What if your strongest years are still ahead of you? At 64, Mary Ann Butler entered her first fitness competition... and won. But her story didn't begin on a bodybuilding stage. It started years earlier, with a career in pain management, a growing curiosity about hormone health, and a personal experience that changed the direction of her medical practice. In this episode of The Dr. Terri Show, Dr. Terri sits down with Mary Ann Butler, ANP-C, a board-certified nurse practitioner with more than two decades of experience in medicine. From her wellness practice in Lumberton, Texas, to her role training and mentoring clinicians with EVEXIAS, Mary Ann has dedicated much of her career to exploring approaches to hormone health, pain management, and longevity.
Together, they discuss how recognizing symptoms of testosterone deficiency in her husband—and hearing unexpected stories from pain patients receiving hormone therapy—led Mary Ann to rethink conventional approaches to care. They explore the often-overlooked role of testosterone in women's health, the relationship between hormones and pain, and how peptide therapies became part of Mary Ann's clinical practice. They also discuss why peptide therapy requires knowledgeable medical oversight rather than a do-it-yourself approach. Then the conversation turns personal. After a decade of consistent strength training alongside her husband, Mary Ann decided to challenge herself in an entirely new way. With just 16 weeks of competition preparation, she stepped onto the stage at 64 and won her first fitness competition. Her message? Age doesn't have to determine what you're capable of achieving.
---- What you’ll discover:
How the opioid crisis and a pain conference pointed her toward hormones (00;03;50)
Her husband’s testosterone story, and what supplements can hide (00;04;19)
Why testosterone in women was the missing puzzle piece (00;07;48)
Why creams fell short for so many of their patients (00;08;29)
How hormones play into pain and inflammation (00;09;37)
How peptides entered her practice (00;12;13)
Why peptide therapy is a medical specialty, not a DIY project (00;13;33)
How peptides that support growth hormone signaling can help with sleep, recovery, and aging well (00;16;25)
Deciding to compete, and what actually changed in her diet (00;19;40)
What a 16-week contest prep looked like (00;25;24)
“Muscle is currency,” and how to start where you are, even with injuries (00;27;08)
It's never too late to set a new goal, build strength, or discover what your body is capable of. Join Dr. Terri and Mary Ann Butler for a conversation about hormones, peptides, longevity, and challenging the expectations that often come with aging.