by a 2014 Health Kwest Participant [Name Redacted]
The Health Kwest administrator told the Facebook group, early on in the contest that she had hoped nobody was losing weight in an unhealthy way. Then Genghis Grill corporate awards the grand prize to a person who they know was losing weight in a very unhealthy way, as they were provided screen shots of the Khantestant’s blog pages and board statements.
There seems to be a huge separation of ideals between corporate and the actual Health Kwest administrator who apparently was kept in the dark until the final reveal. It’s like a teacher saying she hopes nobody cheats then the school officials awarding credits to a known cheater.
To go a step further, one could name the school “Integrity University” to parallel the implied focus of the school’s ideals. There is nothing “healthy” about the Health Kwest when all previous Health Kwest winners have historically been people willing to go to extreme and unhealthy measures to win.
On another note, the rules clearly stated that each Khantestant must eat a bowl every day at Genghis Grill, yet many people (mentioned in Facebook group) that they had gotten their bowl to go on one or more occasions. The winner himself even admitted to rarely eating more than half of his bowl and never finishing it.
That’s snacking at Genghis, not eating.
How can a $10k contest allow such inconsistency? Well the inconsistency is built into the contest itself by awarding the Genghis Grill location with a prize for having the Health Kwest winner come from their store. So there is a built in incentive for each store to do whatever is necessary to help their Khantestant win. Depending on the ethics and morals of each manager, some will hold their Khantestants to the standard, while others will allow less than half-eaten bowls and starvation tactics to win.
So, for Genghis Grill to award the grand prize of $10k to a person who publicly spoke ill-will against the other Khantestants, admitted to extreme unhealthy methods to drop his weight, and then even attempted to dispose of any evidence of foul play by deleting his board (unsuccessfully as many Khantestants had already taken screen shots) was a slap in every Khantestant’s face who lived up to the “Health” in Health Kwest to lose their weight.
It’s almost sad for Genghis Grill as their winner even admitted to NOT wanting to endorse their product and did it ONLY for the $10k.
It’s almost like Genghis Grill sold their soul for the opportunity to say, “Winner lost 76 pounds in 60 days by eating at Genghis every day!”
Really? Genghis Grill, Healthy, and sportsmanship had NOTHING to do with his weight loss. Health Kwest needs to be renamed to anything without the word “Health” in it.
Lastly, Health Kwest journey is redundant. Kwest=Journey, so happy Health Journey Journey!
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: A contestant in the 2014 #HealthKwest asked me to post this anonymously on his behalf.
Health Kwest 
This is who they chose to represent their company?????? Did the company not think that people will try to look up the winner. I was thinking about applying next year for the Health Kwest but don’t think I will anymore after this. I would have no shot and the company clearly doesn’t care about peoples health.
Starting off I am a fellow contestant of the 2014 Genghis Grill contest. Although publicizing my disappointment in this fashion (blog) is not exactly my cup of tea – I do agree with the information presented within. So taking this opportunity, I am going to chime in.
I personally signed up for a gym membership, spent money on trainers, lived hours in the gym, ate 4 to 5 times ( consuming 1600 to 2000 calories a day) all on my dime based on SAFE PROVEN WEIGHT-LOSS practice. During my 60 days, I only lost approximately 40 lbs and busted my gluteus maximus doing so. Hearing that today’s 2014 winner cheated using NON-SAFE PROVEN methods – is unfair, and shows that this year’s winner lacks moral integrity and simply cheated. Guess the old adage – win at any costs takes the day. Personally, if Genghis is willing to support and promote a candidate who flagrantly disregarded their instructions for the end results; well just shows me that the owners and management are nothing more than a reflection of said improprieties.
So overall, what we are really talking about are the Rules, The Guidelines, and Culpability of the contest. I don’t mind losing in a fair contest, as a lot of contestants spent the time, effort, and money to achieve some spectacular results. I for one just wanted everyone to be on a FAIR and BALANCED playing field.
I’m heartbroken over the way this turned it. It’s sad, as a contestant, we all worked so hard to lose weight the healthy way and they chose this winner knowing the truth. I pray that they do something about this. Thanks for sharing.
By extra mile do you mean extra pills? Or extra gallons of water consumed at the initial weigh in to inflate weight? Or did you mean extra time spent sitting in a sauna?
I thin he means “extra mile” put his life at risk for 10k with, even though he has a kid and one on the way… That’s really a mile worth risking!
Actually one of the people who informed him of the drugs warned him about it, so I’m just recalling what others said to him. He took uppers and severely dehydrated himself. He talked about how he had to plop his kid in front of a tv because he turned all red and felt like his appendages were on fire. But that’s normal, right?