“This question also leads us into some big announcements that we have, because we realize that there is a huge gap between all the information that you’re getting from the fitness world and the wellness world out there, and medical care.  And we’ve been living in both of these worlds.  We’ve been living in the fitness world through CrossFit, we’ve been living in the medical world through our training for the past ten years, and we see that there’s a huge gap, and we feel like that is really our purpose and our position is to fill that gap, to bridge that gap.  So, that being said, today we are launching a brand new website which is bringing together all of the different things that we’ve been working on over the past few years in such a way to help bridge that gap.” – Drs. Dani Urcuyo & Julie Foucher-Urcuyo

Daniel Urcuyo is a board certified family physician and has completed his training with the Institute for Functional Medicine.  He graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Microbiology and completed his medical school and residency training at the Cleveland Clinic.  Dani is also a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer, co-founder of the TRAIN with Julie Foucher program, and a former CrossFit Games team competitor.

Dani also happens to be my husband and the person who introduced me to CrossFit! We first met in college (over an episode of Grey’s Anatomy!), and as we progressed through our medical training, we both shared a frustration with the inability of our conventional medical system to address the root causes of disease.  After witnessing the power of lifestyle to improve overall health via our time in CrossFit affiliates, we knew we wanted to practice a different kind of medicine: one that harnesses the power of lifestyle and is rooted in communities.

In this episode, I’m excited to give you a peek behind the curtain to learn more about Dani as we talk about how we met, answer listener questions, and make a big announcement about the improvements coming to Pursuing Health and our vision for the future!

Included in this episode:

• Dani’s background: his culture, his family, and his little-known talents
• What drew Dani to medicine
• How Dani and Julie met, including how he introduced Julie to CrossFit
• What led Dani to select family medicine after initially planning to pursue transplant surgery
• His experience competing at the 2011 CrossFit Games
• Dani’s experience working with SteadyMD
• Dani’s perspective on the CrossFit Health movement and the ongoing networking events CrossFit hosts for doctors
• How to know if your doctor understands your fitness and performance goals, and how to find a doctor whose values are in line with your own
• Julie & Dani’s big announcement: Pursuing Health
• Dani’s morning routine
• What you can expect from our new website, Pursuing Health: the Morning5, Train for Life, TRAIN with Julie Foucher, recipes, stories from individuals using lifestyle to overcome challenges, discount codes and more
• How the podcast will be growing and expanding
• Why it’s so important to Dani & Julie to avoid influence from industry
• An opportunity for listeners to support the podcast and receive special benefits
• How Julie and Dani uphold their relationship despite busy schedules
• What fostered Dani and Julie’s interest in health and drive to pursue it
• The opportunities they have created for each other
• Three things Dani does on a regular basis that have the biggest positive impact on his health
• One thing he struggles to implement that could have a big impact on his health
• What a healthy life looks like to Dani

You can follow Dani on Instagram.  You can follow Pursuing Health via our new website and on Instagram.

Links:

• Blue Zones
• HyperFit USA
• International Baccalaureate Program
• Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
• Cleveland Clinic Health Education Campus
• Normothermic Preserved Livers Successfully Transplanted at Cleveland Clinic
• Christiano Quintini, MD
• The Ongoing Statins Debate
• Major Victory for CrossFit: Judge Orders Terminating and Massive Monetary Sanctions Against the NSCA

Related Episodes:

Ep 07 – Dr. Mark Hyman on Functional Medicine, the future, and community

Ep 66 – Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove on Lifestyle, Healthcare, and Persistence

Ep 111 – A New Model for Primary Care with Dr. Ken Rictor

Ep 116 – How Healing Work with Dr. Wayne Jonas

Ep 118 – The State of CrossFit with Coach Greg Glassman

Ep 120 – All About Keto with Dr. Dom D’Agostino

Ep 125 – Bridging the Gap Between the Hospital and the CrossFit Affiliate

If you like this episode, please subscribe to Pursuing Health on iTunes and give it a rating. I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below and on social media using the hashtag #PursuingHealth. I look forward to bringing you future episodes with inspiring individuals and ideas about health every other Tuesday.

Disclaimer: This podcast is meant to share the experiences of various individuals. It does not provide medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from your physician or health care professional.