Area's biggest loser says he'll never go back to fat

After Gerald "Jerry" Hayes was voted off "The Biggest Loser," he left the ranch with the bitter memory of trainer Jillian Michaels calling him weak.

The 64-year-old Wheaton resident eventually promised himself that he would prove Michaels wrong if he ever met her again.

That moment came Tuesday night during the NBC TV show's season finale when Jerry won $100,000 for being the eliminated contestant who lost the highest percentage of weight. Jerry, who weighed in at 369 pounds at the start of the reality show's seventh season, now is a considerably slimmer 192 pounds.

Disregarding the fact that he was on live television and millions of people were watching, Jerry picked up Michaels and held her in his now-more-muscular arms.

"I wasn't planning on doing that on the stage," Jerry told the Daily Herald in a telephone interview Wednesday from California. "I was planning to do it when I first saw her. Well, guess when I first saw her? On the stage."

While he acknowledges that Michaels was shocked, Jerry said he quickly made the reason for his actions clear.

"I told her, 'I'm not weak anymore,' he said. "She got it. She knew why I did it."

Jerry and his 63-year-old wife, Estella, are the oldest contestants to ever appear on "The Biggest Loser." And they both made early exits from the California ranch where the show is taped.

Estella was sent home for at least 30 days to lose weight on her own because of a first episode plot twist. Then Jerry was eliminated during his second week.

But the grandparents didn't give up their quest to get healthy. Since coming home in October, Estella and Jerry followed a diet and exercise plan that included training with Amanda Roush, a personal trainer at Wheaton Sport Center.

Combined, the Hayeses lost 260 pounds in nearly seven months. Estella dropped 83 pounds from her starting weight of 242.

"Our goal was never to win the money," Jerry said. "The goal was get our life back."

But now that he's won $100,000, what does he plan to do with what's left after taxes?

"I am going to give some of it to my church," Jerry said. "And we're going to do stuff with our family."

One thing he doesn't plan to do with the money is save it.

"It's not going to go in our savings account for retirement," Jerry said. "I worked too hard for this. This is for our family to enjoy it."

In the meantime, Jerry and Estella are planning to do some traveling for the next few weeks, including a trip to San Francisco where Jerry hopes to participate in Sunday's Bay to Breakers 12-kilometer race.

Jerry, who no longer suffers from sleep apnea and other weight-related ailments, said there were three things he wanted to do after getting healthy. Since Tuesday night's "Biggest Loser" finale, he got to do two of them: eat a cheese omelet and drink one beer.

Next, he plans to eat a single doughnut at a San Jose doughnut shop.

"Beyond that, I am counting the calories," he said. "I'm staying with it."

As long as he and Estella continue to watch what they eat and support each other, Jerry said he's confident they will keep the weight off and continue to be advocates for a healthy lifestyle.

"It gives me a new goal," he said. "I've got to go through the rest of my life and not gain this weight back."

And what about that golden tan he was sporting on national television?

"They sprayed it on us," he said with a laugh. "It will fade off."