Kimkins Overview
With the amount of controversy surrounding this diet, it is a wonder that the website still operates or that anyone would sign up for the plan.
Kimkins was founded by ‘Kimmer’, a formerly obese woman who claimed to have lost 200lbs in a year by following her own low-carb, high-protein diet. She developed a diet plan based on her own experience and built a whole Kimkins empire, including diet program, e-book and Kimkins products. The diet appears to have had an enormous amount of followers who seem to have achieved substantial amounts of weight loss. However, there is a very dark side to this ‘success story’ which has recently been exposed through a number of online dieting sites, forums and even news media.
The controversy concerns the fact that not only is Kimkins extremely low calorie, to the point where some have described it as a starvation diet, but that ‘Kimmer’, whose real name is Heidi Diaz, never actually lost the amount of weight as claimed, and, judging by recently taken photos, is certainly still obese. Added to this is the fact that ‘Kimmer’ has no professional qualifications as a dietician or nutritionist but continues to take money from overweight individuals desperate to lose weight in whatever way possible.
Kimkins – Product Description
Despite the fact that the Kimkins website seems to be full of information, very little is actually disclosed about the diet plan itself. What is known is that the consumer has a choice of either signing up for a one-time lifetime plan, costing $79.95, or opt for the monthly fee of $24.95. Both plans include access to the Kimkins diet plan, recipe database, workout zone, online journals and community forums. The site does offer certain tools for free such as a BMI calculator, carbohydrate and nutrition calculator and weight tracker.
The site is full of consumer testimonials (over 700), with some posted very recently. However, it should be noted that it has come to light that the testimonials may not be genuine and that ‘Kimmer’ even uses pictures taken from other sites and passes them off as Kimkins successes.
The only information regarding the types of food allowed on the program is that it is low-carb, low-glycemic and low-fat, almost like a stricter version of the Atkins diet. A few sample recipes are provided as is a sample menu plan plus a brief outline of the various plans available for Kimkins’ members, including the Boot Camp, the Protein shake option, original and Flex plan. Again though, no further details are provided.
Kimkins Advantage
- The Kimkins website contains some free online tools
- The single payment membership is not overly expensive
- The site provides a recommended reading list and helpful links to dieting blogs and websites
Kimkins – Drawbacks
- Kimkins website provides no information as to the foods allowed on the diet
- The diet is said to be extremely low in calories, one of the plans only providing 500 calories per day
- The site claims that the dieter does not need to exercise to be successful
- The diet claims that users have experienced a 5% drop in body weight within 10 days
- There are numerous complaints filed against the Kimkins company including a class action suit
- Some consumers have experienced health issues resulting from the diet
Kimkins – The Bottom Line
Obviously Kimkins cannot be recommended to anyone wanting to lose weight safely. Whilst the offer of a one time membership fee may seem tempting, it should be noted that one of the major complaints from consumers is that the Kimkins company can, and will, ban the member from the site if they question any part of the diet or its health effects.
Despite what the ‘testimonials’ on the Kimkins site claim, this is one plan to avoid at all costs.
