Recently I was asked for a copy of a picture of myself I have hanging on my refrigerator.

It looks like a recent shot, except for the hairdo, and it was one I had put up there last May (2007) to spur me on while on Kimkins.

I used it as a visual aid to remind me what I was working towards: getting back to where I was before entering Menopause at age 50 (I'm now 60!) when I started packing on the pounds.

I finally found other photos taken at the same time with the notation that this one was taken in 1988! So I now look like I did 20 years ago! Woo hoo!

I found Kimkins after watching a TV show entitled, "World's Largest Man". This poor fellow weighed a whopping 1600 pounds, and lost 500 pounds(!) during the hour-long show on a "special" diet. I went online to find out what that diet was and to see how he was doing today. Well, I didn't find out anything more about him, but everywhere I looked, Kimkins popped up. So I checked it out.

Once on the site I clicked on every link I could, and finally hit something called "Body Mass Index". When I gave it my information, it came back with the verdict: "OBESE". OMG!!! After watching that TV show, to be hit with that label ... I joined Kimkins right then and there.

I actually started the diet a week later. That Sunday evening, I had the thought, "I have everything I need to get started tomorrow morning" - and it was downhill from there.

I was absolutely amazed - I was never hungry - ever, I could walk by the "spread" that is laid out every afternoon in our office kitchen without taking anything (a real accomplishment!) and the pounds (and inches!) started coming off.

It took me 5 months (3 of which were summer months!), but by November I had lost 56 pounds, 34-3/4 inches, and was back into a size 10. I'm actually 1 pound away from my original goal (rats!) - but this is where my body leveled off, so I'm pleased. As far as I'm concerned, I have arrived!

What I learned:

1) that I was eating WAY too many carbs before - I find that if I have too many carbs now - I get hungry (go figure!), a sure sign I need fewer carbs/more protein

2) that it's really important to take a good multi-vitamin while dieting ... and

3) that it really helped to applaud myself every step of the way - no matter what!

Tip: stand in front of the bathroom mirror every morning, look into your big, beautiful eyes, and say, "Wow - you're doing wonderfully!! I'm so proud of you!" - even if it's sometimes hard.

I feel truly blessed to have stumbled upon Kimkins. Thanks Kimmer, you have changed my life!!!