May 7, 2016 | 9:57AM EDT

By John Burk

The biggest loser has been a show that  promotes weight loss, and not so much health. Many contestants have already put an increasing amount of weight back on after having left the show.

For starters, what is the true motivation of the contestants to lose the weight when first starting? What is the driving force behind their efforts that fuel them to continue pushing forwards? Is it for the sake of losing the weight and being healthy, or is it the prize given to the winner at the end of the show?

Once again, Hollywood has wrapped its greasy money grubbing hands around another industry, the fitness industry, in an attempt to squeeze out every penny it can by drawing viewers in to watch a spectacle that appears to be a supportive show on the outside, but if you take a look at the inner workings of the contestant’s bodies, you will see it is not the safest things out there.

When you put people in such a drastic caloric deficit, you risk jeopardizing their metabolic rate, and that is just for starters. Now throw in conducting intense physical training, which many of the contestants have never done before, and now you’re virtually shocking their bodies with not only being in a caloric deficit, but also shocking them physically by tossing in exercises that could potentially do more harm than good.

Having an incredibly obese contestant doing cardio on a treadmill, walking up hills, jogging, doing stair steppers, etc. is not the best idea out there. Any trainer worth their salt knows that the risk of doing damage to the contestant’s joints is at an increased risk, not to mention the cartilage between each joint. I saw this quite often in the military; infantry and airborne units that constantly ran, rucked, and jumped from airplanes did considerable damage to their knees and backs over prolonged periods of time.

But so long as it is for a prize at the end, it is perfectly fine then, right? These contestant’s hearts are in the right places, and it really isn’t their faults because they just don’t know any better, but the trainers and show producers should be ashamed of themselves for putting a time crunch on the process of weight loss. It’s not JUST a physical process; it’s also a psychological one. Teaching and training your client is also just as crucial when going through the weight loss journey. It’s not just saying “Don’t eat this,” but also helping the client to have a decent grasp on proper nutrition for them to better understand the consequences of their unhealthy eating choices.

Is it really any wonder why many contestants are putting weight back on after the show? While on the show, they had a trainer pushing them. They had someone there at all times to guide them, but now take away that trainer without truly helping the client understand the various aspects of health and fitness, and they’re back to square one, and the weight begins returning.

There have been recent reports of metabolic rates being damaged and some contestants putting weight back on at a rapid rate.

See here for example:

http://distractify.com/news/2016/05/03/the-biggest-losers-winners

Losing weight should NOT be a rushed process. Whenever someone asks me: “John, what’s the fastest way to lose weight.” I’ll tell them they’re already thinking about it in the wrong way. This isn’t a rushed process; it’s a slow one that requires a formulating of healthier eating habits, as well as safe exercise regiments that are BOTH tailored to suit the client’s needs.

So who is truly the biggest loser? Sad to say, it’s the contestants, and not just in the weight loss department. They are now seeing the ramifications of crash dieting which in itself, is incredibly dangerous.

Anything for a buck, eh Hollywood? And forget whom you fuck up in the process. Once more, the power of the almighty dollar reigns supreme.

Soldier of Steel