A morbidly obese couple from Missouri who appeared on TLC’s

Lee Sutton and Rena Kiser can now have sex after losing 574 pounds between them.

“We never had intercourse before but we can now!” Lee said on the show, per the Daily Mail. Lee, who once weighed 714 pounds, and Rena, who was 542 pounds, each had gastric bypass surgery which helped them lose a significant amount of weight over 12 months.

The couple met 11 years ago at a weight-loss clinic and weren’t able to have sex at all during their relationship due to their weight. But the couple became even stronger on their journey.

“Our relationship has definitely improved. We can do stuff for ourselves more and don’t have to rely as much on others,” Lee told Newsweek, adding that they plan to get married eventually. “We will be together until death do us part!”

On the show, Lee got help from bariatric surgeon Younan Nowzaradan, M.D., who pushed him to keep making progress. At one point on the show, Lee had only lost nine pounds and told the doctor that he was retaining water and was nervous about being malnourished. “Do you look like you’re malnourished?” Nowzaradan replied. “You’re overeating, and whatever you’re overeating you’re throwing up.

It means the surgery is working to hold you back when you make bad choices, and it’s the only reason that you didn’t gain 100 pounds these last two months.” (Kick-start your new, healthy routine with Women's Health's 12-Week Total-Body Transformation!)

The doctor also told Lee that he’s been given a tool to help change his life. “Now that you’ve had the surgery, the physical drive to eat is gone. So you have to deal with what is driving you to eat,” he said. “That’s the hard part and you don’t want to do it. And you’re running from it and self-destructing.”

Check out this video for more of Lee and Rena's story:

Lee tells Newsweek that things are better now. He’s even able to walk and drive, which he wasn’t able to do in the past. He also went on Facebook and thanked people for their support. “Me and Rena are better people now,” he said.