Cooking healthy meals at home is an essential part of living a wholesome lifestyle, but many don’t know where to start. Celebrity chef Mark Anthony hopes to help the Turlock community learn how to cook a variety of healthy menu items when he visits the city in October, sharing the secrets that helped him transform his life.

Anthony lost 80 pounds by shifting his diet to a “plant strong” lifestyle, dropping his cholesterol from 263 to 118 in the process and removing himself from the diabetic short list. The chef is a regular on 3ABN worldwide television and often hosts free cooking shows throughout the nation, teaching audiences how to cook healthy and save money doing so.

“It’s not mysterious or difficult and I want people to know that it is realistic,” said Anthony.

On Oct. 9, Anthony will bring his Dinner and a Message cooking show to Turlock. Anthony cooks everything in front of the crowd while teaching the principles of healthy cooking. While Anthony does focus on creating healthy meals using clean ingredients, food is not the only factor when it comes to leading a healthy life.

“It's not your ordinary boring cooking class,” said Anthony. “I also illustrate the connection between body, mind and spirit. It is actually proven that when we get physically healthier, we also get mentally healthier and that we also have better spiritual connections. It's so amazing how our bodies are connected in so many different ways.”

The chef’s meals are focused around a vegan diet and aim to remove all processed foods and chemicals that contribute to diseases such as atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. Show by show, Anthony hopes to help the nation revert back to the “healthy lifestyle we used to have here in America.”

Anthony’s Dinner and a Message show will begin at 3 p.m. at the Turlock Seventh-day Adventist Church, located at 2400 N. Olive Ave. The event is free of charge and open to the public.