Background Wes didn’t have weight issues until his family bought restaurants when he was a young teen and he started spending six days a week around food. He managed to take the weight off but his life of partying and inactivity during his 20’s saw the weight return. As a professional hairstylist, Wes feels he’d be more credible if he were in better shape. As a gay man, he feels a lot of pressure from the gay community to be buff and beautiful. Overall, Wes isn’t really happy with the person he is and feels it’s time for a major change. His philosophy is "if you change the outside, the inside will follow" and Wes firmly believes that weight loss is the path to his personal happiness.
Why Taking It Off "The motivation. I was a big fan of the first season and I found it inspirational that these ordinary people were doing some extraordinary things."
Challenges Wes had started on a weight loss program six months before Taking It Off and was already down 37lbs. He started out following the "Body for Life" program but realized that he needed a complete lifestyle change and he couldn’t sustain eating the "Body For Life" way for the rest of his life. Working with a dietician, he is learning how to eat three meals a day and not live in a state of deprivation all the time, the kiss of death to any diet program. Wes’ biggest challenge came when his mother died from cancer this fall. At that point, he was ready to throw in the towel because he felt, "what difference does it make? Why not live life just the way you want, since it’s so short?"
Weighing In "My mom’s death scared me, because I realized I don’t want to look back on my life saying ’woulda, shoulda, coulda.’ There’s a whole world out there and I encourage everyone to make the most of it. It’s never too late to change your body, to change your lifestyle, to feel better. Listen, I’m the procrastination poster child and if I can do it, anybody can!"
