03:42 PM Mountain Standard Time on Wednesday, November 3, 2004

By Beverly Kidd and Brandy Aguilar / NewsChannel 3

Mina Hobbi knew what she had to do to lose weight, but getting motivated took some time. Once she overcame her fear of failure, she not only lost all her unhealthy weight, but she also started to help people in the situation she found herself in four years ago.

"I ate not because I thought the food would taste good," Hobbi explained. "I ate because I didn't feel good about me. I would eat to feel better."

Hobbi, 50, didn't want to look to food as a source of comfort any longer. And she knew that if she didn't shed those extra pounds, she'd be in real trouble.

"I had not seen my feet for years," she said. "I had migraine headaches. I was diagnosed as being clinically depressed and I was also winded going down stairs."

Hobbi decided to take part in the Body for Life Challenge, a 12-week program that shows participants how to eat right and exercise.

Hobbi started the program back in 1997, but it wasn't until January 2000 that she got down to business. She weighed in at 200 pounds.

"I really didn't follow the Body for Life Challenge to a tee," she said. "You really didn't have to in order to become a champion. It was just the fact that I was willing to do the work."

Hobbi started her transformation in the food department. She went from eating ice cream and cheesecake every day to more fruits and vegetables, a lot of brown rice and plenty of water.

Exercise was a little more difficult.

Instead of hitting the gym right away, she walked the first seven and a half months. She eventually added weight lifting and cardio into her daily exercise regimen.

It took Hobbi four 12-week Body for Life programs to help her reach her goal weight. She lost 85 pounds in 11 months, now weighing in at 115.

"I knew I was going to fall off and I said, 'When I fall off, I'm going to dust myself off and get up.'"

Hobbi also changed career paths. She became a fitness coach and now helps people like Olivia Quist live healthier lives.

"I didn't quite have the weight to lose that Mina did," Quist said. "But she's been through it and knows how to do it."

"I like going over there and holding them like a child," Hobbi said. "I say, 'I know your pain and I know where you are and you don't have to be there.'"

To contact Hobbi, call (602) 735-3993.

If you have a weight-loss story you would like to share, give us a call at (602) 207-3644 or e-mail us at weightloss@azfamily.com.