Age: 33
Height: 5′ 5 1/2″
Start Weight: 265 lbs
Final Weight: 130 lbs
Total Loss: 135 lbs
Start BMI: 42.8
Final BMI: 21.0
Total Inches Lost: 95.5″
Clothing Size Before: 22W
Clothing Size After: 4
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“My hubby is serving our country right now in Iraq and I desperately
want to have him speechless when he sees me again.”
For the last 5 years every birthday or holiday when I was asked what I wanted as a gift, my body had the same reaction: my heart would instantly feel swollen, a lump would come to my throat and I would feel sad. Why in the world would I feel so sad over someone asking such a nice question as to, “What would I like as a gift”?
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It was because the one gift I truly wanted was for me to be able to lose a great deal of weight and to be thin again. However I knew this kind of gift was one I could not buy or have given to me from anyone. In order for me to receive a gift of this magnitude, I needed to dig deep into the depths of my soul to find the strength to make myself resurface.
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Today as I sit here writing my success story for Kimkins Weight Loss program I would like to introduce you to a lady who had been missing for 5 years under layers of unneeded pounds. My name is Bernadette. I’m a 33 year old proud Air Force wife and mother of a gorgeous 2 year old son.
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I am proud to say through strength, determination, motivation and lots of hard work, I have given myself my dream gift this Christmas! Me, the Bernadette I Love! In losing myself I have found myself once again. I say this because I have lost a total of 135 lbs which is 5 lbs more than my current body weight! What a visualization this is for me to comprehend.
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Last year my husband deployed to Iraq for 6 months to defend our freedom. The night before he had to leave my arms was one of the hardest nights of our lives. To say it was extremely emotional is putting it lightly. As I rocked my baby boy to sleep that night I cried not only because of my fears of my husband going off to WAR, but also for my own embarrassment over my appearance as I had to see him off.
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I had let my weight get so out of control over the last 5 years that I did not recognize the person I saw looking back at me anymore. The lady in my reflection was so obese, out of shape and old looking. NOT at all who I knew I was deep inside. As my husband was about to walk out the door to leave for the airport, I looked in his eyes and said, “I’m not going to look this way when you get back home to us.” I made a promise to myself upstairs that I was going to do whatever I needed to finally lose my weight and find the Bernadette I was proud of once again.
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Although I knew I was going to lose weight while my husband was deployed, I just was not sure as to how I was going to do it for a few weeks. I knew I could not commit to a strict plan until after the holidays so I looked over my calendar and decided that January 7th would be the date that was right for me. I had always kept portions of food journals over the last 5 years of numerous diet programs and pills I had tried so I could keep track of how much weight I lost each day. I spent thousands of dollars on diet programs: Weight Watchers, LA Weight Loss, The Cookie Diet, The Grapefruit Diet, Crack The Fat Code, Atkins, South Beach, The Six Week Body Make Over Diet … the list goes on and on. Always the same 30 lbs off and right back on again — with a few more pounds attached to it.
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I originally joined Kimkins in 2007 after the WOMAN’S WORLD magazine feature story. I remember joining the program and chatting with another lady in the forum about our hopes for this being the program that worked for us. I kicked myself in gear and quickly lost 37 lbs in about 6 weeks while my husband was on a remote assignment to Korea. I was so happy to be out of the 200 lb range, but I didn’t stick with the plan and the weight returned.
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Now, fast forward to January 2010. Even though I regained the weight I lost with the Kimkins program after my first experience, I knew it worked the fastest for me. I also knew that if I had stuck with the program, the weight would not have returned. I eased my way back into the low carb eating though and lost some weight this way, but I felt I was missing a big part of long term weight loss … support. So, in February after a night of binge eating, I decided I need go back to what I knew worked for me and just commit to it.
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I read over the various Kimkins challenge groups and knew instantly that the SASSY SISTA’S were the right support group for me. First I loved the name of the group….very catching and unique! They had such fire and personality that I felt I would fit in perfectly. I also was attracted to this group because they have 3 other success story members, Barb, Melissa, and Tracy. After all they say stick with WINNERS AND YOU WILL BECOME A WINNER TOO!
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Tracy’s “Tell it like it is, but with love” personality I knew was what I needed. She would be my Jillian from THE BIGGET LOSER! As I looked over her success story and pictures I said to myself, “WOW! Now if I could have even half of her results at the end of my journey I would be happy”!
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Then, there was the bubbly personality that Barb brought to the group. I felt a connection to her because we were both Jersey girls. I felt like she was my sister before long. She had such warmth to her posts that I knew would help keep me on track to success. Barb also took the time to start off the challenge group and kept a wonderful chart to track each member’s progress each month. Melissa was a lady who started out in a similar weight range to me and was about to hit her goal. This filled me with hope that I too could be at my goal if I stuck with this program and gave it my all.
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So I signed on and was welcomed with opened arms. Such a lovely group of ladies and I had become one of them. Moments before I signed up to the Kimkins’s Sassy Sista’s I felt ashamed of my binge eating, hopeless that I would ever be me again and I was desperately crying out for help. Looking back on the night I signed onto the Sassy Sista’s I feel it was like a rebirth for me. It was my fate to find this group of kind souls and a huge part to my success that I will never take for granted!
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So how did I make this “Monday Diet Start Date” work for me? I had to make it DIFFERENT and BETTER than all the other HALF HEARTED ATTEMPTS! I needed to devise a plan for success and then see it through. One of the quotes I love that my husband says from the military is, “FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL”. I was more determined than ever not to fail! I WAS GOING TO SUCCEED! SO I WROTE MY PLAN AND WORKED IT!
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In order for me to make this time work for me, I knew I needed to be honest with myself about all of my previous weight loss efforts and track what I was doing. I made 3 weight loss progress charts to help me have a daily reminder of what I was going after as my goal. This time had to be different from all the other times I attempted to lose weight. I HAD TO GIVE IT MY BEST!
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The first chart I made had 2 columns labeled “BERNADETTE I LOVE” and “BERNADETTE I HATE”. Under the “BERNADETTE I LOVE” column I wrote all the things I needed to do with eating and working out to get her back. Then under the “BERNADETTE I HATE” column I wrote all the things I needed to do to stay obese. Under each column I also placed a picture of me when I was thin and one of me heavy. This poster was placed on my pantry door in my kitchen so I would be reminded of what type of action I need to take to either stay heavy or to get fit once again.
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The 2nd poster board I made up tracked my weight loss with stickers. I bought a grid styled poster board and labeled my chart “BERNADETTE’ S METAMORPHASIS”. Since I needed to lose over 100 lbs, (which was a very overwhelming thought to me), I divided my progression into 10 lb increments on the chart. For every 1 lb I lost I placed a flower sticker on the chart and for every 10 lbs I lost I represented it with a glittered butterfly sticker. I feel like this type of tracking helped me out tremendously because I looked forward to this type of gratification each time. It served as a wonderful visual for my psyche. My 3rd chart tracked my exercise efforts each day to make sure I was sweating up a storm between 4 to 5 times per week.
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I researched inspirational quotes as well as made up some of my own. I typed them and printed them out so I could place them on a pretty hot pink background. These quotes were placed on all my kitchen cabinets to help as another source of motivation in my weight loss plan.
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Like many of us, the desire for weight loss can stem from many resources. I made my fire burn from both positive and negative comments I had heard over the years. Whether it was someone telling me how beautiful I was or someone looking at me with doubt in their eyes that I would truly have the discipline to see it through, I used it all the fuel my fire of success!
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Motivation is a key component to my success also. My own self talk is a component I had to reinvent for my success. Tracy in our support group brought a wonderful point up to all us ladies on how we should not think of weight loss as something, “WE HAD TO DO” because it would make it seem like a job to get done or something negative. Instead Tracy said, “What if we changed our self talk to a more positive approach and said, “I’M CHOOSING TO EAT THIS WOE [Way Of Eating].” Wow! What an OUTSTANDING and EYE OPENING notion this was for me and my other ladies in our forum.
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From that moment on, I reevaluated my plan for weight loss even further. In college I was always told by my professors what a positive attitude I had and how it made me stand out from the sea of students in class. I used this as an attribute in my plan for weight loss. I was not going to tell myself or write in my posts on line that “I WAS GOING TO TRY” instead I wrote, “I WAS GOING TO”!
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Now, let’s talk numbers. My BMI class range went from me being labeled as obese with a number of 42.8! I hated the word OBESE as defining me. Today my BMI IS 21.0 and in the Lower end of the NORMAL RANGE! This is a number I am THRILLED to see!
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I never took my measurements at my heaviest weight of 265 lbs, but I was in a size 22W and wore a size 2XL or 3 XL in shirts and dresses. At the time, I did not want to know the other embarrassing numbers I had allowed myself to balloon up to. I wish I knew them now though because I’m proud of my numbers!
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However I did take my measurements at 232 lbs and I’m glad I did! I have lost a TOTAL of 95.5 inches going from 232 lbs to my current weight of 130 lbs. I lost 20″ just from my hips and 13″ from my waist! Now I wear mostly size 4’s and some 6’s in juniors. My shirts are all “small”, too!
I started the Kimkins program wholeheartedly in February 2010 and reached my goal in December 2010 which is 10 months. However, I took off 3 months from the program when I went to visit my family in NJ, when my husband returned from Iraq and while I was moving into my new home.
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I lost 100 lbs from the Kimkins program in 7 months of full effort! I do not believe there is any other program out there that can give you this type of extremely fast results. If you work the program it will work for you too!
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I followed the BOOT CAMP eating plan of Kimkins since late February 2009 and kept up with a strict exercise schedule of kickboxing to an at home DVD program by the company Beach Body called Turbo Jam. While I worked out to my DVD, I would glance over at my weight loss progression chart and visualize all the squares being filled in. I was punching and kicking away my fat! I was fighting for my life to return to me. I was at war with my fat! I WAS ATTACKING IT LIKE NO OTHER! I would be MORE STUBBORN THAN MY FAT and eat on plan and Sweat that Sweet Sweat all the way to SKINNYVILLE.
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During April’s Challenge Tracy wrote up a menu for us all the follow. I then emailed them out to everyone and Barb tracked our success with a chart. April’s Challenge for me was a WOW type of month. I shed 25 lbs in 1 month!
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I have found seafood (lots of tuna, salmon and tilapia) and egg whites to be my best friends for losing pounds the fastest for me. I ate tuna like there was no tomorrow and didn’t complain one bit because I was losing so fast. I WAS IN THE ZONE! [See Bernie's Tuna Cakes recipe]
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Tracy told us to eat like a “Cave Woman” think plain she said. She did not have to say this twice to me …I turned into a “Cave Woman” happily and ate very plain. Plain black coffee (NO CREAMER!), tuna with salsa or mustard and Mrs. Dash seasoning ( no mayo!) 2 eggs with lots of egg whites and some lowest carb veggies from the food list. I loved my fast results so much that this is the same menu I have continued to use to lose the fastest to date. No complaints on my part because I wanted my results more than delish taste.
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There have been many defining moments for me during this journey. One of the sweetest ones was the night I welcomed home my Hero from War. I reached my 100 lbs off goal that morning and knew he would be as proud of me as I was of him. We endured months of being apart and both battled in 2 different wars along the way. My hubby was fighting for our country’s freedom as I fought for finding myself once again.
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The look on my husband’s face as he saw me for the first time in months was sweeter than any dessert I had ever tasted! His reaction made my heart smile with pride and I will never forget it! 
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Next, I had a defining moment from the finally episode of the hit show The Biggest Loser this season. For years I used to faithfully watch these people who had started out just as heavy as me as and successfully took their weight off. I would think to myself, “Why couldn’t this type of success be mine too?” Each season as the show would start off and I would listen to each person tell all the reasons they wanted to lose the weight — I cried too because I felt their pain.
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I worked out plenty and would always be on a diet of some sort, but I kept going down temporarily in weight and then go right back up again. I felt hopeless to ever be thin and healthy once again. Aas each Biggest Loser season final episode aired I still was fat.
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This season was a whole different story though! I also was a success story! I was chosen to be featured in THE KIMKINS NEWSLETTER! As I watched the show I felt so special to be at my goal just as the contestants were!
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The final defining moment just occurred recently for me. Every year my husband has a big CHRISTMAS BALL for the USAF. For the past 5 years I had envied all the thin ladies who were able to wear such pretty holiday dresses while I sat there thinking, “I used to be able to wear things like that.”
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I had passed up so many opportunities to shine in my life, but this year was different. I looked all over to find the perfect dress to mark this night for me. When I saw my dress I knew in an instant it was the perfect dress to mark this moment in my life. As I zipped it up I just about fell over in the dressing room from excitement!
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The night of the CHRISTMAS BALL, I loved way I looked and felt as I walked around the party! WOW! I looked like a knock out! I’ve never been someone who was conceited, but I am EXTREMELY confident in my appearance now! My confidence has SKY ROCKED and I feel like a million dollars! (Barb, as your son would have put it, I LOOKED MONEY!)
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My husband told me how proud he was to have me on his arm and how much he loved showing his stunningly gorgeous wife off to everyone! This was a night I will never forget! It felt like a night celebrating my GOAL being met and it was SOOOO SWEET!
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As motivation for me to keep my weight off, I bought a silver charm bracelet to serve as a memento of the big weight loss milestones I hit. The first was for me to reach ONEDERLAND. The 2nd was when I was no longer considered OBESE. The 3rd was for show I had reached 100 lbs off and the final was when I just hit my goal. This is a precious bracelet for me to remind myself of everything I went through in my weight loss journey and how I WILL NEVER LET MYSELF GO BACK! This BERNADETTE IS HERE TO STAY! I LOVE HER TOO MUCH TO EVER LET HER SLIP AWAY AGAIN!
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I feel grateful for my success with Kimkins Weight Loss program and am honored to have been chosen as a success story. I’m so happy I now know what works for me.
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This seems like a dream come true for me on so many levels. Along my weight loss journey I not only received tremendous support and encouragement from the ladies in the Sassy Sista’s forum, but I also had such beautiful encouragement and compliments send my way from numerous members of our KIMKINS SUPPORT FAMILY!
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THANK YOU ALL FOR always being there for me CHEERING ME TO THE FINISH LINE! Thank you for all of your support and the tools I needed to give myself the gift of myself this CHRISTMAS! BERNADETTE’S BODY, SPIRIT AND SOUL HAVE RESURFACED … AND THIS MAKES MY HEART SMILE!
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GIVE YOURSELF THE GIFT OF LIFE THROUGH KIMKINS JUST AS I DID!
Love,
Bernadette (BCMello06 in Kimkins forums)
