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 Wins the Slim Chance Award

The Worst Diet Promotions of 2008 snag 20th Annual Slim Chance Awards

HETTINGER, ND – Healthy Weight Network released its 20th annual Slim Chance Awards today, highlighting both the hidden dangers of diets and supplements that often contain unknown ingredients and sometimes potent drugs, and the merely ridiculous.

To call 2008 a typical year in the weight loss field would be too easy. This year’s awards go to an infamous huckster of diet infomercials, known for his outrageous disregard of injunctions against him; $139 body-shaping jeans impregnated with substances that supposedly reduce cellulite; a pill that’s “proven” to make your belly fat vanish; and a dangerous starvation diet launched recklessly on the Internet with false promises of safe, fast and permanent weight loss.

All in all, a typical year that synthesizes all that is deceptive and exploitative in this field. So, here they are, the 20th annual Slim Chance Awards (only "Worst Product" is shown here):

WORST PRODUCT: Kimkins diet. It must have seemed an easy way to get rich quick. Founder Heidi “Kimmer” Diaz set up a website and charged members a fee to access the Kimkins diet, boasting they could lose up to 5 percent of their body weight in 10 days. “Better than gastric bypass,” there was “no faster diet,” and in fact she herself had lost 198# in 11 months. Stunning “after” photos were displayed. In June 2007 Women's World ran it as a cover story, and that month alone PayPal records show the Kimkins site took in over $1.2 million. Then users began complaining of chest pains, hair loss, heart palpitations, irritability and menstrual irregularities. This was not surprising since Kimkins is essentially a starvation diet, down to 500 calories per day and deficient in many nutrients (shockingly, laxatives are advised to replace the missing fiber). In a lawsuit, 11 former members are uncovering a vast record of Diez’s alleged fraud. They found that the stunning “after” photos, including one of Kimmer herself, had been lifted from a Russian mail order bride site. According to a deposition reported by Los Angeles TV station KTLA, Diaz admitted using fake pictures, fake stories and fake IDs, and a judge has allowed the litigants to freeze some of her assets.

For a full list, go to Quackery and Fraud

Tired of Kimkins?

Not tired from Kimkins, even though I understand that is common for anyone following the Kimkins starvation Diet. Tired of Kimkins and Kimmer.

Many people have followed the Kimkins Saga since the start late June 2007. Some have left and others have joined the anti-kimkins ducks along the way. Many are still here, but quieter than before. And some, like Yust Yucky, announce that they are fed up and are looking for other things to get engaged in. That have more rewarding results? Or, perhaps any results?

The entire anti-kk community seems to be in waiting mode. The Class Action Law Suit is continuing with more depositions, but it's a slow process. No new, juicy, information has surfaced lately and no new pictures. Is Kimmer finally losing weight? Nobody knows. Do we even care at this point? I don't. She is a proven liar and one more lie will make no difference to me.

No news about the absent admins either. Gary is long gone. Singingass rarely makes an appearance on Kimkins these days. Kimkins website is a ghost town with sockpuppets manning the ranks. Yawn.

But I'm still blogging. Why? Because Kimkins.con is still operating on the internet. And I plan on going on blogging as long as there is a risk that unsuspecting people googling for a diet will find Kimkins.con. At least the anti-kk blogs provide a second opinion. Perhaps we can prevent new victims.

Yes, Heidi Diaz supposedly has sanitized the diet. No 500 cals any more. No laxative abuse. But it is still a horrible diet, in my opinion. Low carb should not be low fat. A diet should not be used as a quick fix (and not so "quick" as you are supposed to follow Kimkins to goal). A diet should be a life style change long term. A restrictive diet like Kimkins promotes yo-yo dieting and eating disorders.

The Kimkins.con website is now supposedly "legal" but still has questionable weight loss photos, they just haven't been proven fake. There are "success" stories on there that look as if they have achieved weight loss. And why wouldn't they? Not eating, or eating very little, will cause you to lose weight. But what about maintaining a weight loss? I still have not seen anybody that has managed to maintain their goal weight after reaching it on Kimkins. And I doubt I ever will.

Instead of feeling despair at the legal machine moving so slowly, look at what has been accomplished during a year. A class action lawsuit is underway. Many, many promotional articles have been removed from the internet. The Russian pictures are gone. Heidi Diaz does no longer (openly) push 500 cals and laxatives. Very few people are still at Kimkins and I doubt she is getting any new members. Kimmer is gone from LCF and dieters there are encouraged to use safe weight loss methods.

Singinglass REALLY twisting the truth

Yust Yucky sent a very polite email to three theaters in Oregon, inquiring whether Singingass was scheduled to perform in one of their upcoming productions:

"Hi! I just read that [SL], the opera singer from [city, state], will be appearing in one of the upcoming stage productions there at [name of theatre]! Can you please tell me in what role she has been cast, and if any tickets are still available? Thank you!"

Somehow, Singingass interprets this as threatening and says:

"I am glad to know my life is so fascinating, but there is absolutely no reason for my personal life and activities to factor into anything relating to Kimmer/kimkins. No reason at all....emailing directors from my area and making inquiries about me, what I am doing etc....is low, wrong, and straight out harassment. Yes, I know, have the name, email address, state etc... ( Thanks Mimi/ Yust yucky)...because this stuff was forwarded to me by those who were confused to receive random out-of-state inquries.

Whatever you all have against me, the diet etc...it is still wrong and harmful on a personal level that should not happen. Imagine someone calling your bosses and other important connections. It should not be done. Please refrain from this activity and involving people who have nothing to do with any of this."

Low, wrong, and straight out harassment? To have an apparent fan asking about you?

Out-of-state? What is so threatening about that? People travel on vacation all the time, especially in the summer. You are not allowed to buy a ticket if you live out-of-state?

Calling your bosses and other important connections? Who called? Not Yucky.

And when it comes to involving Singingass as a person with regards to the Kimkins Diet:

..there is absolutely no reason for my personal life and activities to factor into anything relating to Kimmer/kimkins? Then you shouldn't allow your person to promote a dangerous diet. Your picture is featured as a success story. You went on National Television, twice, to defend the diet. It is personal.

Whatever you all have against me, the diet etc...it is still wrong and harmful on a personal level that should not happen? Yes, the diet has everything to do with us "being against you". When you stop supporting the Kimkins Diet as a person, you might see that our interest in you as a person will quickly subside.

Ex-kimkins dieters (and present dieters for that matter) have been physically and mentally hurt. On a personal level.

Kimmer Exaggerating Kimkins Weight Loss

Kimmer, a.k.a. Heidi Diaz recently stated:

"This is what I did wrong:
1) I used model photos to show Kimkins possibilities
2) I exaggerated my personal weight loss

That’s it. Hand to God, that’s it."

Dictionary (answers.com):

Exaggerate
v.tr.

1. To represent as greater than is actually the case; overstate: exaggerate the size of the enemy force; exaggerated his own role in the episode.
2. To enlarge or increase to an abnormal degree: thick lenses that exaggerated the size of her eyes.
   

v.intr.

To make overstatements.

How can you "exaggerate" something that is non-existent in the first place? Kimmer went from this:

to this:

There never was any weight loss, so how can she "exaggerate" a weight loss? Fabricate seems to be a more fitting word.

Kimmer successfully fabricated a weight loss story that she stuck to for 6 years and posted fake photos to support her claim of being a slender 118 lbs young-looking woman.

"I've been at goal for nearly 6 years and my old 318-pound life seems like eons ago!"

And what about the first thing that she did wrong? Using model photos to show Kimkins possibilities? If the diet was as successful as she claims, where are all the real pictures from the 6 years she was promoting it? She always talked about receiving so many emails from people that thanked her for their weight loss. Were they all camera shy, like Kimmer herself?

"Hello, I'm Kimmer! I've studied weight loss plans for a lifetime, noting what worked. What didn't. And, most importantly, why. Not only from personal experience, but from the feedback of hundreds of unhappy, overweight folks."

I do think she knows what doesn't work. But not what does work. At least not for herself.

The Kimkins Diet Does Not Work

At least not for the founder, Kimmer or Heidi Diaz.

After having been exposed as obese instead of the svelte 118 lbs she has claimed for 6 plus years, Heidi Diaz committed to losing weight, starting in November last year. She was updating her weight loss stats (even though those might have been purely fictional) and putting up more or less photoshopped "progress" pictures of herself.


All that stopped a few months ago. No new weight loss announced. No new pictures posted. Despite the "2008 pinky swear" challenge she is participating in where everybody except Kimmer report their weight. Despite having promised "good numbers" to be announced early May.

Nobody at Kimkins questions Heidi's lack of weight loss reports. The few loyal oldtimers know better as they don't want to get banned from the site. And the paid sockpuppets don't care.

It is likely that the Kimkins Diet has failed Kimmer, again. It is likely that she is back at the weight of last summer (350+ lbs?) when the P.I. Robert Charlton took this picture posted on Slamboards:

Kimkins Sockpuppets

I wrote a post a while back where I voiced my suspicion that many posters on Kimkins are in fact sockpuppets.

That suspicion was based on the unrealistic avatars they are using. Clearly, if you are not trying to lose weight, or the picture is not of you in the first place, you don't care that the proportions make you look heavier.

In addition to the avatars, there are also many posts by "newbies" and they all have in common that not only are they enthusiastic about the Kimkins diet, but they are also born cheerleaders from the get-go. They just don't sound like "real" people to me. I have spent 4 years on diet boards, and I just don't recognize this type of posts.

Some time back, someone found this ad on GetAFfreelancer:

Description: I'm trying to drum up some action at a weight loss/dieting forum that I am running.

Please only bid on this project if you are knowledgeable with weight/loss dieting because I don't want a lot of nonsensical posts!

1. Sign Up Under 5 Different Names

2. Average about 2 posts per day for each name.

3. The Different Names Should Be Talking To Each Other (yes you get to talk to yourself!)

4. Only Post On Topic. Weight/Loss/Exercise/Diet. (The Forum has different sections, make sure you are posting in the right section.)

5. If You See People Posting Who Are NOT YOU (I may hire more people to post and there may be other "real" posters as well.) Talk To Them Before Talking To Yourself.

6. Never Post Links.

7. Never Copy/Paste From Other Sites.

8. Each Post Should Be At Least One Sentence Long. And Each Day You Should Make At Least Two Long Posts (4 sentences or more.)

9. Make It Look Natural!

10. Make a total of 10 posts per day. At the end of the project each user name should have approximately (but not exactly) 60 posts each. For example one name may be 65 and another 55. You can make 5 posts in one day with one name and 3 on another and 2 on another. It's up to you. But you have to have 5 total names and a total of 300 posts between them. You have to use at least 3 different names per day. And do not go more than 3 days without using a name.

11. English only.

12. I recommend using the same password for all 5 names so you do not forget it. When you win this project I will send you the forum address and then you can sign up your 5 user names - Once you have done so - Please email me with the 5 user names so I can keep track of your work.

This is a 30 day project. So in total there will be 300 posts (10 x 30 = 300) ... But keep in mind when bidding that many of the posts will be short. You should not have to spend more than 15 to 20 minutes a day to complete this project.

If this works well and you do a good job - I will possibly hire you for another month of the same work.

This particular ad was not for Kimkins, but another unrelated diet board. But isn't it likely that Heidi Diaz has done the same? It's easy to put up an ad on craigslist or a Work-At-Home board. Not very expensive either.

While employing sockpuppets is surely unethical, I do not know if it's illegal. Not really important as Heidi Diaz has other more serious legal problems to worry about.

However, I feel sad for the REAL people at Kimkins that are interacting with sockpuppets. I would feel very betrayed if I found out that someone I had a long term relationship with on the internet was a "fictional character". Just as I feel betrayed by Heidi Diaz from her misrepresentation of herself as a successful dieter, even though I had little interaction with her myself.

Success from doing Kimkins?

Dee's success picture allegedly taken 4/18/2008 @ 239 lbs

Dee's picture taken in August? 2007 @ ??? lbs

Dee's picture taken in November 2007 @ 270 lbs

Dee's "before" picture from 11/2005 @ 350 lbs

So when did Dee start Kimkins? She has said herself that she started halfhearted in June 2007. In her first post she states:
Failed LAPBAND surgery in 2006, which put me $17,000 in debt. (I did lose 75 lbs and have kept off 60).

If this statement is true, she started Kimkins with a 60 lbs weight loss from 350 lbs, or at 290 lbs. This rings true looking at the liquid diet she did just before starting kimkins where she reported getting down to 285 lbs on April 17, 2007.

If Dee now weighs 239 pounds, her weight loss on Kimkins from June 2007 to May 2008 has been a total of 50 pounds (and not the 108 stated in the newsletter).

Kimmer Fails to do Kimkins

Who would pay $79.95 for "expert" advice from a "Diet Guru" that can't even stay on her own diet? This is from a recent post on her member-only-$79.95-board:

"We went to dinner for my son's birthday and I wasn't 100% on plan. Oddly, I didn't cheat on purpose. I ordered something that I've always ordered (non Kimkins) and in chatting with people I didn't think twice about it. But the shocker was having a fruit punch drink which I never do (our friends ordered a round) and I sipped it without thinking. Fruit juice. Carb central ... and not good for diabetics. Haven't had pineapple juice in forever (and I love it) so live and learn and I'm planning a coping strategy for the next time out. Planning to cheat, I can understand ... but not thinking before ordering? What was that about?"


This is a "Diet Guru" that has been pushing her starvation diet for eight years on lowcarb boards on the internet. Sounding like she knew what she was talking about. Not accepting any cheats. Not accepting any weaknesses. Not accepting any excuses.

So now it's all acceptable because she can not do the diet? Asking for sympathy for cheats that she knows people can relate too? Birthday dinner. Not thinking. Not planning. Did she ever listen to herself?

What on earth does this woman provide that dieters can not find on free low carb boards? Where they can actually interact with real people and not sock puppets? Where they can get to know real friends that don't want anything from them? That don't lie to them and take their money?

Kimkins Starvation Diet

Remember Jimmy Moore's phone interview with Kimmer last summer? The part where she said "The purpose of Kimkins is for very quick weight loss. You can take a fiber hit for a few months to get to goal."

She was talking about a fiber "hit" but forgot to say anything about all the other "hits" that strike Kimkins dieters; hair loss, trashed thyroid, heart palpitations with possible permanent heart damage, muscle loss and bone loss.

Is it worth it? Is fast weight loss worth risking your health for? When there are safe alternatives? Like Atkins? No starvation necessary.

[Tippy Toes said this in a comment recently: "I have done many things to lose weight before. I was actually mad when they pulled Phen Fen from the market as I was almost at goal. Yes, I knew it was killing people but I also knew I would gladly pay the price to be thin at all costs."
I have to believe it was just a badly chosen expression, but it shows the desperation that drives people to try Kimkins.]

And when you have lost weight on Kimkins, what do you do then? To maintain? Or lose a few more pounds if you didn't make it all the way to goal? Continue to starve or see the scale go back up?

What's the point in losing weight if it's not going to stay off? And if your health is going to suffer in the process?

We seem to have a whole new diet community with ex-kimkins dieters that are trying to repair their metabolism. They are finding it very hard to maintain and even harder to lose.

Christin, the WW cover girl, has admitted struggling. Deni, also featured in WW, regained 20 pounds while eating 1200 cals per day. Tippy Toes doesn't really know what she is doing and is getting help from an Atkins expert, 2big4mysize. AmyB will be starting Atkins as well.

Is there any true Kimkins success story? I have yet to see one.

"The biggest misconception is that doing something in the short term will have long-term results"
[Elaine Magee, the "Recipe Doctor" for the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic]

Kimkins Blog

Kimmer's blog posts have been very poor lately. Going from counting calories in lettuce to pointing out that nutrition labels on Ritz crackers are wrong. The latest post is announcing:

"A few days ago Good Morning America did a segment on whether food nutrition labels are accurate. Guess what! They aren't and the US government only does random checks.

Diane Sawyer and crew sent Ritz crackers, David's sunflower seeds and Wonder bread to an independent food lab for analysis. Wow, were the labels wrong!

* Ritz crackers - 36% higher in sodium than shown

* David's sunflower seeds - 23% higher in saturated fat than shown

* Wonder bread - 70% total fat not the 11% shown"

How is this relevant to the Kimkins Diet? None of these items are on the allowed food list.
Ritz crackers and Wonder bread are too high in carbs and sunflower seeds too high in fat (and too high in carbs; remember - no fiber reduction!).

And if you stick to the recommended dry chicken breast, canned tuna and egg whites for a total of 500 - 800 cals per day, I can't see you would be that worried about nutrition labels anyway.

Is Kimmer aka Heidi Diaz running out of low carb news to write about? Or doesn't she care anymore? I can't see that she has that many readers of her blog, except the ducks. Surely the remaining members in the kimpound would not still be there if they ever ventured outside the safe confines of the board.

Kimkins Yo-Yo Diet

Yo-Yo Diet (Wikipedia):
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.

To me, "extreme diet" is a perfect description of Kimkins. Pushing 500 - 800 calories, low fat and low carb, it is a starvation diet. Will you lose weight? Yes, of course. How could you not? Can you maintain your weight loss? Probably not.

I was reading through some of the old Kimmer threads at LCF, starting in early 2004 when the name "Kimkins" was born. Many people jumped on board and enthusiastically reported quick weight loss. However, when looking at the stats of these dieters it is obvious that:

• None had reached goal (there might be exceptions, but I didn't see one)

• All had regained weight (possibly not up to their starting weight but it's hard to tell as many stopped posting on LCF)

• Many had restarted at a later date

So what's the point of doing Kimkins in the first place? What's the point of suffering through a starvation diet to just regain the pounds lost? Feeling like a failure because you are not "strong enough to stick with it"?

It is obvious that Kimkins is not a sustainable diet, and that a transition to maintenance would be very hard (provided you even reached goal in the first place).

Just look at Kimmer. She might have done Kimkins at some time (or possibly several times) but she did not reach goal, and certainly did not maintain any weight loss she might have had.