What started out as a New Year’s resolution has resulted in an extraordinary lifestyle transformation. On January 17, 2006 Dave Mellish weighed 363 pounds and was 43% body fat. At only 34 years old and severely obese, he realized that if changes were not made his life was already more than half over. He was recently married and entertaining the idea of starting a family. For himself and for the future of his family, he and his wife enrolled in a weight loss class.

The class, “Well Centered” at MBC Fitness in Westmont, IL secured the foundation for what is now a healthy lifestyle that he and his family have adopted for life. He implemented simple changes in his diet and began exercising every single day. It began as a fifteen minute walk and culminated on October 7, 2007 by running the Chicago Marathon. In the past eighteen months he has lost nearly 150 pounds and dropped his body fat to 9.1%.

In 2007 Dave was the recipient of the American Heart Association Lifestyle Change Award winner and has been featured on NBC Channel 5 in Chicago as well as Co-Hosting Fit Today on CLTV.

A former standout athlete at Downers Grove South High School where he was a special mention All-State football player, he went on to achieve Honorable Mention All American Honors at the College of DuPage as an offensive lineman studying marketing and finance. From there he traveled to Wayne, Nebraska to play for Division II Wayne State College and study physical education.

After teaching at a severe behavior and emotional disorder school for three years, he entered the world of mortgages, as a residential and later commercial loan officer. It was during these days when the weight began to pile on. A lifestyle of entertaining clients and neglecting exercise really took its toll on the body. The only way he knew that he would never put the weight back on was to leave his life in financing and enter the world of health and wellness.

Now Dave is a NASM certified personal trainer at MBC Fitness and a certified SPIN instructor. He also teaches “bootcamp” fitness classes and works with young athletes to improve their speed, agility and strength. In addition, he is now the Director for the “Well Centered” weight loss class that he was once a student of and looks to help others achieve the weight loss and personal gratification that he experiences everyday.

The most important thing he learned in his weight loss journey was how important putting the right foods at the right time of day was to sustain a healthy lifestyle. To ensure the quality of the ingredients and proper preparation, he began cooking all his own foods. A new passion was born.

After many years of honing his craft he now has preformed numerous healthy cooking demonstrations both corporate and private. He has been invited to guest chef at a local restaurant and catered many private parties. What stands out the most is his continuous pursuit of gathering culinary knowledge and skills. Menu planning and recipe writing, and constant experimenting have also fueled his enthusiasm for cooking.

Now going on over twelve years of sustaining a 150 pound weight loss, his contagious approach to a well balanced healthy lifestyle has once again reached a new level.