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Jim Karas is a nationally-recognized fitness and weight loss expert who is widely sought after as a keynote speaker for inspiring his audiences to take control of their fitness level and live a healthier lifestyle.  Many of the country's most prominent corporations, small businesses and special interest groups use Jim’s expertise to provide practical solutions to real world problems everyone encounters when dealing with issues such as energy management, weight loss and stress reduction.  Utilizing his Three E Approach™ - Empower, Educate and Entertain – Jim leaves his audiences believing a healthy lifestyle is within reach and, more importantly, knowing how to get there.

Jim Karas is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Business Plan for the Body and Flip The Switch. He is the Fitness Contributor on ABC’s Good Morning America (he helped co-host Diane Sawyer lose 25 pounds) in addition to being the host of Couch Potatoes on ABC News Now.  He has also been seen regularly on CNN, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, Extra, Fox News, ABC7 in Chicago and Cityline in Toronto.

Jim has served as a Contributing Editor for Good Housekeeping magazine and has written feature articles for countless other national publications, including “O” The Oprah Magazine. Named among the best personal trainers in the country by Allure magazine, Jim has been featured in such major magazines and newspapers as Vogue, Time, People, US News & World Report, In-Touch Weekly, More, US Weekly, Self, Town & Country, Tycoon, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Men’s Health, Chicago and Odyssey Magazine, The New York Times, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Karas is the founder of Jim Karas Personal Training, LLC, which has worked with over 500 clients in Chicago and New York, including ABC’s Diane Sawyer and Cynthia McFadden, CNN’s Paula Zahn, and actors Hugh Jackman (Jim got him in the best shape of his life for filming X Men 3: The Last Stand), Rachel Weisz, Candace Bergen and Emma Thompson. The firm is founded upon the philosophy that exercise achieves the greatest results only when delivered through consistently superior service. Jim has achieved this success by skillfully blending his Ivy League education (he’s a graduate of the Wharton School of Business) with his passion for helping people look and feel their very best.