The news release below is reblogged from PR Newswire.
But first, my commentary.
This year’s winner lost about 80 pounds in two months. Amazing, right? But how healthy is it to lose that much weight that quickly, especially when he coupled that with diuretics, stimulants and dehydration? (All this information was posted on his own blog.) I am concerned that a business would promote a contest such as this . . . especially when it frames the contest as a HEALTH “kwest.”
Additionally, Genghis Grill sent an email to the contestants letting them know who the first and second prize winners were (winning $10,000 and $1,500, respectively), but then later told the second place “winner,” there was an error and that she would not be winning a prize afterall. Can you imagine how disappointing this was for her? She’d been atop the leaderboard from the midpoint of the contest to the day before the ending, to learn that she’d not win anything.
NOTE: I had been a participant in the contest for about 45 of the 60 days. I removed myself from the contest because I was concerned with the ethics of the way the contest was run even previous to the announcement of the winner. You can see details of my concerns at https://healthkwest.wordpress.com/ — and other participants will soon be adding stories of their experiences at this same site.)
What are your thoughts? We’d love your comments.
Texas man loses 76 lbs. in 60 days by eating daily at popular stir-fry concept Download image Genghis Grill has more than 100 locations nationwide (PRNewsFoto/Genghis Grill) DALLAS, April 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — It pays to lose weight, especially
for one hard-working fan of Genghis Grill.
Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140421/76912
Photo – http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140421/76911
Blake Miller of Denton, Texas, was just awarded the $10,000 grand prize in the 4th annual Genghis Grill Health Kwest after losing 76 pounds (more than 25 percent of his body weight) in 60 days!
The nationwide contest launched in February with 105 “khantestants” accepting the challenge to achieve a healthier lifestyle by eating a free Genghis Grill bowl for 60 consecutive days. The eatery also provided nutritional and exercise tips while ESQ Diagnostics tracked weight loss. Additionally, each competitor shared their healthy journey with social media posts, YouTube videos and a Facebook group to help each other throughout the contest.
“While the money is great, it’s really more about the physical transformation,” said Health Kwest winner Blake Miller. “I now have more energy to get more things done each day, which is like the gift of time. I imagine I’ve added a few years onto my life by subtracting a few pounds, too. And with a two-year-old and another little one on the way, I can’t imagine that this could have come at a better time.”
Miller was able to stay focused on his weight loss journey by choosing new combinations for his bowl daily, so he never felt deprived or got bored. However, he notes in his “Why I Love Genghis Grill” blog post that his favorite ingredient is Fiesta Lime Chicken. Miller also says he’s learned a lot about food and nutrition through the contest. “The human body is an amazing machine that can be truly pushed when your mind is in the right place.”
Health Kwest was designed to reinforce all the healthy and delicious meal options available at Genghis Grill. After helping more than 100 khantestants lose a collective 1,900 pounds over 60 days, it’s safe to say the point has been made. The campaign also generated 1,233 Facebook posts, 724 Tweets, 796 Instagram photos, 1,057 blog posts and more than 600 YouTube videos.
“Genghis Grill subscribes to the belief that variety is the spice of life, so we give our fans the opportunity to choose exactly what they eat and how they eat it,” said Ron Parikh, Chief Marketing Officer for Genghis Grill. “Health Kwest is a phenomenal program that allows us to not only change the lives of our khantestants, but to share our mission of fresh, hot and healthy eating for everyone.”
For more information and to find a Genghis Grill near you, visit www.GenghisGrill.com.
Media Contact:
AUTUMN ROSE REO
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940.367.0295
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Health Kwest 
I tried to Google this guy and I came to a forum where he talked about taking pills to reduce his water and stimulants. I think he even said at one point that he specifically intends to win the unhealthy way. Genghis Grill chose this guy to represent them? I’m not going there anymore!
He did? That’s horrible. I actually thought Genghis Grill was one of the few restaurants that cared about healthy lifestyle/eating. This reminds me of how on the Biggest Loser contestants are pressured to lose unhealthy amounts of weights. At least they have medical supervision. Or did Genghis Grill provide some form of basic medical supervision?
I’m afraid not. They did give a few diet and exercise tips in the welcome packet, but that was all.
I know a few of the contestants chose to — at their own expense — have a medical checkup before the contest, and participated under their doc’s supervision. But I bet most didn’t — including myself.
@Chris and @VeggieLover I was a contestant this year also. We were not provided any medical supervision. Being that the contest was for $10,000, I was surprised that we weren’t. It’s clear that some people go to extremes to win, especially in weight loss contests, so it only makes sense if you care about the health of your participants that you provide some sort of basic medical check up or place some sort of weight loss caps so people don’t overdo it.
There are people who actually worked hard to get where they are today in trying to win the competition as well as making a lifestyle change for the better. It is definitely unfair for someone like him to win when he actually cheated his way through the competition. The sad part, in my opinion, is that there was no one to keep an eye on the contestants participating to make sure nothing fishy happened throughout the course of the contest.
No controls, no safeguards, no nothing on the contestants? I’m surprised; not because the company didn’t bother (guessing they were worried about the bottom line of expenses for the extra work)… but because they weren’t worried about the bottom line ENOUGH. Watch the winner wind up in the hospital in the next year or two, discover organ damage from what he did to himself in the pursuit of this prize, and sue Genghis Grill for quite a lot of money for encouraging him to ruin his health for the short term numbers to advertise how “healthy” they are. Very short sighted of the company.
I will state for the record that I am a contestant for the 2014 challenge. Hearing about the extreme measures past and current winners took is completely discouraging. The contest was designed to promote a healthy lifestyle while eating at Genghis Grill. All I can say is if Genghis is going to allow contestants to use diuretics, stimulants, and other extreme measures like dehydration will only continue to promote unhealthy radical measures of weight loss. Unfortunately, I doubt Genghis Grill will do anything about this until they have to deal with the medical ramifications.
Well, I’ve just signed on as a contestant for 2015. Should be interesting to see if any changes have been made.