Now that all of the fake success stories have been discovered and confirmed by scores of people across the internet, I see everyone at LowCarbFriends (which I refuse to link) is all abuzz with the information. But I can't help but grumble over the fact that all of this could have been stopped over a year ago when myself and others tried to discuss Kimkins' fake Success Stories photos - and LCF admins promptly shut us up by deleting our threads!!! I remember one thread I put up asking innocently, "do these pictures just not look right to anyone else?" and it was gone within minutes. After that, everything I put up was SANITIZED by the admins, meaning, they EDITED my posts and took out anything I said that referred to Kimmer. And of course, their idiotic policy is to not allow you to discuss their actions on the board, so if you questioned it, they'd delete that too. That's when I closed my account there and vowed never to return. It's so ironic that NOW they decide its okay to slam Kimkins.
Think about all of the people that could have been saved from Kimmer, had LCF not gone through so much trouble to protect her. I hold them just as responsible for this fiasco as Kimmer. And this was BEFORE the WW cover, so had they allowed people to even question the legitimacy of her diet and her website, thousands of people could have been warned and who knows, maybe she would have even gotten the cover and we wouldn't be here now. But they protected her and HID all evidence against her. They didn't care that she was a fraud, had no medical background, and no proof of her claims, they just didn't want anyone to speak ill of her. Why is that??? What was the connection between Tom and Heidi? What agreement did she default on that caused him to go up against her?
You really have to wonder WHY. Were they sharing profits? Hoping to share profits? Did Kimmer turn them down for advertising revenue and it pissed off Tom so he decided to turn against her? Something definitely happened and we'll probably never know the truth, but LCF is just as guilty and dirty in this as Heidi is. And we all know it.
Luckily, ALC is an awesome balanced message board without Gestapo admin censoring our every word, so people who wanted integrity and freedom went there - and found it was refreshing and FAIR. I so appreciate the management and administration THERE and that's where I encourage people to go, as well as any of the other LC boards in my sidebar. Anywhere BUT LCF, because when this is over, they'll still be censoring your speech, and who needs that?
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34 comments:
I hope this incident is eye-opening for the LCF moderators/admins. I think too strict moderating kills the value of a board, frankly. And this is one case of PROOF.
Funny, but I bet a lot of people thought the pics looked odd. I know I remember when I first saw Bambi's pic and I thought, "Hang on. That's not the same women." The bfore and afters looked NOTHING ALIKE. And the blind woman sure balanced great in that squat. It was just weird.
Some of the other before/afters just didn't seem to match. But you know, I hadn't paid and wasn't a memeber and didn't know about the shenanigans, so I didn't even think about it beyond the moment of seeing the pics.
Well, there ya go. One's instinct can be a good guide.
The Princess
Too bad I was banned by the Active Low-Carbers forum quite a while back because I wasn't losing weight. They are no better than LCF, moderating my posts and finally banning me.
http://www.behappy2day.com/girls_info.php?i=6077&f=1
One more fake "after picture", just for the record...
Excellent post, Anti-Kimkins. You hit the nail on the head re the ban-happy, thread-sanitizing/deleting Moderators and Administrators @ LCF.
Those Moderators and Administrators at LCF should bow their heads in shame.
I've added your post to my Blog (Medusa) @ http://2medusa.blogspot.com/
And everyone, please boycott Netrition (which sponsors LCF).
I completely agree. If LCF had allowed free discussion/disagreement/debate, Kimmer NEVER EVER EVER would have developed the following that she did. LCF effectively help create the "FranKIMKINstein", and many, many people have been physically and emotionally hurt as a result. While I'm not sure they are as guilty as Kimmer herself, LCF certainly does share some of the blame for the resultant mess.
I am guessing that they never foresaw the negative consequences of their actions (disallowing free discussion), but now we know. I hope that they have learned a bit from this event. I hope that they are not just basking in the glory (and revenues) of the increased web traffic from this mess.
Even though the LCF admins were wrong to ban members over questioning the pictures, I have a theory as to why the comments weren't allowed. First a disclaimer:
***I am not now nor have ever been or am I friends with any admin at any low carb site including LCF.****
Kimmer caused a great deal of turmoil and dissension when she posted at LCF and the admins probably thought that by eliminating discussion of the fake pictures last spring that the turmoil and dissension would not return. As we all know, that didn't stop speculation. I lurked at LCF and stopped because of Kimmer's posts.
IMO, by allowing the Fascination threads, the LCF admins have done a good job of allowing discussion and more importantly fact finding and the spread of correct information. Sometimes the threads allow too many personal attacks but usually a moderator steps in and steers the discussion back to the main topic.
I watched so many people get bulldozed by Kimmer and her groupies at LCF and watched as the Admins selectively enforce the rules. I think your post has a lot of validity but unfortunately I don't think we will ever know. Any idea how much of a cash cow LCF? How much do the admins make and how much do they make from netition affiliation? Perhaps when they found out just how much of the milk she was getting they decided to allow the forum space to bring her down
http://nokimkins.blogspot.com/
It is the people at LCF that are finding these pictures and not people all over the net. People lurk or are members of LCF and when the pictures were found at LCF they took them and put them on their blog sites. It is the LCF admins that have allowed this investigation to go forward. I see a lot of hypocrites that are bashing LCF yet will be on the site every day. Hopefully you will change your mind and will realize how this stuff is now coming out and will open your eyes to the fact that it is LCF and the admins that are helping to expose Kimmer.
For the record. LCF admins are volunteers and do not make any money from the site or netrition. They give their time freely and work very hard and do the best job they can.
size8jeans, I am sorry that you were banned by Active Low-carbers Forum. I can't believe they did that for not losing weight? I hope that you are getting help at Lowcarbfriends, there is so much support at that site.
I'm sorry, Lowcarb, but I must clarify this:
a huge majority of the members at LCF are also members at ALC.
Most of them left LCF or were banned for discussing Kimmer, and only recently returned for the sheer purpose of helping to bring down Kimmer.
It is not the LCF admins that spearheaded the antikimkins revolution, nor did they participate (much) in its growth or success. IMO, they are only now joining in because of personal comments made about them by Kimkinites.
Let me also point out that even when the "fascination" threads started, the LCF admins continued to CENSOR, MODERATE and SANITIZE what people were saying about Kimmer. There has never been free speech at LCF when it comes to Kimmer.
What happens when you get on their "watch list"? Whatever you post is held in their queue until the admins can review it and then approve or deny it - by that time, the conversation has already moved forward several pages, so if they approve your post, it goes way back in the spot where you originally posted it. So it shows up on page 7, but the thread is now at page 15 - no one sees it!!! They've effectively silenced you.
Ironically, only now that their feelings are hurt, they are allowing a little more freedom - but obviously only because the site itself is benefitting from the traffic. Notice the little Netrition sale going on?
I give LCF ZERO credit for bringing down Kimmer. They did nothing - its the remaining/new/returning members that did all of the work.
LCF still SUCKS. Don't be fooled by their pretense of being so helpful here. When this is over, it will be back to censorship as usual.
The only hypocrites in this thing are LCF, Tom, and his adminions. Way back in the beginning of the Fascination thread, I suggested we scour the internet for information on Kimmer's family - and my post was snatched and I was banned for suggesting we stalk Kimmer. But "stalking" is exactly what it took to get to this point - we had to "stalk" to find her daughter in law, her ex husband, her son - hell, "stalking" is what the P.I. did!!!! STALKING, as they called it, is what helped to move the whole investigation forward a thousand leaps!
All LCF wanted you guys to do was sit in the Fascination threads and run up their traffic and revenue, while you chatter aimlessly about how Kimmer made you mad. They didn't want you to actually DO anything, because if they did, they wouldn't have been deleting threads where people suggested real action - so again, LCF gets NO accolades in this!!!!
"I give LCF ZERO credit for bringing down Kimmer. They did nothing - its the remaining/new/returning members that did all of the work."
"LCF still SUCKS. Don't be fooled by their pretense of being so helpful here. When this is over, it will be back to censorship as usual."
"All LCF wanted you guys to do was sit in the Fascination threads and run up their traffic and revenue, while you chatter aimlessly about how Kimmer made you mad. They didn't want you to actually DO anything, because if they did, they wouldn't have been deleting threads where people suggested real action - so again, LCF gets NO accolades in this!!!!"
QUOTED FOR TRUTH. Bravo, tricks of light!
My criticism of LCF really goes back to accountability and responsibility.
There are still pro-kimkins support threads on LCF. The ASK Kimmer thread, with her insane anorexic diet advice detailed in full is available to anyone who visits the site. LCF is responsible for propagating this free kimkins information.
I'm wondering why this is all online still *WITH NO WARNINGS* given ALL the health repercussions that have come to light.
Why why why? Is it because deleting/posting a warning on these threads would insult the sensitivities of the members who are involved/doing kimkins? ISn't that exactly the sort of mentality that allowed a personality such as Kimmer to flourish in the first place?
But yet the "sanitizing" of the other threads continues...
I agree with everything you've said about the Low Carb Friends message board. I would never have heard of Kimkins or tried it had it not been for reading about it on Low Carb Friends. However, I know for a fact that the Active Low Carber message board is just as heavy handed about moderating & deleting (censoring) posts as well as banning people as Low Carb Friends. In fact some of the moderators on Active Low Carber will even engage in arguments with members, but then punish members for arguing. I am not talking about arguing about TOS violations, but about low carb plans as well as other things that are not even related to low carbing. Maybe this is just "par for the course" on message boards, but in my opinion, admins and mods should stay impartial and not take sides one way or another. Both boards are guilty of interpreting their own TOS the way they see fit and that may be differently at different times and with different members. Although I have gained a lot of knoweledge on both LC boards and made friends, I believe they are not doing a service to the low carb community in general when they run their boards in such a heavy-handed, authoritarian manner.
Kimmer and her reputation were protected because Kimmer was a very special Low Carb Friend. That is until LCF stopped getting their cut. Enough about Kimmer, time for a "Fascination with Tom" thread.
Hey guys,
Just wanted to give you the latest update… Kimkins PR Director Jeannie Baitinger has written to diets in review to provide a rebuttal to our reivew. You can view it on our blog. Please feel free to spread the word.
http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/
-Jim
Lucky for me, I wasn't a big participant at LCF and didn't even know about Kimmer until friends ask me to go sign the petition. If I had know, I probably would have joined. I try everything.
Thanks for reminding me, believe only 10 % of what you read on the internet
To McLurkypants on LCF...I saw your message posted in the LCF Fascination thread linking here to Anti-Kimkins and wondered how long it would take for the Admins/Moderators @ LCF to delete it. They don't take kindly to any criticism of their board.
Yes, your post was "deleted on purpose" and unless you want to be censured, censored, and/or eventually banned, it would be wise to be very careful what you post on the LCF board or you will be quickly joining myself and many, many others in LCF's "Banned Camp."
All the best,
Medusa
be steady and calm The Princess ^_^ expert guidance and support while providing you with free diet tips,A reliable informative source for healthy weight control
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Kimmer didn't leave because she didn't get her own forum, she left because they moved her thread off the main page and put it on a lesser used section of the site.
Then Kimmer opened up her own site, Kimkins, and a for-pay one at that. Well I imagine that stuck in ol' Tom's craw, and the reason LCF censored posts was because they figured that any mention of Kimmer's name would drive business to her site. And they didn't just censor posts, they invaded PM's as well. They made mistakes and were very heavy handed about the whole thing. But don't kid yourselves that they were trying to protect the health of their members from a dangerous diet, lol, Tom was worried about his bottom line! They don't even allow members to exchange email addresses, either on the board or in PM's for fear they might talk about some other site!!!
I think the FTC and possibly the FDA should deal with Kimmer/Kimkins, but a class action suit? The only people who get anything out of those are the bloodsucking lawyers.
More on Kimkins:
http://www.mandjshow.com/videos/online-diet-scam/
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_kimkins17.3478b98.html
Blaming LCF and posters and admins there for this pschopath's actions is a bit much. Really. But intelligent people who have been involved and active in bringing the truth out know where the real work was done.
Pitting LCF against other weight loss forums serves no purpose other than to give small people an outlet to vent their petty personal grievances. So vent away.
The important thing is that Kimmer was found out and is being stopped.
Oh by the way she posted under numerous other forums as well. Why didn't they also catch and stop her? Why are they not front and centre in the debate now?
Maybe because they didnt know and are too lazy? But no lets trash LCF who are actively doing concrete actions to end this nightmare.
Right.
Could we please stop arguing about what is in the past and continue to work together to remove the Kimkins Diet stain on the Internet.
Fighting amongst the various forums isn't helping anyone but Heidi. You don't really want to help her, do you?
Let's pull together and focus on what needs to be done. Joining forces makes more sense, doesn't it?
We have a common goal. It will be easier to attain if we are all on the same side.
Hopefully, when we get this Kimkins Diet nightmare behind us, we will have learned from the past, and can move forward together as better neighbors.
You haven't posted in a while! Please resume your Kimkins commentary!
Please encourage your readers who were members of Kimkins to join the Kimkins lawsuit! It's so easy - here is how to join the Kimkins lawsuit.
Now that you know the Truth...Join the Lawsuit!!
http://kimkinslawsuit.wordpress.com/
Boycot Kimkins in 2008!! Wanna know why? Go here:
http://www.3fatchicks.com/Diets/Diet_Articles/Kimkins:_Anatomy_of_a_Diet_Scam/
This is one of the key players in the fight against Kimkins and I think you should read her blog...don't foget to search the webring too and see the other great info about this SCAM!
http://honeybeesblog.wordpress.com/
The "Time Worstall Tabloid Edition" says:
November 12, 2007
Kimkins
Kimkins, or the Kimkins diet has been shown up to be just another scam on the unsuspecting.
Heidi "Kimmer" Diaz, the founder of the Kimkin's diet - a low carb, low calorie diet - is schedule to appear in a Southern California court on Monday, November 12th, 2007. 11 former users of her Kimkins diet program filed a complaint against her one week ago, claiming fraud, false advertising, and unjust enrichment.
The Kimkin's scandal began when Woman's World, a popular women's magazine featured an article on the Kimkin's diet.
Ms Diaz, who was claiming to have lost 198 pounds in 11 months using her diet plan, refused to meet with the magazine in person, instead corresponding through email. She went so far as to send the magazine before and after pictures that looked nothing alike, which makes sense when people found out that the before pictures were Ms. Diaz, however the after pictures were taken from a Russian 'mail-order' bride web site.
The kimkins diet advised eating just 500 calories a day. That less than concentration camp victims were getting:
Kimkins diet followers reported hair loss, menstrual cessation, irregualr heartbeat, fainting spells, and liver damage from the starvation diet scam.
No damn wonder! Let's hope she's jailed where she can get a decent diet!
New Year’s Resolutions….
When the New Year comes upon us, those of us with excess weight, start to think of a way to try to get off our excess weight, one more time. If you are computer savvy, you start searching for a fast and easy weight loss plan. Recently, the Kimkins.comdiet has come into the lime light as being a fast and easy diet. Don’t be fooled. Do your research! Kimkins.con is nothing more than a low fat, low carb, low calorie, unhealthy starvation diet that is causing Eating Disorders (EDs) in many. This diet was started by a lady who calls herself "Kimmer" and never even lost the weight herself on her own diet. Kimmer even charges $59.95 for her unhealthy starvation diet and offers a “lifetime” membership that gets you banned from her website with no recourse if you question her about her diet or after pictures. There are a lot of good Low Carb diets on the market that are a healthy way of eating that you can get for free on different websites along with the community support you need. Try them first and see how much better you feel losing your weight in 2008!!
Woman's World Magazine FINALLY issues an apology:
Woman's World Magazine
See what ConsumerAffairs.com has to say about Kimkins:
Kimkins Diet Rolls On Despite Founder's Excess Poundage
Say NO to Kimkins!
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