Kimkins Controversy - Kimkins Scam » Eating Disorders

Check out ‘Normal Eating’

Kimkins Controversy — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 16:30:04 +0000

I am not promoting the school of thought that is being referred to as Normal Eating. It interests me and I haven’t heard or read anything about it that I found discouraging. The basic idea is that our bodies know how to regulate weight properly and that teaching ourselves to eat based on physiological cues and to ignore emotional and societal cues will result in healthy weight loss. I recommend that you all read up on it. The only criticism that I have is that many people are so entrenched in a culture that overeats that calling this ‘normal eating’ will sound elitist to their family and friends. In a society, normal is what everyone decides to call normal. I could be wrong.

Anti-Kimkins Blogs of Note: Kimorexia

Kimkins Controversy — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 22:26:38 +0000

Let me put this in the simplest of terms. Heidi Diaz did some smart branding with the Kimkins Experiment. Now that we know she was not actually subjecting herself to this experiment, you have to question the methodology and the conclusions as well as the validity of the results. You have to wonder about the people who swallowed the kool-aid and said Kimmer lied, but the diet is not a lie.

Kimorexia delivers the ‘information, revelation, references, quotes, debates and more concerning the “Kimkins” crash-diet and/or its advice’ that it promises. Using information to combat the disinformation about diet and health over at Kimkins is a recurring theme. There are also a lot of outgoing links to interesting corners of the Anti-Kimkins community/cause.

Kimkins Exposure

Kimkins Controversy — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 08:11:22 +0000

The tangled web that is the Kimkins Controversy was given the cookie-cutter treatment of television journalism a few days ago. It is great that countless people who may have never heard of Kimkins got the basic messages that it is a fraud and that it is not a well researched and safe way of eating.

Actually, I am curious as to how many people would have seen this item on Good Morning America. I was surprised to learn that the TV show is aired in Europe, the Middle East, the Philippines and Australia. The show spent a lot of years as the #1 morning show in America. In November 2006, GMA averaged 5.1 million viewers. It has been a close second to The Today Show for many years.

So it’s quite likely that millions of people saw this news item. The only website that was mentioned and shown on television was Heidi’s site. It may be a bit early to look for the effect of the television exposure on her traffic, but so far it seems to have been minimal.

Support For Those With Eating Disorders

Kimkins Controversy — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:54:31 +0000

A Kimkins staff member has stated on national television that they try to prevent people from developing eating disorders by providing support. Just prior to this statement she admits that the incidence of eating disorders in a group of people with food issues is inevitable.

I am curious about what happens when this support does not prevent an eating disorder. What happens when someone who is active on the forum makes statements that are clear indications that they have an eating disorder? What happens when someone on the Kimkins forum is vocally concerned that something is wrong with their personal way of eating?

The Fear of Doctors

Kimkins Controversy — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:38:44 +0000

When the validity of the original Kimkins diet was still being aggressively defended, the assertion that members were advised to consult with their doctor was hailed as a panacea that should sanitize the internet of all doubts about the plan. After everything that has come out at this point I am legitimately worried that some individuals may have incurred real harm from this way of eating and that they have not yet and may not ever consult with a doctor about their problems. For one thing, health care systems are in various states of disrepair in many countries and for another thing, some people have a crippling irrational fear of doctors. When the idea came to me that Kimkins survivors might be avoiding professional health care, I did a quick bit of research. I found out that the fear of doctors is a serious and prevalent problem. I also found some websites that claim to be able to cure the phobia. I don’t know if they are legitimate.

Avoid Weight Gain Over the Holidays

Kimkins Controversy — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 17:40:56 +0000

This is a first for this blog in that it is largely unrelated to Kimkins. I just wanted to mention the issue of emotional eating during the holidays. For some people who are trying to lose weight, this pattern is almost like a separate issue from what they may have already tackled with a new ‘way of eating.’

ShrinkYourself.com has a free Holiday Survival Guide online. It’s one of those question and answer things that makes you deal with your issues. Don’t wait until your mother in law is knocking on the front door to start dealing.

Kimkins Scam Exposed on National Television

Kimkins Controversy — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 08:16:13 +0000

Fox’s national morning show, The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, profiled Kimkins as part of their diet scam expose series yesterday. The Morning Show brought a doctor and nutritionist on for their opinions. Former administrators Christin and Deni told their stories about the fraud and their issues with the diet. Jeannie Baitinger (TippyToes) and Delaney (Singinglass at Kimkins, an admin who has done most of the banning when people have asked questions about Kimmer) also appeared. The biggest bombshell is that Jeannie announced that Heidi is, indeed, Kimmer. After hearing the thinly-veiled disgust in Tippy’s voice when viewing the Heidi Diaz surveillance tape (”look at the woman”) don’t you wonder how long Tippy will be employed by Heidi?

Jimmy Moore recorded the segment and uploaded it to YouTube. Watch it now:

Kimkins Spotlight: Google AdWords

Kimkins Controversy — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 12:01:53 +0000

Our readers have had tremendous success in getting the message about the Kimkins scam to Kimkins affiliates — good work! All three of the affiliates we have spotlighted so far have pulled their links.

Now it’s time for the big guns, because we want to stop one of the major sources of new signups for Kimkins.com — the paid ad placements on Google and Google network sites from Google AdWords. If you go to Google and search for “Kimkins” you will see that there are ads at the top or right side of the search results. These “Sponsored Links” are paid advertisements from Kimkins affiliates or Heidi herself.

Google has a policy of refusing ads for sites featuring “miracle cures” and Kimkins is certainly marketed as a miracle cure for obesity.

Click here to contact Google AdWords to encourage them to remove these Kimkins.com ads and prevent future advertisers from buying links to Kimkins.com. Remember to tell them:

The “Kimmer” success story is untrue and fraudulent. Kimmer (Heidi Diaz) is a morbidly obese woman and there is no evidence that she ever lost the weight (http://www.slamboard.com/category/kimkins-diet/).
A great number of the other success stories are fakes using stolen pictures.
The Kimkins.com claims of weight loss are exaggerated and unreasonable: ” There’s no faster diet! None!” “They’ve been told their entire lives they should be happy with slow 1-2 lb a week weight loss. How depressing and untrue!” “Kimkins is perfect for all diabetics!”
The Kimkins.com site advocates extremely low calories, laxative abuse, and even fasting.
Many Kimkins dieters have suffered side effects such as heart palpitations, menstrual irregularities, hair loss, dizziness, and faintness.
Many Kimkins members have been banned for no good reason and the site is currently rated D with the Better Business Bureau (http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=100055868).

Kimkins Affiliate Update: WLTips.com

Kimkins Controversy — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:48:14 +0000

UPDATE: THE AFFILIATE LINKS APPEAR TO BE GONE — THANK YOU, LIZZA!

While Lizza at WLTips.com has removed Kimmer’s fraudulent interview and changed Christin’s interview to reflect Christin’s concerns about the Kimkins diet now, WLTips.com is still affiliated with Kimkins. Note the Kimkins affiliate link at the bottom of this page. Therefore, in our view WLTips.com is knowingly participating in the Kimkins fraud and could be liable for damages that arise as a result. Please contact Lizza (lizza@wltips.com) and strongly encourage her to sever the affiliate ties. Lizza, if you are reading this, do the right thing!!

Kimkins Affiliate Spotlight: TheSkinnyWebsite.com

Kimkins Controversy — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:05:13 +0000

Okay everyone, it’s time to start putting pressure on the Kimkins affiliates to stop marketing this fraudulent product to their audience. Direct action helped put a stop to Jimmy Moore’s promotion of Kimkins and it will help stop the rest of the affiliates too.

The first affiliate we are going to spotlight is a celebrity weight loss gossip blog called TheSkinnyWebsite. This site is read by thousands of women and it has actively fed the false “Jessica Alba does Kimkins” rumor mill. Just yesterday it linked Kimkins with Angelina Jolie’s name. Heidi Diaz has admitted that she uses these false celebrity rumors to market Kimkins to young girls.

Take a moment to go to TheSkinnyWebsite.com and tell them to stop participating in Heidi’s scam.

Make sure to tell them:

Kimkins marketing is fraudulent. Kimmer (Heidi Diaz) is morbidly obese. She is not the lady in the red dress and there is no reason to believe that she ever lost 198 pounds.
Kimkins and Heidi Diaz are facing a class action lawsuit and Heidi Diaz is being investigated for fraud.
The diet is dangerous and people are getting sick.
When the Kimkins assets are frozen, affiliates will not be paid their commissions.
Affiliates who knowingly participate in this fraudulent marketing may also be liable for damages.

UPDATE: THESKINNYWEBSITE.COM HAS SEVERED ITS AFFILIATE RELATIONSHIP WITH KIMKINS.COM AND REMOVED ITS LINKS.