Taisha Hayes is a personal trainer and founder of the motivational weight loss website THayesFitness.com.  Growing up with a love of food and aversion to exercise, Taisha weighed nearly 300 pounds by age 23.  Realizing she needed to make a change, Taisha lost 130 pounds without giving up her appreciation for food.  In the process she learned to love exercise and even became a personal trainer!  Taisha has maintained her weight loss for over six years and loves to share her secrets with the world.

Her philosophy is "It Worked For Me, And it Can Work For You Too!"

Though I made plans to lose weight, I never felt I was unattractive or less worthy as a result of my weight.  And fortunately, I was also blessed with great parents who gave me a strong sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Actually, it was more my interest in fashion and pursuing modeling that led me to focus on my weight as an issue as early as elementary school. I’ve tried to lose weight many different ways in my youth.  I just never committed to making a lifestyle change. I always saw it as a short term goal.  And whenever the results didn’t come quickly enough to satisfy me, I would promptly give up, until I heard about or came up with another get thin fast plan. 

 Whether I used an ignorant starvation plan, or tried the traditional work-out/eat right plan, I failed to lose the weight.  As early as elementary school, my mother attempted to support my weight loss goals by walking with me around our neighborhood for exercise.  The walks began as quality time with my mother and we had fun and actually enjoyed the exercise.  But soon my neighborhood friends began to watch, follow and ask, “Why is your mother making you walk?” and “when will you be allowed to play?”   I found it difficult to maintain my motivation after all of the questions and comments, and I eventually stopped the walks and gave up.  In junior high school, I decided to eat one orange a day to "jump start" my weight loss. Somehow I was able to make it through the week surviving on one orange a day, but the moment the week was over I returned to my normal way of eating and I regained the weight. And later in junior high school, I tried the healthy method, when I began working out daily, using the "step" and a work-out tape, while eating healthy. I lost 5 pounds in a week and my mother gave me a greeting card to show her pride and to provide support. Sadly, despite the card, I gave up because I wasn’t in the correct frame of mind to maintain that lifestyle.  Afterward I stopped trying to lose weight and I accepted my weight.

But looking back I realize that I was just living in denial.  I never visualized my future self as an over weight or obese person.  And I had always assumed that I would lose the weight, but I just had no idea how.  I dressed well and lived like I was very happy with my appearance but I also made certain to keep my arms covered and I lied about my weight on my driver's license and anyone else who asked.  I was almost entirely able to avoid the topic of my weight.  But on the rare occasions when it was brought to my attention, I would immediately avoid the issue.  For instance I am fortunate to photograph well, and I was actually quite happy with the majority of my pictures regardless of my weight.  But when I would see a picture of myself looking particularly over weight or obese, I would immediately tear up and destroy the picture.  I would do this without forethought, to very quickly avoid the issue.  It was like I was living in a rose colored bubble of my own creation and I did not want to acknowledge anything that may burst that bubble.  I was very happy with my life on the surface, but I did not truly accept my weight and I did not want to acknowledge that it was a problem.

 My friends attempted to motivate me by suggesting books and/or inviting me to join them at the gym.  Sometimes I appreciated the offers and other times I took offense.  It has been my experience that no one can give you motivation.  Depending on the person speaking and/or the words used, “outside motivation” can backfire and even slow your progress down.  You must locate it within yourself to succeed. And you must come to terms with the facts. Once you accept the requirements to lose the weight and make that commitment to yourself to do the work and make the appropriate lifestyle changes, you are halfway there. 

My motivation began in 2003 with constant news of Gastric Bypass weight loss.  I was intrigued by the success stories, but I was very much aware that it’s a life threatening surgery and that there are complications and side effects associated.   Despite the fact that Gastric Bypass was being used by otherwise healthy individuals, I know that the surgery should only be relied upon by obese people who are suffering medically in ways that would prevent them from being able to lose weight via the traditional methods.  I knew it would never be an option for me, but I still wanted to lose the weight and reach my goal of living a healthier lifestyle. This meant I had to accept that the only way to lose weight and maintain it is to workout and eat healthy.

 I began by making the commitment to workout every day.  I started with the 30min Tae-Boe tape, which is a short time commitment and I found it interesting because it taps into my previous experience in self-defense class. The key was finding an exercise that I could make time for and enjoy while maintaining the commitment.  And as my aptitude and interests changed, so did my work-outs.  Over time I formed an exercise habit and I began to enjoy working out.  Next, I knew I would have to look at my eating habits, but I loved food and I didn’t feel ready for any drastic changes.  So, I began cutting out all liquid calories. I switched to water, but when I missed flavor, I incorporated unsweetened raspberry green tea.  Believe it or not raspberry green tea tastes amazing without sugar, and it actually reminds me of Kool-aid served cold.  I experimented with flavors to broaden choices and green tea added many health benefits to my life. Over time results made it easier to focus on cutting calories.  I became aware of my caloric intake while allowing myself to enjoy the foods I love in moderation.  Calorie requirements for my goal weight were found with a fitness website’s caloric requirements calculator. When I wanted pizza, I used the restaurant's website to check calories and I balanced the rest of my meals for the day.  Soon I learned to remember the calories in the foods I regularly eat, and I became better at portion control.