My new friend Kelly over at Happy Texans posted a "Woman's World" magazine cover story on her blog. You can see her post here. Seeing that picture on her blog brought back a flood of memories. Memories of another Women's World cover story and another crazy crash diet....more than a crash diet actually...a scam. A scam perpetuated by a morbidly obese con artist. It brought back memories of the scam that was, and continues to be, The Kimkins Diet.

It brought back memories of this magazine cover...



I purchased a membership to the Kimkins Diet site one night shortly before the Women's World article hit the news stands. I was one of the foolish people who fell for this woman's claims. I did the Kimkins Diet plan for around 3 months. I lost weight quickly on it and gained it back even more quickly than I lost it. It's easy to find all the details of this disgusting scam on the internet. Doing a google search for "Kimkins" will bring up a plethora of blogs and stories pertaining to the diet and the woman pictured below. The woman in the photograph collage below is the founder of the Kimkins diet scam. At the time I fell for the scam and plunked down my hard earned $$$ to join her site, the woman pictured below was claiming to be the lovely woman in the upper left corner of the picture. She continued to claim to be that woman even after a private investigator took the photos of her in the grey pants. The image of her in the red blouse was taken at the attorney's office when she was deposed for the class action lawsuit that is in the works regarding her plan and her fraud. Believe it or not, this woman is still trying to run a diet advice site. She has flooded the social networking sites with come-ons for her plan.



So....my whole point is not to re-hash the craziness that was Kimkins in my life. My point is that there are any number of crazy weight loss plans out there. There will always be unscrupulous people who are looking to cash in on those of us who are at times desperate for an answer to our weight loss struggles.

Yes, I fell for the Kimkins scam. Beyond that, I have tried just about every weight loss plan out there. I have spent most of my life on one diet or another. I have done the faith based programs. I have done the crazy crash diets. I have tried this plan or that plan. I have tried simply praying and trying to bring my appetites under the control of the Holy Spirit...not a bad concept in itself but I failed to apply discipline and self control to that mix. All of my struggles have led me to the place I find myself in today.

Today I find myself DONE with crazy crash diets that tell me I can eat all of this or that food but none of this or that. Today I find myself finally acting on the realzation that there is no magic fix. The only answer is for me to learn moderation and control while continuing to pray and allow the Spirit of God to teach me to control my appetites.

I feel like a woman who is shaking of the chains and the bondage that "dieting" can (and in my case, had) become. It had become a strange combination in my life....bondage to gluttony, and bondage to the things of the world that I turned to to deceive myself into thinking that I was fixing the problem of gluttony and binge eating in my life, when all the while these things were perpetuating the behaviors that I was trying to free myself from.

It could be argued that by using the Weight Watchers plan to learn self control I have simply turned to another diet. But I don't believe that to be true. I believe that I am using the Weight Watchers points system to learn what moderation looks like in the real world....to teach myself control and moderation.

I am done with dieting. Dieting simply does not work. If it worked I would be slim and svelte rather than morbidly obese after a lifetime of dieting. What I am now embracing is a lifestyle change and a heart change based on the following passage of scripture...

Colossians 2:20-23
Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Diets based on human wisdom alone lack any value in restraining my "sensual indulgences." I'm done with diets!

OK...here's what I ate yesterday...

A Western bagel, alternative bagel with fat free cream cheese, an apple sprinkled with cinnamon, and a cup of cinnamon tea. 2.5 points



A ham and cheese wrap made with fat free ham and cheese, on a LaTortilla Factory, Smart and Healthy tortilla, and a side of carrots, cucumber slices, and sugar snap peas, with wladen farms dressing to dip them in. 5 points



Tacos made with vegetarian ground beef substitute, Smart and healthy tortillas (again), lettuce, tomato, onion, salsa and fat free sour cream. I would have coupled this with fat free refried beans but i was out of them...darn!! Can you believe this luxurious meal was 3.5 points!?



Snack/Dessert was fat free plain yogurt flavored with PB2 and stevia, over a sliced frozen banana, sprinkled with Fiber One cereal and drizzled with Walden Farms Chocolate syrup. 5 points


I ate really well yesterday and was full and satisfied, but for some reason it only added up to 16 points for the whole day. My target is 23. I don't plan to make a habit of being so far below my ppoints target on a regular basis. I think this was just a fluke.