Sometimes in life you meet that special person who fills your heart in all the right places, and you find that you want to be with them all the time. It didn’t take long for Crystal and Lior Collins to find this cozy place. Unfortunately, cozy became sedentary, and they both resumed old patterns of unhealthy eating.
After an embarrassing party epiphany, they decided to take the weight off the way they had put it on, together. Now, they have a combined weight loss of almost 200 pounds.
Crystal admits she and her husband, Lior, both struggled with weight problems in middle and high school. “Separately we were able to lose weight,” she said. “So when we started dating in 2003, we were finally under control in the weight department.” Unfortunately, the couple spent their free time focusing on what Crystal calls their only hobbies, “eating and drinking.”
The Wii Fit Voice Is Harsh
The pair knew they were eating too much and not getting enough activity but nothing spurred them into changing their habits. In 2024, while visiting with friends, Crystal became fascinated by their new Wii Fit gaming system. Eager to try it out, Crystal stepped on the pad, only to hear the machine say, “Oh. You’re obese.” Lior wouldn’t go near it.
The couple was already following a commercial weight loss program to help organize their diet. Then they purchased their own Wii Fit to really focus on exercise. Soon after, the pair started jogging, making small attainable goals and then increasing their distance, “See that light pole, we can run that far. . . OMG we ran a mile without stopping. . . two miles. . . three.”
Learning not to panic and find balance
Soon, Crystal and Lior were running distances equal to half-marathons, so they signed up. Each one got easier and now Crystal says after 17 races, she’s officially lost count of how many the pair have completed, separately and together. When race burnout eventually set in, they eased up on their rigorous training schedule, but when 10 pounds crept back on, they started to panic.
Now, Crystal says, they both have a very health approach to their weight. “We think 80/20 is the perfect life balance,” she said. “If the scale starts to creep, we go back to tracking our points and we are right back to our comfort level.”
Maintaining is way more stressful
The couple says their goal now is simply to maintain their weight loss, and try to figure out how to, “fold two years of counting calories and following formulas into their everyday lives.”
Advice the couple would give to others who are struggling with their weight? “You didn’t get this size overnight and you are not going to lose it overnight. Follow the formula and results will come. Even when you have good weeks and bad weeks, if you stay honest with yourself and make it a lifestyle, you will never look back.”
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