Kimkins Controversy - Kimkins Scam

Becky (Littlebit) Update — Banned from Kimkins?

Has Becky been banned?  Kimmer says no .  KKatastrophediet blog, the new blog from a disillusioned but still stealth Kimkins member, says that Becky has most definitely been banned.

Only Kimmer and Becky know for sure, and Becky’s not talking about it — yet!  Read her cryptic blog post about the departure here.

Kimkins Member’s Letter to Becky (Littlebit)

On Kkatastrophediet’s blog, a Kimkins member and stealth Kimmer critic writes to recently-departed Kimkins staffer Becky:

I just wanted you to know, and I know that I speak for many many members of the KK website, that you were the heart and soul of that forum.

Another Kimkins Dieter Ends Up in Emergency Room

Sadly, this Kimkins dieter and Kimkins.com member was afraid to even ask for advice on the Kimkins member board because she had seen so many people banned and censored for saying anything negative.  She went to the ER for dizziness and ended up missing four work days.

Kimkins Petition Update

The Kimkins petition is continuing to gather steam. Addressed to the Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau, California Attorney General, it requests a full investigation of Kimkins and “Kimmer” (Heidi Diaz). Over 150 people have signed the petition, and many of them have left comments:

• Kimkins AKA Heidi Diaz is a charlatan (n. A person who makes elaborate, fraudulent, and often voluble claims to skill or knowledge; a quack or fraud. ) needs to be stopped.
• Encourages laxative use and basic starvation. This website has a cult-like mentality.
• Please Please act on this dreadfull plan
• telling a 14 year old that 500 calories is ok is shocking!!!
• I tried this crazy plan after being seduced by incredibly quick weight loss and after 3 weeks, my hair started falling out, dramatically; AND I started to get aches in my hip joints. Never having experienced these symptoms before, I didn’t know what it was or that it could even be related to a WOE!
• Dangerous Diet.
• She fooled me. Glad I smartened up. After almost three weeks trying it “Kimmers” way, I was fatigued, weak, dizzy. Took me at least four weeks to start feeling better. The marketing scam is attractive to people desperate to lose weight. People, including me, get lulled into the attraction of fast loss and buy into “Kimmers” explanations out of that same desperation. This is an unhealthy way of eating. I know this first hand and feel foolish that I was taken in by the marketing. Shame on Woman’s World for writing a story - that’s how I was realed in. Never again will I read magazines like that again. Good luck in pursuing this petition. We need smart weight loss, not hype about doing it super fast.
• It has been reported that the Kimkins website is encouraging a 14 year old girl as she eats an average of 400 calories a day. Another report states that a young woman is in the hospital with the Kimkins diet as a major contributor to her heart disease. Please investigate this diet!
• Any chance we can get our money back???
• This “diet” is going to kill someone! It is nothing more than an eating disorder in the making. And the mind games and cult mentality? Scary!
• The truth needs to get out. This diet is dangerous.
• Kimmer is just another internet marketer out to get desperate people’s money. The difference here is that the advice Kimmer is selling is going to hurt someone. She’ll tell you there is no calorie restriction, but that’s wrong. Very low calories are encouraged. Laxative use is suggested. People complaining of dangerous side effects are told to just tough it out and it will pass. Someone should definitely shut this operation down.
• This is just a pro-ana plan. It’s just a matter of time before people die. Besides that, it’s a fraud taking advantage of desperate people.
• This so called “diet” is extremely dangerous. Thank God, I was a lucky one who realized it’s dangers. But there are desperate people out there who will stick with it, and I’m afraid they are going to pay dearly with their health or worse.
• My doctor advised diet is dangerous. I requested refund and was denied.
• There’s no room for this type of scam when people are desperate to lose weight.
• This con artist needs to be stop before someone dies
• Numerous FTC violations; unsound diet; dangerous health claims; breach of contract to members
• Im more worried that she says laxitives are ok every week to “flush out” your system and is promoting this as a healthy way of life.
• Let’s get to work on this pronto. Quit dragging your heels. Do your job - okay?
• The insanity needs to be investigated and stopped before she causes such severe health problems for people, that they are not reversible, including death. She allows MINORS on her site, and gives them the same advise as she gives the adults, to CUT calories, not to mention the carbs and fat right a long with that. All inclusive. This is the same thing that those who belong to Pro ANA sites do and are so proud of. Kimmer is not alone in dispensing medical advice on this site. And none of them have any background in the medical field! She refuses to come forward and prove what she says. She uses ‘faked’ before an after pictures, [most noteably trying to pass a model off as one of the afters] and her own are easliy discerned as faked [not even the same person] and/or very old ones, used as current.. She is a fraud!
  The site contains numerous FTC violations, substantial unqualified health claims and Kimmer/Heidi Diaz uses a plethora of unethical business practices to sell her site
• Its an absolutely alarming plan and should be thoroughly investigated
• This is a fraudulent site praying on unsuspecting people looking for a quick fix. The advice is in keeping with eating disorder behaviors, which the founder herself exhibits. Quick action needs to be taken to investigate. Fraud runs rampant.
• This diet is dangerous. It MUST be stopped!
• never received the promised ebook with your paid subscription for life
• I want a $60 refund from this scammer!
• Please investigate this potentialy deadly “diet”
• unsafe is what this is. Please investigate.
• Potentially deadly - please intervene!!
• Please help
• This woman is a fraud the before and after pictures on her site are fake.
• Please investigate this woman’s business!
• Dangerous diet advice-please investigate
• Please let consumers know that Kimkins success stories are NOT typical (in fact, MOST people are unable to lose weight so quickly without serious negative physical consequences), and that Kimkins is an extremely Low calorie starvation diet that is only suitable if advised by their doctor!!! Please investigate the advice that she has given that has led people towards eating disorder-like behavior.
• Very unsafe and potentially dangerous diet recommended by uncertified “unknown person”. This “unknown person” is also charging membership of $60.00 for this diet and refuses to meet anyone in person.
• “Kimmer” is a fraud and needs to be outed as such. Haven’t people been lied to long enough?
• FRAUD and a scam artist
• In my opinion, kimkins diet is potentially dangerous for anyone but what is more worrying is the fact that she has members who are MINORS….
• Please investigate this woman - she is not a medical profession and is encouraging disorded eating behaviour (not to mention the fraud side of things).
• I think Kimkins needs to be investigated, and required to refund money to those who were banned for no good reason!
• Please stop this craziness.
• Never delivered E-Book, unethical business practices–needs investigating NOW!
• SHES A FRAUD
• Dangerous Starvation Diet
• She promised people personal coaching, but how would that have been possible without limiting the membership? Her whole business is a scam.
• Thiis looks like a potentially dangerous weight-loss plan, pomoted by a person with no discernable credentials, to assess the poteintail health risks. It also seems that a lack of real evidence of it’s efficacy by “Kimmer” could make it a less than ethical buisness venture
• She promotes unhealthy eating and has never been forthright about her before and after pics as well as the ones on her website. Plus, she charges a fortune for info that can be found for free elsewhere. She needs to go.
• Investigation should be made into the practices of: dispensing questionable medical and nutritional advice without training or licensing; claims that the diet is suitable for ALL diabetics including Type I; fraudulent use of faked before/after photos to promote memberships (including stock photographic images, images of models, and poor photoshops); conducting business in the state of California and interstate via the Internet where terms of contract were not fulfilled and/or were changed unilaterally without consent of consumer.
• Since she uses her own experience as a basis to sell memeberships, I think it is important to find out if she is, indeed, a real person.
• This diet is dangerous, and Kimmer has no medical backgroung!
• Kimmer is a fraud and must be stopped!!!
• Fraudulent practices
• Please investigate this potentially fatal diet being aggressively hawked by a mysterious & elusive woman who has no medical background.
• I paid $14.95 for an ebook that was not delivered
• this diet is dangerous, please investigate.
• There are significan health risks, mental risks, and dangers with this plan that should be investigated. Anyone with a pre-existing type of any Eating Disorder should be WARNED! This diet is promotes extreme calorie reduction and laxative abuse.
• Considering the increasing popularity of this diet and the fact the creator has no medical expertise, I believe it should be investigated for the sake of the public’s health.
• This is a very dangerous low calorie diet that is being targeted to everyone..including children. The “author” of the diet, Heidi Diaz, refuses to meet with anyone face to face and is responsible for giving advice that people should take daily laxatives to lose weight. Many ladies have gotten sick from doing her recommended very low calorie diet. She is NOT a trained nutritionist or doctor..she just made this up without any medical knowledge at all.

A Kimkins Member Speaks Out About the Teen Starvation Diet Scandal

This Kimkins member discusses her disillusionment:

Then I began looking. As many of us have. Reading. Lurking. Taking it all in. And there is A LOT to take in. I have been on both sides of the fence at times, mostly because I don’t know who anyone on these boards and blogs are, really, and I have to remember that when I read their posts. Who knows who is telling the real truth? So I’ve seen both sides of the coin. Until yesterday. Until the post/info about the 14 year old girl surfaced. I had not known until recently that there was a young girl posting on the site. I went, I looked at her posts–her need for more calories. I saw a few answers given by moderators about getting in more calories, specifically more nutrients that she would never get from her current caloric intake. Then I saw Kimmer’s response…and……
she disagreed with the others about needing more calories. WHAT???!!!!???? I have girls, and in this situation, as that girl’s parent, I would be FURIOUS. FURIOUS. Did I say FURIOUS?? She is telling a child NOT TO EAT MORE!!! WHO IS SHE to tell a young girl not to eat more food? Is being thin worth THAT??? No it is certainly not. EVER. And now, as many have taken the child’s posted before and after picture and reposted it–As her parent, I would be angry at all who have discussed this child’s internet activities and posted her pictures. And then I would restrict her online access!!

Kimkins Diet Review by About.com

Laura Dolson, the About.com guide to low carb diets, has written an excellent review of the Kimkins diet — required reading for anybody interested in this plan! She says:

Kimkins is certainly a potentially dangerous diet, and I would warn anyone tempted by it to stay away. In addition, “Kimmer’s” claims of extensive weight loss maintained for five years with the maintenance diet she has described (in at least one interview) seems extremely unlikely to me. In science, there is a saying: “Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof.” Beyond short term weight loss, Kimmer has not produced any proof that her diet has even helped one person — not even herself.

Kimkins Diet Review - Elizabeth

Kimkins Diet Review - Elizabeth discusses her experience with the Kimkins diet scam:

After considerable thought I decided to post my experience with the Kimmer’s site. I first became acquainted with Kimmer on the LowCarbFriends.com early last year. She appeared to be very gung ho in wanting to help the LCF members. It seemed that she must have lived on the computer answering questions and posting what had worked for her.

What I did notice was that she became very impatient if a member was not following her WOE exactly. I just thought it was because she really truly cared and wanted people to experience the weight loss she reported she had.

When I found out she had started her own website I decided for $14.95 it was worth a shot. Shortly after I had joined I noticed that when I would ask questions in a specific forum I was receiving the answers from other members. Low and behold she was not around any more - the way she was on LCF. I couldn’t understand this because on her new site she advertised personal training, coaching, etc.

After numerous attempts to get her to answer questions I had, I just gave up and stopped posting. I then just spent my time lurking.

What was alarming to me was reading some of the other member’s posts regarding the adverse health problems they were experiencing.

Not only was it recommended you cut out all carbs, but also you are told to cut calories and fats. I looked at some of the Fitday reports and was amazed that a lot of the members were so low on calories and fats that it was no surprise they were reporting sickness, loss of hair, and a slew of other symptoms.

I also noticed that some of the people were disappearing from the site and not posting any more. I found out later that they were banned for asking questions regarding the questionable Kimmer pictures and her lack of participation with the members.

What really solidified it for me was reading the “Kimmer fascination” post on the LCF forum. How could this gal have all these alias, phony pictures and continue to give out harmful advice to her members?

Please, before you plunk down $60 or whatever it is up to now ….. do yourself a favor and visit the LCF posts. If you want to just lose weight and remain healthy DO NOT follow her advice. I can guarantee you - it’s a big waste of money and it is dangerous.

Kimkins Censorship Update: Kimkins Chat Room Gone

At Spark People a poster wrote:

Good morning, I joined Kimkins on July 17, 2007 and have been very sucessful: 17lbs in 17 days. One of the main reasons I paid the $59 membership fee was the chat room that was available on the site. Unfortunately, Kimkins disabled the chat room in the middle of this week. When I sent a question to Kimmer with my concerns about the chat feature and requested a possible refund, my account was immediately blocked. I did not find out what the problem was until I sent another email to their tech support. The response was that the chat room would not be available any longer and that my membership fee was returned. My advice to anyone who is a member of Kimkins, get your money back and move to Sparkpeople. This site has everything that Kimkins does and Sparkpeople is much more user friendly. In addition, the whole Kimkins Diet Plan is on the forums for no charge…..keep your money in your pocket or get your money back.

Posters on other message boards have confirmed that the Kimkins member chat room is gone and is not expected back. Rumor has it that it was just too hard to police the chat and members were discussing the ongoing Kimkins controversies.

You were BANNED? What happened to LIFETIME…

Anti-Kimkins discussing the Kimkins bannings, and what you can do about it:

Apparently, membership to the site includes an unspoken vow to not speak harshly of the founder or the plan, in any public, online forum; to not question the legitimacy or validity of the founder or the plan, or any portion thereof; and to avoid engaging in private discussions with other members regarding concerns about….well, the founder or the plan!

Kimkins Spyware

Kimkins Dangers on the new spyware being used against members at Kimkins.com.