Why the fascination with Kimmer?

[Sweeteater]

Originally Posted by Tooter

An Anorexic also lies. They have to, to cover up what they are actually doing.


The woman in the red dress? Look at the arms. Thin and plump. And when I say "plump", I'm talking about the type of skin of a younger woman. A 49 year old woman wouldn't have those arms even if she lost the weight a "healthy" way.

Same thing I thought, when first viewing that pic.

[SPECK]

Originally Posted by CarolynF

The WW article came out June 12th..

Well there is no way then that the person on her site saying she lost x amount of weight in five weeks AFTER reading the WW article.

The article hasn't even been out 5 weeks so how could that be true?

[LaurieRobo]

Originally Posted by Cutie

there was a paypal technical glitch at the time and everyone's was automatically returned. i guess you didn't see where jeannie (tippytoes) posted a mailing address to mail a check to?

(laurie! hey there, just realized this was you, lol! *HUGS*)

Nope - she must have missed me... Guess I saved myself $18

Good to have you posting again Amy!

[LaurieRobo]

Originally Posted by Cutie

Becky IS the reason for success at that site, God love her for her patience!

when she came over from lcf, she had such a "vision" for the newbies forum and so many wonderful ideas about getting all of heidi's advice etc. set up in stickies and trying to get everything so organized and more "user friendly."

i asked heidi to let her do it...at first, she wasn't interested, i guess 'cause she didn't know her, then she agreed to let her do it if i kind of "oversaw" it and worked with her on it...but let me tell you...i was just a temporary liasion...becky made it all happen and did a phenomenal job and has worked endlessly to continually improve it all...it didn't take her long at all to show how talented she is! whoever posted earlier something to the effect that kimmer would be lost without becky is SO right! not only because she has the head knowledge of it all so down pat...but because she is very passionate about helping newbies and SO PATIENT with them in a way that few people can handle.

Well said - Now how do we get her back here!!! She is totally AWESOME!

[Tooter]

Originally Posted by Boujie

"Kimmer" DOES advertise "personal coaching" from her...

If that's not false advertising, I don't know what is.

She did, but has since changed it. It now says "Direct contact with Kimmer" or something along those lines.

[Melle's_Sweetheart]

Personal responsibility. I haven't seen that mentioned at all until now. It needed to be said so thank you for being brave enough to speak the truth.

Then you weren't reading MY posts!

Although I do believe that Kimmer could be a fraud, I believe in personal responsibility and I have made several posts to that effect.

I believe that anyone can start a business, it is the buyer's responsibility to educate herself on whether or not the product/service is worth buying. In this case, an e-book was promised and not delivered, so they might have an argument...but as far as being concerned that she is promoting an unhealthy diet---anyone who agreed to the terms of service and saw their doctor before starting the diet would have been advised that it is unhealthy.

Personal Responsibility--this is exactly why I am not a member (and NOT $60.00 poorer, thankyouverymuch)

[Pipper]

Originally Posted by SPECK

Well there is no way then that the person on her site saying she lost x amount of weight in five weeks AFTER reading the WW article.

The article hasn't even been out 5 weeks so how could that be true?

I think the article came out on June 4th.

[Mavis]

Originally Posted by Pipper

I think the article came out on June 4th.

It was the June 12th issue.

[KristenT]

Truth be told, I am NOT a Kimmer fan, but I read a few pages back in this thread about people looking up her personal info, like driver's license info, address, stuff like that, and I just have to say I honestly feel that is a line that should not have been crossed, even if it is public information or what not, it doesn't make it right. We are just average people, not the FBI, and I don't feel that any of us have a right to know that information. If it were you, would you want some schmucks on the internet looking up your driver's license? I highly doubt it. Even if we don't care for her, I don't beleive anyone here has any entitlement to invade her privacy.What's next, going hunting for her medical records?.Flame away if you want, but that really kind of dissappointed me.

[Pipper]

Originally Posted by Mavis

It was the June 12th issue.

On the cover it says June 12th, but actually came out the week before. I will double check to see what day it was.

[MountainGirl]

Hey guys,

I've been reading this thread for days. I read the Slamboard posts and I was around here when Kimmer was posting. I PMd her a couple of times for help cuz the LC diet was not sitting well with me and her stats were so amazing!

Anyhooo. I was thinking about this. I know DateLine has been mentioned several times, but I think it WOULD be a good thing to call them. This is a valid investigation.

We have a national magazine article that could be based on fraudulent information. (It's SO curious why the WW mag would NOT use the "founder and creater" of the diet, the one with so much reported success, and instead use someone else for their cover.)

We have an membership internet site that has garnered over a million dollars in sales and memberships.

We have evidence and accounts of activity that is not consistent with good internet practices or good diet information practices.

Kimkins site needs to be exposed so that more people are spared the SCAM after reading the WW article.

This is right up DateLine's alley!!

Amy, since you are the one who knows the inside stuff, would you consider contacting DateLine? Think about those women reading the article and thinking Kimkins offers real hope and real help and plunking down their $60 for NOTHING! What's worse, if someone does Kimkins without good, solid advice, they could get into physical trouble and end up hurting themselves - or worse.

Someone has to help them.

While I think talking about it here is fine (we need to hash out the facts) the bigger picture is saving more vulnerable, desperate women from joining that site and/or following Kimmer's diet advice.

Please! Help them, but exposing the dangerous scam that might kill someone. Please call DateLine and let them do an investigation.

Thanks for listening.

[Boujie]

Originally Posted by MountainGirl

Please! Help them, but exposing the dangerous scam that might kill someone. Please call DateLine and let them do an investigation.

Go for it!

[Jake]

Originally Posted by AllieCat0817

Yes it is. And yes they can. I just openly admit that I have tended to 'tune it out!'. MY FLAW, no one else's.

Like I said, alot of the crappy tendencies I see with her, I see with me too. All that does is make me look at my own crappy self harder.

Weight issues run DEEP emotionally/mentally.

You're an open and honest person, Allie. I really appreciate that about you.

[HAB]

Originally Posted by Crohnie

I think it is sad that fat people cannot give advice

One of the best quotes of this entire thread.

[AllieCat0817]

Originally Posted by happy cricket

You're an open and honest person, Allie. I really appreciate that about you.

Thanks. None of us is perfect so while I sit here and get mad at Kimmer for telling KiKi 'go ahead and stress eat' (I mean i was PIZZED!).... yet I have had my own warped mental stuff too. I can say that losing a ton of weight with relative ease as I did on Atkins, it is EASY to get on the high horse, think you are the bomb, especially when folk DO PM you and basically 'worship' your success. I have had it, I have had people tell me I need to write a book, go on Oprah. uh NO. Losing weight is good yeah, but it is SO not the end all be all. I will try to help folk who ask, but actually being a 'diet coach' is way too big a responsibility. Look at all the emotional/mental stuff we have attached to our weight.

I have had the same 'ooh Allie tell me how you did it, I wanna be just like you' and it DOES go to your head- easy. And it easily makes you just get TICKED at the people that are 'just too weak to stick with it'. I still have my days where I just get MAD when people go back and forth and don't just do it.

At the same time, I struggle my daggone self as I post in my journal. Maintenance is freakin HARD. The hardest part of all!

I don't want to sit here and dog Kimmer out without admitting that I have issues too!

[CarolynF]

Thanks, Its the Woo..That was so interesting about the "high" ED peeps get from feeling semi-nauseous. It's like having the punishment they think they deserve for being heavy. Anyway, it's not healthy thinking.

I guess people who have alot to lose will use their body fat to stay alive on a semi-starvation diet and not be hungry. It's probably why gastric patients have to be 100 pounds overweight, so they won't literally starve to death..

Yes, my gastric friend with the bad teeth was told because of the stomach acid from throwing up, she was ruining her teeth. She used to have great teeth..

[Violet Skye]

I would hope that before anyone forms an opinion on this thread, go through and read every single post on all 99 pages. Then decide.

At this point, for me, its not even about 'who is Kimmer, why the fascination' anymore. This thread is opening up ALOT for alot of people about how we feel about our own bodies. I admit to having had a snarky attitude toward someone with 'not so great stats' who tries to give advice in a thread. Alot of the tendencies Kimmer has toward 'fat people', I have had too- despite the fact that I myself was heavy most of my life!

Thank you mods for letting this continue - I know it is UNHEARD OF for a thread like this to even be allowed. But it is obviously necessary.

Wordy McWord, Allie! In fact, on my way to work, I was thinking of drafting an essay along the lines of the famous "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter. "Kimmer" represents the duality that I feel inside - on the one hand, she's my Best Self, encouraging me and motivating me with her own success. Since I have been at goal before, I have a mental picture of this "Kimmer" in my head, and although she may be wearing a sexy red dress, she has my facial features in my youth.

There's also the "Bad Kimmer" inside me, unfortunately. She's the Mean Girl who taunted me in high school and made me feel small (yet gigantic) inferior. She keeps telling me that crash diets are okay, that I'm only attractive when I am thin, and so on. She quotes the Who in "My Generation" saying "Why dont you all just f-f-f-ade away?" Reading about "cleansing" and fasting and such made it sound like all the cool kids were doing it. Peer pressure is powerful, and I am not immune. So I did the smart thing and found peers who are on a sensible, livable and health-sustaining WOE.

As for your reluctance to accept weight loss advice from a larger person, I wouldn't solicit financial advice from the panhandler on the street corner, so I hear ya about needing the "package of credibility". Another reason why I was so keen to actually see Kimmer.

Adding my thanks to the mods for letting this go on. As the thread progresses, it is becoming a valuable trigger for insights for me that will help me lose the baggage along with the weight.

[scandalouslyglam]

Originally Posted by Crohnie

I think it is sad that fat people cannot give advice

What do you mean Crohnie?

[CarolynF]

Great points, ladies..

Would you take WL advice from someone with an ED? or is on a plan that she has to fast to stay on? or tells you the fewer calories you eat, the more you will lose, so do it? That is the sad part, I think.

Like my (our) mother used to say, "If Sally jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?"

The real problem is that she is giving bad advice..Now what kind of a person would do that? And, we are finding out what kind of a person she is..unfortunately.

[AllieCat0817]

Originally Posted by AllieCat0817

This thread is opening up ALOT for alot of people about how we feel about our own bodies. I admit to having had a snarky attitude toward someone with 'not so great stats' who tries to give advice in a thread. Alot of the tendencies Kimmer has toward 'fat people', I have had too- despite the fact that I myself was heavy most of my life!

This is what Chronie was referring to

[Yansa]

Originally Posted by Melle's_Sweetheart

anyone who agreed to the terms of service and saw their doctor before starting the diet would have been advised that it is unhealthy.

Just as a side note - Interestingly? No. (Atkins people are going to love this...I apologize in advance. I'm just recounting a personal experience here, and I know I've said unpopular things already. Please don't tar and feather me...)

Before I started Kimmer's diet, I had my yearly physical. I'd already joined the site, but I hadn't begun the WOE yet. Remember - Kimmer never SAYS in any of her rules or guidelines that there's a calorie limit. Ever. There isn't even a HINT of that. She limits carbs, she gives a long list of veggies you can have. You can even have a little bacon occasionally (per the grocery list) as long as it doesn't stall your WL.

Anyway, I took the list of plan options to my doctor along with the physical. When the subject of my weight and high BP came up, we agreed that losing a few pounds would be a good place to start, and I mentioned that I was considering this low carb diet. She balked. "Atkins??? Please don't do Atkins, it's awfully hard on the body".

I showed her Kimmer's plans and she okayed them all: Kimkins, Kimkins' Bootcamp, and "the shake option" (wherein you consume protein shakes twice a day and have a healthy Kimkins dinner. The only one she absolutely ruled out was Kimmer's experiment where you only ate protein. She said that was crazy and to not even attempt it. She said she'd prefer to see some fruit on the list, but that generally, this lower fat version was one of the healthiest of the low carb diets she'd seen yet and it was fine to use to take some weight off initially. She said that the constant metabolism of excessive levels of fat can be mildly unhealthy at best, and fatal at worst, and that "fat feasting" that goes on on Atkins is the real concern. That people think it's the excessive protein, but that the truth is people have to work very hard to consistently eat the level of protein that can lead to illness. She said fat was the problem - whatever diet you choose - and that this one seemed to limit excessive fat AND sugar and with my family medical history neither endeavor was a bad idea for me. She was quite supportive of the idea of eliminating sugar and processed foods, and told me that this sort of option was FAR healthier than traditional low carb diets. Many of the site members shared similar experiences.

The diet, as written, is not really problematic. It's hard, but it's not unhealthy, I don't think (????). It's the herd mentality at the site, and the unspoken pressure to take it further that does the real damage.

Checking with my doctor and having her cosign it all was the kiss of death for me. Because she okayed everything, it took a LONG time for me to register that the way I felt and the way I was eating was extreme. I was right at the precipice before I backed away from the edge. That's the scary part, to me.

[scandalouslyglam]

Originally Posted by CarolynF

Great points, ladies..

Would you take WL advice from someone with an ED? or is on a plan that she has to fast to stay on? or tells you the fewer calories you eat, the more you will lose, so do it? That is the sad part, I think.

Like my (our) mother used to say, "If Sally jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?"

The real problem is that she is giving bad advice..Now what kind of a person would do that? And, we are finding out what kind of a person she is..unfortunately.

Hey Carolyn, I gotta tell you I JUMPED OFF THAT BRIDGE, and Lost my bathing suit top, almost drowned and NEVER DID IT AGAIN! (true story)

BUT, if ANYONE HAD tried to stop me, told me I'd end up 1/2 naked being rescued by my crush...I woulda turned a deaf ear. LIVE AND LEARN.

Now, the difference here is the fact that a WEBSITE is OFFERING a DIETPLAN. Someone has put their name on an item for sale. LIVE AND LEARN...but then get your refund. If none is given contact the BBB or a local watchdog Tv anchor.

[MountainGirl]

Originally Posted by Boujie

Go for it!

Hi!

I can't contact them, as I do not have the first-hand info. I think Amy could. I really think it's important to do an expose' on this scam. And Dateline LOVES to do that!

[cleochatra]

Good Ness, Yansa!

You know, my doctor said the same thing about Atkins at first. When he saw me 6 months later, 100 pounds down, and I told him that Atkins was 5-7 veg servings per day, etc, and he picked his jaw up off of the floor, he proceeded to listen for the first time.

Doctors are fed the same loads of pap nutritionists are, and they have to be educated, too. Luckily, there are a few doctors who get it now.