Woman Loses 110 Lbs & Finds Husband In Online Fitness Community.

maria and ben landers weight loss

The road to weight loss is different for everyone. Some find motivation in a doctor’s orders to get healthy, others reach a breaking point when they see themselves in a photo, still, others look to the success stories of strangers.

For many, that means turning to the internet. Any amount of time scrolling on Instagram reveals images of people young and old working hard to achieve their fitness goals. The online fitness community is huge and it’s growing more by the day, with social influencers posting before-and-after pictures that would inspire even the least workout-enthused people to hit the gym.


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Maria Landers of Sweden is one person who definitely found motivation and solidarity online when she embarked on her fitness journey. At 264 pounds, she needed to take control back.


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In her own words, “When I one day struggled to bend over to tie my shoelaces because my back was hurting so bad, I thought to myself, ‘How did I let this go so far?’ I could not feel the fingers of my left hand because my shoulder was hurting so bad.”

At 22, doctors advised her to look into gastric bypass surgery to lose weight. Much to her surprise, however, she was actually not heavy enough to qualify for the operation. Immediately, her mind raced. She needed to figure out how to gain 20 pounds to get the surgery.

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But when she left the doctor’s office, her mindset changed. Oddly, a few days later, she did get a call saying that she qualified. By then, though, she’d already committed to achieving her goals through diet and exercise. There was no easy way out and she’d have to put in the work if she wanted to take her life back.

So that’s precisely what Maria did!

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She knew she was in for a long haul, but what she didn’t know was that her future husband was starting the same journey 5,000 miles away at the same time.

Ben Landers had reached a similar breaking point in his life in Louisiana. He had the tools he needed to exercise and nail down his nutrition, so he made a commitment to himself.


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“One morning after drinking tequila I just realized, I don’t want to live like this anymore,” he said. “So I started to change, just like that. I realized that I was merely existing in this universe. I am missing out on so much in my life.”

The story behind his motivation to get better was so similar to Maria’s. They knew they deserved better and could do better for themselves. Through the power of the internet, Maria found Ben’s social media accounts and started browsing through his content to learn more about his fitness journey.


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“I HAD to message him. I saw myself in his eyes, and then I sent off a direct message,” she said. She just knew he was meant to be in her life. She wasn’t sure of the capacity in which he’d step into her world, but she saw so much common ground between them.


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A day later, her heart skipped a beat when she saw that he’d messaged her back! He seemed a little hesitant at first, but as he learned more about Maria and her battles, he began to see himself in her as well. After a while, they started chatting all the time via SnapChat, text, and phone.

The time difference between the U.S. and Sweden was a little tricky to navigate, but Maria was so taken by her new friend that she asked for night shifts at her nursing job just so she could talk to him longer each day.


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Finally, he asked her to come visit him in the U.S., and she happily obliged! She just knew in her heart that she’d found her soulmate.

The rest, as they say, is history. The two knew that they had something special, and so they started a long-distance relationship. After a year, Maria made the huge decision to move to the U.S. to be with him!


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They have since gotten married. Together, they continue to dedicate themselves to fitness and a healthy lifestyle. Their stories have been viewed online thousands of times, and for good reason. It’s truly amazing to watch love find a way against incredible odds.

Cheers to Maria and Ben! To learn more about Maria’s road to weight loss, check out the video below. Oh, and be sure to share their story with your friends to keep the inspiration going!

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