As founder and owner of healthy gourmet products manufacturer "The Body Gourmet," Jim Shiebler has combined his interest in the food and fitness industries. A classically trained gourmet chef and lifetime natural bodybuilder, he knows how to please your palate while pumping up your pecs.
A graduate of the California Culinary Academy, Jim trained as a chef at some of the finest hotels and restaurants, including six in "The Leading Hotels of the World" group. He perfected his technique at establishments such as Le Cirque in Manhattan; The Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua, Hawaii; The Fairmont in San Jose; and The Sheraton Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
Jim is also a serious athlete. He focuses on bodybuilding and martial arts, training four hours a day, five days a week. His regimen includes natural weight and flexibility training.
Jim is a natural teacher and his teaching techniques have continuously packed students in for his curriculum, "Eclectic Fitness Cuisine," at the California Culinary Academy. Jim also writes 12 monthly food, recipe, nutrition and fitness columns in fitness, health, bodybuilding, lifestyle, and martial arts publications. In the past three years, Jim has published more than 80 articles in magazines such as Ironman, Oxygen, Men's Fitness, Sunset and Let’s Live. He recently gathered a collection of his favorite recipes and cooking techniques into a healthy gourmet cookbook, to be published in June 2000.
On cable, Jim currently co-hosts "Fitting It In," a fitness and cooking program on The Health Network. As a co-host, Jim creates delicious, low-fat, healthy meals for a viewership of 22 million households. Jim will also be appearing on The Food Network’s Valentine Special, "Food & Romance," which will air in February 2000. In addition, Jim is a spokesman for housewares manufacturer Salton Inc. He sells the company’s products on the shopping channel QVC.
Jim has expanded into retail with a line of The Body Gourmet spice blends, sold through gourmet food stores in the United States and abroad. He plans to expand the brand to include healthy gourmet sauces, dressings and frozen meals.
Jim is also executive chef and co-owner of Mandalay, a Los Angeles restaurant for which he developed a new Asian-fusion menu and where he shows off his classic French training. He plans to make Mandalay the first of a chain of franchise restaurants and cafes nationwide.
Jim has served as a eucharistic minister at his local Catholic church for the past six years, and he also volunteers as a bodybuilding instructor at a juvenile detention center.