A Blast From the Past, part I

Since discovering that Heidi Diaz and her Kimkins diet plan is a complete fraud, from time to time I go back and search the advice peddled by "Kimmer" at Low Carb Friends. I always find something jaw-dropping.

For years Kimmer (Heidi) masqueraded as woman who had lost around 200 lbs. using her combo Atkins-Stillman's diet dubbed Kimkins. She also claimed at LCF to be an expert on water fasting, claiming it not only helps one shed pounds quickly, but provides a state of mental clarity and a feeling of euphoria.

Pardon me, but what a load of it!

Currently, even while facing a class-action lawsuit connected to her actions at Kimkins, Kimmer is still giving out questionable and even dangerous diet advice. And, while she maintains a knowledgeable facade of dieting expertise, she is in fact a morbidly obese woman who has NEVER lost a significant amount of weight. Just consult the recent photos posted at Amyb's blog, or ask Heidi's family.

The following is an exchange from June of 2006 at LCF between an actual medical professional - which Heidi is NOT - and Heidi's online persona Kimmer. This is just one of numerous examples where Kimmer pushes the idea that eating 500 calories a day is perfectly acceptable as a safe and healthy diet.

06-03-2006, 04:54 PM
Originally Posted by XXXX Actually,
very obese people can and do die from starvation and malnutrition. I've seen it
happen countless times over the years. Especially true in the past couple years
with the increased popularity of bariatric surgery. I work in a specialty
hospital...we function as an ICU step down unit. We've had a lot of bariatric
surgeries gone wrong. People who can't eat at all for a period of time after
surgery, or can't keep any food down, get infections, massive wounds, and die
from complications because they become extremely malnourished in a very short
period of time and can't recover and heal from the infections and wounds. Some
die from the "electrolyte imbalances" as well. It's hard to imagine 300, 400,
500, etc lb. people being malnourished but it happens all the time. Once that
vicious cycle is recognized it is often too late. Many people do not
recover, even with appropriate nutritional intervention.

Kimmer responds:
I don't want to detract your experience. But if you consider that non-bariatric surgery people go on "water only" fasts for months on end without dying, my guess would be infections and massive wound could account for a degree.Let's also include the Optifast, Medifast, Slimfast and other "shake" patients who don't die. Why not? 500 calories is 500 calories, right? I don't want to comment on your hospital and its practices. I believe the death statistics for bariatic surgery is 1%. That's 1 out of every 100 weight loss surgery patients your hospital has. If more than that someone should look into it.Let's say people don't have bariatic surgery. Who's tracking the heart disease, diabetic and other morbid obesity related deaths? I would also gather that since insurance companies, experts in risk management, continue to approve and pay for bariatic surgery, either the statistics are skewed or hospitals are in collusion. Last edited by Kimmer : 06-03-2006 at 05:01 PM.

(Bolding mine for emphasis)

From what I gathered, this person was trying to lend her expertise to the questionable advice Kimmer was giving out at LCF and got shot down.

As most any former member of Kimkins knows, disagreeing with Kimmer about anything often led to a sudden banning and a loss of the "lifetime" membership so many had paid $60-$80 to get.

But, many people disagree with Heidi Diaz' advice and believe her Kimkins diet program is dangerous. And, we will keep on disagreeing until the Kimkins website is nothing more than a 404 error message. Count on it.

Trickin' Chicken?

Is the magic gone from the infamous Magic Chicken diet?

According to one of it's most ardent supporters, it just might be. You may remember Suzy351. Suzy is the gal who tried her darndest to keep the forum alive at the MCD site, but it has flatlined. And, it's so-called leader Bonnie Luper is no where to be found. The "support" Suzy and a few others paid Bonnie Luper for, well it simply doesn't exist.

Magic? No. Tragic? A definite yes!

Take a look at the latest message posted by Suzy over at the Magic Chicken Diet forum. The quote from Suzy is typed in below since the screen grab isn't clear.

Suzy said: "Ive asked for my money back several times. They just ignore me. Is this what they call support? I don't think so. There's no support here. There's no
community. The board is still messed up. I have to log back in every time just
about I go to a different screen. None of the admin will do anything about it.
Wheres the free website they promised? This is the wrost website I ever seen.
Give me my money back. And you call yourself a Christin Bonnie Luper. You should
be ashamed."

In other words, Suzy is pissed, and she's not gonna take it anymore!! Way to go Suzy. Step up and let everyone know that just because you've bought a service on the internet, and definitely did NOT get what you paid for, does not mean you're going to slink off into cyberspace, never to be heard from again. Bonnie Luper owes you a refund. Pure and simple.

See, this is why I and several other bloggers have been following the MCD story. Just like Kimkins, and it's obese, never-lost-an-ounce creator Heidi "Kimmer" Diaz, Bonnie Luper's so-called magic diet is dangerously low in fat, carbs, and calories. Such diets encourage eating disordered behavior and are DANGEROUS to stay on for any length of time.

The dangers of VLCD - very low calorie diets - are hair loss, heart palpitations, muscle mass loss (including your heart), dizziness, fainting, general malnutrition and a variety of other problems. For a sobering look at what can happen to you when you don't eat, surf over to Medusa's blog and look at the stuff she's written on anorexia. It's scary to say the least.

In fact, there is a rumor going around that the reason Bonnie has been absent from her own website for so long is that she had a heart attack. While I certainly hope it's not true, it would fit the pattern of someone who followed such a drastic diet and lost more than 100 lbs. in just a few months. Bonnie actually has lost a tremendous amount of weight. We just hope she can recover and find a healthy way to eat low-carb like Atkins or Protein Power. We also hope Bonnie has learned that putting people's health at risk just to make a buck isn't right, by any standards.

By the way, Kimmer of Kimkins infamy NEVER lost weight on her starvation diet, and she doesn't appear to have a heart, so no worries there. The latest on her is she's using every stall tactic she can to try and fight the class-action lawsuit she's facing because the facts are not on her side. She has also stooped low enough to use some deeply personal information against two of her former dieters, seeking revenge because they've learned the TRUTH about her. One of these people has a son who is severely disabled, another is struggling through fertility treatments trying to have a child. Heidi has made it a point to blame the disabled child's mother for his issues, and sent a message of congratulations to the infertile couple claiming to think they had recently had a baby.

There is no one lower than Heidi Diaz, folks. NO ONE.

For anyone at Kimkins or the Magic Chicken Diet websites, contact the Better Business Bureau, the California Attorney General (Kimkins) or the Texas Attorney General (MCD) and make yourself heard. You have rights. And you have definitely been wronged.

Why Continue the Fight?

Several people (Ducks!) took part in a bombing raid over at the Kimkins diet website a few nights ago. Here is just one of the messages posted in an attempt to reach the dieters still left there.

We are here to help you. We're not asking you for money or hero-worship. We only ask that you read this and then check out the facts for yourself.

You have been lied to over and over by Kimmer. Her family says she has NEVER been thin. All she cares about is getting your money, nothing else.

Kimkins is DANGEROUS. This diet is starvation. It can lead to problems such as significant hair loss, dizzy spells, heart palpitations, fainting, and muscle wasting. The consequences can be very serious, even deadly. Google the term VLCD - very
low calorie diet - and see what effects it can have on your body.

Kimmer has NO medical training whatsoever to properly advise you on how to lose weight. Kimkins promotes a condition known as "rabbit starvation" - another good thing to Google and check out what it can do to you. It's serious, it's scary and it's not worth endangering your health!

I have been where you are, I know exactly how desperate you
feel to lose weight and how GOOD it feels when it starts falling off. But,
when you starve the weight off, you're putting your metabolism at risk and
making it MUCH harder to keep the weight off unless you keep eating at
starvation levels. Can you really follow Kimkins for the rest of your life? No. Your body's natural defenses will take over.

Kimmer doesn't follow her own plan. When the private investigator talked to her and got pictures and video of her last fall, she had an open container of sugar cookies in the passenger seat of her car next to her. At the same time, she was brow-beating dieters at Kimkins to carefully measure how much lettuce they ate!

There are good low-carb plans out there that you can do to lose weight, and be healthy at the same time. There's Atkins, Protein Power, Glycemic Load, etc., all
doctor-created and safe. Please, leave Kimkins now before you damage your
health. There are great support sites out there for FREE. You don't have
to do this alone! Take some time and research Kimmer - Heidi Diaz for
yourself and ask yourself if you can still trust her?

-I'm a successful low-carb friend and I approve this message!

During the raid a few members posted comments that said "take your hate elsewhere." Do you see any "hate" in the above quote?

No. What you see is an attempt to wake up some people and educate them on the DANGERS of the Kimkins diet.

My dear friend Medusa - http://2medusa.blogspot.com/ - has blogged in excruciating detail about the ravages of anorexia nervosa. Anyone who does a 500 calorie a day diet for very long is in serious danger of doing that kind of life-threatening damage to their body. Your body will literally eat itself to death trying to live.

As a "Duck" - someone who knows all about the fraud behind Kimkins and all the lies told by Heidi Diaz, I cannot give up on stopping Heidi until she is in prison where she belongs.

This fight isn't about hate at all! I am not motivated by hate. I am motivated by a deep desire to help others.

If you are still at Kimkins, or doing another starvation diet like the Magic Chicken Diet, you must ask yourself some tough questions.

Are you willing to break away and do a sensible, effective diet like Atkins, Protein Power or The Glycemic Load diet?

Or, are you determined to simply leave behind a skinny corpse?