New Blog Updated: Day 9 of Son of DDDY Challenge: Milestone crossed, history in "numbers", blogging as a weight loss aid, water as "Gastric Band" for surgery-wussies, WonderSlim Discount, and Realizing I'm gonna have to learn to make soups....

Please visit me at my new blog and update links/follows as needed. THANKS.

Day 9 of Son of DDDY Challenge: Milestone crossed, history in "numbers", blogging as a weight loss aid, water as "Gastric Band" for surgery-wussies, WonderSlim Discount, and Realizing I'm gonna have to learn to make soups....

Summer Slimmin' Check-in Week 7: Damage Repaired, Momentum Back

Whew. Adding extra protein mini-meals worked. the 4 pounds I had regained during the "Carb-Wild Week of Family Festivities and Pizza Pig-Out" are bye-bye:

259.6

I wasted SS Challenge time when I lost my way, but I find my appetite is calmer adding those protein snacks (the pudding shake, oatmeal especially, since they're easy to make and eat, so no hassle for me).

I have not been eating at lower calorie levels I'd wanted. I'm eating at about 2000 calories average. My goal this week is to keep it under 1900 and to keep up the nutrition tracking and water (which I had totally slacked off on).

So, this has been the challenge progress (and backsliding):

Starting Weight: 267.6
End of week 1= 265.6
End of week 2= 263.2
End of week 3=264.8
End of week 4= 262.6
End of week 5: 259.6
End of week 6: 263.8
End of week 7: 259.6


So, basically I lost two weeks, cause I'm back to where I was at the end of week 5.  There's only  TWELVE DAYS left in the challenge, I don't see making my goal of 250. But I'm still hanging in and seeing that number as my objective. :)

I did get some help with my water intake in the last couple days when I went and got some cucumbers (Kirby's), fresh mint, and limes, and I added all that to a container and chilled in the fridge for a few hours. It was amazing. If you like Persian mast o' khiar salads (the minty cucumber yogurt salad you get as an appetizer at Persian restaurants), and I'm wild about the stuff, this tastes like it (sans yogurt). Love it. So refreshing this crazy hot summer.

Anyway, more reviews on the WonderSlim (alternate Medifast sorta) I tried along with my regular foods:

Oatmeal: Ya know, there were sooo many reviews about how much better this was than MediFast oatmeal, so like real oatmeal, five-star reviews, that I'm thinking that MediFast oatmeal must be incredibly awful, cause this was passable. Now, if I had been eating the world's ickiest oatmeal and had this, I'd give it 5 stars, too, I guess. I had the apple n cinnamon. It did have a nice apple and cinnamon taste and the rolled oats were REAL and so the texture was nice (if not overcooked, like my first batch. Use less time than the directions and increase as needed). But like so many of the higher protein, lower calorie diet stuff I've tried over the years, there is this aftertaste, this bitterish undertone. So, side by side with REAL oatmeal, it would get no more than 2 out of five stars (and that for the nutrients/low calorie/appleyness). If you compare it to some other diet protein/soy oatmeals I've tried, yes it fares better. I will say it fixes fast, is easy to eat once you get used to the aftertaste, and is filling for its portion. I like it as a side to eggs to quell my voracious appetite in the am, and as a snack between meals. Worth trying, especially if you are an oatmeal lover who has tried other diet/protein oatmeals and found them wanting.

Cheesesteak Macaroni entree: I cooked this stovetop since other reviewers recommended that. I watched it the whole time to avoid overcooking. It was all right. The final serving is about a cup. The "meat" has a slightly odd texture, but not totally offputting (chewy). The pasta was okay. The cheesiness was adequate. It's not something that made me gag and it's not an entree that made me go "Oh, that as fun." It's merely adequate. Although the cheese-addict in me was satisfied by having the cheesy flavor.

I am not sure at this point if I'd reorder this entree. I'd have to wait and see how it grows--or doesn't--on me and how the other entrees strike me. BUT...it does have a nice filling quality given the quantity. I had it with a side of sauteed spinach, a boiled egg, a small wedge of cheese, and had a creamy pudding for dessert. I was full and got plenty of protein. By itself, I would not be satisfied, but I do think adding veggies as sides--or a salad--or adding some extra low-carb pasta would help oodles. If you LOVE cheesesteak, then definitely try it. There aren't that many entree options, and this seems to be one of the more highly regarded WonderSlim ones. I'd recommend it to those who know it's special high-protein diet food and are willing to base their taste expectations on that basis.

Creamy Pudding/Shake: I almost didnt' try this as a pudding, cause the reviews at the WonderSlim site tend to skew towards this as a shake. But I think the problem is that this is NOT puddingy. This is like a mousse consistency--airier and less creamy than pudding. I like it. I took one star off cause it does have a bit of an aftetaste, but I expect this from high protein diet foods, so no biggie, really. Four to 4.5 stars (based on experiences with other lowcarb dieter foods).

Here's what I did: I prepared it with refrigerator-chilled water (really cold), a bit less than 4 ounces,  and let it sit while i ate my soup. Afte 10 minutes or so, this has set quite nicely. I added a tablespoon of Bob's Red  Mill Shredded organic coconut (smells good, low carb, about 30 calories, 3 grams of fat, 1.3 carbs per tbsp) and about 6 ChocoPerfection dark chocolate baking chips (sugarfree, lowcarb). Almost negligible calorie-wise, really. Just for appearance and to give a shot of chocolate. I found it to be a really nice high-protein QUICK dessert after soup (or even salad or a veggie joe bowl with veggies). I definitely will reorder this. I got the chocolate cream, which I will get again. And I want to try it with some fresh berries, too.

Really, don't be put off of it as a pudding. So quick, no blender to clean, slower to eat, which is always good for dieters. And you can pump it up with low-carb or fruity goodness. Mixes easily with a spoon. Nice "moussey" texture (and I like mousse). A tad gritty, but not horribly so. Just differently so. If they could find a way to rid it of the aftertaste, this would be pretty perfect diet fare.

I've also been enjoying the utterly wonderful bounty of avocados and donut peaches (my fave, fave among peaches) out there. Been eating berries and LOTS of spinach. The arugula has been a bit sad, which makes ME sad, in turn. Love that best of all salad greens. Watermelon has been faboo, too.

I'm still only exercising 2x a week, and part of that is that I'm just having my endocrine issues, and there's not much I can do about that.  I just gotta hold on until my status can be worked out with medication tweaking.

So, that's my check-in. Glad to have "backtracked" to the 250's, glad to be back on the momentum wagon, though, as usual, I suck at challenges, since giving it my all just seems to never work out with these things. I'm such a slacker. ; )

Anyway, I wish you all a happy week with losses! Of the fatty kind. And all sorts of beneficial health and joy and love gains!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Until My Meds Get Checked/Tweaked, "Skaking" things up here & Do You Do MediFast Alternatives, like WonderSlim?

htt

Wow. I've been absent again. I missed the SUMMER SLIMMIN' check-in. I've been carbing it up at family gatherings (one day chicken and rice with sugar-topped plantains, the other a lo mein and steamed dumplings feast, and a pizza backslide last night).

I have been feeling off. My face feels a bit "masky", and since we changed my regimen a month ago, I think my previous thyroid med status has now sequed to the new one (lower dosage) and it's NOT helping. I have felt like sleeping more, and I've craved carbs (and been indulging, though until yesterday, not bingeing), and my attention is hard to focus. The scale is up. Yeah, something's off. I have an appot to see doc in August, so I gotta do something until then to not lose all traction.

I will say that despite feeling groggier and carb-happy, I only big-time overate twice in the last week plus. And even though I wanted to binge last night, it was a minor binge (and weighted in less than day before). I did NOT eat enough to gain 4 pounds, and the scale showed me up to 263.8. I know the carbs and sodium mix is mostly to blame.

Yesterday, it was pizza. Damn the Dominos 2x Tuesday. I had not been shopping (due to feeling lethargic) and so there was NOTHING in the house to give hubby. So, I fell into the order-crap hole and got the 2 pizzas for one price. I ate 3.5 slices and a salad and stopped. I wanted more. I wanted the whole fricken pizza. But I took the slices, bagged them, froze them. I wasn't gonna throw them out, as hubby can take them for lunch (as he did today, two slices).

I haven't had an all-out, stuff until I hurt binge in a while. In fact, even when I wanted to eat MORE at the family functions, I didn't. I avoided cakes and sugary snacks for the most part. I didn't have more than one mojito (and that has sugar), and ended up having half of it. I took my own beveraged. I ate something before showing up.

Even the late night eating (the other night I overate), I ordered HALF of what I would when I binged.

I like to think the sense of calmness on most days is progress. Even with the regain.

So, I'm not stressing overly.

I am taking a different tack until I can see the doc (it's too coincidental that I feel off when we're trying a new combo, which I researched after and found was LESS strong than the original one, though should be better absorbed.)

I have watched with good cheer and interest, Lyn of Escape From Obesity's progress on MediFast. (She has a coupon code for those wanting to use the plan. See her blog  post on the MediFast winners.)

I can't do that--first, saw too many reviews of the horrible taste of the stuff and, second, too much soy. I am not euthyroid, and I don't want to take in THAT much soy every day and then have to worry about rejiggering my medication all the time. Nothing worse than unstable thyroid levels when you're hypothyroid. Sucks bigtime. And makes losing weight virtually impossible for me when I"m out of my limited "happy range."

And I wondered about all the folks who have seen our Lyn do so well and want to try something like Medifast, but without soy or with LESS soy. Who worry about soy or are just sensitive or allergic to it. What are their/my options?

So, I did googling. hahah.

Then, I ordered stuff from Diet Direct. Stuff related to WONDERSLIM (though I'm not doing the plan.) I heard about Wonderslim from two sources within one week: 3FatChicks.com's forum and Impatient Dieter. And I saw that soy sensitive folks have used it as an alternative to MediFast (though MediFast seems to work better, it tastes worse and is more expenseive). Trade-offs for people to research.

I am not doing "the program". I simply feel too draggy and demotivated by that dragginess to want to shop/cook/plan, etc. I want simple stuff here that is high-protein, low-to-medium carb, easy to fix, so I don't have to think about food some days (or several days in a row). So, that's my rationale--just holding on and maybe make some progress until we fix me up medication-wise.

BUT..you can use the Diet Direct WONDERSLIM stuff for your "cheaper and tastier alternative to Medifast" regimen if you choose. Others have done it (check 3FatChicks forum to see). You can read up on both plans and see how to work it. In truth, if you have the patience and bucks, you can order stuff from both and see which flavors you can handle before you choose a plan.

For those following Impatient Dieter--who used a regimen of 7 Wonderslim shakes of 100 calories each and two lean/green meals a day of 250 calories each with full fat dressing to lose an astounding amount of weight FAST--and who were curious to try that regimen, I'll happily post reviews of the drinks and meal equivalents for you.

WonderSlim has some soy items, so you do need to read ingredients and decide how much you think you can handle. The shakes and drinks are not soy-based. They are whey-based. You can read nutritional info on their products here: WONDERSLIM

From what I understand, MediFast has more fiber and probably a higher nutritional profile than WonderSlim. It has fewer carbs in its entress. (WonderSlim offers some pasta dish options). WonderSlim's oatmeal is supposed to taste LIKE OATMEAL, unlike the MF weird one. The shakes are supposed to be tastier and without aftertaste like MF. BUT..the WS stuff uses in many cases aspartame. So, some folks don't do that.

So, I do recommend you compare ingredients and carbs, etc, and also if you do WS, to get a fiber supplement. Not a biggie, really. Everyone should review ingredients in what they eat, anyway.

QUICKIE REVIEW: I had the protein WS Hot Cakes for breakfast with two eggs with cheddar and some Almond Breeze. (All stuff I still had at home and easy to prepare). (I'll revise this post with a pic when I upload and rescale. I'm feeling draggy, remember?)

Lots of protein!

The hot cakes would not be confused with regular pancakes, but I found them pleasant--nicely vanilla-ey and with some sugar-free syrup and cinnamon sprinkled on top, satisfying. (One packet makes 3 very small hot cakes. Cute, too.) Don't overcook. Easy to prepare.  Add 1/4 cup water to one packet, stir, let stand for 1 minute (it thickens and becomes frothy), scoop onto pan that's been preheated low-medium heat. I spritzed Pam for the "greasing". I added a tiny dollop of Smart Balance over each pancake (like a pea sized drop) for some healthy fat.

SparkPeople's Nutrition Tracker lists my breakfast as 491 cals,  27g carbs, 35g protein.

It's now 4 hours since I ate--yeah, yeah, I'm not eating every 2 hours, that's up to you if you do the whole plan, which I'm NOT doing--and I"m not remotely hungry, but plan to eat anyway to keep me from GETTING to the point of hunger.

This is not CLEAN EATING. You see that, right? :) It's not "wholesome" eating.

MediFast and WonderSlim are what I call Frankenfood Diets (although others define it differently)--foods that are not what nature makes or near-natural. Processed, reconfigured, "isolated" this, added vitamins, removed THAT, preservatives, all sorts of stuff in there that's hard to pronounce. If you prefer to stay close to nature--as I generally do, but man, I'm zapped right now and justt balk at the idea of toting bags full of produce and proteins home and chopping and cooking... aaaaaarrrgggghhh-- this is not for you.

If you can get tired of flavors easily, this is not for you. Shakes and drinks have limited flavors , there's lots of chocolate , sure. Most of the entrees seem to be similar in spice structure. But your lean meal can be whatever you want that fits the parameters, so make that one happy for your mouth. Lyn has great recipes. See her site for that. Make the most of your REAL FOOD. (I have some frozen asparagus, some fresh Spinach and zucchini, but no meat or poultry at home right now. Dang.)

I plan to add stuff I have in my pantry to use them up, like my nice FiberGourmet high-fiber, lower-carb version of pasta. I like the fiber in that and the texture. I have many soups that I can easily heat up (most are veggie-based). I have frozen Diet-To-Go suppers that can fill in a pinch (though not low-carb, they're vegetarian and lowfat).

I didn't want to ditch the challenge, though exercising is really hard--and I have been tempted to cancel Pilates, but dammit, I refuse to give in THAT much!

If anyone has tried a MediFast alternative (for folks who can't afford/don't like taste of/can't do all soy), please post a link to any post you've done so others can see the resources you have. I don't mean SPAM or PR. I mean YOU use it and it works well for you.

If you've used WonderSlim, do you blog about it? Please comment and link.

If you've done Medifast and found a way to construct your own using more accessible ingredients from your supermarket/health food store--post and link.

So, right now, I was up 4 lbs from last weigh-in, then today down a bit, but still up 3 lbs. Let's see what next weigh-in brings.

On the plus side my natural hair journey has yielded nice results. Here is hair on Saturday on way to one of those carby family gatherings:

Happy week to you all.

WONDERSLIM / DIET DIRECT NOTE: If you spend more than $79, shipping is free. Spend 99 bucks, get 10% automatically off. I got my stuff  IN FIVE DAYS via FedEx, and would have gotten it sooner, but I ordered on a Saturday night.

Legal Note: I did not get any free products (other than usual few samples added to orders). I bought these products on my own dime and my review is my own. I am NOT at this time an affiliate. I am considering becoming one, and it depends on if I enjoy the products.

ETA: Okay, as of Thursday afternoon, I am an affiliate. Just  updating.
GHHCDSV15446258

ETA: Okay, so I just changed my mind and emailed them to remove me as an affiliate. I feel dumb. hah.

Fat to Fit Blog Hop Thursday: Journaling In Better Nutrition...can get tricky!

As my regular readers know, I got back to Sparking, which include using the SparkPeople Nutrition Tracker (a lovely online tool for food journaling). I have found it really useful, not just to track food, but to track holes in my nutrition, since it tells you as you enter your meals how you are stacking up not just in carbs/proteins/fats, but in assorted nutrients (and you can customize).

As a middle-aged, post-menopausal woman, I wanna know that I'm getting  enough calcium and vitamin D. And I wouldn't have realized I'm chronically deficient in zinc, folate, B-12, and potassium had I not sparked. (I can't eat shellfish/seafood, and I won't eat organ meats, and I limit my nuts/seeds for caloric reasons,  so I tend to have issues with areas where those are the major suppliers of particular nutrients.)

Thanks to Sparking that journal, I have been able to target my supplement intake to what I need, not just shove some in my mouth "just in case." I love doing the report after supper and seeing where I need to boost nutrients--and am most happy when I meet goals in most categories. But knowing where the holes are lets me know if I need a B-complex or just a B-12 dot, if I need to have more romaine or spinach, if I should add a beef dish, if I need to pop a Citrical-D max.  I do find that I have to take zinc. Period. I have almost never ever made my zinc nutrient RDA, so, yeah, I take liquid ionic zinc. It tastes truly hideous, but I do it, cause I suspect at the bottom of my chronic skin and thinning hair issues may be this chronic zinc deficiency.

Because I was low on potassium yesterday (I usually am, and most Americans usually are), I had some banana with dinner and coconut water with lunch on Wednesday. This morning, I added a banana-skim-milk-raw-cocoa-powder smoothie to breakfast to get magnesium/calcium/D/potassium (all nutrients that a lot of people fall short of, including me if I'm not careful with meal planning).

So, what is the tricky part in the subject header?

Well, no nutrition tracker that I've ever used is comprehensive for all users. If you buy stuff ready-made, you better have the ability to deconstruct that chicken salad or beef stew or whatever it is you bought to get the components (unless someone posts a generic you just go with).

Today, breakfast is a delivery meal from Diet-To-Go that I'm using to get me through the first few weeks of the Summer Slimmin' Challenge. (See badge on top of my sidebar for info).  While the Diet-To-Go site has some nutritional info, it doesn't give it for the major nutrients (just the "top label" ones, fat, sodium, carbs, protein, calories). It doesn't give me the nutrients in my Eggs Florentine with soy sausage and asparagus, which, given there's spinach, milk, and eggs in there, should be nice. I know it's high protein (44 grams) and low-carb (6, and hence me having the banana, heh, cause I didn't have toast), but not how much of vitamins, minerals, etc.

That diminishes the usefulness of my journaling (in terms of health), although I still will know the calories and major categories that most dieters care about.

Still, I want to know that I had enough folate or B-12 or magnesium. It matters to me.

So, the convenience of diet delivery meals makes for inconvenient food tracking. Hey, Diet-to-Go! Make it easy for Sparkers who use your food. Give us the lowdown. BETTER YET: Contact SparkPeople, you Diet-To-Go administrators,  and give them your meal titles/info and side dishes and the comprehensive nutrient breakdown, so that these can be added to the food database there. Who knows? You might get a lot more subscribers through that huge online community (of millions of fatfighters!)

Anyway, visit other blogging fatfighters/health-seekers in the Fat to Fit Blog Hop:

Go ye and hydrate, move, laugh, and lose!

Happy fatfighting this Thursday!

My Calorie Guesstimating Is Still Primo...Now, If I could Just Get My Dinnertime Appetite in Line

I started logging my food on SparkPeople today. (My user name there is PrincessDieter, for anyone who is in that community.)

It's a bit of a slow-going pain, but I wanted to see how the calories/fat/protein/carbs added up.

I had written what I ate quickly in my diet journal at home, with a pen,the old-fashioned way, and I had guesstimated that breakfast had been roughly 550 calories.

When I entered the food into the nutrition log at SparkPeople, it told me the calorie count was 535. Good huh?

I remember the very first time I went to a dietitian. Not as a chubbyish kid or zaftigish teen (I was normal on the weight charts, but you could tell by looking at my belly and butt and thighs that I was on the higher side). I went as an overweight 29 year old carrying close to 190 pounds. The dietitian quizzed me on calories in meals, and I nailed every single meal she projected on a screen. The surprised look on her face made me think that didn't happen often, if ever. But hey, I liked to read diet books even then, even if they weren't really sticking.

So, I lost about 20 pounds that time. Regained plus. The usual story.

All that to say that the head knowledge of weight loss isn't correlative to the reality of weight loss, but it's still good to be aware. I can't fool myself when I scarf down pizza or cheese enchilada take-away that I'm eating A reasonable number of calories, cause I know dang well it's more like Z. I've seen caloric underestimation in action (just about everyone I know other than my middle sister underestimates how many calories they have at a meal.)

So, I had a pretty decent, high-fiber, highish protein, veggie/fruit enriched breakfast. I already planned what lunch and my snack will be. The crux always tends to be dinner. That's when my appetite goes nuts. It went a bit nuts last night, when I gave in to seconds/dessert temptation and felt pretty stupid, too.

But, fine. It's another day. I started off well, the middle seems manageable, and if I strategize (drink plenty of fluid, have my whey snack a couple hours prior to dinner, have a fiber supplement, too, to start filling me up) then dinner won't defeat me.

Tomorrow, I plan to return to Pilates after a 4 week absence due to this really hideous, lingering flu. I still have some cough (not much), some plegm (not much), some fatigue (middling). The idea of exercising is daunting, cause I am nowhere near my best energy levels. But I plan to eat lots of fruits and veggies today and get a lots of potassium and rest as much as I can before my session tomorrow. I want to recapture the muscle I lost being ill.

I hope I can continue the logging of food at SparkPeople. I tried this before at WW online and really kind of fizzle away. I always have done better at the pen/paper journal of foods (faster). But I want to see the nutrient breakdown, even if it's just for a few weeks to see where I'm lacking/excessive/etc.

I hope today is a great day for all the fatfighters out there. Write down your calories/points. Eat lots of produce. Drink water. Move some. Do that, you and I, and we're halfway to a good food/fitness Tuesday.

Later,

Anti-Kimkins Round-Up: The Fight Against Kimkins Goes On and On

In the ongoing quest to spare the unsuspecting and maybe some of the deceived, more blog entries that should keep people far, far away from the scammer Kimmer and her freakasoid diet Kimkins:


The Journey: Good Morning America - The TRUTH addressed
REGANDY.... the weigh down!: KIMKINS HURT MY METABOLISM
Medusa: WARNING!!! IF YOU'RE DIABETIC & DOING THE KIMKINS DIET, DON'T GO OFF YOUR MEDS !!!
Kimkins–Targeting Teens Diary of a Mad Housewife
Kimorexia: Anorexia Is Not Just a Teenage Battle
mariasol: Kimkins Eating Disorders
Why battle Kimkins 2big4mysize’s Weblog
Kimkins Diet Review: Losing weight the right way......
MrsM Kimkins Survivors
Which Road (or ship) Will YOU Take? MJR’s-Duck Squad
Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Pickles: Happy Deposition Day, Heidi!
Kimkins celebrity endorsement!!!!! a fake blog about a real scam

Thanks to Laura of LCF for those linkies.

Friends don't let friends support scam artists or do Kimkins.

Kimkins Still Sucks

For those who haven't been keeping up (er, like me), there are new developments in the Kimkins scam and Heidi Diaz adventures (AKA the lying liar who lies). You can start your catching up over at Kimkins Scam And Medusa's blog.

And it seems I missed Tippy Toes's banning and "turnaround." (Okay, so I reserve a tad bit of skepticism, while nurturing hope.)

She's learned that chronic liars and scammers don't stop lying and scamming. And we've learned what we suspected all along: Heidi was raking in big bucks while doling out pittances to the people really doing the work to keep the site going. The emphases are MINE:

But recently Kimmer had a deposition with Teidt. I saw parts of it. Kimmer told me she was in danger of losing her car. She had financed it to build credit and can no longer make the payments. She couldn't buy milk on her ATM card... And so I then learn from her own deposition that she had 1.6 million in cash, spent almost half a million on a house just prior to deposition, and that she bought two cars with CASH. It was then I realized Kimmer was not really coming clean as I had hoped she would. Things really were not changing after all. And her photos on the front page... I had recruited Brian and Heather to be out there with her losing weight. I began to notice that Heather was losing a lot of weight pretty quickly and Kimmer claimed about the same loss. But suddenly Kimmer looked 100lbs less than Heather and I knew something wasn't right. It was really the final straw for me. I have asked Kimmer numerous times what Kimkins plan she was following and never received a reply. This, combined with the rest was too much for me and I decided to take a break and reflect on the situation.

--from Medusa's "TippyToes Spills the Beans! Sort of..."


So, she went on a spending spree right before her deposition. I'm guessing in California a house cannot be taken in bankruptcy? Hmmm? Yeah, she's sheltering her money before anyone can get some. She made people work for her with pay cuts then for zero money, claiming she had no moolah, while enriching herself with a house and two cars. Can we say evil, rotten bitch?

May karma bite her a big one on her ginormous butt. Soon.

BINGO! Red Dress Pic Found and It's Another Russian Bride for Kimkins

It was exciting over at the LCF forum in the late night and wee hours. BuzzyBee found the red dress pic, and, yes, like the other pics of success stories (fake) and the leopard shirt pic for Kimmer (fake), the red dress woman is a foreign bride candidate by the name of Lesya. Here she is:




Click the photo to go to the actual site where the photo was found.

Soon after the picture was discovered, a couple of intreped LCF forum folks carpet-bombed the Kimkins site with posts linking to the pics and linking to exposes. Since the Kimkins administrators took a while to notice and ban the enthusiastic "outers", some people got to see the evidence. We hope they leave Kimkins soon.

What made the use of this photo particularly heinous (aside from stealing another woman's image for her own), was that Heidi/Kimmer had even concocted a story about the photo shoot, and how she was so shy she needed wine to get through it. The screen shot of one of her posts about this red dress pic:




The text on the post dated May 30, 2007 says:

People kept bugging me for a new pic--what else is new? My teen son took the old photo on our patio. With the new website, our PR Director, Nicole, said a new picture was needed. So, here it is. But it's the last...so commit to memory!

Notice the filter lens, strategic stretching, twisting and turning. Hides a lot, LOL. So do bribes to the photographer.

The reference to the patio pic is to one that hasn't been located. It looks nothing like Heidi/Kimmer's before pic, and looks a lot like a catalog shot for women's clothing. Some are searching on, I bet. Whether it's found or not, it is certainly another fake after pic. It doesn't take a brainiac to make that assumption.

I can relax now. I was so eager for that pic to be found and Kimkins' main image to be shown to be false. It has been.

How you like them RED apples, Heidi/Kimmer?

Note: Feel free to visit the LCF blog where HoneyBee2 (who I dubbed Baroness BusyBee) has put information on all the fakes found.

And I'd like to share the cute badge that GinaC on the LCF forum made for me. (Lots of different ones based on whether they were Russian Brides Division, Undercover, Special Ops, Fraud Squad, etc.) I decided that, being a princess and all, I should be the Royal Liaison. :) We are "hater detectives" cause that's what one of the Kimkinettes called us--you know, saying we're "haters" and "detectives" trying to uncover dirt. So, we used their pejorative and made fun with it. Behold:



More Good News: hubby is home, and I have been on plan. I also got 12 hours sleep yesterday. I needed it. So, for now... It's all good!

Happy Weekend, fellow fatfighters. Talk to y'all soon.
~

Edited to add: One Anti-Kimkins Blogger (the wackiest by far) has been delighted with the discovery of the "Russian Brides". Read the latest from Borat Does Kimkins. And be sure to take a very, very close look at the women in his group shot. :)

KTLA Does Part 2 of Kimkins Expose & LCF Regulars Find More Kimkins Fraud

Make sure to catch part two of the KTLA expose on the Kimkins diet and Kimmer aka Heidi Diaz. It's up online.

And visit the major anti-Kimkins sites (see my sidebar, far down left) to get the latest, which includes the discovery by several LCF Forum regulars of the pics that Kimmer/Heidi used as after pictures, including the one that was "Kim" in the WW article last June. (It's at HotRussianBrides.Com and she's number 169503.)

Also, at least SEVEN (so far, as of this post) of the "success stories" after pics have turned out to be photos of women/models on Russian bride sites.

Yes, Kimmer/Heidi trolled foreign bride/dating service sites in order to get pictures of attractive women for her after pictures.

I'm guessing she did this because those sites have search databases that let you choose age, weight, height, hair and eye color, etc. That means if she needed, say, a 130 pound brunette with brown eyes and long hair, it would be easy to search for one.

Evil people are crafty, ain't they?

The hunt for the Red Dress Pic continues. We know it wasn't Kimmer's image. And, you know, something about that pic always bugged me. I never could put my finger on it. The answer may lie in the eyeballs. One of the LCF ladies blew it up and the eyes are triangular. Either they were photoshopped to make them look this way for some odd reason, or the original eyes were replaced with a particular set of brown eyes to seem more "Kimmerish." We don't know. But something is definitely odd about those triangular irises when seen in extreme close-up. See below to compare unfreaky eyes on the left and the triangular irises on the "not Kimmer after" pic right:



Maybe it's just a trick of the pixellation, but hey. You decide.

I suspect many people will be using their spare time to hunt down which Russian bride/model was the one Kimmer chose to be her online representation. (Oh, and there is artwork on a t-shirt at one Russian Brides site that is clearly the inspiration for the Kimkins site logo. Heidi Diaz hasn't got an original bone in her body, it seems. She just pilfers the ideas of others.) If you go hunting and find the red dress pic, go to LCF and let them know. The evidence is being compiled.

Another success story that is highly suspect is brought to light at Kimkins Circus. See the before and after, and, if you have any information on the veracity or falsehood, please notify an appropriate anti-Kimkins warrior:



And yes, tis a jest. But hey, it's not that far from what Kimmer herself did. Honest.

As expected from a con artist, Kimmer continues to do the denial thing, insisting she's not Heidi Diaz, even though all doubt has been removed about that matter. And her admins are standing by her side, which means she must be offering them some juicy bonuses. Some Kimkinettes continue to support their scamster leader, which just makes them look like utter nincompoops in my eyes. Sorry, but dang!

~~

The Jig is Up for Kimmer: Heidi Diaz On KTLA-TV News

The Princess would like to heartily thank the producers and Chip Yost of KTLA for their 10/2 exclusive story on the diet fraud named Heidi Diaz, alias The Kimmer of Kimkins. They seem to be the very first to break this from a legitimate news venue.

Many bloggers and blog sites have been waiting for journalists to come in and expose this scammer. Well, it's starting.

Go to this site. See the video part up top? Click on the NEWS category. Skim the sidebar until you get to the Kimkins story, or as it is labeled "Internet Diet Scam Exposed." It's 3 1/2 minutes long. That's a really good length for a television report. There is surveillance footage--including stuff not seen at Slamboard. And Chip Yost will be doing another segment on Kimkins and its dangers tomorrow night.

If you notice the small bit of voice you hear, it matches the voice on Jimmy Moore's interview of Kimmer. Kimmer=Heidi, folks. As we've known all along. And Heidi/Kimmer is nearly as big as I am. So much for her 198 lbs loss.

ALL RIGHT! A good blow against the forces of Kimkins darkness

:::sending greateful, platonic smoochies on the cheek to Chip Yost::::

I hope a national news agency picks this up and puts it right there on prime-time, to keep other unsuspecting and desperate overweight folks from falling into the trap of Kimkins while the site exists.

Hey, now we know why Kimmer has been laying low and why the red dress pic disappeared. Heidi knew she was a news story subject when that reporter stuck his microphone in her face.

Anyone who knows cars, is that a BMW she's driving? Or what?

Enjoy. The Kimkins Fight Front is prevailing!

Edited to Add: Here's a direct link to the news story on 10/2

~

Kimkins: The Princess Asks Woman's World to Step Up and Do The Right Thing

If you were lured to the Kimkins site via the Woman's World June 12, 2007 issue that carried Christin on the cover with the title "Better than Gastric Bypass," please write Woman's World at DearWW@AOL.com and ask they not be fooled by Kimmer/Heidi's smooth email responses and, rather, get some writer on the story and do a cover issue on dangerous diets to stay away from (ie, Kimkins).

I think a story on the "Kimkins Survivors" who have had side effects or were banned and threatened would be one heck of a draw. I'd buy it!

And I'd respect them for setting a wrong right, especially after they sent a stern letter to Martin of Slamboard to stop using the WW June issue graphic. Well, Kimkins dot com still uses that graphic at their site to lure in customers. How come WW is okay with that? Not okay for a whistleblower to use it, but okay for a fibbing diet tyrant to use it?

We need to send them a message that says, basically, "Step up Woman's World. Step up. Ethical journalism demands you print a follow-up with the SAME MODEL (ie Christin) and her story of medical woes and recrimination and regrets. And her insider knowledge of the iffy goings on. Include Jeanessa and her initiation of a class action lawsuit. Include the bannings. The tirades. The advice to use laxatives. The advice that said it was okay not to eat as long as one had excess fat on one's body(which encouraged the eating disordered to STARVE)."

I did not proof my email to WW (shame on me) or phrase as tactfully as I should have in places. You go and do better than I did, okay, when you write. Proofread and be diplomatic but firm.

Here are parts of what I sent:

Back in June, your glowing article on the Kimkins Diet led thousands to join up at $60 a pop. Now, more and more information has come out that the plan is 1. dangerous to those who follow it as detailed and 2. based on a fraudulent claim by "Kimmer" (Heidi Diaz/Kim Drake) that she lost 198 pounds in 11 months and has maintained that weight loss for several years, including at the time of your article.

I'm a regular reader of WW. I saw that cover article. I cut out that article. I almost signed on to the Kimkins site and plan. I'm glad I did not.

Now, sites all over the net--including my blog--have been posting information as the storm gathers. Former Kimkins members and administrators INCLUDING THE COVER MODEL FOR YOUR ISSUE and another "success story" within the article have repudiated the diet, laid out evidence that shows Heidi Diaz/"Kimmer" is a fraud, and have confessed their side effects from the diet (some of which was suppressed for the WW article).

snip~

Becky and Christin and Deny all have blogged in detail about the issue. It's time Woman's World did their part, for all of those who read that story and trusted that you'd checked this diet out properly.

Please. Don't drop this ball. ~snip~ A story about the "survivors" and the fraud would get those thousands of Kimkinites buying the magazine, and the anti-Kimkins brigade buying the magazine, and it would get the world out as a public service. Please.

For more information, these sites:

Christin's blog (your cover model for the Kimkins story): http://the-journey-on.blogspot.com/
Becky's blog (especially see The Perfect Storm entries) http://winningweight.blogspot.com/
Deni's blog (one of your success stories in that article) http://openbench.blogspot.com/
Kimkins Survivors (various ex-members reveal their experiences) http://kimkinssurvivors.wordpress.com/
Ducky's blog (keeping the revelations in one spot)-- http://kimkinsexposed.wordpress.com
About.com's "Inside Kimkins" (they investigated and put a warning) http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/populardietplans/a/kimkinsdiet_2.htm
Kimkins Dangers: http://kimkinsdangers.blogspot.com/
The Truth Starts Here (more undercover work)--http://thetruthinhiding.blogspot.com/

Or just google a blog search for "Kimkins" and find lots of stuff.

Please email Woman's World magazine. Let them know we dieters are harmed when they lure us with glowing articles on diets that are dangerous in terms of caloric levels or nutrient deficiences. And when they've indeed promoted bad diets--like Kimkins--they need to retract and warn readers with follow-up articles placed just as prominently as the first.

Write them: DearWW@aol.com

Seeing is Believing

Christin, the "face" of the Kimkins diet, as it were, because of her cover model status back in June when Woman's World featured the controversial ultra-low carb VLCD, has a message for those still doing Kimkins (or similar diets) and those thinking of joining even with all the scandal.

It's a moving testimony.

A woman of religious conviction and strong conscience, Christin has posted a 17-minute video on her blog describing the side effects she has suffered from doing Kimkins, and she apologizes to those who were sucked into the plan due to her success story in the magazine.

If there is one thing you sense seeing the video is how genuine this woman is, how you get the vibe of honesty. She honestly thought she was helping people back then by being the poster gal for Kimkins, and she genuinely is convinced now that she was mistaken and that the diet is dangerous. She is warning folks away from Kimkins. She is baring her errors to the world. SHE IS APOLOGIZING.

Notice the enormous difference between Heidi Diaz/Kimmer and Christin.

One woman (Heidi Diaz/Kimmer) went into this--as it alleged by those who knew her and followed her history of posting on low-carb forums and her words and actions on the Kimkins site--to satisfy her ego and cash in on the desperation of the overweight. Cash in big-time. We're talking more than a million dollars since June. Once the truth about her misrepresentations (ie, lies) started leaking out, Heidi/Kimmer has escalated her vicious and manipulative behavior at her site, and this reaction from her has resulted in numerous complaints at the Better Business Bureau. One former member has organized a class action suit. A former partner is prepared to cooperate with authorities with all the records at their disposal.

Kimmer/Heidi has not apologized for lying and berating and censoring and summarily banning members who did nothing more than ask questions about the safety of the Kimkins eating plans or about the veracity of Kimmer/Heidi's weight loss claims--which were brought into huge disarray by the photos of the P.I. hired by former partners-- or of the testimony of those making allegations against Kimmer/Heidi. No, Heidi/Kimmer has gripped more tightly to the reins of her power. She's read private messages, hired administrators without the least tact or concern for members, and has begun an avid campaign of intimidation to keep folks in line and very, very quiet. If you doubt this, visit the links on my sidebar (way down at the left) and read and learn.

Contrasting the Kimmer/Heidi behavior, Christin has done the honorable thing: Admitted she erred. And now she is seeking to keep others from taking the dangerous road she traveled through the medium of her blog.

I--an obese woman who did go to the Kimkins site after the WW article, but who refrained from joining due to what seemed the extreme low-carb nature of the diet (not my thing, I like my whole grain bread and pasta, plus I didn't feel like spending the moolah for that sort of diet)--yes, I appreciate the importance and generosity of what Christin has done with this video and is doing with her continued speaking out.

She is caring about people who might get hurt and is not making money off her revelation.

Heidi/Kimmer only cares about Kimmer/Heidi, and she wants to keep members piling into the oppressively censored atmosphere of Kimkins, bringing $60 bucks a pop for the Diaz coffers. That's why you see so much advertising for the Kimkins diet site despite the turmoil, questions, accusations, photos, testimonies, and appeals. Heidi/Kimmer wants the money train to roll on, cause, I guess, duping 40 thousand plus people into a malnutrition way of life is not sufficient, and a million plus (as estimated by those who worked there) is not sufficent.

One is trying to do the right thing. One is trying to protect an ego and bank account boosting empire.

One puts her own face and own frailties on display as a mercy.

One hides away to protect the truth about her lies.

Who are YOU going to listen to?

I know which woman I believe. I believe the one who shows herself, displays her pain, offers her mea culpas, and wishes us well. The one that so many former Kimkinites say made the boards a place of support and encouragement and affection. You can see that winning femininity and soft-spokenness in the video.

Contrast the reports people make about their contact and relationships with Christian (positive) and the reports of the relationship and contact people have had with Heidi/Kimmer (negative).

Go watch Christin's video, especially if you have been doing a dangerous or starvation type diet (like Kimkins).

And Kimmer: You could learn something from the graciousness and repentance of those who used to work for you.

Props and Thanks to eDiets.com

After venting about Drugstore.com, I want to note that eDiets.com has excellent customer care.

I had a glitch with the weigh-in this afternoon, and when I went to the help section, their link was messed up.

WITHIN HOURS--like a couple of hours, seriously--they emailed to say all was well, and to thank me for noticing the messed up link, which they will see to. I signed on and did my weigh-in and stuff: no problem at all. It was REALLY, ACTUALLY fixed.

(Now, my only complaint is that I asked for "no soy" on the menu, and my menu plan has, yes, soy. But, hey, I'm so happy with them right now, I'm chilling.)

TAKE NOTE OF THAT: Drugstore.com That's C-U-S-T-O-M-E-R S-E-R-V-I-C-E

Contact This Attorney if You've Been Defrauded by Kimkins

I am investigating a potential class action lawsuit regarding the alleged Kimkins fraud. I am an attorney and a member of the California Health Fraud task Force. My name is John Tiedt and you can reach me at 951 343 3320 if you have any specific information about the alleged fraud against Kimkins.

The above was posted today at KimKins Exposed.

~~

BANSHEE WAILS...at KimKins

The Blog Banshee is Wailing a Warning.

It's all over the web. But I'd like to add my own little caveat. Allow me to let the Banshee have her way. She's howling this:

DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR ANY KIMKINS SITE OR FORUM OR PLAN OR PRODUCT.

I recognized the name when I read the 3 Fat Chicks article yesterday. I'd seen a link to it many months ago, round when I started this blog in May. I clicked on the link. I scoped it out. I quickly decided to leave. It was just too extreme a plan for me. It sounded a bit nuts, frankly.

Let me say, with all honesty, that I understand the lure of such hardcore dieting.I can understand, totally, why some folks, feeling desperate, paid money to join this ridiculous diet that, basically, starves you with insufficient nutrition. Desperation makes sense go right out the window. I've felt desperation.

Please. Don't support KimKins. Every report out there rings the "shady" bell. Don't sign up for KimKins. Don't link to the site. If you have links or ads, please take them down.

If you wanna know why, start with "KimKins: Anatomy of a Diet Scam"

There are plenty of links there. A simple google with "Kimkins" and "scam" or "fraud" or similar words will get you other links, many from former KimKins members and some administrators, such as:

Becky and her insider story at KimKins
KimKins Exposed
Kimorexia
KimKins Sucks
KimKins Survivors
Slamboard on the KimKins Diet

Here's a quote from a former KimKins member, who discontinued her KimKins blog and started a new one called "Healthy Low-Carb Living" (emphasis mine):

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.

Yes, eating disorders of the anorexic sort can begin just like this: super-deprivation becoming the norm in the dieter's mind. Rapid weight loss becoming "God"--the end-all and be-all.

Do not support alleged scammers. Do not support diet extremists. Rather:

~Be careful at all times not to be seduced by crazy plans.
~Be sensible. Be alert.
~Eschew the desperation that blinds.
~Think of health and lifestyle, not just "I want it gone now."
~Read and be informed.
~Never listen to anyone who recommends laxatives for weight loss. Ever. (Remember Karen Carpenter?)
~Be doubly-careful as you choose to whom your money will go and which organizations you will join. There are sharks out in the waters, smelling the blood of angst-ridden, heart-shattered, will-try-anything dieters.

It's seductive, claims of such radical weight loss. We all want to LOSE THE POUNDS FAST AND NOW AND RIGHT NOW! But think about it. Eating 300 or 500 or any other extreme diet is almost always detrimental. (Never do it without close medical supervision and with a darn good diagnostic justification. Make sure you get proper supplementation. Unless you're gonna drop dead from co-morbidities without that kind of starvation diet, just don't do it.)

You didn't put on 50 pounds in one month. Or 100 in two. Why expect you're gonna lose it safely in one month...or two?

Be kind to your body and soul today. And be patient.

And nix KimKins.

~~