Finally Thin: Inspiring story about weight loss

Finally Thin!: How I Lost Over 200 Pounds and Kept them Off - and How You Can Too by Kim Bensen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found this book in the library when I was looking through the healthy eating section (notice how I'm not writing "diet"!). Bensen always battled her tendency to overeat, but after getting married and having children, her weight ballooned to nearly 350 pounds.

Something finally clicked and she lost over 200 pounds within a space of 2 years, through Weight Watchers and aided by supportive friends and family.

Bensen is a very knowledgeable, nurturing weight loss coach--in fact she is now a Weight Watchers leader and has her own web site, where she inspires others who want to lose weight.

The book is presented in three parts: (1) her personal story of overeating and weight loss; (2) analysis of various diets and their strengths and weaknesses, along with general information about health and weight loss; and (3) recipes Bensen has developed. The recipes have a lot of processed ingredients (such as Campbell's soup) and sugar substitutes, but some of the others might be worth a try. She talks about her emotional relationship with food, similar to many people with serious weight issues, but that doesn't tend to be my issue. (I can have chocolate cake and lemon meringue pie in the house, as I do now because of birthday events this weekend, and avoid them.)

Although Bensen was faced with a huge amount to lose, whereas I have only a small amount to feel healthy again, her story was inspiring. I have a good friend from college who lost a huge amount of weight when she turned 40, and I find her story very motivating as well! After all, if Bensen can lose over 200 pounds (and win her war against emotional eating), I should be able to lose 20, right?

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