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Made in the USA: The Weight-Loss Industry Makes Huge Gains
Kim Bensen embarked on a journey to lose more than 200 pounds -- and found the idea for a successful business along the way. She's one of many entrepreneurs helping make a dent in America's obesity crisis.
Posted 2/ 16 11 at 7:00 PM | Made in the USA, Sales, Leadership, Starting a Business, Online Business, Consumer Products & Services, Education, Food & Beverage, Health, Inventions & Innovations
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Kim Benson's epiphany came after she ordered a snack at a local fast-food joint: Two hot dogs with everything, two cheeseburgers with the works, two large fries, two German chocolate cake slices and two large diet sodas. "I wanted the drive-through person to think I was ordering for two people," says Bensen, who weighed 347 pounds at the time and admits she was already thinking about what she was going to have for dinner.That was in 2001. Not long after, Bensen joined Weight Watchers for the 10th time. But this time around, she managed to summon the willpower to finally start losing the weight -- 212 pounds in all. Two years later, so many people were asking for advice and sending her e-mails that she began spending most of her time answering questions and sending low-fat recipes to friends, family and even strangers. Soon, she had penned a cookbook and she and her husband used $20,000 from their savings and an inheritance as seed money to start their own weight-loss company.
Today, Kim Bensen Enterprises has 10 full-time employees devoted to helping people lose weight. Her website offers everything from healthy foods to kitchen tools to premium memberships, which provide meal plans, online meetings and other advice and support tools. Her line of bagels, Kim's Light Bagels, are also available in grocery stores across New England.
Bensen has become a part of America's weight-loss factory, a thriving industry that has been around as long as the republic itself. But in an era of The Biggest Loser and I Used to Be Fat -- not to mention record obesity and diabetes rates -- the movement has taken on a more significant role, providing entrepreneurs like Bensen the opportunity make money while making a dent in the crisis.
As far back as 1829, a Presbyterian minister named Sylvester Graham started talking up fad diets. His Graham diet focused on caffeine-free drinks, vegetables and, conveniently, the product he was pushing, Dr. Graham's Honey Biscuits. The diet may have not endured, but the product did -- known to us as the Graham cracker.
There are plenty of other examples, of course. American history is replete with them, from Ladies' Home Journal articles touting diets in the 19th century to the "Hollywood Eighteen Day Diet" during the 1920s, which was a 585-calorie diet that advised eating only grapefruit, oranges, Melba toast, green vegetables and hard boiled eggs. And in the midst of all these weight-loss fads, companies saw that there was money to be made. Some of the biggest in the industry, of course, include Weight Watchers, founded in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1963; Nutrisystem, started in Fort Washington, Pa., in 1972; and Jenny Craig, which began in Australia in 1983 and reached U.S. soil in 1985.
It's hard to say if Kim Bensen Enterprises will become a household name like the others, but Bensen seems to be on her way. Thus far, her company:
- Provides a weekly newsletter that goes to 25,000 subscribers via e-mail.
- Offers her book Finally Thin.
- Features a spokesperson -- Bensen herself -- who has shared diet tips on TV shows including The Dr. Oz Show and Nightline.
- Holds in-person meetings in Shelton, Conn., which, starting this spring, will take place at the new, 16,000-square-foot Kim Bensen Weight Loss Center.
- Broadcasts live weight-loss meetings every week. "It's highly interactive," Bensen says. "Members call in, weigh in, win prizes and share their weight losses. We shout out to them. They are a strong and growing community."
"There are so many preconceived notions with this industry," Bockman says. "People have been sold snake oil for so long that it's hard for anyone to know who to trust."
That can be maddening to the up-and-coming entrepreneur trying to be transparent and ethical. "We're very upfront with our label claims, and you can look at the ingredients," Bockman says. "I've been surprised at how many companies put out nutritional supplements, and you can't find anywhere what's in this product. All it says is you're going to burn fat or have ripped abs, but they don't say what's in there."
But it's not just the dubious claims that weight-loss entrepreneurs have to contend with. It's all that competition clamoring for everybody's dollar, from diet magazines to diet foods to the latest exercise gadget peddled on late-night infomercials.
And then, of course, entrepreneurs have to compete with Doritos and Big Macs and all those foods that make a person not want to think about losing weight. "It's hard to convince people to make a lifestyle change," says personal trainer-turned-entrepreneur John Dull, 48. "They all want that magic pill or potion. Everyone's looking for that quick fix."
Of course, the junk-food problem can also be what drives a customer to you, and that's certainly what Dull and his business partner Michelle Collier, 43, are hoping for. They created Supreme 90 Day, a package of 10 workout DVDs and a meal plan that is sold by Telebrands, the company behind the "As Seen on TV" line of products.
When Telebrands founder A.J. Khubani suggested to his personal trainer, Dull, that he develop a fitness program, Dull jumped right on it and enlisted Collier, another trainer. The program launched at the start of this year.
While America's couch potato problem poses a challenge to the weight-loss industry, it also provides more opportunity, as the health risks associated with obesity get more attention. Dull says First Lady Michelle Obama's campaign to combat the epidemic, especially among children, is a start. "When you look at the youth today, there's no activity or exercise," he says. "Their diet consists of everything prepackaged. Everyone's in a rush and nobody's taking the time to exercise. So between Michelle Obama getting behind taking soda out of the schools and Walmart saying they're going to reduce sugar in their products, that can only help the problem. And it is a problem."
Geoff Williams is a frequent contributor at AOL Small Business. He is also the author of Living Well with Bad Credit and C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race.
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Comments (Page 2 of 3)
i cant stand when an obese person cries when someone laughs at them and then when they lose weight they look at their old pictures and TEAR them up. the person is still the same person and just cause their skinny NOW doesnt mean they can start laughing at other obese or overweight people.. i like this lady for trying to share her secrets to help other people...
There is a 12 step program for overeaters based on the AA principles. It's called Overeaters Anonymous (OA) and like AA membership is free. You can go to www.oa.org to find a chapter near you.
And then there are the stress eating people like me! It doesn't hurt to have a support team even if you have to pay for it! GOT STRESS? I'm at the Quik Trip buying a high calorie coffee & a crispy creme. Family members don't help either! Eating a bag of potato chips at midnight really works well for the dieter! They need AA for the over-eaters and the family members that want to support the overweight person! Thanks about it !!!!
Kim is an opportunist. She found a way to make money. But I do not want her to go on saying that she did it because she lost weight. Lots of people loose weight. But they do not make money. They do not lnow how to make a web site or bagels. She could have made a website and started selling food without loosing half an ounce of weight.
Kim Bensen is the real deal. She personally responded to an e-mail I sent her "way back when" prior to my decision to have gastric bypass surgery. I really appreciate her style, her encouragement and her down to earth supportive personality. Kim rocks! :-)
She obviously has an ability to connect with a group of people with her program that has given them results that they are looking for and they feel is worth paying for. It isn't like she robbed them at gunpoint. I'm sure most of them tried WW but for some reason, her program was more successful for their weight loss. She is not an opportunist, she is a capitalist. She lost weight, executed a successful business plan, and is reaping the benefits, employing 10 full-time employees. This is the American dream and all you people can do is sneer at her? You all need a hobby.
@PAM: you sound like a very skinny person, who has no worries in the world and doesn't care about anyone else....I hope that the day you become fat and look for someone to help you or listen to you, you run into someone who is just the way you are right now....insensitive, narcissistic and mostly ignorant.
pigirl708, By all means lets condemn Pam for being one of those "very skinny girls." I mean where does she come off saying stuff like, "you are what you eat?" Why do thin people think there is some sort of connection between shoving all sorts of food and crap in your mouth and becoming fat? Being thin, healthy and attractive is so outdated. It's cool to be fat, stinky, stupid, unhealthy, and ugly. Pam needs to get with it.
As an oriental, one could speculate that we as a race could consume whatever we desire without worry of gaining weight, due to our petite appearance. We too have the same problems as obese people for it is not how we appear but rather what and how we consume and maintain our bodies, regardless of frame. With all the countless $$-making reasons and remedies offered, I would suggest; first and foremost, “listen to” and know your body (acknowledgement/self-awareness), seek qualified medical advice (resolvance), and stick with the program prescribed (perseverance). It’s sad that this society has come to a point where a person’s physical appearance dictates how others will willingly accept them without utter rejection; sadder how that victim of ridicule have to prove acceptance.
She looks great but I always wonder when I see a story like this is how someone could gain that much to begin with.That weight gain and keeping it wasnt easy.Didnt say it wasnt a pleasure but the amount of food it took to gain that much and keep it was epic.Hard to believe someone can eat that much.
People just can't be happy for other people. These nasty comments are so childish. So weight loss is no secret to you, Good for YOU. Kim looks fantastic and I'm glad that she's willing to help others now that her heavy lbs are gone. ps. If you had the chance to make a business out of something you know about or have accomplished, wouldn't you take the opportunity?? How is that being an opportunist? Just a smart person to me!
Most of the posts here that bash those who are overweight and tell them "just to lose it" have no idea about medical conditions such as PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), Insulin Resistance, etc. Metabolic disorders such as the aforementioned, coupled with medication which causes weight gain, and also other conditions which limit excercise can make a person with the will of steel disgusted when they try everything and don't see the scale move. So people, before you open your ignorant pie holes - it's not all about people wanting to stay fat. Because truly, I don't think anyone heavy or obese wants to stay that way.
I am glad for anyone who can do something possitive with their lives. It sure beats all the bad stuff going on in the world. If anyone is sick of hearing about anything simply DON'T read/listen to it !!!!!
Pam I am sick of seeing obese people splattered all over the t.v Biggest Loser, Heavy, I used to be fat, you are what you eat, etc. Enough already!!!!
WOW First off Who made you GOD? IF Ur Sick of it DON'T! Watch it Just that EASY I Myself get alil Tired of seeing ALL of the Shows with Women " Model Type " Women running around HALF IF NOT Totally NAKED! Guess What I change the Channel And Its NOT just in Tv Show , Movies But Commercials so......
Oh for crissakes people, There is no "magic secret" for losing weight - eat healthy and get some exercise. And if you CAN'T exercise (for whatever reason), then you don't need as much food (calories) as those who DO exercise. If you're fat, you need to change your lifestyle of unhealthy eating and no movement. God, it's not rocket science. Sheesh.
There are many people who have faults or bad habits that aren't visible to others. Unfortunately, being fat (for whatever reason) is quickly noticed and judged by others. Let's try not to judge others since it may come back to bite you in the butt one day.
Google Dr Simeons Protocol
THIS IS TO ALL YOU A-HOLES THAT THINKS BEING FAT IS A CHOICE WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES AND PUT ON WEIGHT THAT GETS SO OVERWHELMING THAT WE JUST GIVE UP AND THEN TRY AGAIN AND GIVE UP AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL WE FEEL SO LOST THAT THERE IS NO HOPE AND THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS AFTER YOU HAVE A BABY OMG WE REALLY FEEL LOST AND BEYOND HELP I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SEE ONE OF YOU GUYS SQUEEZE OUT A BABY AND THEN TRY TO GET THAT WEIGHT OFF ITS NOT SO EASY I FOR ONE NOW HAVE HEART TROUBLE FROM STARVING MYSELF HALF TO DEATH TRYING TO LOOK GOOD FOR A MAN THAT RAN AROUND ON ME ANYWAY SO IF SOMEONE CAN SHOW SOMEONE ELSE HOW TO GET IT OFF THE HEALTHY WAY I SAY THEY DESERVE TO BE PAID
It's good she lost the weight.
Also good she's trying to teach people how to eat properly.
I'll be impressed, if they run another story on her in 5 to 8 years.....to see if she (drum roll) *kept if off*....
I see large people losing the weight, but it's back on with in a 3 year period....
It's easy to lose weight...keeping it off is the key...thus life style change......if your not willing to commit for life....the pounds will creep back up....hope she keeps it off....
The "calories in vs. calories out" myth was started by two Scientist testing an hypothesis on their lab assistant. The experiment lasted 5 days. Even the Scientists were upset when the world adopted this weak theory as fact. If it worked, why have we only gotten fatter the last 81 years? Because obesity is an environmental disease worsened by our processed diet and misinformation like this and what the food pyramid projects. It is not as simple as just have will power and don't eat. That's ridiculous. Tell someone suffering from asthma to just breathe already. Ridiculous. There are answers if you do your homework. Research the hypothalamus and it's effect on weight, or Dr Simeons, for starters.