Worst Weight Loss Promotions of 2008

by Bev Sklar (Subscribe to Bev Sklar's posts)
Jan 3rd 2009 4:00PM

Most of us are victims of a silly weight loss promotion at least once in our lives. I once bought a bottle of fat burning pills that didn't burn through anything except my money. As a sleep-deprived, nocturnal new mother a few years back, I fell for a bottle of coral calcium pills, too. I guess I like to ingest gimmicks.

Healthy Weight Network recently released its 20th annual Slim Chance Awards, featuring the Worst Diet Promotions of 2008. Did you buy into any of these?

Most Outrageous Claim -- Kevin Trudeau infomercials. I'm disgusted whenever I see this King of Deceptive Infomercials on my TV screen. Last August, Trudeau was fined $5 million and banned from infomercials for three years. I think he sold me that coral calcium.
Worst Gimmick -- Skineez jeans. For just $139, these jeans release a substance into your skin to fight fat and cellulite. Sorry folks, if there was a skinny skin product, people would bathe in it.
Worst Claim -- AbGONE. Full-page newspaper ads touted the pills would magically take away your potbelly, with a fine print disclaimer at the bottom that "diet and exercise are essential."
Worst Product -- Kimkins diet. Five percent body weight gone in 10 days if you pay a fee on-line for the Kimkins diet plan. Turns out founder Heidi Diaz admitted using fake pictures and stories to promote this starvation diet, leading some to complain of chest pains, hair loss, heart palpitations, irritability and menstrual irregularities. Yes, there's a lawsuit.

Forget the quick fix and sign-up today with America Takes It Off to lose weight and eat healthier the right way.

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Comments (2)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Laura 1-04-2009 @ 1:33PM

Thank you for helping to get the word out about these things.

The Kimkins Diet is really just a low calorie, low fat, starvation diet, akin to anorexia.

If you are willing to starve yourself to death you will lose weight on it, not just fat, but muscle too. And remember that your heart is a muscle, so this is definitely something to avoid.

Kimkins is also currently the subject of a class action lawsuit. The creator of the diet, who at times goes by the names of Kimmer, Heidi Diaz, Kimberly Drake and many others, as it suits her, claimed to have lost 198 lbs. in 11 months and managed to maintain that loss for over 5 years. In her deposition, she admits that was all lies. In recent photographs, she still appears to be morbidly obese.

For anyone who is considering Kimkins, consider the fact that there is a site called "Kimkins Survivors". If that doesn't warn you away from the dangerous diet scam, perhaps you should go read a few of the stories on that site.

Say NO to Kimkins!

WildAngel6 1-14-2009 @ 6:42AM

Oddly enough, Heidi Diaz/Kimkins has just filed for bankruptcy this week, in an obvious attempt to avoid (or at least postpone) the pending litigation against her.

Also it has been revealed that, although she is claiming to be bankrupt, Ms. Diaz has started an another diet website, in addition to Kimkins, called Simple Choices. Unlike Kimkins, which was low carb, very low calorie, low fat and low glycemic, Simple Choices even allows one to "Enjoy pasta, bread and fruit while you lose weight!"

So how does that work? You own one diet site based on eating nothing, and then one diet site that allows you to eat anything? Isn't that a little like riding both sides of the fence?

I guess Ms. Diaz wants to make sure she captures ALL the folks interested in dieting.

Another interesting aspect of the new diet in how it differs from the Kimkins Diet, is that she has apparently learned something about the economics of making money off her victims, oops, I mean... her members. While with Kimkins there is a one time fee; on Simple Choices there is a monthly fee, so you keep paying and paying and paying.

Since it's been so difficult for Kimkins members to get a refund when they've been banned, I can only imagine how hard it would be for Simple Choices folks to get a refund or to get Heidi to stop charging their credit cards each month after they no longer follow the diet.

Buyer Beware! Don't fall for Ms. Diaz or ANY of her Diet Scams.