David Creel

I became interested in health and fitness at an early age. In 6th grade I made a New Year's Resolution to go a year without eating sugar--not your typical kid!

My interest in all things health eventually led to years of undergraduate and graduate work in nutrition and exercise physiology. After becoming a registered dietitian and completing 2 degrees in exercise science, I began working in the health field. I was most interested in helping people develop healthy relationships with food and physical activity so they could lose weight, feel better, and live more fully. As I worked hard to help people manage weight, I recognized a gap in my training--the psychology of behavior change. So I went back to school to complete a PhD in clinical psychology. During that time I didn't make any great discoveries about my quirks, but I did become more skilled in helping people navigate the psychological aspects of weight management.

During my training at Louisiana State University and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, I learned a great deal about how our genetics, appetite regulation, the environment, and metabolic adaptation make losing weight and keeping it off so difficult. Although I have seen these factors interfere with success, my interactions with patients have proven that weight loss maintenance is possible. It is always my goal to help clients develop skills and use the tools that will help them most.

From 2006 to 2019 I worked at St. Vincent Bariatrics, helping people overcome obstacles to successfully manage their weight. In 2019 I joined the Metabolic and Bariatric Institute at Cleveland Clinic. Some of my patients choose to have bariatric surgery or take weight-loss medications and others lose weight through diet and exercise alone. My work is extremely rewarding and I love being a part of other people's life transformation. I primarily work with adults, although a small portion of my career has been focused on helping families who have a child with excess weight. I am also fortunate to be part of a research team. The main focus of my research has been on exercise promotion among those with excess weight.

This book is a project that I poured my soul into. My hope is to help as many people as possible take a new perspective, eat better, move more, feel better, and live with purpose.

I live in the Cleveland area with my wife and our two goofy kids. I love hiking with them in our beautiful metro parks, riding my bike every chance I get, and playing table tennis with anyone willing to grab a paddle and stand on the other side of the net.