Kim Bensen can remember a time when she used to be unable to cross her legs or buckle her seat belt.
She weighed 347 pounds, and had a love-hate relationship with food.
“I’d go to Duchess and I would eat two hot dogs with the works, two cheeseburgers with the works, two large fries, two German chocolate cake slices,” Bensen said. “And then I’d get two diet cokes because I wanted the guy at the drive through to think the order was for two people.”
But eight years ago Benson, a lifelong Shelton resident, lost 212 pounds. Now, the mother of four is helping others do the same.
Bensen recently opened a weight loss center on Bridgeport Avenue in Shelton, where she aims to help Connecticut residents learn how to live a healthy lifestyle.
Bensen has been a weight loss coach for several years, but worked out of church meeting rooms, donated space and the Internet.
Bensen recently sat down with the Valley Indy to talk about weight loss, and realizing her dream of opening her own center.
Valley Indy: You struggled with your weight for a while before losing 212 pounds.
Bensen: I dieted 10 pounds in high school, up and down. Then I went to college and instead of the “Freshmen 20” I had the “Freshman 40.” I was a really good dieter.
Nobody else in my family was overweight. But I felt it. And I wanted to be trim. And I just had this love for food that nobody else in my family had.
I always cared who got the second piece. And what time was dinner. And my brother didn’t even care. I think some people are just born with it.
Valley Indy: What was the dieting cycle like?
Bensen: I always struggled and always tried. I would be losing weight and losing weight. Then all of a sudden it would get harder. And then I’d have one cookie. And that one cookie would never show up on the scale, but now mentally I’m off. It’s on again, off again.
Now I’m off, and before I’m back on again, I’m going to have the rest of the cookies and the pizza. Now, I feel disgusting. I feel miserable. I was crying myself to sleep.
The yo-yo diet in America, that’s the pattern that 99 percent of them follow. And I just lived it for so many years. I know. And I tried every diet.
Valley Indy: What was your top weight?
Bensen: I was in 300 pounds for at least 10 years. And I was eating myself to death. And I had four beautiful children, and a wonderful marriage. And I hated the fact that I couldn’t seem to stop eating. Can you imagine the amount of calories I was eating? And I was still gaining. I could feel it…
I couldn’t buckle up. I could barely walk. I couldn’t cross my legs, obviously. If somebody parked too close to me, even a normal distance, one time I had to wait hours for somebody to come out of Walmart because I was too embarrassed to ask them to have the car moved, and I just couldn’t fit in there.
Valley Indy: So when did you start losing weight and stay on that path, and not go back?
Bensen: In 2001, it was October 4… For a year prior to this I gave up. I was just broken… That morning I had been praying.
And I just said ‘you know God, I love you. I love my family. But I’ve got to admit, food is really above everything. Why do I keep doing this? I can’t change my heart.’ I was so broken.
But then this little voice — not a real voice, I’m not hearing things — said ‘I can change your heart. Just trust me.’ And I just kind of poured my heart out to God.
And I chose Weight Watchers. And I’ve got to be honest, it wouldn’t have mattered what diet I had picked. I was ready. I love Weight Watchers. But there is no one diet that is perfect for everybody.
Valley Indy: Since you lost all that weight, you’ve been featured in Prevention Magazine, published a book and launched a line of your own bagels. How did you make that transition?
Bensen: At the time my husband and I were completely broke. He has been a type 1 diabetic since he was 7. And his diabetes got worse, and he had a heart attack four years ago.
It was the reason everything started. I was a waitress at Bertucci’s. We were living close to the budget just like everybody else. And he couldn’t work anymore. Overnight it was four kids, a mortgage and no income.
I was nationally known at this point… I had been on the Today Show quite a few times, Dr. Oz, the cover of Women’s World and Nightline. People who had seen me were e‑mailing me. And I was spending literally four to six hours a day e‑mailing people back. Trying to encourage people, send recipes to people.
So we set up a little website and sent out a newsletter e‑mail to people. More and more people were hitting the site.
It was at that time that I found a literary agent, who submitted my proposal to all the publishing companies… Two days later we got a pre-emptive offer from Random House. It kind of funded everything else.
Valley Indy: At your weight loss center, do you focus on a specific type of diet plan?
Bensen: I don’t care what they follow as long as they follow something. Diet isn’t a four letter word… A diet is one tool to help you achieve a lifestyle change.
Lifestyle is not all about losing weight. It’s about mentally not thinking on-off, all or nothing, binging. It’s mentally changing habits. Not being so driven with food. Lifestyle is not being owned by food.
Valley Indy: When I came in today, you were hosting a meeting, and streaming the video online. Is that something you do every day?
Bensen: Most of our meetings are like that. And then we do one big show. The show is pre-taped…
We’re not just open during meeting times. We’re here all the time. They can come in and chat with us. They can weigh in in the morning. A lot of people like to come to night time meetings.
If they can’t get to a meeting, they can participate online. You can be sick, have bad weather. It’s basically a no excuses program. You can come to a meeting no matter where you are. Even if you’re traveling.
Valley Indy: What do you do in meetings?
Bensen: I really let the members drive the meetings. But I have a topic prepared. It’s the same topic all week. A lot of it this week is baking, and how to light bake.
We also rewrite recipes. So a member can come to us and say here’s my favorite recipe. I have no idea how many calories are in it, and I’d like to lighten it. And they’ll send it to us and we’ll do a nutrition label for them.
The Kim Bensen Weight Loss Center is located a 911 Bridgeport Ave. in Shelton. For more information, call (203) 513‑8722 or visit the center’s website.
