If you are a contestant on The Biggest Loser, it certainly must sting if you are eliminated prior to the chance to win the cash prize. However, unlike on other reality shows, the contestants can directly use the experiences and lessons gained from the show to help them still win something pretty awesome: lasting weight loss.

Jez Luckett was eliminated from The Biggest Loser before the finale, but he lost 150 pounds and has kept weight off since the show. He's now turning his experience into something to help others.


Seventeen-hundred western Kansans have signed up to participate in a regional weight loss program. The goal is to lose a collection 14,000 in 12 weeks time. Jez showed up at the opening bash in order to offer up some advice and inspiration to the dieters.

Jez told them, "It's my hope, my dream, my aspiration -- it's my desire for you guys to find a lifetime-lasting goal of fitness and health.”

He shared that his journey has been a lot more in-depth than cutting calories and getting more active. He said, "We have to actively and consciously be aware of the way the mental, the spiritual and the emotional affect the physical as well as just simply losing weight and working out. Until we see that, how they're all connected, we don't really stand to have that true success we're all looking for."

He also told them that the teamwork and support the participants will have will be key to their success. He told them while he's lost the weight, he also said, “I'm not strong enough on my own to do this."

And The Biggest Loser alum had some support himself for the event, with his grandmother and grandfather attending the event. Jez's grandfather said, "He's made us proud for sure.”

His grandmother said Jez looks so different, she almost didn't recognize him when he came to visit for the first time in a while. "He'd lost 90 pounds since I'd seen him, and that makes quite a bit of difference," she said. "But to hear him talk about the transformation he's made personally ... he's just so happy with himself."

- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Hays Daily News
(Image courtesy of NBC)