like protein. Calorie restriction number one, protein focus number two, and then the rest of it is just falls right into place. 

You do that for three or four weeks. You do that for two or three months. It's just now routine for me. I don't even have to really think about it much. I'm still tracking a lot. It's just, I'm a data guy. I love seeing the numbers. I love feeling the numbers. 

I love your app of the custom training sessions and things like that, because I get to see where I've had some major increases. So yeah, it's, it's commitment to consistency, man. Those tools are huge and are obviously showing me results and showing a lot of people results. 

Ted Ryce: You know, it's funny what that brings up. It's so many people feel like they need, they're lacking discipline. They're lacking willpower. But the issue is that if you try to... I did a low carb diet, not strictly for 10 years because I would go and binge eat. But it just took so much effort to do that and it affected my social life. 

And then now what I do and just like what you said, because I do the same thing, right? I'm just teaching you what I do, what I came up with because I want to eat pizza. If I'm in, if I'm in Rome, I'm going to have some Matriciana pasta and get some of that Roman pizza. I'm not going to find the Keto, which probably isn't even one in Rome. 

There's one here in Buenos Aires, interestingly enough, a Keto restaurant. So yeah, it's those tools, it's skills, and I think that's what most people are missing.  

John, you said something really interesting to me, and I appreciate, one of the things I appreciate about you is your candidness. And you're like, man, when you told me I was gonna get under, what was it? 180? 

John: 180 was yeah,  

Ted Ryce: was bullshit. And then you flew right by it. Can you talk a little bit like, I appreciate that so much because, when we can have honest conversations, we can, we can just, I think better things happen as a result. And, and, we had a good laugh about that. But I'm curious though, what made you feel like that was not even possible for you? 

John: Being taught my entire life that I had cards in the stack against me. So, as Ted, I'm happy to share, I've got a family history of cardiology, cardiac issues. My entire family basically has had heart problems. 

I had a calcium score back in, around 2020 when I was telling you was my rough year, I, at the age of 40 went and got a professional physical because I had so many people worried about me, which is, was that slap in the face. And the big one for me was a calcium score in your heart, which for I'm sure most people know what it is, but they literally show you a picture, for me, it was my widow maker and it showed the plaque buildup on the walls.  

And I got that picture at night. I'll never forget the scene. I was in the hotel room. I had my family sitting right on the other side of the, laptop. And that picture came up and I guess I went white cause I was just like, holy shit, this is real. 

I'm now, I'm a 10 years now. I might not be here because of what I'm doing. Like I need to do something. And my wife looked at me and she was like, has somebody died? What has happened? You must've, what news did you get? I got that news. So it was just, it was like that: Holy shit, man, something's got to happen! 

At that time you're 225 pounds, you've been told your entire life, you're going to have heart issues because everybody else has had heart issues, you just adopt that mentality, right? And so I cruised through life, working my tail off, trying to become what I became from a professional standpoint and just accepted the fact that I was going to be big and bald and, it was what it was. And, not that things bald, right? Get solar panels there.  

So when we're having that chat, right? I was so excited to get myself under 200 pounds. When I had my first call with you, I was at 198. and I remember being like, Oh man, if I got the 180, holy cow, I was like 178 in college, I married my wife five years later, she never seen me this lean. 

So, for me to say, hey, 180, man, get me back to my wedding weight, man, that'll be amazing. And then when you blow through it and you're like, that was, yeah, that was, it was difficult, right? it was, it was a lifestyle change and I had my ups and down days. They weren't all fantastic. 

You get in the grind of trying to be a good dad, trying to be the attorney to all your clients that you want to be. So I wasn't perfect in your program, but that commitment to consistency got me to 180 in record time in my mind. And then all of a sudden that, you had ton child and you were like, man, we can get you to 10 to 15 percent body fat, which puts me at 165. And I'm like 180. I'm like, there's no way. And here I am at 173 and I'm like, I'm going to continue to do this, man. I can continue to roll. So it was sort of that, which is, there's a weird follow-up with that too, right? Because I think there's two things in my life that I've always just accepted. 

One of them was my health and I was just like, that's who I'm going to be. And this year has been my awakening and my journey and thank God it's been with you. But it's, it really has given me so much energy. I feel amazing. I pop out of bed every morning. Just my joints feel good. I don't have, I had a reconstructive knee surgery that was starting to ache about a year ago. 

I haven't had a knee problem since probably August. No feelings. I feel great. I've got a fear of heights. And, I've just always had a fear of heights because everybody told me I had a fear of heights and I adopted it doing it. And so now I'm like, all right, I can do this on the health side, it's opened my mind as to what else I can achieve in life. 

And it's a really cool spot to be in at my age. I'm 44 now with 3 little guys, 13, 11 and 9, watching me transform my life from adopting and accepting. You know, even the kids told me at some point along the last few weeks, it's just they're like, dad, you're looking good, man. You're looking really good. You know, I got soccer players, they're all trim and good, but they're like, hey, you're looking good, man.  

For me, the really cool thing about it is not only the physical feeling, the compliments that you get, which is why we're not doing it, but it's still nice, right? It's also that mental just acceptance of man, you don't have to accept what everybody's told you your entire life. 

You can make changes. It's not all genetic, right? You gotta get out there and just work at it and be consistent. And, yeah, I know that I'm not going to be some things in life. I'm not going to have a full head of hair. It is what it is, man. but there are things from a fat standpoint and a cardiac standpoint that I really can't change. 

Ted Ryce: Yeah. Maybe you and I, we take a trip to Turkey, to Istanbul. Maybe we can even change that.  

John: Is that right?  

Ted Ryce: But yeah, it's so powerful. Thanks so much for sharing that. And because that's, it's so powerful when you share a story like that, because this isn't about weight loss. It is about weight loss, but it's really about reclaiming your power in your forties, not feeling like a has been, especially because if you have kids, yeah, or a purpose, you need your health for that. 

And I really try to say that, but I feel like when you share that story of the wake up call, seeing the widow maker in the plaque buildup and artery, and it's man, this is real. That's going to change. It's going to get some people to think and perhaps even do things differently. So thanks so much for sharing that. 

And John, such a powerful, it's one of the most powerful testimonials. I want to ask you for someone who is they're thinking about coaching because they've been in a similar situation, they've tried things, they do it for a few weeks or six weeks or a couple months, then go backwards, and they've done that a bunch of times, you said something where you were excited you joined my program when you got below 200 pounds. Do you feel like you needed to be in a certain place to do coaching because it wouldn't have been right for you? How do you view, like, when was the right moment? Why was it the right moment? And would it have been right before? 

John: Yeah, no, great question, Ted. I think, you asked whether I needed to be at a certain point and you referenced physically. So your trigger there was at 198, under 200 pounds. Was that the right time? I'd argue that probably wasn't as much. I think if you and I had a conversation at 210 or 195, it would have been the same conversation. 

I think the more important question to ask is, were you at the right spot or was there a trigger point mentally? I was, for me, it was definitely the right time. I was accepting of the fact that something had to change. And as we, as you hear stories and about, and I know, you have a very powerful family story. 

I've got loss in mine as well, with a brother that I lost through substance abuse, you've got to, you have to have acceptance of a time to change and acceptance of, and a realization that it's that time. And I think you just hit me at a time, or our interactions came at a time when it was right for me. 

And so I was mentally at a point where I knew my life needed to change for myself. Looking in the mirror. And it wasn't that I wasn't happy with who I was. I'm a pretty spiritual guy. I'm a pretty self-confident guy, but I knew that there was just something that really needed to change. 

And I had a couple of different other trigger points for me over the last couple of years. and, going back to that, I lost my brother at the age of 46, two years ago, which was also a little slap in the face, that the night that happened and you get a hug from one parent and they whisper in your ear, stay healthy. 

And then, 30 minutes later, the other one whispers in your ear, giving you a hug, stay healthy. And they didn't talk to each other. It was just, that's what they were, that hits you hard. And so that was one thing.  

And then, as I started to really try and last year, in the beginning of this year, without, before coaching, I read a couple of books. One of them, Outlive, kind of hit me and was cause I'm a data freak and reading that book, it was like, you know what? I don't have to accept where I am from what everybody's told me throughout my life. I can do this.  

And I think it was when that clicked, I really started searching for the right program, the right coach, cause you, as you mentioned, there's a lot out there, there's a lot of noise. 

And I mentioned that earlier in the podcast, it was for me, I think I've gotten to a maturity level in my life that you can, we all can learn to read people pretty good. And in my business, I've got to read. The real deal from fluff real quick. And so for your stuff, I got to, I got to see it and dig and realize, no, this is, I can do this. I can commit myself because you guys, you and your team are amazing at providing the support. But at the end of the day, you got to dig deep and it's got to be me that shows up, right? It's got to be me that gets out of bed every day and wants it. 

It's got to be me that does the meal prep and the diet. It's got to be me that lifted those weights this morning at 23 degree weather here in Virginia, where we usually don't get it right. It's it was, it's you've got to look in the mirror and be ready to do it. So I go back to your question. Was there a time that hit me? 

Yeah, I was mentally ready for it. And that might have been, that might be somebody at the age of 40, it might be somebody at the age of 60, they just got to be ready to mentally accept and to dedicate and to be and again, commitment to consistency is what it's all about. We're all busy. We all don't have time. 

We can all make excuses, but you gotta be ready to personally sacrifice a little bit of work or a little bit of family time and look in the mirror and realize that none of that matters if you're not here. And for me, that's where I was. I kid you not, man. It was a night in June of 2024 when I saw your tweet that it was like, it's time to, it's time to change. 

Ted Ryce: I love it. I love that. Your wife actually told you to DM me as well.  

John: Yeah, absolutely. She was like, she didn't, she hadn't seen me excited about. Cause she's, she'd been giving me like, Oh, maybe try this. Or do you want to go to some retreat for a week? You think that'll do? I'm like, that's not, come on. 

And when I read that, she was like, That's you! Now! You know that of thing. So, it was awesome, man.  

Ted Ryce: Yeah, it's very cool. I haven't met her, but when clients have that support in their life, that's when it's just those people are, they'd make huge change. Our client Trevor did that. And you're next, John, we're going to get you top shape, man. 

And again, the looks and seeing yourself in the mirror, I would, people say it's not important. I do believe it is, like you mentioned a few times, we can't control unless we want to take a trip to Turkey, and get a procedure done, xan't control like the hair loss, our skin getting, we can do some treatments, but we can control how we look and we can look great. 

Our bodies can look lean, muscular, and more importantly, it's healthy, functional, full of energy in our seventies and eighties, but it has to start now, you can't be an average 40-year-old and expect to be an exceptional 80-year-old.  

John: Yeah, it's that longevity piece of it, right? It's that knowing that the decisions I'm making today are going to make me stronger. 

I've still got my mom and dad alive today, but they're, they got a lot of physical, not a lot, but they've got a number of physical issues they're dealing with in their mid-seventies now. And I attribute a lot of that, I look back on their lives, they had a great life, but a lot of it was just lack of continuing to exercise, continuing to walk and just accepting where they are. So yeah, I, that speaks to me huge, that longevity piece.  

Ted Ryce: Yeah, John, I don't want to keep you too much longer here. It's just an incredible interview. I know you've inspired a lot of people. Would there be anything else that you would say to someone listening right now who's on the fence? They feel like, oh, the program. Yeah, that sounds really interesting. This guy had great results and I've heard a few other people say they've had great results, but I'm not sure. What would you say to that person?  

John: Yeah, I think two things. Number one is, I'll joke a little bit. It's kind of like you get married early and it's like, all right, when are we going to have kids? 

There's never really a right time. You're always going to be able to make excuses. I'd say the same about this. If it's on your mind and you've made the decision that you got to make a change. There's never going to be a right time to do it. You just got to do it. And I think if you can survive phase one, which a little inside joke there, if you can actually get through two weeks of Ted's phase one, you'll quickly realize. I lost six pounds in the first two weeks in phase one, never having dreamed that I'd be able to have results like that. And then it's just been a consistent downhill since then.  

So, for me, I would tell you, you've got to just make the plunge, man, but you got to be ready for it. It's an investment in yourself, and that's the way that I look at it is, would I go and spend some money on some really nice trips or would I go blow some money on a nice boat park for my boat or something like that? 

Absolutely. So why aren't I spending it on the, on the body that I've got? And, I go back to, I think it was Warren Buffett that said, told a bunch of high school students, you get one car in your life when you take care of it. And the, and all of them were like, Oh, absolutely. 

And it's like, all right, you got one body, take care of it. And all of them looked and I always think about that one. And yeah, I would say there's never a perfect time if you're even thinking about it, it's totally worth a call.  

Ted Ryce: John, thanks so much. powerful testimonial today. Powerful story. Thanks so much for sharing this and. man, just blown away and can't wait to see. Can't wait to see what we end up doing with you, what the final product, we'll have to have you come back on and share that journey.  

John: Yeah, I appreciate it, man. And Ted, thank you for everything you and your team do for all of us. 

It's, it's awesome to be a part of it's, a great support group. Your staff, your, the folks who are in the groups with it's, it is an amazing experience. Thank you too, man. We appreciate it.  

Ted Ryce: Oh, thanks so much. My pleasure.