Woman shares her story about how she lost 160 lbs.

CINCINNATI - We're On Your Side with the battle of the bulge.  In our get up and get fit series we look at a Tri-State woman who fought with her weight for years and she tells us what finally ended up helping her shed the pounds.

Nathalie Hayes knows what a struggle it is to lose weight and keep it off.

"I was always the heavy-set kid growing up," she said. "You know, I got teased in grade school."

The elementary school teacher is half the size she used to be a decade ago. She says she tried all kinds of crazy diets, but they never worked for her. Hayes would ultimately crash and fail and go back to unhealthy foods.

"I used [food] as a comfort. I used it as, you know, I stress ate, I ate when I was happy, I ate when I was sad, and it just became an unhealthy thing for me," Hayes said.

She knew she had to make a change.  That's when a friend turned her on to weight watchers.  Hayes stuck with it and the pounds slowly came off, 160 of them over a two-year period.

"All the other diets I tried, it was 'You can't eat this, you can't eat that.' Whereas this was you can eat this, you just can't eat the entire thing," she said.

Hayes had to change the way she thought about food.  Her success landed her the cover of People magazine.  Hayes says she hasn't really changed what she keeps in her refrigerator, but she looks for low fat versions and tries to always have fresh fruits and vegetables in her home.  Hayes says she is happy to share her story with anyone who will listen.

"It was discouraging to me because I didn't lose, I mean I didn't lose every week, and you have bad days, and you have bad weeks, and you have bad months, but you just got to keep going with it because it is the rest of your life," Hayes said.

She says family and friends have played a huge role in her success, and knows she couldn’t have accomplished her goal without them.

"They saw how the transformation was changing me and making me happier so they really wanted me to continue with that," Hayes said. "They still encourage me now."

Hayes says she won't tell you it's easy, but she will tell you if you want to lose weight it's a daily struggle. One that if you take it day by day, you can accomplish.