Monday, September 10, 2007

Kimkins - How I Feel About It Now

Many of you know that I am a member of Kimkins and tried the plan with great success for a few months. I've tried to be honest and open about my experiences with Kimkins in this blog. In the past my stance on this has been that of someone with an open mind and trusting heart. I sought knowledge. I openly proclaimed that I did not know if it was a healthy plan or not. I recommended that those considering the plan look into all the details they can find. It was working for me and I felt fine while doing it. I even added an affiliate link after giving it a trial run.

Then I read some information that was very disturbing about Kimmer's business ethics. Funny how that seemed to be the "red flag" for me. But somehow it made me wonder if things truly were not as they seemed. I can deal with a lot of things, but being lied to is not one of them. No one likes to be deceived, and the thought that Kimmer might be misleading people was nagging at the back of my brain.

I started reading everything I could find on both sides of the issue. What I found was, quite frankly, sad. People on both sides of the battle lines were hurling insults and accusations quicker than you could blink. It made me sick. I don't believe in handling problems by creating more problems. It's not an effective strategy. But I was quickly finding that something was indeed wrong in the Kimkins camp.

After much thought and prayer I decided to pull my kimkins affiliate and endorsements. At the time I wasn't sure where it would lead. I thought if things calmed down and Kimkins was validated, then I would replace the ads and all would be well. That was never to be.

I want to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone who bought a membership through my affiliate links. I know there were 4 of you. Yes. I'm admitting that I sold 4 memberships, which totaled a profit of $60 for me. I basically got my membership back, plus $30 (memberships were only $30 when I joined). I wish I could refund all of your money.. or at least the part I received. Sadly, I'm not in a position financially to do so, even though it's "only" $60. On top of that there is this issue of honesty. I could ask those of you who joined to contact me, etc., etc., but then I'd be asking for scammers and liars out the wazoo. So sadly you'll have to settle for my sincere apology. And I truly hope you will accept it. I pray that you got something from your membership that was worth the money to you. Again I'm sorry. I had no intention of misleading anyone. I myself was mislead. I hope you will feel you can trust me in the future. I made this statement to a good friend recently regarding this whole thing: "You can bet I'll be looking into anything I plan on recommending with a fine tooth comb and a magnifying glass."

As of late, more and more has been surfacing about this situation. The most interesting information is coming from people who, until recently, worked very closely with Kimmer. What I've read from these brave people, who have put themselves out there to stand for truth, despite the abuse and scrutiny they may receive, is just what I feared. Kimmer appears to be deceiving many. It also appears she could care less who it hurts. I hate to even type that. I'm the kind of person who loves other people and wants to believe the best of them. I tried to with Kimmer, but have found I can no longer do so.

In the posts I will link to a bit later on, you will find copies of emails exchanged, pictures taken, and comments made that display the smoke and mirrors that is called kimkins. And before you go off on me about how the diet is still OK and who cares who Kimmer really is, let me say that the diet is not OK. I can tell you from personal experience. Here is my explanation on this:

I started the diet very skeptical. Some of you may remember my posts telling how I was going to give it a shot, but seriously doubted I could continue with the plan. It just sounded hard. I managed to stick with it long enough for ketosis to kick in. then something amazing happened. It suddenly seemed very easy. I was breezing through each day hardly giving a thought to eating at all. I broke my stall and started losing very quickly. I was so excited! But something changed. Now physically I felt fine. I wasn't having any health issues and I thought all was well. But in my mind something was changing. I didn't see it as clearly then as I do now. To be honest, I didn't realize it was as serious as it was until just a couple of days ago. That's when I decided I needed to tell my story. But my way of thinking was changing. I was starting to obsess over every bite I took. Now if you are like me, you are saying "So what? We all do that sometimes!" And that's exactly what I kept telling myself. I was sure it was just me and my obsessive personality. I'm an all-or-nothing kind of person so I felt positive it was just issues I was having and not something related to the diet. I started having concerns about my calories being too low and decided to up them a bit to be sure I was eating healthy. But I found that It took tremendous effort to eat more. I didn't want to. I didn't want to stop the quick weight loss.. or even slow it down. My way of thinking had changed so drastically that I was no longer as concerned about my health as I should have been. Thankfully I realized I couldn't continue on this way and went back to a more Atkins-like plan.

A few days ago I was reading some comments from others who were once on Kimkins. They were experiencing the same thoughts I was. They had the same feelings I did. Some were afraid to eat anything! Those similar experiences caused something to click in my mind. I realized I could have easily developed an eating disorder. I was on the verge. I was so obsessed with losing weight quickly, that only having 3 protein shakes a day, which totaled 330 calories, actually seemed acceptable. I would have laughed in the past had you EVER told me I'd feel that way.

Now can I blame this way of thinking on the diet? I don't know. I do think it's possible. It's not something I have ever even considered before, even when I was losing well on Atkins. So why this mentality now? Why when I was trying Kimkins. All I can say is there COULD be a link. And it's a big enough could that I'm making sure the rest of you know about it.

I have not experienced health issues as some have, but then I was only on Kimkins for a short time. There are many, including some popular faces of Kimkins, that have confessed to losing hair, having energy issues, etc.

Here are the aforementioned links. Read them and decide for yourself. It might interest you to know that many people who bought lifetime memberships no longer seem to have access to kimkins.com. It seems that if they asked questions or made honest suggestions for nipping all this conflict in the bud, they were quickly squelched. I guess they are considered trouble makers. I don't want to stir up trouble, but I do want to know the truth, as do so many others. I may be the next person to lose my membership access.. we shall see.

Check out Becky's (littlebit's) blog, who was a very public face for the kimkins forums. There are several posts here that will enlighten you to the workings of Kimmer's mind, at least in relation to how she felt about the concerns at hand.

Here is Deni's blog, who was one of the success stories in the Woman's World write up. Again, it's interesting to see her point of view. Considering she was a kimkins celebrity, why would she suddenly turn away from it all unless she had valid reasons?

Then we have Christin, who was the Woman's World cover girl for that story. Again, why would she leave unless there were serious issues behind the scenes?

Then we have a series of very disturbing posts by a man who claims to be the husband of Kimmer's ex business partner. In his blog he reveals not only shady business dealings, but recent photos of Heidi Diaz, who is supposed to be Kimmer. Kimmer claims she is not Heidi and that she feels sorry for Heidi because she is being stalked by this PI. But my question is this. If Kimmer isn't Heidi, then why did she let Women's World magazine tell everyone she was? The famous "red dress" picture is in the magazine, along with the blue and white floral before picture. The magazine credits Heidi Diaz, otherwise known as Kimmer, as the creator of the diet and the person in the two photos. If Kimmer were an honest person, and these were not photos of her, wouldn't she have stepped forward and said so? But now she claims that she is NOT Heidi Diaz, and seems to be bragging that no one knows WHO she really is (See Becky's blog above). Does that sound like the comments of an honest person to you? Me thinks not.

I could add many more links here about the effects of very low calorie dieting, Kimmer's advising people to use laxatives, etc., etc. But I think I'm done. You can find these on any of the many other blogs and web sites out there that are dedicated to bringing to light the truth. I just wanted to share my view point on this. While I'm not in the Kimmmer hating camp, because it's not the way I believe or operate, I am very disappointed in her and her so-called healthy plan.

If you are doing the Kimkins diet, I wish you health and happiness. I'm not going to beat you up because you are. I feel I did learn some things about myself during this experience that have been helpful to me, so I can't completely write it all off. But I don't think the positives outweigh the negatives here. So please be careful and watch the signals your body is giving you. If you are concerned about anything at all, please go see a doctor and tell him/her of your diet plan.

So these are my feelings on the matter. I know I have opened myself up for abuse by posting this, but my hopes are that if you disagree with me, you can do so civilly. And I hope this post will give others the courage to tell their story and do an honest evaluation of their health. Weight loss is great, but the old saying is true.. "If you don't have your health, you don't have anything."

God bless you all.

18 comments:

DD Jameson said...

Hi Amy,

I get what you are saying because I've had similar thoughts. Not so much about myself, I never got that deep, but I see so many ex-Kimkins girls who are really terrified of eating. It's almost like "medically induced Anorexia". These aren't teenagers we are talking about either. If there was ever such a thing as an eating cult, then this is it. Great perspective and great post.

leaveme alone said...

What a wonderful post Amy! It is amazing what people can get led into by trusting in someone else who is not worthy in their motives. It is so easy to get caught up in the excitement of finally losing weight, that it is easy to become blind to our own better judgment.

Askazombiehousewife said...

Thanks for posting, your honesty is refreshing. I find it sad and scary and yes it seems to end up as an eating disorder the more I read about it.
I saw the diet posted and I felt there were way too few veggies and no oatmeal for this to work for me.
I seem to eat healthier when I add veggies and quick or old fashioned oats to my diet.

Anonymous said...

Amy,
Gutsy, sincere, honest posting here--and as far as I'm concerned, the apology isn't warranted; we all try different diets and ways of trying to tame this monster, and in the beginning, we're all gung-ho about our 'new' plan. You gave it a fair shot and it sounds like for a while, it worked for you. Don't be so hard on yourself. You're living, learning, and doing what works for you, and you alone.
And kudos to you for bringing in the calorie-counting task into the mix; that's a very interesting issue still being debated in cyberspace, i.e., the ketogenic metabolic advantage vs. calorie counting. Again, good stuff from you.
Adam;-)

Amy Dungan said...

Thanks to everyone for the comments. I sincerely appreciate the support and friendship of each of you. It's nice to know that we can all work together to find the best route to health, even if that route leads us in different directions sometimes. :)

. said...

Hey SG :)

I can't say for sure as I never did see the article but I call reading many times that Kimmer used a pen name for that magazine article which was Kim Drake. Mind you someone pulled up her birth info and it turns out her mothers last name was Drake and I am pretty sure Heidi's middle name was Kimberly so thats where "Kim Drake" comes from.

Amy Dungan said...

Hey Sherrie!

I remember the name Kim Drake too. She has admitted to writing under many names. While I understand wanting privacy and all, when you are selling your yourself... your success, you just simply have to put yourself out for pubic inspection. Otherwise you have the chaos we are now all seeing in this situation. :(

Becky said...

Well done!

I commend your willingness to give things a fair and honest evaluation.

I hope others will, as well.

If so, they will come to the same conclusions, eventually.

Unknown said...

What a courageous post, Amy. I linked to it in my "Must Reads Offsite" list.

I was even concerned about Jimmy while he was on the diet as he was eating 1200 calories or so and his RMR is almost 1800 a day. I can't fathom eating as low as 330 or even 1200 a day. Your body eventually will cannibalize itself on less than RMR.

Amy Dungan said...

Thanks stopping by to see me Becky and Carol! I appreciate your comments and your support!

OhYeahBabe said...

Great post! Would you like to add your blog to the Say NO to Kimkins web ring?

Stop the fraud! If you were a member of Kimkins, join the Kimkins diet lawsuit! Here is how to join the Kimkins lawsuit. It's easy!

Kat said...

Friends don't let friends do Kimkins! Remember that cover girl on the WW Mag? Well, she learned the hard way about Kimkins and it's dangers!! Read her blog and decide for yourself.

http://the-journey-on.blogspot.com/

Kat said...

Now that you know the Truth...Join the Lawsuit!!

http://kimkinslawsuit.wordpress.com/

Amy Dungan said...

Hi OYB and Kat! Thanks for reading and commenting. I'm letting my conscious guide my actions regarding this whole fiasco.

wackytobeme said...

Very well written. Thanks for your input regarding the Kimkins fiasco.

Kat said...

The "Tim Worstall Tabloid Edition" says:

November 12, 2007
Kimkins
Kimkins, or the Kimkins diet has been shown up to be just another scam on the unsuspecting.

Heidi "Kimmer" Diaz, the founder of the Kimkin's diet - a low carb, low calorie diet - is schedule to appear in a Southern California court on Monday, November 12th, 2007. 11 former users of her Kimkins diet program filed a complaint against her one week ago, claiming fraud, false advertising, and unjust enrichment.
The Kimkin's scandal began when Woman's World, a popular women's magazine featured an article on the Kimkin's diet.

Ms Diaz, who was claiming to have lost 198 pounds in 11 months using her diet plan, refused to meet with the magazine in person, instead corresponding through email. She went so far as to send the magazine before and after pictures that looked nothing alike, which makes sense when people found out that the before pictures were Ms. Diaz, however the after pictures were taken from a Russian 'mail-order' bride web site.

The kimkins diet advised eating just 500 calories a day. That less than concentration camp victims were getting:

Kimkins diet followers reported hair loss, menstrual cessation, irregualr heartbeat, fainting spells, and liver damage from the starvation diet scam.

No damn wonder! Let's hope she's jailed where she can get a decent diet!

Kat said...

Happy 2008 All...Don't become a stastic of the Kimkins Diet Scam in 2008. I have faith in people and I know that there are a lot of people out there that will do the research and find the horrors of the Kimkins diet, the bannings of "lifetime" members for no reason other than to take their money from them, the no feedback from Kimmer herself on the site as promised and the dangers of the starvation diet that Kimmer (Heidi K. Diaz), who never even lost the weight herself, promotes. Ban Kimkins in 2008 and find a free and safe diet site to support your weight loss efforts in 2008. The year you will succeed WITHOUT Kimkins starvation diet!

Kat said...

Get The Word Out…
I recently took up the cause to “get the word out” about Kimkins.com and the dangers of following this very low calorie diet. Don’t be fooled. Do your research! Kimkins.con is nothing more than a low fat, low carb, low calorie, unhealthy starvation diet that is causing Eating Disorders (EDs) and hair loss in many. This diet was started by a lady who calls herself "Kimmer" and never even lost the weight herself on her own diet. Kimmer even charges $59.95 for her unhealthy starvation diet and offers a “lifetime” membership that gets you banned from her website if you question her about her diet or after pictures. Friends don’t let friends do Kimkins!! Be smart in 2008 and lose weight the right and healthy way!