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Doctor sheds pounds with Zumba class

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9:14 AM Friday, May 8, 2009

David Mesker of Butler Twp. decided before turning 50 to make some changes in his life.

Mesker, a physician with a busy practice, had fallen into the trap in which many Americans find themselves — working long hours and simply becoming too tired or stressed to fit physical activity into daily lives.

“I was getting more and more overweight,” Mesker said. “I knew my dad had heart disease and we had other health issues due to obesity in my family.”

As a doctor, Mesker said he should have known better. “But I focused on my patients and didn’t think so much about my own health.”

Ironically, it was Dr. Mesker’s wife, Chris, who sat her husband down and talked with him seriously about his health.

“He was getting no exercise and his snoring was getting really bad,” Chris said. “It was affecting my sleep and our marriage.”

So Mesker started out by running on a treadmill. “I was pretty self-conscious about how I looked so I just wanted to exercise in private,” he said.

For the past two years, Chris had been participating in Zumba classes, the new Latin dance exercise sensation that is sweeping the local area. Classes are available throughout the area, including the Huber Heights and Englewood Y’s, but when Studio Zumba opened in Vandalia, Chris started attending there.

“It was convenient and fun and I was hooked immediately,” Chris said. “And I’d always tell Dave I was going and ask him to join me.”

Studio Zumba offers a variety of classes that not only improve cardiovascular health but help build muscle mass.

“I wasn’t sure about walking into a place that specialized in aerobic dance,” Mesker said. “I didn’t want to look like an idiot and I knew there weren’t very many men there.”

But his wife was his inspiration. Down 18 pounds since she started classes and in “probably the best shape I’ve been in my life,” Chris also takes pump classes to build muscle in addition to cardio. “I get comments all the time about how good I look,” Chris said.

Mesker started classes himself in February of 2008.

“I was nervous about learning the routines but once I learned them, I also figured out how to pace myself and get a good workout,” he said. “No one laughs at you. You don’t have to be perfect.” According to Mesker, he and his wife encourage and push each other and Zumba is their favorite joint activity. “We tried golf and some other things but Zumba is really our dedicated time together now,” he said.

Working 55-60 hours a week at his busy practice in Englewood, Mesker now devotes four evenings a week to his Zumba workout, leaving the office early and going back to work after he exercises.

“You have to make this a priority,” Mesker said. “No matter what exercise program you choose.” Now down nearly 40 pounds from his heaviest weight, Mesker said his patients often ask him what he is doings. “There are so many health issues because of obesity, including hypertension and diabetes,” Mesker said.

Studio Zumba in Vandalia is owned by Doug and Joan Jones, and though Chris says that more women attend classes than men, more men are signing up each month. “There is camaraderie at the studio,” Chris said. “The instructors are energetic and passionate and I really think it’s a cycle of inspiration that is never ending.”

Contact this columnist at (937) 475-8212 or banspach@woh.rr.com.

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