My Story — Why I Started Apex Life

For most of my adult life, fitness has always been part of who I am. I’ve run for years. I’ve lifted. I’ve backpacked, hunted, hiked, camped—anything that got me outdoors and pushed me physically. I wasn’t someone who “didn’t try.” In fact, I tried hard.

And for a long time, it worked… kind of.
My pattern was predictable: I’d buckle down, dial in my diet, hit a consistent workout routine, and drop 20–30 pounds. I’d keep it off for a year or two, but then—slowly, quietly—it would creep back. A pound here, a pound there. Life got busy, stress piled up, and eventually I’d find myself back at square one, wondering how it happened again.

Then I got COVID—and everything changed. Something in my metabolism just felt “off.” I wasn’t losing weight the way I used to. My old systems weren’t working anymore. And then, to top it off, I blew out my knee. Suddenly, the things that used to help me reset—running, hiking, getting outside—weren’t an option. My weight climbed fast. Before I knew it, I was over 250 pounds, frustrated, discouraged, and honestly… pretty stuck.

Around that time, everyone in my office started trying GLP-1 medications. I watched their energy come back. I saw people getting their lives back. Finally, I decided, “Why not me too?”
So I started.

And it changed everything.

Within six months, I went from over 250 lbs to 188. I lost more than 60 pounds—more than the weight of a fully loaded pack I would take elk hunting. I remember picking my pack up one day and thinking, “I used to carry THIS around every single day.”

That fall, I went elk hunting with my teenage boys in Colorado, and for the first time in years… I felt unstoppable. I climbed those mountains like a mountain goat. I kept up easily. Actually—I outdid them. The confidence, the strength, the freedom I felt in my own body again… it was honestly emotional.

But here’s the part I’m most proud of:
I tapered off the GLP-1s and kept the weight off. For two years. No rebound. No crash.

That experience changed the entire trajectory of my life and my career. I realized something important:

This isn’t about being skinny. It’s about getting your life back.
It’s about being able to hike with your kids, hunt, travel, climb mountains, explore the world, and stay strong long into old age—without your body holding you back.

That’s why I started Apex Life.

I don’t prescribe medications and send people on their way. I coach, I teach, I guide, and I walk the path with my patients because I’ve lived this journey myself. I know the frustration. I know the cycles. I know what it’s like to feel like your body just won’t respond anymore. I know the fear of getting heavier and more limited as the years tick by.

But I also know the other side—the freedom, the strength, the energy, the confidence, and the life you get back when you finally break out of that cycle.

Apex Life exists because I’m passionate about helping real people get real, lasting results—not quick fixes, not temporary wins. I want people to feel what I felt: the moment you realize the weight of your pack is lighter than the weight you’ve already taken off your body. The moment you can move freely again. The moment your life opens up.

If I can do it—with seven kids, multiple jobs, building businesses, blowing out my knee, getting off track, and feeling stuck—you can do it too.

And I’m here to help you every step of the way.

                                                                                                     ~ Daniel Ferguson, FNP-C