FINALLY THIN! - KIM BENSEN

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Finally Thin! How I Lost Over 200 Pounds and Kept Them Off - and How You Can Too
(Broadway Books) ISBN 978-0767929509 0767929500

Readers looking for a weight loss program that really works will find it in Finally Thin!. Kim Bensen describes her 10-step weight loss system, which uses realistic goals, dietary support, slip-up recovery and weight maintenance techniques. In addition to 70 diet recipes, she provides weight loss help, ranging from portion sizes to exercise programs.

Ways to lose weight

Personal, honest and motivational, Finally Thin! is a been-there, done-that example of a success story from one dieter who lost 212 pounds, 14 dress sizes and four ring sizes.

In an easy-to-read way, the 270-page diet cookbook describes workable weight loss methods such as calorie reduction, carbohydrate reduction and the need to exercise.

Diet program

For each weight loss recipe, Kim Bensen adds comments, e.g., adding Rice Krispies to meatloaf is a light alternative to bread. Recipes use fat-free milk, fat-free cream cheese, sugar substitutes and other diet foods. Each diet recipe includes serving size and nutrition per serving (calories, total fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbs, dietary fiber and protein).

Facts motivate you to maintain your diet program. For example, you have to burn 3,500 calories or eat 3,500 fewer calories to lose one pound of fat.

Before, during and after black and white photos illustrate Kim Bensen's weight loss in the first part of Finally Thin!

Popular diet plans

Kim Bensen helps you pick a healthy weight loss program by describing 25 current popular diets, including the Atkins diet, the cabbage soup diet, Jenny Craig, the grapefruit diet, Nutrisystem, the Pritkin diet, the Scarsdale diet and Weight Watchers. Finally Thin! identifies the good and bad points, as well as the costs of each diet plan.

Finally Thin! explains body mass index, or BMI, complete with a chart that relates height, weight and BMI to underweight, healthy, overweight and obese ranges. A guilt-free grocery list, diet websites and a portion size sidebar (e.g., three oz. sliced meat is about the size of a deck of cards) are useful weight loss aids.

Weight-loss foods

Tips for maintaining your diet when eating out include substituting an appetizer for an entree.

The diet book helps you read labels on weight loss foods to decide if they are really low calorie, low fat or 'lite'. The weight maintenance chapter features lists of 25-calorie snacks (e.g., four large shrimp), 50-calorie snacks (e.g., one cup of grapes), 100-calorie snacks (e.g., half-cup light ice cream) and low-carb snacks (e.g., a handful of almonds).

Sample diet recipes

Chocolate banana milkshake. Hot cocoa mix. Artichoke cups. Light Waldorf salad. Hamburger soup. Shredded pork tenderloin. Whole-wheat pizza dough. Breakfast burrito. Banana bread. Crustless pumpkin pie. Key lime pie. Oatmeal pumpkin cookies. Upside-down lemon meringue pie.

Finally Thin!

Contents

Introduction
PART ONE
  • My Story
Chapter one
  • The early years
Chapter two
  • The down side of plus sizes
Chapter three
  • Trying again!
Chapter four
  • To be continued...
PART TWO
The 10 Steps to a Finally Thin Life
  • Weight loss 101
Step 1
  • Choose the diet that's right for you
Step 2
  • Set your goals
Step 3
  • Plan
Step 4
  • Make over your environment
Step 5
  • Gather your support
Step 6
  • Exercise your right to move
Step 7
  • Learn to eat light at home and away
Step 8
  • Learn to handle temptation
Step 9
  • Keep yourself motivated all the way
Step 10
  • Make it for life — maintenance
PART THREE
Recipes
  • Beverages
  • Appetizers & snacks
  • Salads & sides
  • Soups
  • Entrées
  • Desserts

Author

Kim Bensen


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