Many might remember her as the chubby girl in the 'Goodbye, Carlo' ad for a hotdog brand back in the early 90s, but Chantal Umali has gone a long way from her TV commercial and showbiz days. She is now a wife, a mother, and an inspiration to those who want a healthier lifestyle. Know more about her amazing weight loss journey as a yoga enthusiast in this gallery.
Today, Chantal is very much confident with her body and has impressively maintained her weight. She hopes to share her love for yoga to everyone who wishes to have a healthier lifestyle.
Aside from practicing yoga, Chantal is also a yoga instructor at Yoga Philippines, having earned her Ashtanga Vinyasa Teacher Training Certificate under Ashtanga Vinyasa 108's Jovan Nikolic.
Chantal with the love of her life, Leo, whom she met in a bar. She knew then that she was going to marry him. Their daughter, Elliana, was the best thing that ever happened to them and "rules and dictates [Chantal's] life."
Elliana is now eight years old. Chantal admits to enjoying having a grade schooler even if she misses having a toddler.
Another source of inspiration for Chantal is her daughter Elliana, who was still a toddler when this photo was taken.
Chantal credits yoga as the main cause of her physical transformation. Here she is during her early yoga days, doing a crane pose.
Throwback photos keep Chantal motivated and put things in perspective during her weight loss. She captioned this as "Some days, I feel like my weight yoyos and my daily efforts don’t amount to much, but I know that when put together, small steps turn into big leaps. Hoping to stay healthy so I can flaunt it for good!"
Three days before her wedding anniversary in 2015, Chantal posted her wedding photo. She thanked her husband Leo Mercado for always being supportive throughout her journey.
With the help of yoga and a proper diet, Chantal was able to shed off her unwanted pounds. On November 2012, she posted a before-and-after photo of herself 251 days after she started practicing yoga. By then, she had lost 49 lbs.
Chantal admits to being overweight for a long time. She posted this photo taken in 2011 where she weighed 150 lbs. She writes, "Say hello to my pudgy face, massive arms and back fat...let me say that being of a larger figure is absolutely okay as long as one is happy with themselves and healthy. I was neither."
After her commercial stint, Chantal eventually entered showbiz. She was cast as Happy in the second batch of T.G.I.S. (Thank God It's Sabado), a youth-oriented show in the Kapuso network. She belongs to the same batch as Dingdong Dantes, Antoinette Taus, Sunshine Dizon, Polo Ravales, Dino Guevarra, and Kim delos Santos.
Chantal Umali captured the hearts of televiewers in the early 90s when she starred in a Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdog commercial with a very young Patrick Garcia. Her monologue while writing in her diary, which ended with 'Goodbye, Carlo!' became an instant hit during that time.
Chantal was among Huffington Post's "25 Instagram Micro-Influencers to Watch Out for in 2018."
She is also one of the ambassadors of slimming center Marie France.