BabyBug

This is long and I know you didn’t ask for all this but I have wanted to get this off my chest and give information about my personal situation with Kimkins.I have lost 100 pounds and about half was with kimkins. I was actively doing the Kimkins for 2 months.

To understand my situation my life had been recently out of control due to an illness that caused the weight gain of 167 pounds in less that 2 years.The low calories of kimkins when combined with not being hungry made me feel like I was in control of something….my body…

Like I shared in another post while I was doing kimkins my husband would make comments like, “Is that all you are eating.” or “You haven’t eaten today..”

In my mind I felt pride and a sense of accomplishment. Although of course that was not what he was saying at all. Then one day my daughter who is 6 said, “I haven’t eaten all day” (talking about herself). Now I NEVER told her about what I had or hadn’t eaten…. but kids watch.

What hurt me so much was she had pride in her voice. I got so mad and went into how she is supposed to eat and health all that biz. But I realized that I had to set an example. I have been trying to add back into my diet but I am truly having a difficult time.

I found that for me there was this sense of pride in having control over my appetite. It was very empowering to not have to worry about food. I am not saying I have an ED or trying to play that role to anyone….I am just saying that after discussing it here and reading about ED some of the emotions sound the same…Control, pride, empowering, that sort of thing.

I have asked “Why” or “How” could my eating habits change that drastically and that fast. After pondering things I think it is because everyone starts with k/E and once you get passed the first 5 days the appetite is gone. So then that need to eat is not there. We are encouraged to do K/E long-term and that we need to stay in ketosis , count fiber, limit vegetables, measure EVERYTHING and weigh daily.

Combine that with the fact that a person is losing weight. Then add in that wonderful high of control. Then the icing on the top is everyone is telling you how great the weight loss is which reconfirms that it is the right thing to do. That is where the sense of pride comes in.

When I first heard the rumors about how kimkins promotes ED. I actually laughed. I thought how can you have anorexia unless you want to have it. I mean just eat!!!

Of course now I know that is not the case. I mean does anyone with an addiction or disorder really want it?? I thought that would be like saying “You wouldn’t be an alcoholic unless you want to be an alcoholic.” It’s not that simple. I mean no one wants those things.

But the kicker is you are praised for losing the weight in the forums and in the support. Also, praised in you personal life by friends and family. So you think you are doing something right. Oh the pride.

But of course that would never happen if another type of addiction was causing you to lose weight. For example if a person said “Hey I’ve found that snorting coke helps me lose weight and I have been doing it daily.” No one would say “Oh you look great, way to go.” ….with limiting food they do because that is dieting but there is a fine line.

This is where the danger lies I think because if someone has a lot of weight to lose, like myself, you definitely don’t look like you have an eating disorder so no one notices. Even the person eating the low calories.

You continue the eating behavior longer with the idea that you are just “dieting” because you have to diet that extra weight off. You will lose fast so you will only be doing this WOE short term

Keep in mind I also never had a history of an ED and like many always thought you can’t develop one in your 30’s. I mean that is a younger person’s issue….Right?!?!

I did K/E most of the time because I was afraid to get out of ketosis. Which now I feel is all bunk… but that mindset had already kicked in and I am finding it difficult to add things back.

I know K/E says ALL the lean protein until you feel full, but the problem is there is only so much chicken, fish etc…that a person can eat so one’s calories are low as a result. I usually stayed under 600 calories and .many days under 400 calories I found when calculating things. Not on purpose….Just due to the appetite suppression and not wanting anymore damn protein.

I started having symptoms (decrease in energy, mood swings, dry skin, insomnia, less menstrual flow) I thought they were related to not enough fat and also the low calories so I started adding some fat. But I am finding that I am afraid to do too much because I don’t want to gain back the weight.

I do and always have taken several multi supplements…NOT a multi-vitamin which is all Kimmer has officially stated. AND even on the website page you can view before you sign up it just says an only a “good multi-vitamin”.

That is why there is a big difference in someone doing 500 calories a day after a gastric bypass or band surgeries and kimkins. Besides the fact that you are under a doctor’s care…you are also monitored by labs for the need of supplements like electrolytes, iron, calcium etc…A member is not getting near enough of what they would need in a multi-vitamin.

Then the weighing everyday that Kimmer encourages or the boards “whoosh fairy” was the term coined for when you didn’t lose weight for a few days to let you know it would soon. I think that weighing daily also feeds into that mentality too. Then if someone does laxatives will there you go an ED. I never did the laxatives because I just drew the line on that one.

But to answer your questionI am an “un-banned member” but no longer doing the Kimkins plan. I still have 50-60 pounds to lose and I am at a loss as to what I should eat, so I don’t at times and that isn’t a good thing.

from Active Lowcarber Forum “Kimmer Kimmer Kimmer”

Mimosa23

I first did Kimkins last year to drop a few quick pounds after I lost 60 pounds and regained 20… It worked great, and in three weeks I was back to my goal weight. Then the trouble started: I couldn’t keep the weight off, and for the next year I kept losing and regaining 30 or so pounds. I would do the K/E for three weeks or so, and then I’d go back to low GI eating and gain the weight I’d lost on K/E. I joined the Kimkins thread here, and joined in the communal support for this WOE. I felt fat. I felt miserable and I felt ugly. The more I did Kimkins, the worse I felt. The pounds coming off would never be enough, and I didn’t realise I was getting totally obsessed with food, weightloss and my appearance as I thought other people saw me. I was spiralling out of control, and found I had a very unhealthy view of food, diet and myself. I was deluding myself! I would regularly read the Ask Kimmer thread for inspiration, and I would weigh myself twice a day. Despair would set in if I didn’t see the scale move downwards… I would eat less, and nothing would happen. I remember eating only three hardboiled eggs one day without the yokes; still no weightloss! I don’t know what happened, but I decided to see a counsellor about certain issues I had, and also to deal with my food issues. It’s taken me months to face up to the fact that I have an ED. I don’t know if Kimkins was the start ( I actually doubt it) but I do know that it made my issues with food much, much worse. I am now slowly but steadily recovering, my metabolism is shot, and I’m on a medical approved diet programme that is slowly but steadily teaching me to feed my body again. I have very low blood pressure and am anaemic, and the K/E made all my symptoms much worse. I have had mineral deficiencies and they are now being treated. For the last month I have felt more energetic and awake than in the last 18 months…

I still have major problems with my body and weight, but my counsellor and my anger towards Kimmer are certainly making me feel a whole lot better!All I can say is that I’m glad that I didn’t pay for this awfully unhealthy WOE, and I want to thank all you savvy and wise people for all that you have uncovered!

I am now refeeding my body with healthy low GI foods (vegetables, protein, fat, fruit, wholewheat, etc) and am glad that I didn’t have any other medical problems due to Kimkins!
I cannot believe that someone can prey on other people in the way that she has. Her deception has certainly rocked my faith in humankind. I have signed the petition, and hope she will be held accountable for her lies.

Thanks again, and my apologies for being so gullible!

From lowcarbfriends.com "Why the Fascination with Kimmer?"

Kimasutra

I do not think of myself as a “survivor,” as a “refugee.” Surviving Kimkins implies luck. Chosing to leave Kimkins was proactive on my part, and makes me a refugee. Because I was active for such a short time, my involvement in Kimkins was not so much catastropic, as it was disillusioning. And the person I was most disillusioned with was myself.

Just like people who believe they can get something for nothing, I let myself believe that I could safely, speedily, and with no insult to my health, lose weight on low carb, starvation rations, while simultaneously maintainging optimum physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual fitness. The founder of Kimkins didn’t do that to me…the Women’s World article didn’t do that to me…I did that to me. I knew better.

So what suckered me in? Easy answer! The sense of community, of belonging, of encouragement–generously offered…the collective spirit of irreverence in the face of obesity, the ability to laugh with each other, commiserate with one another…the collective shaking of fists at the Demon Fat Gods, even as we sacrificed and made food offerings to them daily, of our calories, carbs, and fats, and, yes, ultimately, our health. It was never about the Kimkins diet, for me..it was about the miracle of connecting with others like me–of not being the different one, the round (pun intended) peg in the square hole…it was the magic of finally being seen.

As someone else here wrote, finding our kindred spirits…and note, I did not write co-enablers…was the “silver lining” in the Kimkins WOL. There was an article in Oprah, several months ago, about the much higher succes rate dieters who blogged had, versus those dieters who were isolated, and did not receive support and encouragement. I don’t need to see the research data; I have experienced that phenomena up close and personal, during my two months with the Fabulous 50s Kimkin’s forum.

As for what is to be done with our anger and sense of having been duped, and played for fools, for myself, the most healthy thing I can do is to let it all go, for impotent anger, and hostility only destroys me from the inside out, and diverts my energy from positive, to negative. Yes, Kimmer made money off of us, she lied, she made those of us preaching the Kimmer gospel look like a bunch of false apostles. But we were not the Judases in this affair, she was. I am trying to see the woman underneath the facade, to forgive her, to forgive myself…to keep her in my prayers for the wounded and ill, because that is what humans do when someone is in need. A Pollyanna? Yes, I am…but practical, too, and strong, and committed, and rededicated to healthy, lo carb living.

from low carb discussion, “Kimkins Survivors”

Rozi

A lot of us feel pretty duped and a little cheated by what has been shown. Nobody wants to be that heavy or look like that. It is not on purpose. I doubt that she even started out to fool anyone. I’m pretty sure she really did lose weight on her plan and just didn’t want to admit it when it started to slide back on. Have any of us not been kind of slow to admit a slip or a small gain? She was supporting a son on her earnings and I’m sure she felt that she could lose it back again at least at first. It is just a guess but it looks like to me like she suffers from stress eating, and probably binge eating disorder. I also believe, although I can’t prove it that these are both the result of a starvation diet, as well as having her metabolism slow to a mere fraction of it’s former self. I think that it is all very sad, and I cried for her when I first saw the pictures. None the less I feel cheated by paying $60 for a plan that cannot succeed in the long run for very many if any. It only took me four days, and passing out twice and scaring my husband to death to find out it was not the diet for me. I just am thankful I did find out the danger so soon.

from lowcarbdiscussion.com “Kimkins Survivors”

Dallas

I’m still a member over there, with a different name. I’ve refrained from posting my concerns because I want to keep an eye on things. In the 10 years since my mom died I put on about 50 lbs. Not as much as some but enough to make me miserable. I’ve always scoffed at magazine weightloss articles but seeing Christin on the cover of WW caught my eye and clicked with me. And yes, I was impressed by the “red dress” before/after pictures. So I paid my $60. I’d been eating a lot of processed food so in comparison, Kimkins looked much healthier. I like meat and eggs and it said I could stay on K/E as long as I wanted. I did it for 13 weeks AS WRITTEN, with usually 400-600 cal/day, until Becky, Christin, and Deni left and I became concerned by Christin’s reported side effects. I’ve been pleased with my weight loss and I’m 10 lbs from goal. BUT, although I’ve not had hair loss, I seem unable to regain my appetite. I never want to eat, even when my belly growls. I mean, I want to, but my appetite for food is non-existent. Nothing sounds good. I’m fighting to try to bring my calories to an acceptable level. My brain doesn’t mind missing meals anymore. And when I do eat I feel bloated and I’ve gained a few lbs. So can Kimkins cause eating disorders? YES, IT CAN!!!! I never, ever had food issues before, except I liked and ate a lot of processed food and fast food. I’m not stupid. I’m very well-educated. But I was desperate and I believed someone who seemed to have found the answers I needed. She seemed to know what she was talking about. After all, it worked for her. I had hope. Now I don’t know if I’ll ever get back to a truly healthy diet and mindset toward food. Shame on her.

from “Why the Fascination with Kimmer, Part 2″, lowcarbfriends.com

Julie

As the member whose journal was deleted and who wrote the original post in the “Nice Try” thread, I feel the need to clarify a few things. When “Kimmer” first opened the “Kimmer Chatter” forum, I naively thought that it was the appropriate venue for the discussion of the controversy. After all, that’s what “Kimmer” led us to believe. So when a member posted a question about wondering what happened to Deni, Christin, and Becky, I posted a link to their blogs so the member could read for herself. My post was deleted. No one ever said that posting certain links was forbidden. I did not receive an email or a PM explaining why my post was deleted. Nor did I receive anything saying I violated the TOS.

I was angry that my post was deleted especially given that the “Kimmer Chatter” forum was characterized as the appropriate place for that type of discussion. Once my post was deleted, I knew that the purpose behind “Kimmer Chatter” was to determine who had concerns about Heidi and the diet. I also realized at that point that the admins and “Kimmer” had every intention of keeping their members in the dark. That day I put the links to Becky’s, Christin’s, and Deni’s blogs into my signature. I then went on posting in various threads. My posts were never anything but positive and supportive. I certainly was not shouting in a restaurant. I was merely allowing members if they chose to to see what was being said by the former admins.
I had been concerned about the contents of my journal for some time. I did not want some new member to come along and read about the 300, 400 calorie days I had been doing and think they should try that as well. I did not want to contribute to any more people being harmed by “Kimmer’s” starvation diet. So I began to replace many of my old posts with links to the blogs. In truth, it’s highly unlikely anyone would have seen them. But I wanted to give people an opportunity to see the other side. I never directed any members to view my journal or the blogs. My posts were not disruptive in anyway. I did not force anyone to look at the information. The links were there for anyone who was curious.

I have gone against my natural inclination to be a peace maker by even involving myself in this controversy. But I could not countenance the admins at kimkins actively concealing things from the members.

from “A Running Jewel”

QbcPatty

I don’t know if this is where to post but does anyone have a strange fear of eating? Even though more fat is part of the plan (or cheese or nuts, etc.) do you feel like if you indulge you are being “bad?” I can’t get over it and I am worried that what I have is an eating disorder. So many bad ways of thinking have emerged from my short time in KK land. I just can’t imagine a diet that says it doesn’t matter if you drink water. That should have been the big flashing red light.

from lowcarbdiscussion.com “Kimkins Survivors”