Chantel Hobbs
After being obese since adolescence and having been frustrated by several weight-loss plans, Chantel Hobbs designed her own fitness program at age twenty-nine and at a weight of 349 pounds. She lost 100 pounds in the first nine months, 172 in eighteen months, and has now lost more than 200 pounds. She appeared on Oprah as the featured guest for "Incredible Weight-Loss Stories," was selected as the lead interview on Oprah's 20th anniversary show, and has been asked back on the program twice. Her story has been featured on Good Morning America, Inside Edition, Entertainment Tonight, the Bravo network, and in all the Florida news stations and newspapers. In June 2006 she graced the cover of People Magazine, and her story was given a four-page spread. Her website now generates hundreds of thousands of hits per month and she has a growing following for her newsletters, web advice, and forthcoming book.
Chantel is a certified spinning instructor, a personal trainer in South Florida, and a running coach for Team in Training, a branch of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She is a frequent motivational speaker and an occasional model, and she lives in Coral Springs with her husband and their four children.