Kimkins diet scam – resources, links and reviews

Morning,

It appears that the Kimkins diet scam is yet again in the news. From Carb Wire:

…. As I shared with you last week, ABC News has been very interested in doing a story on the Kimkins diet scam that has fooled tens of thousands of people into falling prey to an unsafe and potentially dangerous anorexic nutritional scheme while lining the pockets of a morbidly obese woman named Heidi Diaz with millions of dollars. They are looking for people who have been harmed by Kimkins to appear on camera as part of their investigation. If you have a story you’d like to share with them, then please use this contact form to send the details of your experience to an ABC News producer.

In the meantime, the Kimkins diet scandal was exposed to a nationwide audience on Sunday morning when ABC-TV aired a segment about it on the weekend edition of their popular television news magazine “Good Morning America.”….MORE….

This scam is truly a shame in so many ways – it’s damaged the lives of countless people who were seduced into buying into the dream of a quick fix. :-(

Here are more resources to help you learn about it:

I hope this person gets the book thrown at her and is put away for a long, long LONG time. What she did was despicable.

Hope this is helpful,

Barbara

ps – One of my favorite weight loss plans is Atkins:

Karate is finally coming together, and the joys of boot camp

Quick post before I pass out – today I did two advanced classes and one Kendo class.

I’m utterly beyond amazingly wowized that…..it’s finally coming together. I can actually balance the majority of times, my increased flexibility has made my kicks/rechambering far better, and I (almost!) flow – I don’t have relay a message from my brain to my legs, it just seems to happen.

Oh that was nice. Exhausting, but nice. We also had 10 minutes of delectable boot camp at the end – I did it with my kids and as always, blasted past them in endurance. Mom rocks!

Mom’s actually pretty darned cool, I will admit. :)

Time for a hot bath,

Barbara

ps – Speaking of Boot Camp!

Lingerie shopping – it never fails

Morning,

You know, it seems America is getting fatter and fatter. Back when I was 170+ pounds, there was a plethora of clothing in stores from which to choose – Large, XLarge, XXLarge, etc.etc.etc.

Then I started going down from a size 18 in pants to 14 to 12 to 8….and all of a sudden, it seems like there’s more Plus size clothing in stores than small sized clothing in stores. Tons of choices there, but clothing in my size? Hah!

But that’s not the worst of it – losing weight has trimmed my figure from a 42DD to a 36C. That’s the good news. The bad news is….yet again, all the lingerie sizes seem focused towards big and hefty wenches again!! There’s bras for 38D and 40D and 42DD and …. but get to the nice genteel 36C, and the choices go out the window. :-(

Ah well, these things happen. At least I’m getting the ‘perkier’ benefit of weight loss! :-)

Have you encountered these issues? If so, the forum, Looking Good, Feeling Great, has some useful discussions on where to buy clothing once you’ve lost the weight.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – If only my local stores carried:

P90x Review, Core Synergistics – Week 4, Day 2, Total Days – 23

Morning everyone,

Today I pressed PLAY at 2:30am or so and began day 2 of my recovery week (recovery week, ha ha, what a joke!). It was ‘core synergistics’ and my oh my, does that work the abs, core, thighs etc.

When you’re doing the DVD, you don’t think how killer it really is (except for the iso planks-to-chatarungas)…but when you’re done, WOW. Burn burn burn, burn baby burn! Ooof. I really felt that.

I ended up taking off my shoes and socks during some of the workout, and then chose to do karate moves during the Plyo stuff. I can really feel how much more flexible I am these days – it’s quite nice.

And that’s day 23,

Barbara

ps – some neat P90x discounts:

Anti-military lawyer damages Marine’s car on eve of deployment

Morning,

I just read about the following on the self-defense mailing list I’m on. Do yourself a favor and read up on the background – it’s amazing what kinds of jerks live in the US.

…Marine Sgt Mike McNulty is on activation orders to Iraq (second tour). On December 1st, 2007, Mike went to visit a friend in Chicago before deploying to say goodbye. In order to get to his friend’s residence, and keep in mind that Chicago is a myriad of diagonal and one-way streets, the front entrance (right way) to the one-way street was blocked. Mike, being a Marine, overcame and adapted by driving around the block to the other end of the street and backing up all the way to his friend’s place.

While saying goodbye, at about 11am, he noticed a man leaning up against his car. Mike left his friend’s apartment and caught the man keying his car on multiple sides.

After caught in the process, the man told Mike, “you think you can do whatever you want with Department of Defense license plates and tags”. (In Illinois you can purchase veteran, Marine, or medal plates. Mike has Illinois Marine Corps license plates.)…..MORE…

And here’s the resolution:

Man who keyed car gets day in court; so do Marines

Jay Grodner, the Chicago lawyer who keyed a Marine’s car in anger because the car had military plates and a Marine insignia, finally got his day in court last week.

Grodner pleaded guilty in a Chicago courtroom packed with former Marines. Some had Marine pins on their coats, or baseball jackets with the Marine insignia. They didn’t yellor call him names. They came to support Marine Sgt. Michael McNulty, whose car Grodner defaced in December, but who couldn’t attend because he’s preparing for his second tour in Iraq.

Grodner was late to court for the second time in the case….MORE….

Amazing…absolutely amazing.

What do YOU think?

Barbara

ps – Marine keepsakes!

From mom to child – Bridging 21 years, Rutgers Math

Howdy all,

My gosh, it’s things like this that make being a mom all worth while.

Back when I was in college, I was the founder and president of the Rutgers University Math Club (loved the subject, couldn’t do it to save myself, but loved it nontheless…which is one reason why all of my kids are superior in it, I made certain they learned to love math at an early age). During my senior year, I decided to have a fund-raiser by designing and selling the Rutgers University Math Club t-shirts!

I vividly remember sitting outside Hill Center and drawing the building. Then I went home, added all the embellishments, and brought the finished product to a silk-screener close by the campus. To make a long story short, it turned out quite wonderful and when I graduated from college, I made certain to bring some back with me.

Fast forward 21 years. Last night, one of my kids brought out her sleeping mattress from my closet to sleep on the floor; somehow that hooked on one of the t-shirts. This morning as I was returning the mattress, I found that t-shirt on the floor, looked at it and told my eldest, hey look, Rutgers Math! And she said, math? I love math! Let me see!

She was absolutely entranced by the t-shirt, and more so that her mom was the artist. I found a medium size one for her, and told her the whole story of how it was made. Then she noticed how I signed it – “IKMP ’86” and asked what that was all about. And I told her, kid, when I was a senior, I made a promise to myself that I’d make a mark and nobody would ever forget me. That stands for:

I Kept My Promise, Class of ’86

Oh, the look in my daughter’s eyes – it was a keeping moment.

You know, back when I was at college, I never really thought of how my children would view my achievements. What an unbelievable feeling it was to see my kid appreciate my work. I was a child back then, I’m a mom right now….and yet it all became bridged during that moment.

I thank the universe for that experience, I shall never forget it.

Rutgers Math

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Some nice Rutgers goodies:

DDR Dance Dance Revolution – oh what great fun and a calorie burner!

Afternoon everyone,

Oh I’m smooshed!

After several hours of patience marketing online, I challenged my kids to Dance Dance Revolution. Now, we used to do this all the time during the summer at Camp Ling, so it’s been quite awhile since I last put my feet on those mats.

My gosh, talk about, ahem, uncoordinated! My skills apparently have melted away during the months I’ve not tried it. I see the arrows on the screen and say to my feet, okay feet, move to the correct arrow…and it just doesn’t happen. :) But still, it’s great fun! We were at it for about an hour.

And for us parents/moms/dads/etc., DDR is a terrific calorie burner! There’s a practice and test mode as well, so you can train your feet to move to the correct arrows during specific beats. And don’t forget about

That’s where smart parents like us gather to share tips on doing well! And don’t knock Dance Dance Revolution as an extreme exercise – many people have lost dozens of pounds doing it. DDR Weight Loss Stories are most interesting to read.

Here are some more great DDR resources:

If you’re looking for something to do at home that really gets the blood pumping and your heart rate up, do yourself a favor and check it out; age is no factor! You’ll be happy you did.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Here are some nice DDR pads:

P90x Review – Yoga Death, Week 4, Day 1, Total Days – 22

Today starts my recovery week! Yay! If you can call it that!

Seriously! Yoga Death has to be one of the toughest, most killer DVDs out there. My muscles literally shake in some of the poses, and others…well, I have to do major modifications.

Still, though, I will admit – although I hate and despise this DVD with a passion, it’s utterly superb. I really feel the workout even hours afterwards! Wow. If you can handle it, it’s a perfect example of, it hurts so good.

So. Today I completed Yoga Death and this afternoon, will probably do DDR with the kids. Today they have off in honor of MLK day, so it will be a quiet day. Tomorrow is Core, the day after is Kenpo, and then XStretch (yay!).

And that’s Day 22,

Barbara

ps – Other P90x goodies:

DIY Elmo birthday cake, Dollar Stores to the rescue and more

Morning,

Well! Today I had to give up my early morning P90x routine (’twill be Yoga Death when it does happen) so I could prepare for a child’s birthday.

It always amazes me how much money parents will spend on young children’s birthday parties, especially when with regards to gifts, the kids play with them for an hour or so and then whomp, into the toy bin it goes, never to be played with again.

Not in the Ling family! We live by some rather super Dollar Stores (it’s pretty amazing, actually, the things you can get for a dollar) and yesterday, I picked up 10 or so items I know will be adored for at least an hour before, you got it, they become forgotten. But at least, big chunks of money won’t have been wasted!

I also got the balloon, table decoration cover, sparklies, streamers, etc., and spent this morning setting up the kitchen for the birdieDay. The ice cream cake was especially unique – I always make them like so:

  • Go to Pathmark
  • Pick up cookie dough ice cream and chocolate chip cookies and vanilla chips
  • Return home, let ice cream melt for an hour
  • Get a bowl. Line it with plastic wrap.
  • Put softened ice cream in bowl up ’til one inch below the top
  • Mix in vanilla chips
  • In another bowl, break up cookies and mix with ice cream. Pour that on top TO the top (it’s the cookie base.
  • Cover and freeze

In the morning, the plastic wrap gives you hand holds to remove the ice cream – turn it upside down and voila, an ice cream cake you have! After that, I slathered on frosting and then designed an Elmo face on top. It’s currently back in the freezer, waiting for everyone to wake up.

I don’t mind spending money when kids are old enough to appreciate the adventure, so my little birthday route leaves the kids thrilled and me with some savings left. :-)

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – Elmo is very popular with Birthdays….