Crystel Saturday Lost Weight and Gained a Calling
Photos shot by Aryelle Perez
When Crystel Saturday discovered a way to lose weight naturally, she hoped her story would encourage other women to do the same. Less than a year later, her videos have gone viral, she has over 70,000 followers on Instagram, and a new business as a health accountability coach.
In January 2023, Saturday was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. Her weight was at its highest, she was breathless as she chased around her two young sons, and she was fearful of the future.
“I somehow had settled into thinking that being heavy was just how I would be for the rest of my life, but then a switch went off. I was tired of the excuses and tired of feeling like junk. I was 39 years old with children who deserve the best of me,” said Saturday, now 40. “I was overwhelmed and depressed, but I decided I’d focus on just one thing at a time.”
Saturday began by assessing her eating habits. When she tracked her daily diet, she realized she was consuming between 3,000 and 4,000 calories a day. She immediately cut out her daily dessert, then stopped her nighttime snacking.
“Now we eat dinner at 5:30 or 6 and I eat nothing else before bed,” said Saturday, who lives in Johns Creek with her husband, Ryan, and their boys Levi, 4, and Jace, almost 2.
Eliminating nighttime eating transitioned into an intermittent fasting schedule, which helped her shed her first 10 pounds.
“I still maintain a 16-hour fast,” said Saturday. “I don’t take my first bite of food until 10:30 am. I use water when I feel hungry and I’ll break the fast for special occasions, but the routine has become second nature.”
Saturday’s next steps were to increase her water intake, limiting herself to just one non-water drink a day, and she reduced her food portions. She also began to move more.
“I put on my Apple watch and made sure I was up every hour,” said Saturday. “I did more chores around the house, vacuuming and laundry, no more TV. I turned my life into an exercise program, anything to break a sweat. I began pushing the kids in the stroller more, opting to walk them to and from daycare, and spend free time on nature trails.”
The daily miles added up and by May she set a goal of walking five miles a day.
“I lost 10 pounds from walking that month,” said Saturday. “I’d do five to six miles in an hour-and-a-half and my whole body was engaged. I was moving my arms, swinging my hips. I moved like I was marching to right a wrong against my family.”
Hoping to also gain muscle, Saturday tried a program called 75 Hard, a mental toughness challenge that requires a strict diet, no cheat meals, and two 45-minute workouts a day among other things.
While Saturday lost weight and got stronger during the program, she did not like the mental ramifications.
“I felt like a failure if I needed a rest day or if I craved chocolate,” said Saturday. “I felt obsessed with food and realized that programs like that are why people never try to lose weight or why they quit. That’s when I had an idea. I combined the tricks I’d learned on my own with the positives from 75 Hard and created the 60 New Challenge.”
Saturday started her health and fitness Instagram page, Commit to Change with Crystel, in September 2023 and launched her first 60 New Challenge in November. The challenge has a checklist with the 7 daily habits — like not eating after dinner and waking and going to sleep at the same time each day — that helped her lose 85 pounds.
“If you miss a day on my challenge, you don’t fail,” said Saturday. “You pick it up the next day and stay committed to your journey.”
Saturday, who is a realtor, never expected her Instagram venture to turn into a business. She intended to keep giving advice for free, but she was spending six to eight hours a day answering messages and receiving hundreds of requests for one-on-one coaching.
“There’s this demand to help people and I take this responsibility seriously,” said Saturday. “I’m up front about the fact that I’m not a trainer or a nutritionist, and I’m also not an influencer. I’m helping people on an intimate level, not influencing them for a moment, but giving them tools they can use for a lifetime.”
Saturday, who would like to book inspirational speaking engagements, said she asks God for signs that this is the right path for her, and every day she receives them.
“I open my messages and read stories from women around the world,” said Saturday. “It’s so moving and humbling to know that I’ve helped them, and then there’s the ripple effect. People tell me their daughter or sister committed to joining them in making this huge, healthy change and I’m left with tears in my eyes. Sometimes we don’t even know that by putting ourselves out there, we’re impacting so many. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to help others.”
To learn more about Crystel’s weight loss journey and her 60 New Challenge, visit www.committochangewithcrystel.com or find her on Instagram: CommittoChangeWithCrystel