Reigniting the Fire: How the CrossFit Community Helped Taylor Heim Take Back Her Life

If it weren’t for the endless supportive text messages from the members at Tarheel CrossFit, Taylor Heim would still weigh over 350 pounds.

If it weren’t for the coaches grabbing her by the hand and guiding her through recovery, Heim would still be fighting depression and an eating disorder. 

If it weren’t for CrossFit, Heim would still be pre-diabetic. 

“CrossFit genuinely saved my life,” she said. 

At 15 years old, Heim was the fittest she had ever been. By her 20’s, she was fighting to take control of her life after facing domestic abuse. 

But CrossFit helped lift Heim back up just when she felt she was at her lowest. 

Finding Her Fire

Heim discovered CrossFit in 2013 while in high school. Although she said she was “clumsy” and had “horrible form,” it uncovered a passion for powerlifting. She joined her school’s powerlifting team the next year and supplemented her training with CrossFit. 

“I had this sense of confidence that came with weightlifting,” Heim said. “I was one of the heavyweight girls, so I got to compete with the boys. And I had a lot of fun with that. So it became my thing.”

Heim even took first place at a regional powerlifting competition, crediting much of her success in the sport to CrossFit. 

“I don’t think I would have done it unless I was also doing CrossFit,” she said. 

Taking up a rigorous schedule, Heim would attend the 5 a.m. class at Fortitude CrossFit, go to school, and then train with the powerlifting team in the evenings. She would do this five days a week, sometimes adding in another CrossFit class on Saturday mornings. 

After a year, Heim was finally starting to master movements she never thought possible. And that just made her hungry for more. 

“There were so many things I remember seeing and I was like, I’m never gonna get there,” Heim said. “Then one day I started doing toes-to-bars. (Then) I was finally able to do a real snatch, like actually dropping under the bar.”

While she was mastering new CrossFit movements, her powerlifting continued to develop. At 15 years old, Heim was back squatting 405 lb. 

Rock Bottom

As soon as Heim graduated high school at 18 years old, she got married and moved to North Carolina. 

“Everything went downhill once we moved here (North Carolina),” she said. “We were two kids trying to make something work. And it was bad. It was really bad.”

The relationship turned emotionally abusive. She had moved away from her friends and family in Louisiana, gave up college and a career, and was forced to navigate the abuse alone. 

CrossFit was the first to go. Soon, she started to binge eat. 

“I was just in the worst rock bottom at that point. Because I hated myself. I had no confidence in anything that I was doing, my career, my fitness, my health, everything. I just hated everything about me,” Heim said.

Disregarding her health, she was sent into a spiral of depression. Four years later — when Heim was able to leave the relationship and file for divorce — she weighed 355 pounds. 

The Climb

After the divorce, Heim started to dip her toe back into CrossFit again and joined Tarheel CrossFit in Spring Lake, North Carolina. 

“But I still wasn’t consistent,” Heim said. “I was over 300 pounds, and I just liked being strong. So I would just come in on a max (lifting) day, and then not come in again.”

CrossFit didn’t feel the same as it did when she was in high school. Heim said she had trouble even walking up the steps into her apartment, so she would avoid any workouts that would cause her too much discomfort.

For the next three years, Heim joined a class once every few weeks, if that. 

But the second she stepped into the doors of Tarheel CrossFit, the members noticed. And once you join, you will always be a supported member of the community. 

In 2022, Heim started working at Cactus Creek Coffee, a coffee shop attached to Tarheel CrossFit, to supplement her income while she was pursuing her business in photography. So, the members would make a point to check in on Heim every time they entered the gym. 

“They would all ask me when I was going to come into class more and like, ‘Oh, Taylor, we’ll see you in class tomorrow!’ (They were) always trying to push me,” she said. 

But Heim would brush them off, still searching for the ambition to return to class consistently. 

By the winter of 2022, Heim’s health continued to decline. She said she had a miscarriage because her body couldn’t support a full-term pregnancy. She was then diagnosed as pre-diabetic.

This was turning life-threatening, and Heim knew it was time to seek help. She confided in adaptive Games athlete and co-owner of CrossFit Tarheel Christina Mazzullo about her binge eating and struggles over the years. 

Mazzullo immediately took action, becoming Heim’s nutritionist and biggest supporter on the road to recovery.

“She texted me no less than every single morning and night asking me what I was eating and how I was feeling,” she said. “If I was here at the gym, she was by my side, every freaking workout for 365 days straight. I mean, while she was training for the Games, she took me alongside her.”

By January 2023, Heim was attending classes five days a week and joined Mazzulo’s strength and conditioning training in the evenings. That evolved into strength training in the mornings, a CrossFit class in the afternoon, and then conditioning in the evenings.

Although an intense schedule for most, she felt a sense of familiarity. This was very similar to the schedule she followed while in high school. 

“I cried a lot. But you know, after a couple of months, I was like, ‘I don’t know, I’m starting to get better,’” Heim said. 

Coaches and members continued to check up on her after each workout. Some would even text her each night expressing how proud they were of her for showing up. 

“The only reason I came back was our community,” Heim said. “I did not want to go back. But because everyone here was so big on making me want to come back, I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll be there tomorrow.’”

Reigniting the Fire

In one year, Heim had lost 110 pounds and was no longer pre-diabetic. 

“I just feel like a new person,” Heim said. “For the first time since I feel like I was a teenager, I’m running. That alone was the craziest thing. Or being able to do full burpees. That was a very big new win for me. So, a lot of bodyweight movements I’ve never been able to do correctly, I can do them and keep up with people. That’s (also) very new for me, and it’s addictive.”

Most importantly, Heim said she is feeling competitive again, the feeling her 15-year-old self clung to when she first started CrossFit. 

Her deadlift and back squat have increased by 100 lb each since 2022. And her goal this year is to hit a 400-lb back squat, not far from her high-school PR.

She recently earned her Level 1 Certificate and hopes one day she can be a powerful motivator for women experiencing the same struggles she had. 

CrossFit helped ignite Heim’s competitive fire when she was just 15 years old. Although life temporarily saturated the flames, CrossFit was always there, matchbook in hand, ready to reignite that fire.

Heim just needed help from the community to light the match.