The Kimkins Diet: Low-fat, Low-Calorie, Low Credibility

The controversial Kimkins Diet is a low-carb, low-calorie, low-glycemic index diet. It is, as of 2009, distributed only via memberships to an online website. The official Kimkins site claims the diet is better than gastric bypass surgery and is "diabetic-friendly". Kimkins claims you can lose weight with no exercise, meetings or weigh-ins, and there a number of diet plans to choose from, including the Kimkins Boot Camp, a strict, low-calorie diet; the protein-shake based Shake It Off plan; and the Maintenance Plan.

Pay

Pay for a membership if you want to follow any of the Kimkins plans. Access to the website is, as of November 2009, $79.99 for a lifetime membership plan, or $19.99 per month. The memberships let you have access to all the differing diet plans.

Diet Plans

Choose a Kimkins plan. The original low-carb plan, Kimkins Classic, which is based on the 1972 version of the Atkins Diet, is still available at the Kimkins website. But you now have five other plans to choose from, including the aforementioned maintenance and protein shake plans. There are also the Flex 1-2-3 Diet, which lets you rotate diet plans on a weekly basis, the strict Kimmer Boot Camp, and the ultra-low-carb Kimmer Experiment. Kimkins also offers vegetarian options.

Lose Weight

Lose weight by following the instructions, recipes and meal plans for the different diets. The website includes many recipes and sample menus, as well as a forum to ask questions and get advice from other members. Most of the diets are very low in carbohydrates, fat, and calories. Beverages are no-calorie drinks such water or die sodas. For example, a sample dinner posted on the website for the Kimmer Experiment Plan is "2 cups orange soda chicken, 1 cup spicy turkey soup, 1/2 cup Kimkins pudding, diet soda."

Warning

Be aware that there have been concerns raised about the Kimkins diets. Various plans under the Kimkins umbrella are considered too low in calories and dieters have reported hair loss, fatigue, depression, liver damage, fainting spells and other health problems. The developer of the diet and founder of the organization, Heidi Diaz, has misrepresented herself and has admitted to using fraudulent photographs as before and after pictures on the Kimkins website. Heidi Diaz has also posted photographs of other women and claimed them as herself. She is, as of June 2009, the subject of a class-action lawsuit.