interview
Kim Floyd: Seven Dress Sizes Later
By Mia Evans
The 700 Club
CBN.com
– At 5 feet 4 inches tall, Kimberly Floyd weighed 240 pounds.
Kim: Food became the automatic way that I dealt with any emotion. If I was mad, I ate. If I was sad, I ate. If I was bored, I ate. If I was tired, I ate. That was the solution for everything.
But after a 20-year struggle, Kim finally won her battle with obesity and lost 85 pounds. She went from a size 22 to a size 8!
Mia: How does it feel to have achieved your goal of losing all that weight and to really have stuck with it this time?
Kim: You really cannot put a price tag on how good I feel. I feel like a new person. It’s so wonderful, but it’s a day-by-day process, and each day, even now, I have to make a decision about what I’m going to do to take care of myself.
Kim began to pile on the pounds in her early twenties.
Kim: I was a fast food junkie. There were days that I would eat fast food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. No lie. And one of my favorite binge foods was Pepperidge Farms Coconut Cake. I would promise myself, “OK Kim, I’m just going to eat one piece and I’ll put it away.” And it would be like the cake would come talk to me, “Kim, come eat me, come eat me.” Then finally I would actually get the whole cake and a knife and a fork and eat the whole cake as if the whole cake was my slice.
Kim worked the night shift as a registered nurse.
Kim: They had a snack bar in the basement. I would go down there at 2 o’clock in the morning and get my burger and fries and large Coke every night. That would get me a little bit of energy and then I’d come home and I’d eat breakfast too. Then I’d go to bed. Obviously, with that type of pattern I started piling the weight on. It was so depressing. I tried so many diets and it just didn’t work. I felt like such a failure.
Like many of her patients, Kim took high blood pressure medication. Her doctor warned her about the dangers of being overweight.
Kim: He said, “Kim what you’re doing to your heart is asking the engine that was designed for a Volkswagen to carry the weight of a Mac truck.” And that just really hit me. I went out to my car and I just cried, because I knew that I was destroying myself with a knife and a fork, but I felt like I was powerless to do anything about it.
Kim’s food addiction continued another two years, until she was jolted awake in the middle of the night.
Kim: The alarm clock goes off and I jump off the sofa real fast to go run and turn it off. A chest pain just slammed into my chest, and it feels like someone reached inside of my chest and placed their hand around my heart and just squeezed. In that silence, God spoke to me. He said, “It is not supposed to be this way.” And in that moment I had a choice of whether I was going to believe Him or continue in my own ways. And I chose to believe Him, that it didn’t have to be like this. I had a doctor’s appointment card and I wrote on the card, “Today is the day I change my life.”
Doctors ran tests on Kim’s heart. The results came back normal.
Kim: That’s when I started making changes. It started out with a Coke. It started off trading Coke for water. It started out putting the fast food down and start cooking for myself at home and start making meals for myself. It started with me saying, “I’m important. I need to stop putting myself on the shelf.”
She made exercise a priority.
Kim: My exercise regimen right now is I exercise six days a week. I could only walk for 10 minutes when I first started. But I kept going. Today, I can run a 10K.” One of the things that I think was one of the strengths that I received from losing weight was the fact that it drew me closer to God, because I had to have something to turn to rather than food. So since God said it wasn’t supposed to be this way, I said, “OK God, I’m going to let the food go. You handle this. You heal me.” And what I started doing was I started praying more. I started studying the Bible more. I started praising Him more.
Kim has kept the weight off for five years. Her high blood pressure is gone. She’s now a certified wellness coach. Kim recently published a new book, MoneyWise Weight Loss.
Kim: There is a way that you can lose weight and a way that is fun and convenient and doesn’t have to cost you a lot of money.
Mia joined Kim at Publix supermarket to get some money-saving tips. Kim came armed with a calculator to keep track of spending. She searches the circulars to find great sale items.
Mia: For those of us who want to eat healthy, do we have to go completely organic?
Kim: I will say organic is going to be the best option for you because you don’t have to deal with the pesticides. But if you’re on a budget, then you don’t have to. What I’d recommend is that you start eating more fruits and vegetables, use your veggie wash, say a prayer and eat it, so you get the nutrition in there.
Mia: What are some good healthy snacks they can send their kids to school with?
Kim: This is actually going to be a great choice for you. And one of the things I like about these apples is that they are small enough for kids’ hands. And I actually did the calculations earlier. And it is cheaper than a candy bar, because candy bars will typically run you between 55 cents and 75 cents each, compared to 41 cents per apple. So you’re actually saving money while you’re giving your kids a healthier choice.
Mia: Kim, what’s another healthy low cost snack for kids?
Kim: Well, one of the things that you can purchase are these whole wheat tortillas. And you can get you some salsa. And one of the things that you can do, you can cut these into triangles and bake them in the oven, and you have some low cost tortilla chips. And that will be a lot cheaper for you than purchasing the tortilla chips in the bag. And kids really like this. So I think this would be a wonderful snack for kids. You can get nutrition in them without them being aware of it.
Kim says, try to stay away foods with high fructose corn syrup because it can increase your appetite. Looking for another way to save? Kim says, working out at home beats paying for an expensive gym membership. Kim believes achieving your optimal weight is one key to living the abundant life God promises.
Kim: With God all things are possible because I could not have done it without Him.
He’s just given me new energy, new joy, new passion for life. And that is really the thing that I want to bring across to people is that it is possible to lose weight. It is possible to get healthy. You don’t have to settle for low energy. You don’t have to settle for depression. You don’t have to settle for anxiety. Because God wants more for you.
CBN IS HERE FOR YOU!
Are you seeking answers in life? Are you hurting?
Are you facing a difficult situation?
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
