I was lucky enough to visit the US again last month, I really love the States and I am always inspired by this amazing country. One thing I’m not so inspired about, are some bad American habits! Take for example the drive through craze. I visited the beautiful city of Oklahoma, but was stunned to see so many drive-through facilities like drive through pharmacies/drug-stores and drive through banks. Seriously – a drive through pharmacy! You don’t even have to get out of your car to pick up your medicine, that’s insane. Are we really incapable of walking a few metres or are we just lazy? What’s your opinion? I’m sure you would agree that being stuck in a house and going nowhere, is such a bore. So why leave the house, only to stay in a car??? Whatever happened to getting out and walking to the pharmacy, or at the very least, getting out of your car to walk in to a pharmacy, or a bank or any shop for that matter? The term, getting out, means exactly that – “getting out”.

I wonder if Americans are simply victims of their own technology. We’ve developed so many ways to make our life easier, to which we are in fact making our lives worse off. Obesity is a serious health issue in the US and Australia is following very closely in our neighbours footsteps. I truly hope these are habits we don’t take up down under. I want to see my children grow up with a good future, not a lazy one. Australia and America are very close culturally so I want the dieters of down under to lend a hand to our American pals – if we can change some of America’s bad habits we can make Australia a healthier place too. Please join me in supporting a healthy future. Let’s draw the line between convenience and being healthy. Do you agree with me, do you agree that drive through everything is going too far? I’d love to hear your thoughts!!

I think it's great to have any weight loss show that genuinely encourages people to lose weight and offers them real advice on how to do it, but I don't believe that any show should encourage extreme and dangerous behaviour to lose weight. It's demeaning and unnecessary. I was shocked The Biggest Loser is encouraging contestants to run a 10km marathon at the size they are. Aside from the physical concerns I have about such extreme behaviours, emotionally this sort of message does nothing to encourage obese people at home to do something about their size. It's hardly motivating or inspiring, it's stupid!

Imagine someone that weighs 150kgs trying to run 10k. Who are they kidding and what really happened behind the scenes of the show that viewers didn't get to see? Are the producers presenting a true picture of what the contestants went through? The audience at home who are over weight are getting a message that they need to almost die to lose weight. This is wrong. I can't bare to watch these people literally vomiting while exercising. It is a disgrace. It is demeaning to the contestants, a poor message to send out to anyone watching at home who may have weight problems, and aside from all of that, it's just not the right way to lose weight. I know it’s just a television show but there are people all over the world watching these shows looking for any shred of hope they can gather, and what they're being served is not hope, but fear. You do not need to push yourself to the point of vomiting to lose weight. You should not ever be made to feel like a freak or be humiliated to lose weight.

I do believe you need to allow yourself to come out of your comfort zone, but not in this sort of extreme way. You don't need to work out for 3 to 6 hours per day to get results - who has the time? It is not right for the contestants who are vulnerable and desperate to be put in that position because they will do whatever they are told, even if it's not the right way to lose weight. I'd like to know how many Biggest Loser contestants have put weight back on since they've been home and back in the real world with no trainers or chefs. The proper way to lose weight is to incorporate a healthy diet and exercise plan that you can handle and make part of your everyday life and to start believing in yourself, because YOU are THE BIGGEST WINNER. And you can achieve anything you set your mind to without resorting to such tactics. Believe in yourself, you can achieve anything, a gift of life is believing.