Thinking about trying the Kimkins diet?

Perhaps you should think again. The court ordered statement was just posted on the Kimkins diet website.

The California Riverside County Superior Court has ruled in Jeanessa Fenderson, et al. v. Heidi Diaz, Kimkins, Case No. 483005 that Heidi Diaz and Kimkins have engaged in false advertising and fraudulent business practices. The Court found that Defendants Kimkins and Heidi Diaz aka "Kimmer" during the class period, (January 1, 2006 through October 15, 2007, hereinafter "Class Period") have falsely represented the success of the Kimkins diet in that Heidi Diaz, as creator of the Kimkins diet, lied about her representations concerning the amount of weight she lost on the Kimkins diet. The Court also found that the "after diet" images promoted to be Heidi Diaz aka "Kimmer" following the alleged use of her Kimkins diet, posted on the Kimkins.com website and advertisements during the Class Period were not Heidi Diaz, but were actually misappropriated images of models who were used to mislead the public into believing that Heidi Diaz aka "Kimmer" was successful in her weight loss. The Court also found that Defendants, Kimkins and Heidi Diaz aka "Kimmer" used false testimonials on the Kimkins website during the Class Period to mislead the public as to the success of the Kimkins diet. The Court also found that Kimkins and Heidi Diaz aka "Kimmer" used misappropriated photographs of 41 models that were used with false testimonials on the Kimkins.com website during the Class Period to mislead the public as to the success of the Kimkins diet.

Is this really a diet you would want to follow? Paying money to this woman?

Kimkins Trial is Underway

The trial should have started yesterday but due to a busy schedule, it was postponed until today. Heidi Diaz was not present yesterday but she is expected to show up today. Will she wear stretch pants to court?



Probably not. But perhaps red as here at the deposition almost 3 years ago:


Rumor has it that she is no smaller than in the pictures above. I think that may not be helpful to convince the judge (no jury trial) that Kimkins is a great diet that helps obese people to shed the weight and keep it off. The fake success stories and fake photos don't lend any credibility to the diet either.

The trial is attended by a number of plaintiffs and other people that have been involved in bringing Heidi to justice. We are lucky to get updates directly from court. Find out what is going on at the thread on Lowcarbfriends.

You will have to register at Lowcarbfriends to access the thread, but registration is free.

Kimkins Trial

It just took 3 years but all our work is hopefully going to pay off.

Heidi Diaz of Kimkins is going to trial on October 25. She is being sued for fraud in a class action suit initiated by former members with help from our eminent attorney John Tiedt.

While many of us would want to see Heidi aka Kimmer punished for the dangerous diet advice she handed out (egg white challenge, anyone?) that is not what the trial is about. It is for fraud.

Members paid for access to a diet forum led by an alleged diet guru that claimed to successfully have lost 180 pounds and maintained that loss for years. The claims of how efficient the diet is was backed up with success stories with accompanying before and after pictures.

None of it was true. Heidi is morbidly obese and never lost the weight. Not with Kimkins, nor any other diet. The success stories were completely fabricated and the photos were "borrowed" from the 'net, namely websites for "Russian brides." These imaginary people had clearly never followed the Kimkins diet either.

The outcome from the lawsuit that we plaintiffs are hoping for is to have Heidi to refund the membership fee to all members of the class. That would be some 30,000 people @ $39.95 that signed up before the scam was revealed and the lawsuit filed in October of 2007.

The plaintiffs are also requesting that the Kimkins website is shut down.

As I wrote a long time ago Kimmer - so dumb I have no doubt that she regrets that she didn't offer refunds way back when the scam was found out. I'm sure she has spent a lot more money on lawyer fees by now than what the refunds would have cost her at that time.

I want to thank the principals that will represent the rest of us plaintiffs in the class during the trial. Good luck to you all, and we hope for a favorable outcome!

Kimkins Court Hearing

There was a hearing today for Summary Judgment for the Class Action Suit against Kimkins.

All the details are not out yet, but it was decided that Heidi has to post an "Opt-Out Notice" on Kimkins. The notice is also to be posted on one more site in order to reach as many class action members as possible.

The Opt-Out Notice will give the option for any eligible class action member to reserve the right to sue Heidi individually instead of taking part in the class action suit. I don't see it as likely that anybody would want to do this in this case, but it seems to be a requirement for any class action lawsuit that this option is provided.

So much for the lawsuit being dismissed, Heidi. I'm looking forward to seeing the Opt-Out Notice on Kimkins.con. And your explanation for it.

Kimkins Yo-Yo Diet

Wikipedia:

Yo-yo dieting, also known as weight cycling, is a repeated loss and gain of body weight due to excessive dieting. ... The reasons for yo-yo dieting are varied but often include embarking upon a diet that was initially too extreme. At first the dieter may experience elation at the thought of loss and pride of their rejection of food. Over time, however, the limits imposed by such extreme diets cause effects such as depression or fatigue that make the diet impossible to sustain. The dieter reverts to their old eating habits, and with the added emotional effects begins to rapidly regain weight.

This kind of diet is associated with extreme food deprivation as a substitute for good diet and exercise techniques. As a result, the dieter may experience loss of both muscle and body fat during the initial weight-loss phase (weight-bearing exercise is required to maintain muscle). After completing the diet, the dieter is likely to experience the body's famine response, leading to rapid weight gain of only fat. This is a dangerous fat-cycle that changes the body's fat to muscle ratio, one of the more important factors in health. One study in rats showed those made to yo-yo diet were more efficient at gaining weight.

I find this being a very accurate description of the Kimkins Diet. And it has held true for the majority of her members.

Lately, the only "new" members showing up in the Kimkins forum are people that originally tried the diet around the time of the Woman's World article in June 2007. Lost a little weight then but could not stick to it. They are now returning as the "diet did work" the first time. No, it didn't. A diet you can not stick to does not work. A diet that does not lead to lifelong weight loss maintenance is not even worth trying, in my opinion. What's the point of losing the same weight over and over again?

The good news with the returning members is that they don't generate any new revenue for Heidi Diaz. As they purchased a life time membership, there is no additional fees that she can add to the fraudulently obtained money she already has.

The Kimkins board has undergone changes since the June 2007 peak. There is very little activity and there is no peer pressure to drop calories to starvation levels. Sure, lean proteins with minimal fats are still recommended, but most of the members fall off or cheat on a regular basis. Even the few maintainers are not doing a very good job at maintaining these days.

Despite that the board does no longer appear to promote a diet that would be dangerous to your health, it still should be shut down. The entire venture was based on fraud and should not be allowed to continue in any form.


[The rat study Wikipedia references might not fully apply to people, but the results would scare me off any extreme diet attempt. Even if I would be able to starve myself all the way to goal, How would I deal with the "four-fold food efficiency" while trying to maintain? Continue to starve the rest of my life?

This study examined the metabolic effects of weight cycling, i.e., repeated periods of weight loss followed by regain. There were three groups of adult, male Sprague-Dawley rats: (1) Chow Controls (a normal weight control group fed chow throughout); (2) Obese Controls (animals fed a high-fat diet throughout); and (3) Obese Cycling (obese animals cycled through two bouts of caloric restriction and refeeding). The cycled animals showed significant increases in food efficiency (weight gain/kcal food intake) in the second restriction and refeeding periods compared to the first, i.e., weight loss occurred at half the rate and regain at three times the rate in the second cycle. Several physiological changes were associated with this cycling effect. At the end of the experiment, cycled animals had a four-fold increase in food efficiency compared to obese animals of the same weight who had not cycled. These data suggest that frequent dieting may make subsequent weight loss more difficult. The possible metabolic and health consequences of “yo-yo” dieting are discussed. ]

Kimkins SPAM

I am banned from Kimkins. Since September 2007. But I still receive newsletters, recipes and emails from Kimkins.con. Several times per month.

It doesn't matter how many times I unsubscribe. The emails keep on arriving.

I wonder if Heidi Diaz knows that she is in violation of the CAN-SPAM act.

From the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) website:

What the Law Requires

Here's a rundown of the law's main provisions:

• It bans false or misleading header information. Your email's "From," "To," and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.
  
  
• It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.
  
  
• It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or another Internet-based response mechanism that allows a recipient to ask you not to send future email messages to that email address, and you must honor the requests. You may create a "menu" of choices to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to end any commercial messages from the sender.
  
  Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your commercial email. When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor's email address. You cannot help another entity send email to that address, or have another entity send email on your behalf to that address. Finally, it's illegal for you to sell or transfer the email addresses of people who choose not to receive your email, even in the form of a mailing list, unless you transfer the addresses so another entity can comply with the law.
  
  
• It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender's valid physical postal address. Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address.

The emails from Kimkins.con fulfill these requirements, with the exception of the "opt-out."

I don't doubt that Heidi will blame "technical glitches" or duplicate databases and email services but the Law doesn't allow for such an excuse. It clearly says that you have to honor the opt-out and stop sending emails within 10 days.

The FTC also spells out the penalties:

Penalties

Each violation of the above provisions is subject to fines of up to $11,000.

As Heidi does not seem to be aware that she is in violation of this law (or does not care) I made sure that the FTC knows about her spamming. It is very easy to submit a complaint on the FTC website.

Kimkins Cyber Attorney

Since when does legal correspondence take place via email? Heidi Diaz' attorney, Peabody, apparently thinks that this is a proper form of communication.

Is this something new approved in legal circles that I am just not aware of? All my dealings with attorneys have always involved written letters by mail or fax.

To me, there seems to be a reason for this. There is no easy way to tell WHO sent an email. There is no easy way to tell if an email was received (served). How can you know it doesn't end up in a spam filter that the recipient is never checking?

Nevertheless, Peabody keeps on sending "official" Cease and Desist emails to anti-kimkins blogger. Affiliatescams has posted the email she received. Note that her email wasn't even sent directly to her. Unbelievable. But then nothing should really surprise us when it comes to this Kimkins saga, should it?

Also, read the comments to Affiliatescams' post. One blogger (Becky) received a Cease and Desist as a blog comment. Blog comment! How can that be considered Service of Process?

So what is the purpose of these Cease and Desist emails and comments? Peabody says to Affiliatescams: "demand is hereby made that you immediately cease and desist from making any further derogatory or untoward comments on your blog(s) regarding my client and her business interests".

What about the First Amendment? Consumer rights?

I am a disgruntled (banned) customer of Kimkins and have the right to express my dissatisfaction with their service (or lack thereof). My blog certainly has a lot of untoward comments regarding Heidi Diaz but that is less of my doing that hers. If Heidi had not flooded the internet with her lies and fraudulent pictures, I would not had anything to write about.

While it might be beneficial for Peabody (billing hours!) to write these emails, we expect that he will be busy with real legal actions soon. There is an unprecedented hearing set for a Motion for Summary Judgement set for August 24. Read about it on Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit blog, and mark your calendars.

Kimkins Plantiffs Depositions

The five principal plaintiffs in the Class Action Suit against Kimkins have been deposed by our lawyer John Tiedt and Heidi's lawyer Peabody.

I have no details about what was covered during the depositions, but in my opinion it would be a fairly simple process to determine fraud on the part of Heidi Diaz. For example:

Q: Did you sign up for the Kimkins Diet based on Heidi Diaz' claim of losing 198 pounds in one year and maintaining that weight loss for 5 years?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you believe that the pictures Heidi posted as her own were indeed true pictures of herself?
A: Yes.
Q: Would you have paid money to Heidi Diaz if you knew that these claims were not true?
A: No.

Case closed.

Now, I think the depositions were a little more involved than this but I can not see how Peabody could argue (on behalf of Heidi) that there was no fraud. Especially as she has admitted the fraud herself during her depositions.

Peabody can hardly claim that the five principals are not representative of the class either. Were we not all equally defrauded of our membership fee based on Heidi's false claims?

The court order for Class Certification has been posted on the Riverside Court website. Or, you can read it here: Court Order.

John Tiedt continues to excel. The court order states:

• Plaintiffs' claims are typical of the claims of the other members of the class
• All requests for judicial notice on behalf of Plaintiffs are granted
• Defendant's evidentiary objections have been overruled

Is this the beginning of the end of Kimkins.con?

Kimkins Essay Contest

Heidi Diaz is giving out prices for the best essays about how weight loss has improved life.

Perhaps she should save herself the trouble and just declare Kimmer the winner. Who can top her story?

Here is an excerpt from the email interview she did with Jimmy Moore, talking about her fabricated weight loss success:

"Losing 200 lbs has literally been like freeing an albatross from around my neck. I was so desperately unhappy. Despite lying to myself that my size didn't matter, and although I was blessed with good health despite 300+ pounds, I knew I was harming my body.

Now, a slim size 4, I look back and wonder what took me so long to get serious? I now fit into theater seats without even touching the arms! Seat belts aren't anxiety provoking. My confidence has soared! No longer do I fear developing diabetes. Few people are aware that it doesn't take very much extra body fat to develop Type 2 diabetes and once you do, it's for life. You can manage it, but the damage to cells never disappears.

But probably the most blessed part of being thin and healthy is the pride my children have in me. No longer do I wonder whether they might be embarrassed by their 318-pound mom at school events or the mall. It almost seems as though they show me off!

Heck, I can even tie my shoes – no more slip ons!

I don't ever want to regain my weight. As a reminder, I hung onto a pair of size 26 jeans which I keep hanging in a corner of my closet. I bring them out once a week and try them on. Once again, I can't believe I was ever that big! What was I thinking?"

Of course, this story is pure fantasy. Kimmer likely was still 300+ pounds when she wrote it, judging from a photo taken about half a year after the interview.


If you want to read some REAL Kimkins Diet stories, head over to the Kimkins Survivor blog.

Kimkins on Facebook

As part of the viral marketing of Kimkins by Heidi Diaz, she is now on Facebook. She presently has two profiles there; Kimmer and Kimkins Diet.

I am not myself into Facebook as I have other ways to network with people online. But I thought one of the main ideas with Facebook was that you should show YOUR actual FACE.

So what does Heidi Diaz do?

This is the one for Kimmer:



And this is the one for Kimkins Diet


Why not show her own face?


As Kimmer has always claimed that she wants to "inspire" people to lose weight, she might find it more appropriate to use a fairy and a young woman (that most likely never had any weight to lose) to represent her diet. I am sure that few people would see the picture of the founder of the Kimkins Diet and think: "Oh, this is a diet I have to try! $79.95 is a bargain if I get to look as she does."

Kimkins Lost Its Cult Status

Remember how we just a year back used to call Kimkins a cult? That was at a time where staunch supporters still visited blogs to defend Kimmer. When they were talking about the anti-kimkins haters and Kimkins.con being a "safe" place. When the members hung onto every word that came out of Kimmer's keyboard. When the forum was full of activity and people expected to lose a pound a day. When cutting calories still was the only way to weight loss.

No more. Kimkins is now just another diet forum. There is nothing different going on there than on any other FREE forum. People join challenges. Fall off the plan. Come back and start over. Just as on any other diet site.

There are a few long timers there, but it's questionable if they are Kimmer supporters. Some lend their name to advertising, no doubt with the expectation of making some money off it. Others stay there for reasons that I can just guess at:

• Staying with friends in their challenge groups
• The diet works for them, at least for now
• Blaming Kimkins dieters that developed health problems on their own poor judgement; they should have known better
• Feeling sorry for Kimmer. We all know how it feels to be overweight, to fail on a diet.
• Having sympathy for Kimmer because the anti-kk attack her.
• Not feeling "safe" going to another diet site as following the Kimkins diet is largely frowned upon by the lowcarb community

I just hope they all come out unharmed at the end.

Kimmer, Heidi Diaz, must have felt on top of the world a year and a half ago, when Kimkins was at its biggest. Money rolling in, more than she had ever seen before. People worshipping her and seeing her as their savior.

I wonder how she feels today? Class action suit underway. Bankruptcy court perhaps not ending up the way she wanted.

Weight Loss Ads

Despite having applied for bankruptcy, Heidi Diaz continues to blow her ill gotten money on Google Ads. It's sort of funny to read them when you know that they are written by a morbidly obese, diabetic, woman that never lost weight on her own diet despite having had gastric bypass surgery.

The ads that come up today include:

• Turbo fast weight loss
• Amazing "no exercise" diet secret
• Supercharged low carb diet
• Works fast
• Low carb diabetic diet
• Fast!
• Bariatric gastric band surgery diet
• Xtreme "no exercise" diet
• Fast detox weight loss
• Insulin resistant diet
• Turbo fast fat loss
• Lose stomach fat fast
• Postpartum weight loss
• Master cleanse low carb

Does this woman look like she knows what she is talking about?

Yes, sure, the picture is a couple of years old, but reportedly she really haven't lost much compared to this picture. And it was taken at a time when she claimed to be a svelte 118 lbs!

Of course, the ads use other "success" stories now. Somebody that starved off the weight and agreed to become a poster girl (or guy) for Kimkins.con. Possibly with compensation in form of affiliate payouts. I hope it is worth the money, which I'm sure isn't much. Personally, I would be embarrassed to represent this woman.

And while there are people that did lose weight on Kimkins, I wouldn't call them a success before they have managed to keep that weight off for several years. Far too many end up looking like Heidi, ending up heavier than before they started. Severe dieting does much more harm than good, in my opinion.

Heidi Diaz in Bankruptcy Court

There was a hearing held yesterday. While no details about the legal side of things have been made public, we did hear that she has not lost any weight.

How come I am not surprised?

She is still selling the Kimkins Diet as a "magic pill" that will help people lose a lot of weight quickly. How come it doesn't work for Heidi herself? Doesn't she "want it bad enough"? Is she a "sissy?"

She is leading a "boot camp" challenge on Kimkins but apparently only the others are supposed to follow the rules, and not Heidi herself. How can she expect that anybody can stick to that diet? She obviously can not.

I hope that she had to explain in court why she is still spending thousands of dollars in ads every month. I can not see that those ads attract many new members. At least there is no indication on Kimkins.con that they do. Is she just trying to waste the money so that it will not be available to the lawyers and plaintiffs in the Class Action Suit?

Kimkins Email Lists

Despite being banned I still receive newsletters from Kimkins.con. Unsubscribe doesn't work either. I wonder if that doesn't violate the spam act. But then I can't see Heidi Diaz caring much about what she violates. Defrauding me of my membership fee was perfectly fine in her opinion. Lying about her weight loss and using pictures of other people was just "marketing" and no fraud intended? Making up "success" stories the same. And finally, filing for bankruptcy is just a way of staying in business?

No doubt is my name still on the list for all members that at one time paid the membership fee. No doubt did she not bother to remove the ones banned. Why would she? Many of us are annoying her by blogging so why not annoy us? Not that it bothers me. Just another email that ends up in my spam box to be deleted.

Of course, the reason for these emails is obvious. Most of the members abandoned Kimkins early on when they found out that the diet was not sustainable. Many of these may be unaware of the fraud and everything else that has been discovered during the past year and a half. Perhaps they would be willing to return and give it a new try. Even better for Heidi, talk some friends into joining them, paying the "discounted" Valentine's fee of $71.96. I hope they will spend a minute or two googling Kimkins before they part with their money.

Heidi Diaz is also continuing with the Kimkins google ads. Obviously, the bankruptcy doesn't mean that she is short of money. Not to mention new websites. Simple Choices Diet may have been abondoned now when it was discovered, but there are several more, I'm sure. Hopefully they will also disappear when Kimkins.con is shut down.

Calories in Lettuce

Despite setback after setback in the court cases against Kimkins, Kimmer still finds the time to caution her members about the calories in lettuce. In a recent reply to a member that wondered if she needed to increase her calories over the earlier recommended starvation level, Kimmer responded:

"Are you sure you are eating 897 calories? The main reason I ask "stalled" people for their Fitday link is to check the food descriptions they picked."

"People can also get confused about quantities. Many times people either don't weigh food and guess at the amount, or they don't know which foods should be measured vs. weighed so their Fitday entries are inaccurate. As an example, 8 oz of lettuce in a measuring cup would be the size of a yogurt container, but 8 oz of lettuce on a food scale would be 8 cups."

A diet for which an additional 31 calories and 2.1 gram carbs from an "excessive" amount of lettuce is making a difference is a sad one.

But what can you expect from an obese diet "guru" that looks as if she never managed to follow any diet at all?

Kimkins Bankrupt

In an attempt to avoid certification of the Class Action Lawsuit, Heidi Diaz filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Kimkins.

Luckily, that did not prevent certification. Heidi failed to show up for the Class Action hearing and had a default judgment entered against her.

It remains to be seen what will happen with the bankruptcy. She may have a hard time explaining why she started a new website, Simple Choices Diet, when she supposedly is busy reorganizing Kimkins to regain it's footing as a viable operation.

There has been speculation that Heidi would move the existing Kimkins members to her new site. I doubt it. Not unless they are willing to become subscribers and pay the monthly fee the new site charges. Of course, she may offer them a free trial membership for a few months to just populate the forum for her. That would save her the cost of hiring professional sock puppets.

It's not surprising that Heidi is now changing her business model to a monthly payment plan instead of the lifetime membership she had on Kimkins. She must have regretted choosing that option. Lately, the only new posters on the site have been returning members that do not bring in any new revenue.

Personally, I think the new site is an attempt to get rid of Clexus, a joomla tech support company. Clexus may have helped finance the buy out from Catherine, the partner Heidi initially had for Kimkins. At least there must be a reason that Heidi is continuing to pay money to this company. Around 25% after business expenses, if I read the bankruptcy data correctly. Having seen how Heidi operates, my guess is that she is not too happy about sharing any income. She did not like Catherine getting 50% of the profit when Heidi "was doing all the work." Surely she has the same opinion about Clexus.

The new site is using SMF (Simple Machines) free forum software. Brandon has some experience with it as he has had it on his own forum for some time (thecorruptedcanvas.com). I wouldn't call him an expert as he seems to have had problems with custom tweaks he has done. But at least Heidi could hope to get rid of the tech expenses she now has for running the joomla board on Kimkins.

I'm sure that Clexus is not too happy about what is going on with Kimkins. Having the company run down by Heidi. Spending a lot of money on google ads that don't result in revenue. Seeing the reputation of the company going down the tube. But not having presence in this country, I suspect they have few options of making their voice heard. However, my guess is that they have already gotten a higher payback than they ever expected.

Busy Court Month for Kimkins

The Kimkins Class action suit is moving along with a snail's pace, as legal cases generally do. After the first filing more than a year ago, we have finally reached the point of having a hearing for the motion for Class Certification. This is scheduled for 01/14/2009.

Kimkins is no longer represented by a lawyer. Heidi Diaz will represent herself, unless she finds a new lawyer the next couple of days.

So will she show up? She doesn't have a good track record for court appearances in the past.

What happens if she doesn't show up? Unless she has filed some type of excuse I would assume that there will be a default judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, i.e. class action certification will be granted. I may be wrong.

The next scheduled court hearings are on 01/27 and 01/28. These are a number of similar hearings all dealing with determining jurisdiction for the defendants in Heidi's counter suit (SLAPP suit). As none of them is a resident of California it is not that obvious that they can be sued in Riverside Court.

What happens if the plaintiff, Heidi, doesn't show up at the hearing for HER counter suit? I would assume that it is dropped. Again, I could be wrong.

The third item in court is a hearing on 01/29 in Small Claims Court. The City of Corona is suing her for failing to pay a business license fee. They are not asking for much money at all, and it wouldn't surprise me if Heidi has already paid it. But then, it didn't make sense not to pay it in the first place. I would expect her not to show up for this hearing and just get a default judgment against her. Leaving the City of Corona having to try to collect the money owned.

Kimkins makes the Local News

Corona woman's diet program given low marks

07:40 PM PST on Tuesday, December 30, 2008

By DOUGLAS QUAN
The Press-Enterprise

A Corona woman's Internet-based weight-loss program has been named the worst diet product of 2008 by a healthy-eating Web site.

In announcing winners of its 20th annual Slim Chance Awards, the Healthy Weight Network -- an online forum for health care professionals, researchers and consumers -- said the Kimkins low-fat, low-carb diet amounts to a "starvation diet" that deprives members of many nutrients.

"This weight obsession is causing so many problems," said network founder Francie Berg, a licensed nutritionist and adjunct professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine.

Corona resident Heidi Diaz, founder of the Kimkins program, which charges members a fee to access the diet, could not be reached Tuesday by phone or e-mail.

A pending class-action lawsuit filed against Diaz claims that Diaz misled consumers with made-up success stories and pilfered images from a Russian dating Web site to depict as successful Kimkins dieters.

Some Kimkins members have said that they suffered hair loss, heart palpitations, weakness, nausea, muscle fatigue, forgetfulness and abnormal menstrual cycles.

Court records show that Diaz dropped her lawyer this month and is representing herself.

In an online message to Kimkins members posted a year ago, Diaz acknowledged that she had not lost 198 pounds in 11 months, as she had claimed on her site, but 100 pounds in six months. She also wrote that photos accompanying success stories were taken from another site.

"We wanted to show visitors the possibilities with Kimkins," she said.

Woman's World magazine featured the Kimkins diet program on its cover in June 2007 with the headline "Better than gastric bypass!" The magazine later apologized to readers for "having shared with you a story we can't stand behind."

As of Tuesday, the Kimkins Web site was still running, telling visitors that "many Kimkins members drop 5 percent or more of their total body weight in the first 10 days."

Members pay $79.90 to join the program.

A disclaimer tells visitors to contact their doctor before starting any diet.

Berg said people should focus less on losing weight and concentrate more on eating well, staying active and relieving stress.

Berg's Web site named as its worst gimmick of 2008 a brand of jeans that claims to release a cellulite-fighting medication when the jeans rub against the skin.

"Some of this is just ridiculous," Berg said.

Reach Douglas Quan at 951-368-9479 or dquan@PE.com

Yet Another Kimkins Award

Top 10 Worst Diets of 2008 

Sunday, December 28, 2008

1. Ear Stapling. Think about this: how many chubby people do you know with multiple piercings? (If you're having trouble envisioning, think about going to a Ren Faire.)

2. Original Hollywood Celebrity Diet. Sure, you too can lose weight if you live on 400 calories a day for two weeks. Wow, it's like magic!

3. Kimkins. Gives sketchy advice like super-low calorie levels and also laxatives (eeek!), but finding out that the diet's supposed inventor and biggest success story actually weighs over 300 pounds must have been très awkward.

4. Hydroxycut. Starbucks sells buckets of caffeine for much less money than these capsules, and with no scary ephedra accidentally making its way into your misto.

5. Celluslim. Random words thrown together to name pills that made a lot of people feel ishy. Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to us.

6. Chitosan. Weirdly, found to reduce cholesterol to some extent, but totally does not help you lose weight even a little.

7. Slim Slippers. Are you kidding us? Reflexology has no proven association with weight loss or metabolism and also, need we mention that these are slippers! For your feet!

8. Hoodia. It might be TrimSpa, but it's also bullshit, baby!

9. Diet Patch. Come on, you're on a diet, not an ocean voyage.

10. Mariah Carey's Purple Food diet. No, really. Purple food.

Merry Christmas

Who would have thought that we would see yet another Christmas with Kimkins.con still being up and running? At least a lot have been accomplished during the year. Many, many pro-kk articles have been removed from the internet. Many anti-kk blogs are still kept current. A dieter looking for a new plan is bound to find information to be warned about the dangers of the Kimkins diet.

Kimkins.con is a ghost town today. Many members have left and found other support communities. A few loyal members remain. Most of them signed up a long time ago so they don't bring any new revenue for Heidi Diaz. Hopefully she doesn't get many, or any, new customers.

Many times during the past year, I have heard pro-kk people telling us bloggers to "move on". We are moving on. We have been moving on. But my blog will remain until I can report the shut down of Kimkins.con.

Kimkins doesn't consume my life. I have many projects I'm working on, both in real life and on the internet. One of them is a new forum: Tipping the Scales to Health

As the name implies, we are focusing on Health. That may include losing weight. It may not. For me, the most important is to eat healthy to stay healthy. To exercise for health.

While the forum was formed by an anti-kk group, the focus is no longer Kimkins. Yes, we follow and report the latest developments, but it's not an anti-kk forum. We also report on other diet fads and quick fixes that are designed only to line the pockets of the people promoting them.

Please join us in our goal to make 2009 and beyond Healthy years. Meet like minded people. Discuss. Share your ups and downs. Receive and give support.