Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Sparky's Girl

Many of you know that I am a member of Kimkins and tried the plan with great success for a few months. I’ve tried to be honest and open about my experiences with Kimkins in this blog. In the past my stance on this has been that of someone with an open mind and trusting heart. I sought knowledge. I openly proclaimed that I did not know if it was a healthy plan or not. I recommended that those considering the plan look into all the details they can find. It was working for me and I felt fine while doing it. I even added an affiliate link after giving it a trial run.

Then I read some information that was very disturbing about Kimmer’s business ethics. Funny how that seemed to be the “red flag” for me. But somehow it made me wonder if things truly were not as they seemed. I can deal with a lot of things, but being lied to is not one of them. No one likes to be deceived, and the thought that Kimmer might be misleading people was nagging at the back of my brain.


I started reading everything I could find on both sides of the issue. What I found was, quite frankly, sad. People on both sides of the battle lines were hurling insults and accusations quicker than you could blink. It made me sick. I don’t believe in handling problems by creating more problems. It’s not an effective strategy. But I was quickly finding that something was indeed wrong in the Kimkins camp.


After much thought and prayer I decided to pull my kimkins affiliate and endorsements. At the time I wasn’t sure where it would lead. I thought if things calmed down and Kimkins was validated, then I would replace the ads and all would be well. That was never to be.


I want to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone who bought a membership through my affiliate links. I know there were 4 of you. Yes. I’m admitting that I sold 4 memberships, which totaled a profit of $60 for me. I basically got my membership back, plus $30 (memberships were only $30 when I joined). I wish I could refund all of your money.. or at least the part I received. Sadly, I’m not in a position financially to do so, even though it’s “only” $60. On top of that there is this issue of honesty. I could ask those of you who joined to contact me, etc., etc., but then I’d be asking for scammers and liars out the wazoo. So sadly you’ll have to settle for my sincere apology. And I truly hope you will accept it. I pray that you got something from your membership that was worth the money to you. Again I’m sorry. I had no intention of misleading anyone. I myself was mislead. I hope you will feel you can trust me in the future. I made this statement to a good friend recently regarding this whole thing: “You can bet I’ll be looking into anything I plan on recommending with a fine tooth comb and a magnifying glass.”


As of late, more and more has been surfacing about this situation. The most interesting information is coming from people who, until recently, worked very closely with Kimmer. What I’ve read from these brave people, who have put themselves out there to stand for truth, despite the abuse and scrutiny they may receive, is just what I feared. Kimmer appears to be deceiving many. It also appears she could care less who it hurts. I hate to even type that. I’m the kind of person who loves other people and wants to believe the best of them. I tried to with Kimmer, but have found I can no longer do so.


In the posts I will link to a bit later on, you will find copies of emails exchanged, pictures taken, and comments made that display the smoke and mirrors that is called kimkins. And before you go off on me about how the diet is still OK and who cares who Kimmer really is, let me say that the diet is not OK. I can tell you from personal experience. Here is my explanation on this:
I started the diet very skeptical. Some of you may remember my posts telling how I was going to give it a shot, but seriously doubted I could continue with the plan. It just sounded hard. I managed to stick with it long enough for ketosis to kick in. then something amazing happened. It suddenly seemed very easy. I was breezing through each day hardly giving a thought to eating at all. I broke my stall and started losing very quickly. I was so excited! But something changed. Now physically I felt fine. I wasn’t having any health issues and I thought all was well. But in my mind something was changing. I didn’t see it as clearly then as I do now. To be honest, I didn’t realize it was as serious as it was until just a couple of days ago. That’s when I decided I needed to tell my story. But my way of thinking was changing. I was starting to obsess over every bite I took. Now if you are like me, you are saying “So what? We all do that sometimes!” And that’s exactly what I kept telling myself. I was sure it was just me and my obsessive personality. I’m an all-or-nothing kind of person so I felt positive it was just issues I was having and not something related to the diet. I started having concerns about my calories being too low and decided to up them a bit to be sure I was eating healthy. But I found that It took tremendous effort to eat more. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to stop the quick weight loss.. or even slow it down. My way of thinking had changed so drastically that I was no longer as concerned about my health as I should have been. Thankfully I realized I couldn’t continue on this way and went back to a more Atkins-like plan.


A few days ago I was reading some comments from others who were once on Kimkins. They were experiencing the same thoughts I was. They had the same feelings I did. Some were afraid to eat anything! Those similar experiences caused something to click in my mind. I realized I could have easily developed an eating disorder. I was on the verge. I was so obsessed with losing weight quickly, that only having 3 protein shakes a day, which totaled 330 calories, actually seemed acceptable. I would have laughed in the past had you EVER told me I’d feel that way.
Now can I blame this way of thinking on the diet? I don’t know. I do think it’s possible. It’s not something I have ever even considered before, even when I was losing well on Atkins. So why this mentality now? Why when I was trying Kimkins. All I can say is there COULD be a link. And it’s a big enough could that I’m making sure the rest of you know about it.


I have not experienced health issues as some have, but then I was only on Kimkins for a short time. There are many, including some popular faces of Kimkins, that have confessed to losing hair, having energy issues, etc.


Here are the aforementioned links. Read them and decide for yourself. It might interest you to know that many people who bought lifetime memberships no longer seem to have access to kimkins.com. It seems that if they asked questions or made honest suggestions for nipping all this conflict in the bud, they were quickly squelched. I guess they are considered trouble makers. I don’t want to stir up trouble, but I do want to know the truth, as do so many others. I may be the next person to lose my membership access.. we shall see.


Check out Becky’s (littlebit’s) blog, who was a very public face for the kimkins forums. There are several posts here that will enlighten you to the workings of Kimmer’s mind, at least in relation to how she felt about the concerns at hand.


Here is Deni’s blog, who was one of the success stories in the Woman’s World write up. Again, it’s interesting to see her point of view. Considering she was a kimkins celebrity, why would she suddenly turn away from it all unless she had valid reasons?


Then we have Christin, who was the Woman’s World cover girl for that story. Again, why would she leave unless there were serious issues behind the scenes?Then we have a series of very disturbing posts by a man who claims to be the husband of Kimmer’s ex business partner. In his blog he reveals not only shady business dealings, but recent photos of Heidi Diaz, who is supposed to be Kimmer. Kimmer claims she is not Heidi and that she feels sorry for Heidi because she is being stalked by this PI. But my question is this. If Kimmer isn’t Heidi, then why did she let Women’s World magazine tell everyone she was? The famous “red dress” picture is in the magazine, along with the blue and white floral before picture. The magazine credits Heidi Diaz, otherwise known as Kimmer, as the creator of the diet and the person in the two photos. If Kimmer were an honest person, and these were not photos of her, wouldn’t she have stepped forward and said so? But now she claims that she is NOT Heidi Diaz, and seems to be bragging that no one knows WHO she really is (See Becky’s blog above). Does that sound like the comments of an honest person to you? Me thinks not.


I could add many more links here about the effects of very low calorie dieting, Kimmer’s advising people to use laxatives, etc., etc. But I think I’m done. You can find these on any of the many other blogs and web sites out there that are dedicated to bringing to light the truth. I just wanted to share my view point on this. While I’m not in the Kimmmer hating camp, because it’s not the way I believe or operate, I am very disappointed in her and her so-called healthy plan.


If you are doing the Kimkins diet, I wish you health and happiness. I’m not going to beat you up because you are. I feel I did learn some things about myself during this experience that have been helpful to me, so I can’t completely write it all off. But I don’t think the positives outweigh the negatives here. So please be careful and watch the signals your body is giving you. If you are concerned about anything at all, please go see a doctor and tell him/her of your diet plan.


So these are my feelings on the matter. I know I have opened myself up for abuse by posting this, but my hopes are that if you disagree with me, you can do so civilly. And I hope this post will give others the courage to tell their story and do an honest evaluation of their health. Weight loss is great, but the old saying is true.. “If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything.”


God bless you all.


from “Kimkins–How I feel about it now”

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I always agree with you.your hope is great,I think it would be helping for all weight seeking people.

OhYeahBabe said...

I'm really sorry you were a victim of Kimmer's fraud and the unsafe Kimkins diet, and that your health was damaged. I hope you are doing better now.

I hope you will consider joining the Kimkins lawsuit! Here is how to join the Kimkins lawsuit. Stop the fraud!