Go Red for Women!

No, not this:

(Heidi Diaz at her deposition in November, for the Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit)

This!

Friday, February 1, is National Wear Red Day. Wear red on Friday in honor of the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women program. Visit their website, and take the Go Red Heart Checkup!

Scammers in the News

Nope, it’s not Heidi Diaz this time! Get this:

Couple Sorry For Sextuplet Hoax

Last spring, this Missouri couple faked the pregnancy and birth of sextuplets, so they could collect all the loot kind people were willing to give them. They said they did it for ‘financial reasons.’ According to the story:

Those who had heard the Eversons' sad story of tight finances set up a Web site to solicit contributions - including a van, washer and dryer, cash and gift certificates. A real estate agent was even working to find the family new housing.

It also says:

"I have never dealt with anything like this," said Police Chief Aaron Ambrose. "The level of fraud like this involving people, I have not."

Apparently he hasn’t encountered Heidi Diaz.

Blame the Fraud, Not the Victim

I just read some comments on a message board that made me angry. They said that people should have done their homework before falling for Heidi Diaz’ Kimkins scam.

How did Heidi Diaz get most of her customers? Not from experienced lowcarb dieters who frequent internet message boards! She got her customers from people who saw the diet on the cover of Woman’s World magazine. They read the article, they read the inaccurate suggested menu, and they read about Christin’s amazing success.

Woman’s World magazine promoted the diet. If a reader went to the Kimkins website, and no plan details were there. She would have to buy a nonrefundable membership to get the details. If she did an internet search for Kimkins, the search results were completely saturated with spammy affiliate marketing sites and blogs written by sock puppets, loaded with phony photos and stories. It was the most effective marketing campaign I’ve ever seen. Fortunately, this isn’t the case any more, because people have been working very hard to balance the spam with information about the truth: the fraud, the lawsuit, the dangers, the TV coverage. There’s still plenty of spam out there, but at least it’s not impossible to find real information about the plan.

My guess is that many of the people who tried Kimkins thought they DID do their homework. They are not to be blamed for falling for Heidi Diaz’ Kimkins scam. Heidi Diaz is the one to blame.

Heidi Diaz is to blame! NOT her victims!

About those Kimkins salads...

I just read an interesting blog post at the Atkins Low Carb Original 1970's Diet blog called I Thought My Salad Was Healthy! It referred to a small study about nutrient absorbtion in salads.
Here is the study abstract.

Here are some related articles:
Dietary fat is necessary for absorption of vitamins, nutrients and phytochemicals from fruits and vegetables
A Little Fat Helps the Vegetables Go Down
Full-Fat Salad Dressings Healthier than Fat-Free
Food fallacy: fat-free salad dressing is best
Fat-free salad dressing may not be best after all


What I got out of this was that the pathetically small amount of nutrients in those tiny little (optional!) lettuce salads on the Kimkins diet, with fat free spritzer dressing, are even lower in nutrition than nature intended because of the absorbtion issue caused by the lack of fat in the dressing (and the diet). Kimkins is too low in nutrition as it is, but because of the design of the diet, the body doesn't even get to use what you do eat.

Anorexia Is Not Just a Teenage Battle

Did you see this story on the ABC website or on TV?

Letting Go of an Eating Disorder During Midlife

Kimkins menu changes

Looks like some things about the menu have changed, or not changed the way I thought, since last I saw the information. Here is is what the website says today:

Kimkins Diet Plans

Kimkins is purposely designed as a very simple and
extremely effective weight loss plan! There’s no complicated rules, formulas or
food combinations. We suggest a minimum of 800 calories per day or per your
doctor’s recommendation.

Listed below are the guidelines for each
Kimkins Diet option. That’s it! Pick the one you like, follow the easy rules
exactly and enjoy fast weight loss!

KIMKINS DIET
The original Kimkins Diet

As much lean protein as desired from the Kimkins Food List
0-20 total carbs per day(no fiber or sugar alcohol subtraction)
0-3 cups List 1 veggies per day OR
0-2 cups List 1 veggies + 0-1 cup List 2 veggies per day
Use minimal fat to make your menu work (careful, calories count!)
No alcohol or low carb products (sugar free candy, energy bars, ice cream, frozen meals)
Your appetite will reduce naturally after 3-5 days
Take a complete multivitamin each day plus other desired supplements
________________________________________-

Can I modify the Kimkins Food Lists?

Please don’t. If it’s not the list, don’t eat or drink it! Remember that Kimkins is a lean low carb plan. The #1 reason for slow weight loss is “modifying”. High calorie items
that may appear on other low carb diets are not allowed on Kimkins, including
chicken wings, pork rinds, beef jerky, peanut butter, liberal cheese, cream and
cream cheese

The items in red are updates. Apparently they do say to get at least 800 calories, although the eating plan makes that unlikely. Without eating the kinds of higher fat items Kimmer specifies at the end, how will you get to 800 calories a day? There is only so much chicken breast a gal can eat. And then there's the fact that 800 calories is still not enough, and a multivitamin doesn't make up for the malnourishment this plan carries. Remember, many vitamins are fat soluble, and many nutrients will still be seriously lacking.

I thought that Kimmer had removed the 'zero to' wording from the menu, but it's still there. That means you can eat no vegetables, no added fats, and live on egg whites or chicken breasts and still be on plan. This, and Kimmer's cheerleading, is what led to the egg white challenges (really go read that link - Kimmer endorsed this!). Get into ketosis, lose your appetite, have a few egg whites and maybe some chicken broth, and lose weight, muscle, hair and metabolism. No faster diet. None. You don't even know how little you're eating unless you track it carefully and DO THE MATH. Kimmer will tell you not to worry, though, because there's no need to eat at all so long as there is fat left on your body.

You don't know this is what you're paying for until you've plunked down your nonrefundable $79.95, of course.

Does anyone have the bootcamp menu to share? It's worse, and adds exercise.

Unconscionable

From the transcript for the Kimkins piece on Good Morning America, here is what SingingLass/Delaney had to say about eating disorders and Kimkins:

DELANEY DEAVER (aka SingingLass): We don’t tell people to starve, we encourage them to eat and I think there’s gonna be eating disorders that happen, you know, in any situation when somebody has an issue with food, but we try to prevent that from happening by giving people support.

(GMA's Kimkins story is here)

I don't really know if SingingLass encourages people to eat, but people have been fired or left the site over their concern over exactly the opposite of 'encouraging people to eat'. Kimmer's 'support' for eating disorders is at best, enabling, and at worst, instruction. The fraud is bad. The lying is bad. Taking advantage of consumer vulnerability is bad. Abusing members is bad. But beyond bad is the culture of disordered eating and thinking that Kimkins has created there. She entices vulnerable people with her half truths and lies, and the affected people don't even realize what is happening to them until they are sick.

I tried to find a word that conveys how I feel about all this shocking and morally unacceptable practice, and came up with:

Unconscionable.

Transcript of the Mike & Juliet Show Kimkins Episode

The Mike & Juliet Kimkins episode aired in November 2007. The links to the video clips are on the sidebar of this blog. Following is a trasncript of the episode, copied from Yust Yucky's blog:


The Morning Show with Mike and JulietMonday 12 November 2007
Narrator: Live from the heart of new York City, it’s the Morning Show with Mike and Juliet. Monday….
Christin: The weight was coming off very rapidly, uhm… a lot quicker than anything I have ever seen before
Narrator: She lost one hundred pounds, and that’s not all. You won’t believe what happened next. Today – as our weight loss investigation continues, an inside look at the dangerous diet some call “Atkins meets Anorexia.” Also … (other stories) … And now, your hosts, Mike Jerrick and Juliet Huddy
M & J: (chatter, discussion about Veteran’s Day and university study “sexy equals smarter”)
M: As we continue our diet scam investigation series, we look into something called the Kimkins diet – thousands and thousands claim to have shed hundreds of pounds on this low fat, low carb, low calorie weight loss program
J: But the diet many initially considered their salvation may in fact be better described by some as starvation
M: So is it salvation or starvation? Hmmm..
Christin: I’ve always been overweight my entire life
Narrator: Last fall Christin Sherburne hit her highest weight – two hundred fifty pounds — and decided to take action
C: I did a google search, uh, for the best type of diet for me to go on to. Thats when Kimkins came up in my searches
Narrator: Kimkins is a website in which users pay a one-time fee to access a plan for a low carb, low cal, low fat diet
C: When I opened the web page, there was a beautiful woman sitting there in a lawn chair that claimed that she lost a hundred ninety-eight pounds in eleven months
Narrator: Her name is kimmer — founder of the Kimkins diet. Christin was so convinced by her story, she joined and immediately saw success
C: The weight was coming off very rapidly
Narrator: By the five month mark, she had lost one hundred pounds. After telling Kimmer of her success, Christin became the Kimkins cover girl, touting her achievement on the cover of women magazine. Kimmer also hired Christin to do the PR for the website, and membership boomed. But Christin’s rapid weight loss started to take a toll on her health. She started having frequent dizzy spells, and her hair was falling out
C: Also about that time, my menstrual cycle stopped and Kimmer assured me that as long as I had fat on my body that I was not going to starve
Narrator: However, Christin looked into the diet plan and discovered she was consuming less than five hundred calories per day, and was engaged in another risky behavior
C: The regular advice that was given by Kimmer was to take a full dose of laxatives for (unintelligible) two days
Narrator: Christin noted something else was troubling. Despite working for Kimmer for months, she had never met her face to face, and decided to email Kimmer a list of questions about the safety of the diet and Kimmer’s identity
C: About thirty minutes after I got a response back from her, that I was uh terminated
Narrator: A few days later, Christin got an even bigger shock. She was emailed a link to a video
C: I went and looked at the website, and I was saddened and shocked by what I saw
Narrator: Shooters of the video claim Kimmer’s real name is actually Heidi Diaz, and this is what she really looks like. So who is the woman in Kimmer’s online pix? Further investigations revealed Kimmer’s photos and many of the other Kimkins success story images were actually taken from websites for Russian mail order brides
Juliet: Joining us now is Christin Sherburne, as you saw in the piece, ex-Kimkins dieter Deni Huttula
Mike: We also have the PR director for Kimkins, Jeannie Baitinger is here
J: And Kimkins website moderator Delaney Deaver is joining us as well
M: We got both sides sittin’ right up here
J: All right, so, Christin let’s start with you. We just, we just saw the Russian brides uh development. That must have been a shocker
C: It was absolutely shocking. I was totally disgusted when I saw that, that this woman took pictures from a website that exploits women, to begin with, with these mail order brides, and then using them even further to promote (unintelligible) success stories, even her own picture, that I trusted you know she had lost a hundred and ninety-eight pounds pounds in eleven months, and she was using this picture of this other woman as, as her, and passing it off as her
M: Jeannie’s gonna give us an explanation why she thinks that happened,but let’s talk more about you. How, how is your health now?
C: I’m getting better, I’ve been seeing my doctor and a cardiologist and uh
J: A cardiologist?
C: Yes
J: Because
C: Because I was having uhm heart palpitations, I actually went to the emergency room because I thought I was having a heart attack at one point in time. And uh, I uh, have been seeing the cardiologist and then a therapist to help me learn how to eat better, and I’m getting better
J: It sounds like you’re describing things that anorexics describe
C: Yes i believe that this program, when you get down to the, to the bare bones of it, it’s like Atkins meets anorexia. It teaches, it’s like taking overweight women and teaching them how to be anorexic without even knowing it
J: How does it teach them to be anorexic?
C: Well because when you go and you utilize this program, the way it is written, you end up consuming around five hundred calories a day. And we just, in our typical normal diet mindset would never (unintelligible) extremes try to consume five hundred calories a day
M: But you did it, you, it worked for you, so why didn’t you think that as (unintellgible) You were losing all this weight, you were shedding the pounds, going “welll…”
C: I was, and I was very excited at that point in time, when I was losing the weight, but what they were telling me, or what Kimmer told me, over the website and through emails and everything, was that the diet was perfectly safe, that being ketosis, it was a natural appetite suppressant, and
J: And ketosis is something that, that, when you’re doing the Atkins diet, which is also very popular diet, that’s something that you go into
C: Right, uh huh
J: And that’s when you start to lose weight
C: Right
M: Explain ketosis
C: Basically ketosis is when you’re consuming little to no carbs, your body goes into this fat burning stage of ketosis, and it’s a natural appetite suppressant, you’re not hungry. And so therefore it’s easy to cut your calories
M: A lot of people that use this diet plan, they use a little phrase called SNATT, or a word, SNATT, uh which stands for, what, what does that stand for?
C: Semi Nauseous All The Time
J: Semi Nauseous
M: Semi Nauseous All The Time. In other words you’re supposed to kinda feel sick so you don’t wanna eat
C: Right, now that, that goes in varying degrees. For some people it only lasts just a few days, as they transition, transition into ketosis. Some people it lasts a lot longer, but sometimes, the entire length of the diet
J: Now, have you ever met Kimmer? You’ve never met her
C: No
J: Have you ever talked to her?
C: Yes, I’ve talked to her several times over the phone and we chatted all the time
J: She, she hired you
C: Yes, she hired me
M: You loved it so much you worked for her
C: Yeah, I did, I at that point I really believed that it was a good program and that I, I lost weight on it, and so I thought that it was valid, and so it wasn’t until I started working for her, started doing research on the nutritional aspects of the program, and then I started asking questions
M: But you knew this Kimmer had no medical background
C: Right, but she
M: She was just overweight and came up with this plan on her own
C: Right, she said that she had, ten years of experience in this, that she ‘d been doing it for that long, she’d lost the weight five years ago and then kept it off, I had no reason, other than she wasn’t a nutritionist, not to believe her
J: So it was kind of like, a woman who just had some luck, and she kind of gave what she was doing to her friends, but it was some, she’s a woman with maybe, she’s losing weight, but she doesn’t have any kind of dietary
C: No
J: Expertise
C: Right
J: Okay Jeannie? You’re the PR spokesman now for Kimkins
TypoToes: Yes
J: Uh you’ve obviously been listening to Christin, what’s your response? Let’s start, let’s start at the fact that, uh, let’s let’s talk about Kimmer, first of all.
TT: Okay
J: Who’s Kimmer?
TT: Uhm…Kimmer is in fact Heidi Diaz. Uhm, none of us really knew that. You guys didn’t know it, we didn’t know it, just a few days before we came on the show, she called me up. She said, Jeannie this is Heidi. And I was kind of like, huh? And she said, how do you feel about that? The truth is
J: Because she was Kimmer to you, right?
TT: Right, right. It didn’t really surprise me. I mean, I don’t think it’s gonna be a big shock for anyone to know that. Asking why she would have hidden, you know, who her real identity was, you see the video, you see the pictures of the woman
M: You can see why she would hide it, she can’t even lose weight on her own diet plan
TT: I think maybe she fell off the wagon and gained her weight back. Listen, it’s tough
M: Well, come forward and say that
TT: It’s tough
M: Uh, uh I think it’s a good plan but I can’t stay with it
TT: Well, she has a full explanation on her web page and I really can’t explain for her at this point any better than she can explain for herself. But anybody that goes to the website at Kimkins.com, the first page is public, anybody can read it, her site is already up, she, her explanation is already on it
M: But you said a week ago when we talked to you that there was no proof, there’s no video proof that (unintelligible) is actually Kim Diaz (unintelligible)
TT: I really didn’t know that
M: Why did you change your mind
TT: Because she called me and told me that that’s who she was
M: That’s, she’s who
TT: Yes
M: Well my god then back that up, what, she’s using fake photos, before and after pictures are fake, man, the PR, you’re drowning in bad PR
TT: I came in at a very bad time, there’s definitely not a doubt about that. But I’m gonna tell you, I came in because I believe a hundred and ten percent in this diet, it changes people’s lives. Did she use some poor marketing tactics? Well yes, absolutely
J: But that that would make me nervous, doing a diet, something, you’re, you’re messing with your health
TT: Well I’m under a doctor’s supervision, and we encourage all members to be, and I believe that you were under a doctor’s supervision as well?
Christin: No I wasn’t, I was not under a doctor’s supervision, not until the very end of the diet, and actually I’d been off of the program for about four months before I finally went to my doctor and I got the blood work done and everything and yes my blood work did come back okay, but when I finally confessed to him and told him exactly what I had been eating, and the calorie consumption that I had had, he was not happy with me
TT: Christin
M: How can you explain that eight hundred calories a day, you’ve upped it from five hundred to eight hundred calories a day
TT: That’s, that’s the minimal amount
M: Minimum, okay
TT: Minimum
M: Okay
TT: Maximum could be as high as fifteen hundred
M: Do you recommend laxatives?
TT: No
M: No?
TT: Only if somebody tells us you know they’re having potty problems , we recommend psyllium husks, a hundred per cent. Some people
Deni: That’s not what they recommended when I was doing the diet
TT: We’re always willing to make positive changes
M: And Jeannie, you know what, we checked your site one minute before we went on our show. There’s no indication about this video or an admission by Heidi Diaz that she’s Kimmer
TT: It’s on the front web page now, we checked before we left
M: Let’s, let’s look it up right now
TT: Okay
M: Folks in the control room, try to, and
J: Look it up and they say it’s not on there, that’s what our producers (unintelligible)
M: You say it was on the home page?
TT: It was on the home page this morning
M: On the, give us the name of the site
TT: It’s Kimkins.com
M: Kimkins.com
TT: Yes
M: Okay we’ll continue to look at this page, we don’t see it right now, the people in the control room
TT: Okay
J: All right, so, but you say, despite the fact that, that Heidi slash Kimmer slash the ya know Russian mail order bride picture person, despite all that, you believe in this diet
M: Still believe in it
TT: I believe in the diet
J: It’s safe
TT: I believe it can be used safely. Do I believe that anyone should stay on five hundred calories a day to lose a hundred pounds in five months? No. In fact, ladies, I went behind you and I read your posts and as moderators I felt you set a poor example for other people. I really do
J: But they’re not trained
TT: But the fact that Christin didn’t tell her doctor what was going on tells me that Christin knew it was bad
M: Well at one point Christin, you kinda of thought it was good, didn’t ya? I mean
C: Yes
M: There are pictures of you holding up your blood work, look at me
C: Right
M: I’ve lost so much weight, and my blood work is good
C: Right, I did
M: And I’m thrilled with this diet
D: (unintelligible) effects come later
C: Right, and you know, I agree with you, and I admit, I was a hundred percent for the program, and I told people to do it the way that I did it, but what I am doing now is I am coming forward and I am
M: Look how happy you were
C: Telling people
M: Look at that
C: I know, but I am coming forward now, and I am telling people they’re still using my success story, as uh advertisement for this program, and I don’t like that
M: You want that taken off that website
C: I do
M: Why is that still on the website Jeannie?
TT: I have no idea, I do not do anything that has to do with web design
J: Can we, can, can you, since you are in PR and you probably talk to the web design people, can we them off the web site, can we just agree to do that?
TT: I believe that you signed a modeling contract
J: Oh come on, let her go
C: No
TT: It’s not up to me, it’s gonna be between you and Heidi Diaz
C: No, but I signed that modeling contract under fraudulent circumstances
TT: I understand that, but again
C: I do not want
TT: That’s something that you’re gonna have to take up with her
M: But why wouldn’t Heidi Diaz just come on the show and straighten this all out (unintelligible) legitimate
TT: She’s in litigation and actually she had a deposition today. We do have a pending lawsuit
J: You do have your hands full Jeannie
TT: I have my hands full, but i wanna tell you something about it
D: You took it on knowing what was
TT: I did take it on knowing. And the reason that I did that was because every single day somebody comes to me and says, this diet is changing my life, I was gonna have gastric bypass, I don’t have to do it now
J: But I think, I don’t think anybody is arguing with the fact that it can be life changing to lose a lot of weight. That’s great. The bad part is that you’re doing it at the expense of your health, it sounds like (unintelligible) people are saying
C: Right, yes, because like you said, you have had people coming to you every single day saying that it’s changing their life, they’re losing weight, I have people coming to me every single day saying, what on earth is going on with me, I am sick, I’ve had people who are going to the hospital with
M: Deni, is that your story as well? Tell us how much weight have you lost?
Deni: I lost about seventy pounds in about five months
J: Were you happy while you were losing the weight?
D: I was happy while i was losing the weight, I ignored my symptoms, I didn’t realize
J: What were your symptoms
D: Uh, just, I had extra periods, like every weekend I had ‘em or every two weeks. Uhm, I was told by Kimmer specifically oh that’s no big deal, it’s normal, it happens when you lose weight
M: I can see why you wanna do it, look at the before and after pictures there, now oh my gosh I’m losing weight, I’ve never looked better, but you’re dizzy
D: Right. I got dizzy spells, I got heart palpitations that I ignored, and I just kinda passed them off
M: Why did you stick with this one when you couldn’t stick with all these other diet plans, both of you
D: Again, the ketosis
C: The ketosis
D: It uh made you not hungry so it empowered you and the you know
C: And the power is a good point, because you do, you feel like you’re in total control and it’s addicting. It’s very addicting when you feel like that all of a sudden, I’ve had this problem for so many years, I had to eat and I don’t have to eat anymore
M: Finally, an answer
C: It’s an answer
J: It sounds like you’re saying that you almost developed a sort of eating disorder
C: Yeah
J: You were addicted to the fact that you were taking such low calories
C: Right
J: Into your body
C: Exactly
J: You were addicted to the fact you were losing weight
C: Exactly, yeah
J: Are you seeing that? I mean do you understand what these women are saying?
TT: The site has changed since I came in. Uh, I made a vow to the low carb community that I was gonna go in there and make every wrong right or I wouldn’t work there
D: We tried to do that
TT: We are making positive changes
C: And that’s what I tried to do and that’s why I got fired
M: Give us the name of your, the, the person in charge of your nutrition plan or a, the medical doctor that’s helping you with the site
TT: Uh, I will be glad to do that, we are
M: Is there one?
TT: There is not one, but there is one watching the show today. We have contacted a bariatric specialist that is interested in taking a look at our plan
M: Okay
TT: She doesn’t like to have to do weight loss surgery. She’s looking at our plan as maybe a way to
M: She’s looking, she hasn’t made a decision yet (unintelligible) factor
TT: She will make a decision after the show today and I feel pretty confident that she will be joining our team
M: Delaney? Let’s talk about you. At your highest weight, what were you?
SingingLass: I think I was in the three twenties. I was put on oral steroids due to some illness I had, and I gained weight really quickly
M: (unintelligible) gain
SL: Yes
M: Three twenty. So Kimkins is working for you
SL: Definitely. I have lost about a hundred and two pounds right now? And, I originally started on the Atkins, but it was really slow going for me, and I stalled out, and I was worried I was gonna have to go to surgical procedures or something, and I was worried about all the side effects, and then I found Kimkins.com and the diet plan and the supportive communities so I no longer had to do everything in silence
J: Doesn’t it concern you, though, hearing what these women are saying about the medical issues that they’re now having
SL: Personally
J: Based on a diet that doesn’t really have any any expert in charge of it?
SL: It is concerning. Personally my doctor has approved the diet plan, they’ve been really enthusiastic about my loss. We see members all the time reporting positive results with their blood work, their doctors are encouraging them, people, they’re getting off their insulin with diabetes
M: Boy, I tell ya though the people that have been on this, and they’ve been, they feel like their health has been harmed, are really after this Kimkins website
?: Right
M: And Heidi, and you Jeannie, what, has it been pretty tough for you?
TT: I feel like I’m in the middle of a terrorist attack. I really do
J: What, your life has been threatened, your house has been bombed
TT: Her life has been threatened
SL: Mine was. They found my name and my contact info and they put it on one of the main blogs for the people opposing the diet and I woke up to one morning to harassing calls and death threats, I had to get the police involved
M: Christin, you know anything about this kind of stuff?
C: Not until it came out on the blogs, that that had happened. I didn’t know anything about that
J: Have you received any kind of threats?
C: I have received phone calls but no threats
M: And people might say
J: (unintelligible) vicious .. over diets
M: Christin, uh, when Kimkins
C: We got emailed threats
D: We got emailed threats for leaving Kimkins
M: When Kimins fired you, is this how, is that what this is all about, you just got mad because you got fired from Kimkins?
C: No absolutely not, what my, my purpose here is that I need to help people that are hurting. The are people that are being hospitalized every day because of this and we have got to make it stop. This website has to come down
TT: There’s no proof of that, there’s no proof of that
J: Everybody’s saying one thing, it’s safe, it’s not safe, so is the Kimkins diet safe or is it not safe? We have a dietician, we have a doctor, they’re coming in, and they’re giving us the bottom line. They’ve looked at the diet themselves (unintelligible)
(cut to commercial break)
M: Yeah we’re back continuing our diet scam investigation series today. We are looking into the kimkins dietJ: Back with us is disillusioned kimkins dieter Christin Sherburne. We also have the PR director for Kimkins, Jeannnie BaitingerM: And for (unintelligible) now, registered dietician Kerry Glassman. Good to see you again Kerry. And from the NYU School of Medicine, author of False Alarm, Dr. Marc Siegel. Thank you so much. But first up, we have something for Jeannie here. This is an email you forwarded to one of our producers, my guess is maybe by mistake, and it reads
Visual: “There will be a nutritionalist there as well. That scares me but we will focus on the diet as TEMPORARY for weight loss…”
M: There will be a nutritionist there as well, on the show in other words, when you come to the morning show, and you, you were emailing a colleague and I think it got forwarded to one of our producers.
TT: That’s okay M: That scares me, you say to your colleague, we will focus on the diet as temporary for weight lossTT: Yes
M: So did you mean to send that to us or not, was that a boo
TT: That was an accident, but that’s okay, because I would have voiced this on stage anyway
M: Okay
TT: We are nervous having a nutritionalist. Without a doubt, a nutritionalist has
Kerry Glassman: How about a nutritionist
Marc Siegel: She’d have been even more nervous having an internist on the show
TT: I have no doubt
KG: And (unintelligible) by the way (unintelligible) actually registered dietician, so
TT: We know that our plan needs improvement, so we’re anxious to hear what you say
M: All right, Kerry, let’s have, let’s have it
KG: Okay, I don’t, I don’t even know where to begin. I’m so upset about this. To begin with, Kimmer has, or Heidi Diaz or whatever her name is, has about as much right going online and selling a diet plan as I do giving legal advice. I mean, it’s completely, it’s ridiculous. Who is she to go into (unintelligible) To me there are so many people walking around out there with disordered eating, and they come to medical professionals like Dr. Siegel, they go to registered dieticians like myself, to dispel all of these myths, to help them lose weight but at the same time be healthy. Anybody can go out there and not eat, and lose weight. That’s not what it’s about, it’s about being a healthy person and being the best you. And for many people, yes, they need to lose weight, but in a healthy manner so, and you, you prey on, and picking on Christin for, I mean, that is absolutely ridiculous. This poor girl was preyed on, and she was like, there are people that are desperate to try and lose weight that they will do things. Would you walk down the street if your doctor said you have high cholesterol, and take a pill from somebody saying, hey hey, your LDL’s will go down real fast. You wouldn’t do that. But, but with weight loss, yes, people are desperate, they wanna lose it fast so they see something and they try to do it and it’s completely unethical for her
J: Let’s talk to Dr. Siegel. Dr. Siegel, uh, let’s talk about the calorie count intake, first of all it’s pretty low
MS: It’s atrocious
J: Average
MS: Actually ketosis, we should tell the audience, is actually an unhealthy thing. It may suppress uh your appetite but it’s very bad for your health, because you get a stress hormone release, it puts every organ in the body under stress. If you have an underlying disease, heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, something you don’t know about, you could get into a life threatening situation from this. A study in 2007, the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at calorie reduction, found it caused anemia, it causes lethargy, it causes difficulty concentrating, it’s a risk to the heart, it causes gastrointestinal problems, it causes menstrual irregularities, this is very very unhealthy diet
M: But other than that, it’s fine
MS: It’s also a cultural problem because people come to this website and it’s, and it snowballs, you know. They have an eggwhite challenge, they egg you on to eat only eggwhites. About an unhealthy as
M: We hear that all the time, I want the only eggwhite omelet every day (unintelligible)
MS: Well that’s fine, that’s fine, but with, you know, with other things
KG: That can be healthy in conjunction with a healthy diet, and, and eggwhites are a healthy thing, that’s not, it’s not that some of the foods on there are unhealthy for you, it’s what, that there’s no calcium, there’s no fiber, there’s no antioxidants from fruits and vegetables, I mean, it’s very, I mean, poor, poor Christin here is probably at risk for osteoporosis
J: Let’s (unintelligible) Jeannie (unintelligible) reaction to all this
TT: Plans have four servings of vegetables a day. Even the boot camp plan. Two cups of salad with lunch, two cups of salad with dinner. What’s wrong with that?
MS: It’s so reduced, it is so reduced
KG: Because there’s so many, there’s so many minimal calories though, so, yes there’s a certain amount of vegetables, they will say there’s vegetables and there’s some lean protein, but there’s no, I mean you don’t even add any sort of carbohydrate, there’s no fiber in the whole plan. There’s no calcium
M: At least one thing
MS: No self-respecting physician is going to be associated with this, no way
M: Okay. One thing we did learn, though, we at least figured out who this Kimmer is. You’ve admitted this morning that Kimmer is, uh, Diaz, I forgot her first name already
C & TT: Heidi
M: Heidi Diaz
TT: Yes
M: So at least we have that, but again, we’re, do we have the shot of the website? Let’s put the, here’s the web page as of a couple a minutes ago, there’s still no admission of that on the homepage
C: And there’s my before, there’s my (unintelligible)
M: Your picture’s still there, Christin
KG: Another thing I’d like, can I say something else about the website? There’s also no nutrition information, there’s, there’s everything about what you should do to diet, but there’s nothing about why you need carbohydrates, what are good sources of whole grains, what do vegetables do for you, what antioxidants, what’s in spinach, what’s
M: Jeannie, do you think that admission will be on there by the end of the day, on your home page?
TT: Yes
MS: If you analyze it, this, it’s a total disaster, you could end up in the hospital
J: Okay guys good information, we’ll continue to talk about this, continue to talk about this on our website. Thank you all for joining us, we do appreciate it.
(end of transcript)

On Defense of Kimkins

People continue to defend Kimkins is safe, and not the nutritionally bankrupt stavation plan it is.

I'm puzzled at how they can think that. These are Heidi Diaz/Kimmer's words:

It’s best not exceed the 1000 cals, 20 carbs, 20-30 fat grams, and keep the Protein at 60-90 grams per day. These are the limits for newbies, but you will find that as you stick with the plan you will see lower numbers in all the above categories.

Here is the math, using her MAXIMUM recommendations.
80 calories (20g carbs x 4 calories per gram)
+ 270 calories (30g fat x 9 calories per gram)
+ 360 calories (90g protein x 4 calories per gram)
710 calories

That's the MAXIMUM. Saying it's best not to exceed 1000 calories is a smokescreen. Kimmer also says there is no need at all to eat so long as there is any fat remaining on your body. You don't see that sage advice before you plunk down your nonrefundable $79.95. Once you've spent your money, if you question that advice you are banned.

If you're eating a reasonable amount of calories and getting good nutrition, you aren't even doing Kimkins, so why would you defend it?

Does the fact that you haven't been killed by advice you didn't take mean that the advice is safe?

Does Skinny = Healthy?

Is being thin automatically healthier than being heavier? Not necessarily.

I just watched a piece on the Today show, about Skinny Fat people. The story hasn't been posted online yet, so check later. This story reminded me of Kimkins. (Ooh, did you see Kimkins on GMA yesterday?) One of the major premises of the Kimkins diet is that being thin is healthier and less risky than being overweight, no matter how you lost the weight. Not true.

Skinny fat is when a person is not overweight, but doesn't exercise or get adequate nutrition. Poor muscle tone, poor circulation and poor overall health lead to a situation where a person looks good in clothes but not so good undressed. Not sexy! And the person can die of the same diseases as overweight people do, because of the chronic disregard for health.

This is one of the ways that Kimkins can damage you. Kimkins does not incorporate exercise, does not support intake of sufficient protein, fats, vegetables, fiber or water. The result is, if you're 'tough enough' to endure the diet, the weight comes down while muscles waste away, cells suffer, and health deteriorates. Maintenance of the weight loss is extraordinarily difficult due to decreased metabolism. Weight gain is likely, leading to a yo yo situation that is devastating to the heart.

What is your goal? Skinny? Or trim, healthy, fit & SEXY?

Kimkins on Good Morning America in just a few minutes!

Turn it on!

The promos sound awesome! Keep your fingers crossed that this deters people from doing Kimkins! It looks like they will focus on the dangerous Kimkins diet, but they'll also cover the rise and fall of the Kimkins diet and the Kimkins lawsuit.

What's So Bad About Kimkins?

Following are some really good links that help explain what's so bad about the Kimkins 'diet' itself.

Maloney Medical Thyroid Weight Research

Endocrinological Assessment and Treatment of Weight Gain & Obesity

Effect of a high-protein, very-low-calorie diet on resting metabolism, thyroid hormones, and energy expenditure of obese middle-aged women.

Resting metabolic rate, body composition and thyroid hormones. Short term effects of very low calorie diet.

Energy-metabolism adaptation in obese adults on a very-low-calorie diet

Weight and Body Composition Management

Low Carbohydrate Nutrition: Research on the Safety of Very Low Calorie Diets - This one mentions kk!

So in summary, Kimkins is ineffective and dangerous - studies back it up!

Thank you, Anopomoni from LCF!

Follow Up to Plea for Help

This is a follow up on a plea for help for a friend who appears to have an eating disorder.

I received a few comments, so I thought I'd share what resources were included.

__________________________

Causes of Eating Disorders

National Eating Disorders Association
If you are in an urgent situation or require assistance, please call our Helpline at 800-931-2237 and our trained volunteers can direct you to help in your area.

Someone can direct a friend they suspect of having an eating disorder to http://www.crazyboards.org/ and have them visit the HELLS KITCHEN forum. It is specifically for people with eating disorders. It is NOT a site for those trying to help a friend, but for people actually WITH the disorder. Here is a helpful post...
http://www.crazyboards.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=133.

Eating Disorders: Eating 101

__________________________

I read about this particular woman, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE, . She's often eating 200 calories or less a day, while working out strenuously. She complains of hunger, shaking, and needing to take a sleeping pill to avoid eating anything at all at night, because her losses are not as fast as Kimmer (Heidi Diaz) promised. She is intent on starving and exercising herself thin while Kimmer makes her site a safe place for her to do that. Kimmer offers no guidance to correct the notion that you can't starve while you still have fat on your body. I'm appalled that Kimmer never suggested that she eat more. In fact, when the topic of Gatorade type juice for electrolytes was raised, Kimmer gave suggestions for getting electrolytes from lettuce wraps to save calories and carbs. She even suggested something might be physically wrong with the woman since her losses are slow! I have this sinking feeling that the situation is hopeless. No friendly advice is going to reach this woman. Several of her friends have tried; though admittedly they are drown out by all the people cheering her on.

She is just one example, but there are others, while Kimmer blithely continues on giving bad advice and recruiting more customers victims. Please, make Kimmer stop!

Kimkins Better Business Bureau Rating Updated

Kimkins Better Business Rating:

Update:
:Blush: Apparently his is very old news! But the ranking is still correct, so I'm leaving this post up in case anyone looking for Kimkins information stops by. Read what the BBB had to say at the link above.

Considering the Kimkins diet? Read this first: Kimkins Diet Scam Update.

The Award Winning Kimkins Diet

Kimkins has been awarded the Consumerama.com Naked Mole Rats of Marketing Award!. Here is what they had to say:

____________________________________________________




KIMKINS DIET

That's Heidi Kimberly Diaz, a/k/a " Kimkins" over on the right. (The good-looking one is the naked mole-rat. That's Kimkins up above.) Does the petite and demure Ms. Diaz look like she's lost 200 pounds and kept it off for 5 years? That's one of the many improbable statements that have come out of her mouth (in between bites, no doubt).

The Kimkins diet has prompted a burgeoning horde
of consumer protest sites by people who were duped by Diaz's fake before and after pictures, by her alleged serial lies, and by the propaganda that she herself had achieved fantastic results on the program.

I will not recount the whole sordid Kimkins deception here, as there are literally hundreds of blogs, websites, and forum posts which contain all you'd ever want to know and more. This article at About.com is a pretty good one-page expose' -- including claims that the diet is unsafe and destructive.

For reckless disregard of everything and everyone that stands between her and a fast buck, Consumerama hereby force-feeds Kimmer and her company this week's NMRoM Award!

____________________________________________________

Mole rats are lowcarb, right?

Can you picture Heidi accepting this award? With tears in her eyes, she'd like to thank the admins she threw under the bus, the dieters she ridiculed and damaged, and all the little people who got sick following her diet. Without them, she wouldn't be where she is today.

Safe Weight Loss for Diabetics

Jenny has a great post called Safe Low Carb Dieting for Weight Loss. Her advice applies to non-diabetics, too! Her website is another great resource: What They Don’t Tell You About Diabetes.

Say yes to healthy weight loss!!!

If You’re Not Completely Appalled, You Aren’t Paying Attention

Kimkins has raised the price to $79.95. (Litigation is expensive and Kimmer can't be outdone by mystical chicken diets!)

Benefits included with membership include:

• Phony Success Stories (or real ones, by people who have fled the site and are suing her)
• Personal Coaching (in Eating Disordered Behavior)
• Manipulation of the Truth
• Dangerous Diet Advice
• Lifetime Membership (Lifetime determined by Kimmer, her Admins, or the Judge!)
• Heavy censorship of posts
• Private Messages that are not private
• Personal journals that can be deleted at any time
• No faster diet, none! (It doesn't appear to be true for Kimmer)

Internet Fraud

Did you make a resolution not to get ripped off this year? For information about internet fraud, check the Department of Justice's web page.

Internet Fraud

Here is one site where you can file a complaint:

File a Complaint

For information about reporting a cyber crime, look here:

Reporting Computer Hacking, Fraud and Other Internet-Related Crime


Edited to add a reminder:
If you are/were a Kimkins member, click here for information about joining the Kimkins lawsuit.

It's so easy - here is how to join the Kimkins lawsuit.

Happy New Year!

If your vow is to get leaner and healthier, and you are using the new year as a fresh start, be sure to start with wise choices. Feed your body right!

Cindy at Cindy's Low Carb Life has a great post called Ex-Kimkins or New to Low Carb? Be sure to check it out, because it's good reading. You don't have to punish yourself or starve your body to get thinner! Find or develop a plan you can stick to and enjoy!

I wish you all the best in 2008!