Rancho Santa Fe Movers And Shakers

This month our series takes us into the Ranch, an enclave predominantly made up of movers and shakers. Featured here are just two of the many dynamos who are honored to call Rancho Santa Fe home.

 

Christoper Reich

Rancho Santa Fe might seem a tad sedate for author Christopher Reich, far removed from the dangerous setting of his latest spy thriller, “a shadowy world of double and triple agents,” evil arms dealers, and Taliban terrorists. But Reich, who moved to the area with his family more than nine years ago, calls the Ranch “one of the most beautiful corners of the world.”

 

He should know. Born in Tokyo to an American mother and Swiss father, Reich has traveled the globe ever since. He worked as a stock broker, investment banker, and CEO of a Swiss watch company before giving up a six-figure salary to become a writer. No matter that he hadn’t taken English classes in college.

 

But that gamble paid off big time for Reich, who has written eight international thrillers, all of them New York Times bestsellers. His recently released Rules of Betrayal was among the top-selling eBooks on Kindle.

 

A hands-on dad with two daughters, Reich also puts in some serious time at the office, a monastic, 12-by-12-foot white-walled “cell” where he writes the first draft of his novels in longhand. There’s no phone, no fax, no Internet to distract him. “Discipline is the hardest part, so I just remove temptation,” he explains. With contracts to write a book a year, Reich says he doesn’t have the luxury of writer’s block.

 

Reich still travels widely to research his books, but he’s put down firm roots in the Ranch. “I really think there’s no better place for a child to grow up in the world than here,” he says. “My older daughter rides, my younger daughter plays tennis. They’re outdoors all the time. Great schools. Nice people. It’s the best.”

 

Will Rancho Santa Fe ever figure into one of his thrillers? “Why not?” he asks, envisioning a “sprawling saga” about how it came to be. “The good, the bad, the romance, the intrigue, people who made fortunes and lost fortunes,” he says. “That would be a great book.”   ANDREA NAVERSEN

 

 

Jonathan M. Haynes

Jonathan M. Haynes, MD received his medical degree from Oregon Health Medical School, completed his training in family medicine at the University of Washington’s Vancouver residency program, and decided to move south to sunny San Diego after receiving his board certification. “After growing up in the gray of Seattle, to be able to live in the Ranch and to work on Cedros Avenue a couple blocks from the ocean is incredible,” Haynes notes.

 

Through the years, Haynes grew frustrated watching his patients struggle with health problems resulting from being overweight. In 2008 he decided to dedicate himself full-time to helping people lose weight. “There was not a pivotal moment,” Haynes explains. “It was the accumulation of treating hundreds of patients with weight-related illness by simply giving them medication, when the real solution was weight loss. Since leaving private practice and dedicating myself full time to weight loss, I feel like I have done far more to improve people’s health than I did as a practicing physician.”

 

There is no magic formula to Haynes’ One Life Diet, designed to create rapid weight loss in a way that yields permanent results. We all know that weight loss is a matter of exercise and caloric intake. “The problem with counting calories is that it is a pain,” Haynes notes. “Our solution was to simplify it by creating a system of “Food-Blocks,” which greatly simplifies the process of learning about appropriate portion size.

 

Haynes works with clients one-on-one, reviewing handouts he’s written and troubleshooting any challenges they might be facing. Clients receive a weekly injection of vitamin B-12 along with some other essential amino acids and vitamins, which play an essential role in metabolism. And while he’d never name names, Haynes affirms that there’s been a long list of clients whose experiences have been more than optimal. “This isn’t just about losing weight but about making people’s lives better,” he notes. “Every day I have the chance to not only improve people’s health, but I get to help them feel good about themselves.”

 

When not reshaping his One Life clients’ lives, Haynes continues to work one day a week as an urgent care physician. He also serves on the medical advisory board for Mama Maria Kenya, a nonprofit that provides medical care to the rural poor of East Africa. He spends his free time with his wife and their two young sons. (858/793-9500, www.onelifediet.com)   MIA STEFANKO