'Workout chick' wins national contest

Sloan's prize: 5 days in Hollywood

MIKE STOBBE

Staff Writer

Charlotte's self-proclaimed "workout chick" will go to Hollywood, thanks to her victory in a national contest. Tanya Sloan, a 31-year-old banker/fitness enthusiast recently profiled in the Observer, has won the "Look Like a Star" contest held by Oxygen women's fitness magazine. The magazine chose Sloan from more than 1,500 contestants who followed a special regimen to lose weight and improve fitness. Sloan lost 13 pounds over three months, dropping to 142 on a 5-foot-6-inch frame, and got into triathlon shape.

Her prize is a five-day trip to Hollywood that includes sessions with a personal trainer and nutritionist, a spa visit and dinner with fitness model Monica Brant. Sloan was at work recently when the magazine phoned to tell her she won. "I leaped up in my cube," she recalled. Oxygen will announce Sloan's victory in the issue that hits newsstands next month. Sloan expects to take the trip this fall.

Sloan said she received 150 e-mails after the Observer profiled her in June, many from women asking about diet and exercise. She's putting together a Web site, workoutchick.com, which she hopes will be operating this fall.