Page 60 - Panama City Living July-August 2019

soil and raked it around in the last few days, only a small part of the activities that contribute to the family’s active and healthy lifestyle.
A large expanse of the yard is set up to be a playing field
for the boys, complete with two goals and field markers.
Adjacent to their personal field of dreams, a beautiful
garden boasts colorful flowers and vegetable beds.
Chickens are happily rustling about in a large enclosed
coop. The unique yard is complemented by a sparkling
pool that serves not just for fun and relaxation, but is the training area for an exercise program that Dr. Merritt and wife Regina, a physical therapist, developed as part of an ongoing research project.
Branded “VitalityPro,” the program offers half-day training camps to people who are ready or planning to get ready for new challenges in life. From pro athlete to cancer survivor, individuals and groups from all walks of life have participated in the VitalityPro program, with eye- and mind-opening effects, all executed in the family’s expansive backyard.
To say the family is busy is certainly an understatement. Dr. Merritt published “The 17 Hour Fast,” a book that shares research and experiences derived from helping a close friend, Jason, who had been diagnosed with brain cancer. He had been given only six months to live. After surgery, radiation, and chemo treatments, Jason followed a rigorous nutrition plan that Dr. Merritt helped create, and with the relentless love and support from wife Kim and
their two children, Jason lived a fulfilled and happy life for seven more years after the initial diagnosis.
The last meeting with Jason will be engrained in Dr. Merritt’s mind forever. “I remember how Jason and I sat in rocking chairs on his porch, reminiscing about our lives and the success of him being alive. He suddenly looks at me and says, ‘Frank, promise me that you'll do something with all this information.’ I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ but he insisted and made me promise.”
Jason died a month later and Regina and Frank both think that he somehow knew it would be their last time together. But Jason had planted a seed back then that finally took root years later. Frank took time off to write “The 17 Hour Fast” as a tribute to Jason and in the hope that it would help others. “The book is based on the theory that every other cell in the body except cancer cells can live on ketones,” Dr. Merritt explains. “In addition to cancer treatments, Jason fasted and dieted. Living for seven more years
60 • July–August 2019 • www.PanamaCityLiving.com