Kimkins Controversy - Kimkins Scam

A Legal Cliché…

He who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client.

Heidi Diaz is officially without representation now that her lawyer has stepped away from the proceedings. I have been out of the loop for too long to offer any worthwhile commentary. Check out these blogs for some suppositions, predictions and explanations…

Kimtanic

Kimorexia

How Many Testimonials is TOO MANY ?

According to arindamchakraborty.com, you can have too many testimonials. I can’t view Kimkins.com, but I noticed an item on Google directing me to view ALL 719 TESTIMONIALS. One of the most successful websites in the weight loss niche has ZERO testimonials. Fatloss4idiots.com relies more on effective advertising.

Kimkins.com seems to be set up so that a handful of testimonials are randomly called up from the database to display on the front page. The top one showing on the google cache of the homepage reads as a story of failure before it is truncated. Given the fact that Kimkins is a dishonest marketing of a seriously flawed diet, it’s not surprising that the testimonials leave a bit to be desired. Hey, at least there are a LOT of them

Why the Lack of Fascination with Kimkins?

The wheels of justice turn slowly. Fortunately for Heidi Diaz, the core demographic that she defrauded grew up watching Sesame Street and have a short attention span as a result.

That may be an exaggeration, but there certainly is less going on on the blogosphere. A result in the proceedings will probably get some people talking for awhile, maybe even the media. Personally, I think the media is done with this human drama.

Alcohol

There is anecdotal evidence and some hearsay that Heidi Diaz struggles with alcoholism. Her recent blog post about alcohol speaks volumes by saying almost nothing at all. There are carbs in alcoholic drinks. That is true, but there is also alcohol. Alcohol is a mind altering and addictive substance. If there is one aspect of this woman that gets my unadulterated sympathy it is the drinking.

For people without issues related to alcohol (extending to family members as well), consider drinking 1 glass of red wine several days per week. It has been shown to benefit blood cholesterol ratios.

Anti-Kimkins Blogs of Note: Jimmy

I’m guessing that about 0.2% of the people that end up reading my title will react by thinking to themselves Jimmy who?

Jimmy is a low carb weight loss success story who went on to become a pro blogger and the host of a vibrant free low carb community. He has a lot of personality.

Jimmy spent months as a Kimkins affiliate and drew harsh criticism for a part of that time. His audio interview with Kimmer (who at that time was not admitting to her identity as Heidi Diaz) was a defining moment of this saga. I think you can pinpoint the moment when he stopped giving Kimmer the benefit of the doubt. He asked her if the picture of the woman in the red dress was, in fact, her. She said it was, in a tone of voice very much like the one that Heidi Diaz would later use to say No Comment to Chip Yost. The popularity of the audio interview with Jimmy Moore meant that thousands of people had absolutely no doubt that Heidi Diaz was Kimmer as soon as she spoke on camera. Surprisingly, Kimmer continued to deny being Heidi Diaz for some time after that.

Anti-Kimkins Blogs of Note: Slamboard

Slamboard definitely deserves a mention in this series of posts on anti-Kimkins. The photographs of an obese Heidi Diaz were published there first. These photos were taken by PI Robert Charlton of Alliance Investigative Services.

The focus of Slamboard has shifted away from the Kimkins Controversy lately, but the older posts are a great resource for everyone with an interest in the story. There are now lots of vocal detractors with inside information because most of the former insiders fled when they realized or suspected the truth… or they got kicked out for asking questions. Slamboard posts all comments that are not spam. There are several comments from Kimmer’s defenders and they make for an interesting read.

Anti-Kimkins Blogs of Note: Borat???

Where do I start with this blog review? I recently saw some hand wringing with regard to the offbeat humor that is the spawn of the Kimkins fraud. This blog is the penultimate example of this humor, if only for the reason that I have a new spell check and I wanted to see if I could spell penultimate right the first time. Unlike the real Borat, I don’t think this blogger ever fessed up to their true identity. It could be an open secret, I am way out of the loop on a lot of things.

This blog is ridiculous enough to be forgiven. The blogger also has good timing in that they quit when the joke had run its course.

People Continue to Defend Heidi and Kimkins

YouTube commentary is truly the lowest form of discourse. The anonymity encourages people to throw all semblance of civility out the window. Lying and outright outrageousness are pastimes for many users. But I digress… what I really wanted to post about was the fact that someone chose to post a comment on the YouTube version of the Heidi Diaz surveillance video this week. It is not a smart ass kid or a petty jokester, someone wanted to express their outrage about the exposure and defend the diet against its detractors. I will quote it in its entirety:

People should be ashamed of themselves. Invading someone’s privacy because the diet failed for you or caused a side effect. NEWSFLASH, all diets cause side effects, some minimal and others more extreme. No one held a gun to your head and forced you to join the kimkins site or to even do the diet. This diet works wonders for people who are SEVERLY obese, not people who need to lose 10 pounds to fit into their party dress for the weekend.

I think that this 25 year old American Girl with the really pretty name and no videos or favorites might even be Kimmer.

Will Kimkins Endure?

I really do expect Kimkins.com to go away at some point, but I am not certain that it will. I know enough about the internet to know that the site metrics have a value in and of themselves. The lifetime subscription business model could come to an end and the site could remain in some form to generate advertising revenue.

Even though some advice that was dispensed by Kimkins.com runs counter to current medical standards for a safe and healthy diet, low carb eating is still a popular and viable option. I think one advantage that Heidi has is her keen understanding of her core demographic. It is actually almost scary how well she can speak to the conventions and insecurities of middle class house wives. Maybe she should become a political strategist. She would have to have a minder of some sort to look after the loose ends

The Fear of Doctors

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.