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 Maintenance Diet

There is no such thing. The founder has not yet put one together, and it may take a while before she needs one herself.

So we have to look at what the maintainers on Kimkins are doing. Not surprisingly, they are still doing Kimkins with low calories. Experimenting with a few added carbs and calories. Cutting back again to take off the pounds regained. Trial and error, and so far nobody has come up with a long term strategy.

One of the most recent success stories, Debv, is starting boot camp. The most popular Kimkins option! 30 minutes daily exercise required.

All Kimkins options have been modified to allow higher calories. So how does the new bootcamp look?

Daily Limits

Breakfast
2 eggs (cooked without fat) or 4 egg whites (1 cup egg substitute OK)
1/2 cup Level 2 veggies
4 oz sandwich ham or other lean protein
Unlimited non-calorie beverage

Lunch
4 oz lean protein
2 cups Level 1 veggies
1/2 cup Level 2 veggies
Unlimited non-calorie beverage

Dinner
4 oz lean protein
3 cups mixed greens
1 cup Level 2 veggies
Unlimited non-calorie beverage

Plugging this into Fitday, I come up with 541 cals (using egg whites) or 624 cals (eggs). And this is what a Kimkins dieter has to look forward to in maintenance?

And about Debv, who willingly has provided her success story and pictures for Kimkins promotion, I don't doubt that she lost some weight. But, I have a really hard time to believe that the pictures she offers as proof are real. To me, it looks as if the before picture could be her daughter.

Look at the age of the kids. And the clothes in the before picture. It doesn't look as if it were taken 25 years ago like the age difference suggests.

Mother?

Daughter?

Grandparents with grandchildren?

Daughter with grandchildren?

My suspicion seems confirmed about this old testimonial on kimkins.con that google found:
Deb V Madison, WI , Posted at Monday, 13 August 2007 12:21. I have to tell you this is fantastic! My mom and I are doing Kimkins together and she's lost 37 ...

Real Kimkins Food Banners

The banner on Kimkins website and banners used for the newsletters give the impression that you get to eat delicious food on the Kimkins Diet. However, these are stock photos based on real food and do not properly represent what is allowed on the Kimkins Diet.

These are the two latest banners used:


Look good, don't they? However, following the suggested menu for K/E (top) and bootcamp (bottom) the actual banners should look like this:


Kimorexia is sharing her view of Kimkins Deceptive Marketing on her blog.

Kimkins Still Pushing Very Low Calories

After a lot of criticism for the 500 (or less) calories typically recommended for the Kimkins Diet, this limit was raised to 800 by the new admin Tippy Toes late last summer. Why was 800 chosen as the new limit? Probably because this is the cut off for when a diet is labeled by the medical profession as VLCD (very low calorie diet) versus just low calorie.

So does 800 calories make the diet safe? I think not. This is well below BMR (basal metabolic rate) and will push the body into starvation mode.

Further, the actual recommendations given on Kimkins don't even go up to 800 calories. Kimmer herself gave daily amounts that provide maximum 710 calories, or just 500 if following the low end of her recommendations.

The other day, a newbie to the Kimkins forum asked for advice about what to eat, and this answer was provided by a long timer:

BF: 2 eggs, 2 slices turkey bacon
L: 4-6 oz shredded chicken, 1 cup lettuce, calorie free salad dressing
snack: string cheese or SF jello
D: 4-6 oz tilapia, 1 cup salad

Make sure to have 800 calories minimum.

Adding this up in Fitday I get 432 - 639 calories, depending on if I use the lower or the higher amounts. Just saying 800 calories minimum will not make it so. What is supposed to be added to reach the calorie minimum? Nobody knows.

It seems that the plan behind the plan at Kimkins is still alive and well.

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.

Counting Calories on Kimkins

Kimmer shares her diet wisdom in a recent blog post about how to properly measure food.

She cautions:
"Veggies should be loosely placed in the measuring cup, not packed. If we try hard enough, we could squish a whole package of frozen spinach into 1 cup. But then I'm only lying to ourselves. And the scale will reflect it."

1 pkg of frozen spinach (10 oz) is 82 calories and 4 net carbs (12 minus 8 fiber). The kimkins-approved 1/2 cup is 23 calories and 1 net carb. So 59 additional calories and 3 carbs from veggies will "reflect on the scale"?

She further teaches us how to measure lettuce:
"If you use an "ounce" option, the amount measured is by weight -- not volume. For example, 1 cup of lettuce is about 1 ounce by weight, but if you enter lettuce in Fitday as "1 ounce" it will not show calories, fat, carb and protein counts for 1 cup."

1 cup of lettuce has about 10 calories and 1.5 net carbs (according to USDA database). Why would it matter if I accidentally entered it as 1 oz (4 calories, 0.5 carbs)?

Did Heidi get fat eating lettuce?

Kimkins Food

Apparently, even Kimmer thought this Kimkins K/E meal I showed the other day looked miserable. But at least it was MY photo and cooked according to K/E rules with the suggested serving size of 4 oz (raw weight!).



This is what Kimmer said on Kimkins blog today, answering a question whether to do K/E or regular Kimkins:

I prefer original Kimkins because I love veggies and the variety that it gives for low carb cooking. Imagine a plain chicken breast that you plan to grill. OK, but how many can you eat day after day? What about this instead:

• 1 chicken breast
  

or

• chicken + peppers & onions = fajitas

And in standard Kimmer fashion, the photo is taken from a regular recipe found on the web. (Edited: The original picture is found here.)
Looks good, doesn't it? With tortillas and sauces on the side. And plenty of chicken and veggies.



Spending a few minutes in Photoshop, adapting this recipe to Kimkins Diet guidelines results in this picture:


Doesn't look that good anymore, does it? And I still have been generous as this is probably more than 4 oz of chicken and the 1 cup veggies allowed.


Fitday for this meal gives: 136 calories, 2 grams fat, 12 grams carbs, 18 grams protein