Kimkins Dieter in Danger

Recently, a member of the Kimkins diet website complained of mental fogginess while doing the VLCD - very low calorie diet. And what did founder of Kimkins and self-proclaimed dieting expert Kimmer - Heidi Diaz - tell this person? Well, it was a typically snarky Kimmer response with none of the "expert" advice this dieter paid for when she joined Kimkins.

Here's the post exchange from inside Kimkins:

XXXX - Hi everyone. I have been doing well now on my weight loss. I only
have one concern. In the last couple of days I have been really forgetful. I
understand that before this I was excessively eating carbs. However since I have
reduced my carbs it seems like at times my brain is not functioning properly.
Something awful happened today. I was running around the shopping centre with my daughter to run a few errands. I bought an aftershave for my husband. As we
walking through the shops I realised I did not have the shopping bag in my hand.
I had left it somewhere and I was devastated. It was a present for my hubby and
it cost me $100. I have had to forget about it now because things happen and I
cant change it. My 7 year old daughter told me to stop dieting because I am not
concentrating properly. Before the incident occurred I had a protein shake in
the morning. It was 12pm in the afternoon, and I just grabbed a low carb protein
bar for convenience. Around 2pm I noticed the bag missing. Later we sat down and
I had some chicken with salad and I was upset that I had allowed to this to
happen because I hadnt eaten either enough but was running around the shopping
centre like a mad woman. After I had the chicken I felt much better. I would
like to ask if this has happened to anyone in terms of losing their memory or
concentration a bit. How do you combat that you have enough carbs for your brain
but still lose weight. I do not want to give up with my weight loss but I want
to ensure I am having normal brain function. Thank you for any responses.

Kimmer responds: According to your Personal Journal, the last few days your
carbs have actually been rather high. Maybe close to 100 grams per day because
you're eating protein bars and low carb chocolate. If you have medical concerns,
please contact your physician immediately. When you're ready to commit to
Kimkins, we'll be here to help.

Did you get that? This woman is exhibiting a sign of dangerously low blood sugar and Kimmer accuses her of "eating too many carbs" and says "when you're ready to commit...we'll be here to help."

Unbelieveable! Honestly, reading that makes me want to slap the taste out of Heidi Diaz' mouth. This paying customer of hers is SO committed to her horrible and dangerous diet that she's having trouble concentrating. Yet Kimmer insinuates that she is "uncommitted." Oh, and the "if you have medical concerns" was a nice touch, don't you think? Heidi knows very well that her diet is dangerous and impossible for many to stick to it. Afterall, she is still about 300 lbs. herself. Who the hell is she to be selling diet advice to anyone?

Here's what one of MANY credible website sources has to say on low blood sugar, which can be the result of too few calories, and mental clarity:

In order to prevent type 2 diabetes, it is vital to understand that blood sugar problems travel along a continuum. A lot of people initially develop signs such as low blood sugar (reactive hypoglycemia), which can manifest as afternoon fatigue, mood changes, and mental fogginess. Abdominal weight gain is a key finding in insulin resistance. When blood sugars are severely elevated, the classic symptoms of diabetes – excessive thirst and urination - ensue. Source: http://www.thecenterforoptimalhealth.org/services/endocrinology/diabetes.php

If you are still doing Kimkins, or any diet that encourages calorie levels of 500-1000 per day without direct doctor supervision, you are putting your health at serious risk! When I did Kimkins, I ate about 700 calories per day and soon started having mental fogginess, sudden and severe dizzy spells and my hair started falling out in clumps. I believed the lie that Heidi tells: the excess calories one needs will easily come from the weight you need to lose. Don't let Heidi Diaz talk you into starving yourself! Your body will begin eating it's own muscle tissue (and your heart is a muscle!) in an effort to prevent starvation.

Heidi Diaz created Kimkins by combining parts of the Atkins diet - which is safe and doctor approved - with Stillman's which is an extreme diet meant only to be used on a very short-term basis. This woman has NO MEDICAL APPROVAL for her diet and NO TRAINING as a nutritionist or dietician. She has no expertise whatsoever to advise anyone on losing weight.

There are wonderful diet websites and support available on the internet for FREE! Low Carb Friends is a great place to get help and support on your weightloss journey.

Kimkins is DANGEROUS to your health. Don't do it!!

Actual Success Stories Do Not Tell the Whole Truth

Fraud is at the heart of the lawsuit faced by Heidi Diaz of Kimkins infamy. In a deposition before the court, she has admitted using stolen photos of beautiful, healthy, slender people from mail-order bride and groom sites to entice people into paying her for her starvation diet and advice on losing weight.

But, are ALL the Kimkins "success" stories fake? No.

Have some people actually lost weight on Kimkins and kept it off? Yes.

Does this mean it's okay to try Kimkins? NO!!!

Let's use an analogy about media bias my brother came up with to explain how some Kimkins success stories are "real", but in NO way tell the true story of Kimkins.

Let's say a sportscaster who graduated from Western BFE University wanted his team to look good at the end of the season. So, he edits together clips from W.BFE.U's games, but only shows the best plays from the entire season. He doesn't fake any of the clips, but the presentation would not show the true W.BFE.U's team - a team that didn't win a single game all season. By selecting only certain clips, W.BFE.U could LOOK like National Champions.

Btw, if you will notice, the media does this in some fashion all the time, showing only the most unflattering photos or video of the politicians they do not like, etc. Media bias is ALIVE and well. It's what they DON'T tell you that makes them biased. Technically, they don't lie so much as they only present one side of the story - lying by omission.

Same thing with Kimkins. For those who have lost weight strictly following Kimmer's diet, none that I know of have done so without experiencing some health problems. Significant hair loss and dizzy spells are the most common. That is what made me stop doing the Kimkins Diet plan. For others, irregular heart beats, amennorhea, and eating disorders are pretty common. One person who did Kimkins even lost so much muscle tissue that she had to undergo surgery to repair the damage.

Skinny, yes. Healthy, no!

Frankly, most people cannot live on the 800-1000 calories you get to eat on the Kimkins diet plan. Nor should ANYONE try to live on that small amount of food. For those who've stuck it out and lost the weight, many are paying a HEAVY price for believing in Heidi Diaz.

Bottom line: DON'T DO KIMKINS.

Self-Sabotage: Have Another Heapin' Helpin'...

Over the years Heidi Diaz ,of Kimkins infamy, has written a lot about self-sabotage when it comes to dieting.

Question is: Who's zoomin' who on this front, Heidi??

Diaz is facing a class-action lawsuit for selling starvation and calling it a diet plan. Still giving out all kinds of dangerous and misleading diet advice, she has placed yet another article on line. The article is nothing more than a viral marketing technique to sell memberships to Kimkins at close to $80 bucks a pop. By the way, Kimmer, as she is known to millions of dieters, has used other questionable techniques to sell her diet such as taking photos off of Eastern European mail-order bride sites and using them to back up fake Kimkins success stories.

So, the latest version of an article by Kimmer was posted this week on a free hosting site. In it, Heidi is singing the same old tune about sabotaging one's own diet:

How many times have we started a new diet with the very best of
intentions? We know we picked a good program, we’re excited, we’ve stocked up on
the essentials. We might even manage to do well for a few days.Then the shoe
falls. Our resolve wanders. We almost look for an excuse to cheat. You ask yourself, “Why?”You know that 14 strong days as free of temptation as possible will garner you the best chance of weight loss success....Yeah that was the promise, but it didn’t quite turn out that way. Yet again....Take comfort in knowing that your dieting sisters and brothers are joining you world over.
From: What’s Up With Diets and Self Sabotage? — by HEIDI DIAZ - posted 10-8-2008

But, wait just a low-carb minute! If Heidi knows SO much about dieting, why does she look like this still?


This picture of Heidi is about a year old, but this picture is very similar to more recent pictures of Heidi from a deposition and ones taken by fellow anti-Kimkins blogger Amyb.

It's not as if Kimmer hasn't been at this whole dieting and handing out dieting advice thing for a while now.

In fact, she was preaching this same stuff in a post from 2004 at Low Carb Friends.

Posted at Low Carb Friends by Kimmer, 10-07-2004, 11:54 PM

I wasn't tempted during my weight loss phase because I was super paranoid
about not cheating. I know from experience what gets me started with my excuses
... 'just one is OK', 'well, I already had one so I may as well eat more and
start over tomorrow', 'I've been really careful for 8 days so ...'If I were 22 I
may not know myself well enough. I might think I'm strong enough to stop before
I start. I'm 46 and beyond the stage of fooling myself. I've always stayed as
low carb as I could ... all the way to 318 lbs ... but interpretation is in the
eyes (and stomach) of the beholder. It took about 10 years to finalize the ins
& outs of my best "Kimkins" low carb [plan]

So, Heidi is still peddling the same old advice trying to sell memberships to Kimkins for $79.99.

Save your money folks. At best, the dieting advice you'll find on Kimkins won't work and at worst: IT'S DOWNRIGHT DANGEROUS. Yes, some people have lost weight on Kimkins, but most have paid for that loss by damaging their health. Kimkins is a VLCD and can make you dizzy, cause significant hairloss, and if done long enough can lead to far more severe health problems.

Just because someone has been handing out advice for a while doesn't make them an expert. Heidi Diaz at Kimkins is only an expert at one thing - taking your money.

Find yourself an effective low carb diet like Atkins or Protein Power and a free support group like Low Carb Friends.

All the best!!

The Bald and the Beautiful?

Being a huge Chris Daughtry fan, I'll be the first to admit that bald can definitely be beautiful. But then again, he's a guy. On women, bald is, well, scary!

Witness the latest in a LONG line of Kimkins dieters who are complaining about significant hair loss, only to to be told by the diet's creator, Heidi Diaz - who happens to be a 300 lbs. bald woman - that it's no big deal.

Hair Loss? 1 Day, 7 Hours ago
Has anyone had a lot of hair loss?
I've been on the plan since January and last month my hair started falling out really bad. My Dr. took blood and said everything looks OK so the only thing I can think of is some vitamin I'm not getting since I've cut out sugars and all the uck stuff. I take a multivitamin and B-12.... Any one have any ideas?

Kimmer (Admin)
Re:Hair Loss? 1 Day, 7 Hours ago

Temporary hair loss can result from rapid weight loss, sudden diet change, stress or hormone changes from estrogenic body fat. You started in January and have lost 50 pounds in 6 months which wouldn't be considered "rapid". Six months of Kimkins isn't a sudden diet change. Hmmm.What are your weekends like? Are you 100% on program or cheats here and there? My reason for asking is when we cheat, then get "strict" on Monday ... maybe a few episodes of extreme carb/low carb could trigger the estrogen flood from melting body fat. Maybe. I'm not a doctor. Do a Google search for "hair loss" and "Weight Watchers", "Atkins", "South Beach" or any popular diet and you'll see posts about hair loss. A Kimkins member posted awhile ago that her hairdresser told her she always see hair loss when her clients start a diet.What I've always found fascinating is men don't typically report hair loss on diets. They don't have high estrogen levels and they don't take birth control pills. Birth controls are estrogen and tiny amounts of estrogen (and every other drug we eat) are stored in body fat. When the fat melts, those drugs and toxins are released into the blood system. Follow up with your doctor, ask his advice. FYI - During water fasts this flood of toxins triggers lethargy, acne, coated tongue, etc. which

Did you notice how Kimmer always blames the dieter for the hair loss?? See, since Heidi Diaz has the auto immune disorder alopecia universalis, and therefore has no hair whatsoever, it's pretty easy to be flippant about someone else's hair loss, eh Heidi?? Of course, Kimkins couldn't be at fault! Eating 500-800 calories per day, why no, that leads to tons of shiny, beautiful hair, right?? Wrong!

Kimmer's mini-me, SingingLass - Delany Deaver - then chimed in with her own brainwashed advice:

SingingLass (Admin)
Re:Hair Loss? 1 Day, 3 Hours ago

Like Kimmer said, it is a common occurence from weight loss. I was assured this both by my doctor, and three different hair-stylists. It is also something they warn weight loss surgery patients about as a side-affect. Basically, some people will experience an interuption to their hair growth cycle whenever any change or stress occurs to the body....this can be illness, high periods of stress, pregnancy, weight-loss, reaction to medications etc....what it does is put a larger amount of hair into the regrowth cycle then normal---so more new hair comes up and pushes hair out all of a sudden, causing shedding. The good news is that the reason it does this is due to new growth coming in, so it is hair that is coming back however annoying it can be. Like Kimmer said, you can search the net and find it is common to any program of weight loss. It is something the "anti" people like to wave as a negative, but you can find posts all over the place on the "other" board of people experiencing hair loss from other diet plans. That is actually where I first came across it myself actually. I had a lot of hair loss back when I was on atkins ( was shortly before I started doing kimkins).....however I was not sure if it was from the diet or the fact that I was recovering from a long period of illness. I however, have not had problems with loss in a long time, and in fact have lots of new growth that is catching up to the rest of my hair now. I have had three different stylists chatter to me about how they see hair loss in people who have lost weight all the time, especially in those who admit to having lapband procedures etc....They misquoted me on a television program a few months back ( basically they took small clips out of an hour long interview and spliced about 20 seconds of things taken out of context together to make it sound like I said something totally different) regarding hair loss. basically in the interview I had been discussing all the risks of being obese...such as heart issues, diabetes, arthritis, just over all how it affects our lives, mobility etc....and in comparison, some cosmetic hair loss that comes back, though frustrating, is a small price to pay when compared to over all health and well being. I was someone who really prided myself in having really long hair......I miss it yes, but I would not trade it back for the 100+ pounds I have lost even if it came with a million bucks. Now, make sure to take your daily vitamin. Vitamin b complex, biotin, and fish oil have all been said to be good supplements for hair growth and health. I take a woman's daily multi, biotin 5000 mcg, and a b complex every day. I seem to personally be allergic to fish oil though. Nioxin makes products for thinning hair, shampoo, conditioner, scalp treatments etc....and even just getting treseme or pantene variations for hair strengthening if nioxin is too expensive can help.

In other words, hair loss is no big deal when you consider the dangers of being overweight, right Del?

Take a vitamin and you'll look like the lady in this picture in no time, right?

The reality is that the hair loss suffered by many Kimkins dieters is a serious symptom of malnutrition whether Kimmer or her little synchophant Singinglass want to acknowledge it or not.

Hairloss is a sign that your system is being taxed, too few calories, too few nutrients going in and your body rebels. Can this happen on any diet? Yes. But it is a constant complaint on Kimkins because it is a starvation plan which forces the body to shed hair and absorb it's own muscle tissue in order to survive. Normal, effective low-carb diets like Atkins do not cause these dangerous side-effects. Singinglass tries here to work in the comparison between Kimkins and Atkins, but there is no comparison. Atkins is medically approved, safe and effective. Kimkins is NOT.

Since Heidi Kimmer Diaz has no hair to lose and she cannot stick to the Kimkins plan that she "invented" ...well, it's just no big deal to her. As for Singinglass, her misguided and impossible to understand hero worship of Kimmer has blinded her to very real danger she is in.

*Editors note: Special thanks to the unseen helpers who gave me this info. It is very much appreciated!