Amos Knoll is fired up about fighting obesity. After hearing Michelle Obama promote her "Let's Move" campaign, Knoll decided to do some moving of his own. He penned a book, “The Chubby Conqueror,” with the ambition of shaking things up and creating a grassroots movement to support healthful choices.Knoll wanted to build on the first lady's message by making it more accessible. "Like any other well-intended government program," he says, "there's a lot of bureaucracy involved. If you're the average guy on the street who wants to get involved, you have to go through a bunch of agencies."
“The Chubby Conqueror” will serve as the rallying point, but Knoll's broader goal is to use it as a catalyst for the social networking support platform, TrimLand. Very similar to an early version of Facebook, TrimLand is envisioned as a virtual support system that's always available.
"‘Let's Move’ doesn't have a grassroots foundation," Knoll explains, "So I decided to build one. The U.S. spends approximately $147 billion in obesity-related ailments, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. This means that if we are successful, in 10 years our nation could save almost $1.5 trillion in healthcare. I would be helping our national budget while impacting obesity in this country—a true win-win."
"What we are doing is simply tying in all the different organizations and people who are involved or want to be involved with fighting the obesity epidemic," Knoll says. "We have approximately 200 million obese people in America. TrimLand will give members a goal, a purpose, the ability to communicate with other members, encouragement, and games 24 hours a day."
Based on the story of Billy, an overweight 12-year-old, “The Chubby Conqueror” teaches the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle in an accessible, motivating story. "Everyone who's read the book has been impressed with it," Knoll says. "It's about inspiration. It doesn't say you can't eat; it's basically just mind over matter."
Knoll likens the concept to that of an Olympian. "What makes a champion is first wanting it and visualizing it. You've got to see yourself being there," he explains. "It's the same concept with “The Chubby Conqueror”—you've got to train your mind, and your body will follow."
There are no quick fixes for weight loss, and Knoll knows it. "You didn't gain the weight overnight,” he said. “None of us did. The book is about inspiration."
“The Chubby Conqueror” is Knoll's second book. His first, “The Flower That Could Not Talk,” was a self-published endeavor that received wide support. Knoll is currently negotiating new publishing deals for both books.
Once his work is available in bookstores for families across the country, Knoll can pursue his goal of improving the health of the U.S. population, one chubby conqueror at a time.
Readers can learn more by contacting Knoll at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
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