Win, Lose, Spin: A Former Biggest Loser Makes Fitness a Family Must

Michelle Chopin brings a dose of inspiration with her to every spin class she teaches at Babylon Village gym Fitness Incentive, along with her iPod playlist and detailed instruction plans.

She can't help it: Michelle and her husband Erik are walking, talking billboards for positive life changes. Erik not only famously won his season of The Biggest Loser with a record-breaking weight loss of 214 pounds, he also famously put most of the weight back on, appearing on Oprah and other news shows to talk about his ongoing struggles with weight.

Two years later, the former West Islip deli owner is a fixture at the gym and a regular in the spin room with Michelle. They both recently completed certification courses and are now licensed instructors, and Erik is also a life coach, ready to impart some of their hard-earned knowledge to others.

Michelle says Erik's struggles to maintain his weight loss after the end of the show was the hard part, and ultimately became a family affair.

"It was after the cameras stopped rolling that we had to figure out what we could eat and when we would find the time to exercise," she says.

The full-time working mother of three who gained weight after having kids—"I was the overweight mom that didn’t look in the mirror anymore"—admits that with the pull of so many different daily schedules there are lots of handy excuses not to work out. Not that she uses them.

"I think I really had to drop the 'mother’s guilt' and realize that this is not just for me, but for every member of my family now."

Erik agrees.

"Having the whole family on the same healthy page is a must. If I think back to the times that I drifted from eating well and being active, it seemed my family did the same."

Now the couple prioritizes exercise, and will work out together as often as they can, and their family eating habits have changed drastically from several years ago when Erik admits they had ice cream for dessert almost every night. Rather than expect kids to completely abstain, they introduce treats in moderation and try to keep the junk food out of the house.

Looking back at the life transformation they've made, Michelle reflects, "I am proud to say without a doubt, I am better at 40 than I was at 30."

Michelle's decision to become a spin instructor stemmed from a desire to show others that they aren't alone in weight struggles, and if this family can do it, well, so they can they.

"I love to help people understand that it's not just them struggling to find the balance: we are all in this together."

For Erik, the transformation from his days as a father who had trouble keeping up trick-or-treating or walking to the bus stop with his kids, to a positive role model who has now completed an Olympic-distance triathlon, has been a hard-won mental victory.

"Knowing I can compete again and I am fit was a powerful feeling after regaining control of my life and losing weight that I gained back. Now I can help my kids to live the right way and since it's part of their routine today, they should have one less struggle to deal with during their adulthood."