Kimkins and Bariatric Surgery

Heidi Diaz is still defending ultra low calories on her crash diet Kimkins website, comparing it to post-bariatric surgery diets. Where her comparison falls apart is that post-surgical patients are elaborately supplemented and medically supervised. And yet... horrific medical complications are not rare! Check out this post from Sandy over at Junkfood Science. It's really sobering stuff. If patient health can be damaged this badly WITH medical supervision, imagine how much more likely it is when taking advice from an internet diet 'expert' with absolutely no qualifications? One of her clients has been eating 470 to 700 calories per day and has stopped losing weight, and Heidi told her that she might be getting more calories than she thinks and should be more strict, and that she shouldn't eat more. It's no wonder people emerge from that site with eating disorders and illness. Fortunately, I didn't see Heidi recommend a laxative this time!

Another important point is that if Heidi Diaz' crash diet was such a good thing, then why is she overweight and sick, and unable to lose weight no matter what she does? She's selling the very advice that got her where she is today. It's easy to guess that she's completely destroyed her metabolism from crash dieting off the weight over and over.

Say NO to Kimkins!

Oprah, Oprah, Oprah!

Oprah has regained 40 pounds. This is news. After all, it's a given that a woman's worth is determined by her waistline.

She feels bad and embarrassed. She fell off the wagon and let it run over her.

Oprah lost 67 pounds on a liquid protein diet. You know... a diet where your calories are suppressed and you drink liquid protein drinks and the weight falls off and you get into skinny jeans and feel awesome. Then you start to eat real food again and BAM! The pounds, guilt, shame & pain come back. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. She now has a thyroid problem - I wonder how that happened?

Oprah, it's not YOU, it's the #$(&*@#&##@ DIEt!!!! Please dust yourself off and adjust your perspective. Use your position as one of the most influential women EVER! Send the message that starving yourself into size 10 CK jeans isn't a solution to being a healthy weight.

And for crying out loud, do not say "I felt like a fat cow. I wanted to disappear." You shouldn't talk to yourself that way, and you shouldn't model that talk for others. Don't be part of the problem, Oprah! Be part of the solution! Give that gift to women and young girls around the globe. You can and you should!

What are the symptoms of Malnutrition?

I read a blog post this morning about a Kimkins dieter who has been experiencing health problems. (More here, and here, and similar stories on the Kimkins Survivors blog) It really scared me. I thought it sounded like she was displaying serious signs of malnutrition/undernutrition, similar to the symptoms weight loss surgery patients can face. (Kimkins is marketed as an alternative to weight loss surgery - calories are similarly suppressed but without surgical intervention.)

Here is one list of symptoms of malnutrition, obtained here:

feel tired and weak
low energy levels
difficulty losing weight
can't easily get to sleep
stressed and/or nervous
drowsiness during the day
can't concentrate or get confused easily
digestion problems
constipation or hard stools
mood swings or easily upset
no patience for anything
feel depressed
overly dry or oily skin
nausea or abdominal pain
annoying eye twitches
bruise easily
muscle cramps
lower back pain
nails are thin or brittle
hair loss
water retention
don't eat well-balanced meals every day

These symptoms don't magically resolve when you take a vitamin - these symptoms are signs of damage that can be very difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.

For more information about nutrition and weight loss, Bamagal's Back Across the Line blog is really valuable.

What's in it for you, Derek?

Derek, you said you only posted your success story because you're proud of your weight loss, which you achieved by eating basic low carb, ignoring the Kimkins plan details, and not participating at the website. You said you don't endorse or promote Kimkins.

Derek, this ad says otherwise. Did you consent to this? Are you getting a cut of the profits? Is it OK with you that the odds are statistically zero that they will achieve the results you did? That they'll be out $80? That their money went to support the site that is facing class action lawsuit for fraudulent marketing? That they will probably quit the plan because it's 'too strict' (nutritionally bankrupt) or they'll actually DO the diet and end up with symptoms like the people on the Kimkins Survivors? And you are OK with Heidi Diaz using you to get people to join. Did you know the Better Business Bureau gave Kimkins an F rating?

If you are really only in this to inspire others and show them what is possible, then why not tell your story at any number of free weight loss websites? Why be a cover model for Kimkins? Really, I do not get it. Is there something in it for you?






Update: AffiliateScams has more on this topic.

Post: Anorexic "Tips" from the Biggest Loser

This was the first piece I've read by Charlotte Hilton Andersen, and I want to share it here. I looked at some of her other entries and I can't wait to read them all. According to her bio on the site, "Charlotte runs the popular health and fitness site The Great Fitness Experiment. She was featured on ABC's 20/20 and interviewed on Fox's Morning Show with Mike & Juliette. Her writing can be found on the Washington Post online, Fox News online, LiveStrong, and iVillage as well as many other health, fitness and body image sites."

Anorexic "Tips" from the Biggest Loser

Today is Love Your Body Day

Thank you, Bamagal for the heads up on your Kimkins Review blog, and for the link to the Love Your Body website.

Overall women are dissatisfied with their bodies - 80% of us. It's what makes it so easy for Kimkins and other diet websites to get a toe hold! They prey on that dissatisfaction.

Pledge to love your body today! What will YOU do to feed your body and your soul?

Some Recent Health News

I found these articles interesting and thought I'd share them here.

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This one supports the importance of essential fatty acids for mental health.

Eating Healthy Food Can Keep Mental Disorders At Bay!
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The title on this one explains itself. Don't think that supplements can take the place of food.

Vitamin-rich foods always trump a bottle of supplements, nutrition experts say
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This one talks about how extreme diets can damage fertility. Kimkins members, if you start missing periods, please stop the diet. You don't have to be down to skin & bones to be harmed this way. Sorry about that annoying Citibank ad - I can't figure out how to make it go away but if you copy the text of the story into notepad or something, you can read the words blocked by the ad.

Excessive weight loss can affect women’s ability to conceive
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The title explains itself on this one, too.

Seek lifelong health over short-term weight loss

Effects Of Semi-Starvation

I want to share with you something I read this morning. This is some seriously interesting reading. It discusses and interprets the Ancel Keys “starvation study” from 1950.

The article is about the relationship between eating disorders and prolonged dietary restriction. The entire article can be found here:
Effects Of Semi-Starvation

It starts with this:

One of the most important advancements in the understanding of eating disorders is the recognition that severe and prolonged dietary restriction can lead to serious physical and psychological complications (Garner, 1997). Many of the symptoms once thought to be primary features of anorexia nervosa are actually symptoms of starvation. Given what we know about the biology of weight regulation, what is the impact of weight suppression on the individual? This is particularly relevant for those with anorexia nervosa, but is also important for people with eating disorders who have lost significant amounts of body weight. Perhaps the most powerful illustration of the effects of restrictive dieting and weight loss on behavior is an experimental study conducted almost 50 years ago and published in 1950 by Ancel Keys and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota (Keys et al., 1950). The experiment involved carefully studying 36 young, healthy, psychologically normal men while restricting their caloric intake for 6 months. More than 100 men volunteered for the study as an alternative to military service; the 36 selected had the highest levels of physical and psychological health, as well as the most commitment to the objectives of the experiment. What makes the "starvation study" (as it is commonly known) so important is that many of the experiences observed in the volunteers are the same as those experienced by patients with eating disorders.

It goes on to describe in detail how the study affected the participants, including:
Attitudes and Behavior Related to Food and Eating
Binge Eating
Emotional and Personality Changes
Social and Sexual Changes
Cognitive and Physical Changes

You really do need to read the whole article to appreciate the significance of the impact on these men.

The study participants started out as healthy men, with no apparent predisposition to eating disorders. By restricting their food intake by half for the duration of study, they suffered profound and long lasting impact.

With Kimkins food is restricted much more, and often for longer, than it was for these healthy men for the ‘starvation study’. The symptoms these men suffered are very similar to symptoms described by Kimkins survivors. There has been a great deal of debate over whether or not Kimkins can cause an eating disorder. I am no authority, but in my heart I feel the answer is that yes it can. It is commonly said that eating disorders are not about the food, but this study seems to indicate the issue is not that clear cut.

Nothing Tastes As Good As Being Thin Feels

Really?

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Image source:

Hila Elmalich, Israeli Model Dies of Anorexia

What's Wrong With This Picture? Some of my observations...

Check out the woman who forgot to put her dress on over her trashy slip. Her BFF should have told her! Boobs, belly button and undergarments (if any - we can hope) on full display. What self respecting woman would do this? Oh wait, they wouldn't. I can't imagine what kind of event they are attending, with the fashion statements displayed in this photo, complete with beer bottles and flasks. Any guesses?

Of course, my real objection to this photo is the pig in the tee shirt. First of all - COVER THAT UP! Again, what person with any self respect would display themselves in this pathetic and sad way? He's no victim, though - he's the one doing the damage with that ignorant message on the shirt. His message is clear - if you 'beat' the disease called anorexia, you'll look like him. Better to keep starving yourself than try to beat the disease. Shameful.

Heidi Diaz sends the same sort of message with Kimkins. Best to diet-coke-fast off the pounds, take laxatives daily so 'potty problems' don't mask weight loss, trick your body into feeling too queasy to eat, berate yourself for an extra 'finger grab' of salad, whatever it takes not to look like the guy in that picture. Better to hide behind lies and phony photos than be who you are. Shameful!

What's Wrong With This Picture?

What do you think about this picture?

The Disorder Next Door

SELF magazine has an interesting article called The disorder next door. Their conclusion? Over 6 in 10 American women have disordered eating, and another 1 in 10 has an eating disorder.

This was covered this morning on the Today Show. I found it odd they had Matt Lauer do the interview. Maybe this is unfair, but it felt like having me cover a wrestling match. LOL! Here's a link to the interview:

SELF poll reveals 65 percent of American women are disordered eaters

Here's an excerpt:

The online SELF survey garnered responses from 4,000 women ages 25 to 45 to a detailed questionnaire about their eating habits and found that most disordered eaters fall into one or more of six categories. "Calorie prisoners" are terrified of gaining weight, tend to see food as good or bad and feel extremely guilty if they indulge in something that’s off-limits. Secret eaters binge on junk food at home, in the car — wherever they won’t be found out. Career dieters may not know what to eat without a plan to follow; despite their efforts, they’re more likely than other types to be overweight or obese. Purgers are obsessed with ridding their body of unwanted calories and bloat by using laxatives, diuretics or occasional vomiting. Food addicts eat to soothe stress, deal with anger, even celebrate a happy event; they think about food nearly all the time. Extreme exercisers work out despite illness, injury or exhaustion and solely for weight loss; they are devastated if they miss a session. Like Marsh, who Bulik describes as a calorie prisoner and an exercise addict, many disordered eaters piece together a painful mix of destructive habits. Others may shift between categories over the years, ricocheting from restricting to bingeing to purging, for instance.

Even more frightening, the SELF survey reveals that an additional 10 percent of women suffer from outright eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, meaning that a total of 75 percent of all American women — three out of four — eat, think and behave abnormally around food.

Gulp. I looked around the SELF website and found some interesting articles and tools there. Take the SELF Magazine eating disorder quiz. I did and the results were UGly. (Ugly with a capital UG, get it?) My reaction? Well DUH! I have probably fit 5 of the 6 categories mentioned above at one time or another - often most of them all at once. The one that spoke loudest to me was the 'career dieter.'

So now what will SELF do with those results? My challenge to them is to show people how to get healthy about eating and their weight, instead of reverting to the regular glossy coverage of how it's so much better to be skinny than fat, with a side order of implications that if you're fat it's because you don't want it bad enough.

Dr. Phil: Eating Disorder Warning Signs

From Eating Disorder Warning Signs (comments in red are mine)

Eating disorders are what Dr. Phil calls a "silent epidemic." In the beginning, girls may choose to restrict their diets or to purge for one reason, but they end up continuing to do so because it becomes an addiction. (This is my biggest fear about Kimkins!) Early intervention (Kimkins admins can't help with that, not even for a $70 fee) is crucial because once an eating disorder gets a grip on someone, it's far more difficult to treat.

There are warning signs that you do need to be looking for. "First off, you never see them eat. You'll see them push their food around the plate, but you'll see every kind of avoidance technique you can imagine (a significant Kimkins trait) because they regard food as poison," Dr. Phil explains. "If they're acting around food as though it's toxic or poisonous, that should be a clue for you."

Also, has your child been dressing in baggy clothes? "You're going to see really bulky sweaters and baggy pants to hide the weight loss and disguise the body," Dr. Phil says. "Look for extreme behaviors. Look for deception. Look for hiding."

Additional warning signs:
A significant change in apparent appetite (SNATT, anyone?)
Excessive weight loss and an intense fear of weight gain (Another Kimkins characteristic... "I've been stalled for 2 days!")
An unnatural preoccupation with food and calories (veggies measured in a jello cup?)
An obsession with clothing size, scales and mirrors
Routine secrecy, such as leaving the table immediately after eating to go behind closed doors
Avoidance of family meals or events at which food is present (Have heard this at Kimkins a lot, too)
Wearing bulky clothes to hide weight loss
Excessive exercise (Oops, no exercise needed if you want to look like Kimmer!)
Social withdrawal and moodiness (Heidi Diaz! Wonder Woman! Any number of alter-egos!))

From The Show
Eating Disorders

Related Links
Overcoming an Eating Disorder
Resources

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All my Kimkins venom aside, this is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week and I really want you to be AWARE. You can't dabble in anorexia in the quest to lose weight. You can't starve your body even for a short time without suffering damage. And losing weight that way means short-term weight loss - do you really want to have to lose all those stinking pounds again?

Be safe!

Should Pro-Anorexia and Pro-Bulimia Websites Be Closed?

The following article is from here: Pro-Anorexia Websites 'Must Be Closed'

Health experts have launched a campaign against pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia websites to coincide with the start of Eating Disorders Week.

Specialists from Affinity Healthcare, which operates one of the country's largest eating disorders units at Cheadle Royal Hospital, Cheshire, want the campaign to make people more aware of the dangers of sites that promote eating disorders. It also wants internet service providers and social networks such as Facebook and MySpace to closely monitor the worst sites.

Over 1.1 million Britons suffer from an eating disorder with 90% being women, although experts say this number is higher as many cases go undiagnosed. The rise of the internet and new media has played a significant part in the increase in people with eating disorders, with websites and social networking sites providing easier access to information on how to get thin.

A recent study found that young women exposed to pro-ana websites subsequently felt more negative, had lower self-esteem, perceived themselves as heavier and were more likely to compare their bodies with other women.

Dr Ty Glover consultant psychiatrist at Cheadle Royal Hospital said: "We are horrified at the content of these sites and the tips they give on how to be thin.

"People with eating disorders are extremely vulnerable and often have very low self esteem, so pro-ana and pro-mia sites can be very damaging as they are sending out the wrong advice.

"The sites promote anorexia as a lifestyle but in reality it leads to long-term damage such as osteoporosis, hair loss, kidney problems, periods stopping, bad skin, difficulty sleeping, tiredness, stomach pains, constipation and in the most severe cases, death."

What a slippery slope. As one of the commenters to the article said, should every site that gives people a bad idea be closed down? Well, no. But who gets to decide what should be allowed and what is not?

I am against censorship, but I do feel a strong responsibility to look out for victims. It makes for some interesting personal conflict. I don't think it's a great idea to have websites with detailed instructions for building bombs, or for killing people, for example. Not everyone who finds themselves on a pro-ED site is an adult. Not everyone knows the danger they are getting into. Not everyone is well. How can they be protected from being lured into danger?

My experience with the Kimkins scam taught me how people can get caught up in the idea of eating less, learning tricks to lose appetite, going lower and lower until they lose all perspective about what is good for them. Most don't even realize how little they are eating, or if they do they still think it's too much. They hear the constant hum of 'it's OK to feel sick from it', 'you'll be ok', 'it won't hurt you', 'you're tough enough for this', 'you want to be thin', 'being overweight is the worst thing that can happen to you'. People get drawn in, thinking they can just do it for a while and then quit when they're done. Then they find out they can't quit. I know this isn't quite the same thing as the pro-ana sites, but there are some interesting parallels, and I can see where being in an environment can lead a person to go farther than they could on their own.

What do you think about this topic? I'd love to know.

A Little Exercise for National Eating Disorders Week

Bamagal pointed this out to me via her blog:

A little exercise for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

Like many women, I can't remember a time when I wasn't trying to sort out what to eat, how much I should eat, how I can lose weight. I've lost my sense of what 'eating normally' should look like. Can you relate? I'd love to hear from you.

Do you have an eating disorder? Take the quiz MrsMenopausal posted today.

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

February 24-March 1, 2008

Eating Disorder Awareness Week

Here are some sobering statistics to consider:

Eating disorders affect up to ten million U.S. females, and 1 million males. That's triple the number of people living with AIDS in this country! It's a significant and deadly illness, yet receives precious little awareness in comparison.

42 percent of girls in first through third grade want to be thinner

As many as 13% of all females in the US will struggle with an eating disorder each year.

Approximately 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat

51% of 9-10 year olds report feeling better about themselves while dieting

Teen girls who ate five or more meals a week with their families were nearly one-third less likely to develop extreme weight control behaviors, such as self-induced vomiting and abuse of laxatives, diet pills or diuretics, than girls who ate less often with their families.

Anorexia is thought to have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder, with approximately 10% of those who are diagnosed with the disorder eventually dying due to related causes.

The suicide rate of people with anorexia is also higher than that of the general population and is thought to be the major cause of death for those with the condition.

Less than one-half recover fully, one-third improve, and 20% remain chronically ill.

Why Heidi Diaz Marketing to Teens is Shameful

Here is a recent article about teens, dieting and eating disorders.

Many Overweight Teens Have Same Eating Disorders as Thin Peers

From the article:

A new study of teenagers has found that the same risk factors are associated with both being overweight and with disordered eating behaviors like binge eating and using diet pills. Moreover, food-related problems are extraordinarily common among urban teens — affecting 44 percent of adolescent girls and 29 percent of boys.

Heidi Diaz is no dummy. She knows that those are exactly the people she is going to reach with her viral marketing that suggest stars like Jessica Alba and Lindsay Lohan are using Kimkins. (They are not.) She is preying on young people to get them to part with their money. Here is a picture from the Kimmer blog, taken today. The post is several months old, but despite the ongoing lawsuit and intense scrutiny of her business actions, Heidi Diaz has left it out there:





More from the article:

More than one-third of the overweight girls in the study engaged in what the researchers called “extreme weight control behaviors,” like vomiting or taking diet pills or laxatives in an attempt to lose weight. “We usually look for these behaviors in very thin girls, but here we see a very high prevalence in overweight girls,” said lead author Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph.D., professor of public health at the University of Minnesota.

It doesn’t faze Heidi Diaz at all that she’s introducing or reinforcing exactly these dangerous eating patterns - remember the daily laxative advice? Remember the story of the teenage girl on Kimkins who was treated badly for suggesting she needed to eat more than the 500 calories she was getting? Heidi knew how old she was and still gave her bad diet advice and didn’t protect her from people (even site Admins) who viciously attacked her.


If you haven't joined Kimkins, please consider very carefully the kind of business woman she is. If you are a member of the site, please consider very carefully whether or not she is the kind of woman you want to lend credibility to by continuing to participate at her site.

Disgusting

This post has been updated. I was so angry when I posted it that what I wrote didn't make any sense.
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Did you SEE this???

Elle magazine: Anorexia is “hot”

Elle, a popular international magazine targeted at young women, is glamourizing anorexia! It's disgusting.

Here is a really important point, from the Disordered Times discussion of the article:

I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve heard anxious, insecure women say, “I wish I could catch a little anorexia!” as if the most fatal of all psychiatric diseases is something you can casually and socially contract, like the common cold, and just as easily recover from.

People are desperate to lose weight, and really do think thoughts like that. They don't know the danger they are flirting with. (Those are the people that predators like Heidi Diaz go after!) It's horrifying that anyone would encourage those feelings in young women by writing about it like it's just a little cosmetic tweaking.

Contact Elle magazine and tell them just what you think of this topic here.

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Updated again to link to some other blog posts about this:
Anorexia is not a fashion accesory, Elle Magazine - Right on, GCSWP! Your blog rocks!
Kimorexia is Furious, and No Wonder... - thanks for the link, Medusa. Your blog rocks, too!
Quickie Mish Mash Post - lots of great info, Bama!
Note to Elle magazine: Anorexia is not “hot”
Elle Reveals Men Actually Think Anorexia is Sexy

The Chicken Wing Is The Problem!

From MJR's blog:
When Are They Going To Quit Starving Themselves?

This is what this Kimkins member is eating in a day. (Not a meal, a DAY!) She's exercising, too.

4 oz of protein shake
1 chicken wing for lunch
Egg salad for snack Unsweet tea w/equal…

Since she doesn't specify, I have no choice but to estimate. I didn't go out of my way to choose low numbers, I just took my best guess. You could double the numbers and still be talking about a starvation diet. Triple them, and it would still be nutritionally abysmal.

• Worldwide Sport Nutrition Pure Protein Liquid Shake - 160 calories for 11
  ounces, so about 60 calories, 13g protein for 4 ounces (nutrition info from
  their website)
• Large chicken wing with skin - 132 calories, 12g protein
  (fitday)
• 2 large eggs - 155 calories, 13g protein (fitday)
• 1T diet mayonnaise - 30 calories (fitday)

That's 377 calories and 28 grams of protein. This member is complaining about not losing fast - only 12 pounds in 2 weeks. Heidi Diaz said that's a good loss, but went on to tell this member she shouldn't have chosen the high fat chicken wing, and could save fat & calories by going with leaner protein. She didn't tell the person to eat more, she just told her how to cut back farther.

How could this be OK with anyone??? And remember, the person telling this woman how to cut further looks like this:

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