Amber O’Neal is an odd candidate for becoming an expert on healthy living and weight loss.  As an overweight adolescent, exercise was something that she despised with a passion and avoided at all costs – even volunteering to grade papers for the teacher rather than endure recess outside with the other kids.  While she grew up on healthy food, portion control was an unknown entity, and by middle school she had become the dreaded “big girl.”

At age 14, Amber became keenly aware that she would have to do something different to break the cycle of obesity that seemed to plague her loved ones. “Nearly every woman in my extended family had been dieting my entire life, yet they were still overweight and unhappy,” says Amber.  Committed to changing her figure and her fate, she began listening to her body and taking aerobics classes.  As the pounds whittled away, she felt empowered for the first time.

After gaining the typical “freshman fifteen” in college despite her newfound love for physical activity, she began to pay closer attention to her eating habits – reading every nutrition magazine and book that she could get her hands on.  Through her own self-study and experimentation, she found ways to satisfy her appetite without going overboard, and with that she began her healthy living journey.

After graduate school, a friend suggested that Amber become certified to teach aerobics since she was always at the gym anyway.  Originally thinking it was an absurd idea, she eventually pursued the certification and found her true calling as a part-time aerobics instructor at a major fitness chain.  After quickly realizing that many of her students needed more intimate instruction in order to reach their goals, she later became a certified personal trainer – all while maintaining her “day job” in Corporate America.

Years later, Amber was ready to make a pivotal career change.  In 2006, her Atlanta, Georgia based mobile fitness and nutrition business, Café Physique, was born out of Amber’s desire to offer a 360-degree approach to fitness.  Convinced that for the ordinary person, progress would not be permanent without habit-altering lifestyle changes, she designed a company that offers full lifestyle management in the form of fitness training, nutrition coaching, weight loss management, and other wellness-related educational services.

With over 8 years of professional experience, Amber is well-respected by her peers in the health and wellness community.  In addition to speaking to audiences across the nation, she is a freelance fitness and nutrition writer and media expert who has been featured in numerous newspapers and magazines including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Marie Claire and Heart & Soul. Her television appearances include CBS, NBC and FOX affiliates as well as the NBC Nightly News.