Finally Thin! by Kim Bensen-A Review

I've always loved a good success story and I recently ran across "Finally Thin!" by Kim Bensen. It's the story of she lost over 200 pounds between October 2001 and October 2003 and has successfully kept it off since then.

Being someone who has struggled with weight issues all my life, I find it particularly inspiring to read about someone who lost so much weight. It really doesn't impress me much to read about someone who lost 20 pounds, simply because I've done that a million times seems like. I want to read about someone who has done something that most would imagine nearly impossible and exceeds what I seek to accomplish myself.

I find inspiration in someone I can relate to. In reading Kim Bensen's book, I can certainly relate to many of her feelings. I haven't suffered the same embarrassing moments, but I've had my share just as anyone who has struggled with their weight can.

Her book is broken down into three main sections. The first section, "My Story", relates her story in a very open and honest manner. You can feel her pain. The second section, "The 10 steps to a Finally Thin Life" relates in very broad terms how she went about it. The last section, "Recipes" gives you some recipes that helped her achieve her goal. I'll briefly go over each section.

Kim Bensen tells how she already weighed 99 lbs at 9 years old and her mother signed her up for Weight Watchers. After losing twelve pounds she stopped going and spent the next twenty-five years yo-yo dieting. She recalls the extremes of practically starving herself to binging, just to do it all over again, year after year.

Some of her memorable fat moments include:

• Buying a wedding dress only to have gained two dress sizes and having to have material added to both sides to fit into it on her wedding day.
• Working for herself and having Subway sandwich deliveries and ordering extras for her family that she ultimately ate before they even got home.
• Being so buoyant she couldn’t swim to the bottom of a pool
• Flipping a canoe
• Breaking a seat in a horse-drawn buggy ride
• Catching her dress in her door, having to wiggle out of her clothes to free herself, only to have put her legs to asleep causing her to fall in the mad dash to her car to get her keys. To make matters worse, the parcel delivery man saw the whole thing.

It took Kim two years to lose over 200 pounds, but she has maintained her loss and inspires others by becoming a Weight Loss instructor and sharing her story in her book.

In this section Kim gets down to arming you with the information you need to determine the best route for you. What I like about this section is that Kim gives you the basics of almost every diet you can think of so that you can get a good fit. She's doesn't try to lead you one way or the other. It's a very unbiased review of the diets available on the market. She suggests that when deciding what diet to go on that you ask yourself three questions:

• Is it healthy?
• Do I like it?
• Is it a good fit?

She give you a brief summary of how each diet works, what's good about them, what's bad about them, and how much you can expect to pay on the plan.

Next, she gets into setting goals, planning and creating an environment conducive to your weight loss efforts. She also emphasizes having a good support system to back you up, gives you tips on how to maintain motivation and how to maintain your weight for the rest of your life.

In this section Kim gives you some great recipes. She includes the nutritional information for each so you know exactly how many calories, fat, and fiber are in every serving.

Some of the recipes include:

• Chocolate Banana Milkshake
• Jalapeno Poppers
• Chilled & Hot Layered Mexican Dips
• Snack Mix with Chex cereal
• Delicious Cornbread
• Potatoes Au Gratin
• Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
• Monkey French Toast
• Cobb Family Marble Cheesecake
• Penny's Rich Chocolate Cake

Who knew you could have such delectable treats and still lose weight?

I found this to be one of the most motivating books I've ever read. Kim Bensen is the first person to really make losing a substantial bit of weight look attainable. When you're looking at losing a great percentage of your current weight, it can be discouraging, but when you see someone do it, you get that little bit of hope. Hope is all you need to build on.

I found it hard to put the book down once I bought it. I wanted to get inside her head and learn her secrets and I think her book can give you exactly the nudge you've been waiting for.

Without a doubt, my life has forever changed because of this book. I've made a commitment to myself to lose the pounds that I've struggled with all of my life. I've always been a goal-oriented person and I have always accomplished any realistic goal I set for myself. Sure, I've set some lofty goals and fell short, but permanent weight loss has always been the elusive one. This time is different. I have a totally different mindset and I now believe it's possible. Thanks Kim!