Take Out Food
Lexi and Danny seemed to be like any American couple. They fell in love and decided to get married. They loved to spend time in front of the television and at restaurants; junk food was a staple for them. Lexi didn’t lead a very healthy lifestyle and marriage seemed to make her eating habits even worse.
Take Out Food
Enabing One Another
In 2007, Lexi and Danny started dating. What they didn’t realize was that they were actually causing each-other to eat unhealthily. Take-outs and meals at fast-food restaurants were becoming a regular part of their lives, and watching TV while eating wasn’t helping either. Sometimes they did manage to lose some weight, but it quickly returned.
Enabing One Another
Taking On The Challenge Together
At 25 years old, Lexi Reed’s weight soared to an unbelievable 485 pounds. Danny was quite overweight too at 280 pounds, and the two seemed to be gaining more and more. Many day-to-day activities seemed to become real burdens, some as simple as riding a bicycle or going for a walk. But it was on their first wedding anniversary in 2016 that everything would change.
Taking On The Challenge Together
A New Year’s Resolution
Like almost every person in the world, when New Year’s eve came in 2016, the couple decided that they were going to change their lives by making a challenging New Year’s resolution. Many people make big promises to themselves and others regarding the new year, but more often than not, they don’t keep them. The Reeds were going to be different.
A New Years Resolution
Daring Challenge
When one of their friends heard that they were making a resolution regarding their weight, he decided to get involved. It started off with a suggestion to avoid cheat meals and alcohol for 30 days – this seemed like a piece of cake (oops, sorry) for the two. But as time went on they would realize just how difficult it would be. Lexi and Danny even invested in a gym membership.
Daring Challenge
Taking Baby Steps
The gym offered cardio classes that Lexi found very challenging, “I tried to do high-intensity cardio, but I wasn’t able to,” she remembers. Even though Lexi was completely motivated to become fitter and lose weight, she quickly discovered that it was difficult with her weight to keep up with the rest of the class.
Taking Baby Steps
Seeing The Progress
Once the 30-day mark closed in, Lexi was impressed with the fact that she was looking and feeling a lot better. This gave her a massive boost of motivation and she convinced herself to continue her new diet and exercise routine. Soon she was losing 20 pounds each month until the point that it plateaued. “My weight loss had slowed and I had picked up the intensity of my workouts and adjusted my calories to continue losing consistently,” she said.
Seeing The Progress
No Excuses
Many people want to lose weight, but when it comes to actually doing it, their willpower quickly diminishes. When someone doesn’t keep to their word they don’t only lose motivation, they start to feel bad about themselves. Lexi didn’t allow herself to get to that point so she made sure that her gym routine was the most important thing to her, saying, “I just kind of try to set it up like a business meeting. I am my own boss and I can’t cancel.”
No Excuses
Partnering Up
Even though Lexi weighed a lot more than her husband, Danny, they took on the project to lose weight together. During the most challenging times, they were there for one-another, making sure that they didn’t fail and that they were becoming the best versions of themselves.
Partnering Up
What About Danny
Danny had fallen into a unhealthy routine himself before they committed to getting healthier. “At first the idea didn’t sound great because it was always good going home, sitting down, eating a not having to worry about anything.” He started off by weighing 280 pounds, and today he weighs about 190 pounds.
What About Danny
Getting Viral
Without realizing it, the couple started to get a lot of attention as they started losing weight. Lexi had used Instagram to share her progress with some friends, but she was especially surprised when People Magazine featured them in their “Half Their Size” issue. Their journey started to turn into a viral story.
Getting Viral
Couch Potatoes
It was when Megyn Kelly hosted Lexi on her show that Lexi revealed what sparked her decision to start getting healthy: “We were just fed up with spending so many nights sitting on our couch binge watching television, mindlessly eating all our calories.” But being confined to the couch came as a result of not being able to do many other things.
Couch Potatoes
Rollercoaster Rides
One of Lexi’s dreams had been to visit Harry Potter World at Universal Studios, but her weight literally prevented her from being able to do so since weight and size restrictions were assigned to certain rides.
Rollercoaster Rides
Becoming A Mom
But entertainment was only one side of the issue for her, there was something a whole lot more serious to Lexi. “I knew I could never be a mom at the size that I was and that was the one thing that motivated me,” said Lexi. Having a baby at her weight could be dangerous to both her and the baby.
Becoming A Mom
Warning Signs
During the interview with Megyn Kelly, Lexi was asked about her greatest challenges that she faced from day to day, and Lexi quickly answered, “I would wake up in the morning, my joints would be sore, I would be tired, I would be out of breath quickly.” At age 25 she knew that this was no way to continue her life.
Warning Signs
Changing Their Lifestyle
It was all about small changes for Lexi and Danny, “We started changing the foods that we were eating… we stopped eating out for every single meal and we made healthy versions of the food that we were craving. We started moving more and walking and going the gym just five times a week.”
Changing Their Lifestyle
Instagram Fans
Instagram has the potential to reach great numbers of people, but Lexi didn’t realize just how many. Her account, appropriately named “Fatgirlfedup”, started to attract hoards of followers; before she knew it she had almost 700 thousand followers. It was her decision to use this platform not just as a sounding board, but as a tool to inspire and motivate others.
Instagram Fans
Looking And Feeling Good
Just like always, there were those who believed the couple only pursued this journey for superficial reasons, but Lexi had a positive reply for them: “I’ve always been a super happy person. Like I loved myself even at 485 pounds, but just to be able to wake up and do whatever I want to do and go wherever I want to go… I don’t feel like I’m a prisoner in my own body anymore.” Looking good was a bonus, but feeling good was their goal.
Looking And Feeling Good
Love In All Shapes And Sizes
What is so amazing about these two, is the way they’ve loved each-other, through “thick and thin”. “He (Danny) never saw me as my size, asked me to change, or made me feel as anything other than beautiful,” said Lexi, “He treated me the same way at 485lbs that he does at 182lbs. Love doesn’t have a size or weight limit.”
Love In All Shapes And Sizes
Lexi’s Weight Loss Advice
Of course, seeing as she has come such a long way, people want to know how she did it. For those who want to lose weight, Lexi says, “Start small. Small changes add up to big result.” We often set ourselves massive goals, but then feel overwhelmed by them.
Lexis Weight Loss Advice
Gaining Not Losing
Their story makes us think that this is all about losing weight, but Lexi says that it’s far more than losing; in fact it’s actually “gaining”. She proudly shared on Instagram that, “It’s not about the weight that you lose but the life that you gain.”
Gaining Not Losing
No Rush
Despite the ease with which Lexi speaks about her incredible transformation, she really wants people to understand that losing weight is a long process; it’s not a race. She said it best on her Instagram, “I am human and it’s so important to remember at the end of the day this is a journey, not a sprint. This is a lifestyle, not a diet.”
No Rush
Growing Together
“This helped our relationship a lot and that is pretty cool… Us being able to do stuff together has brought us closer together.” It just goes to show what can happen when a couple take on a mutual goal together.
Growing Together
Addicted To Being Healthy
Lexi and Danny turned their life into a health challenge to the point that it became a sort of obsession. Lexi couldn’t hold back her excitement when she said that, “once I saw the results, it kind of became more of an addiction for me.”
Addicted To Being Healthy
No Liposuction Required
There were those who assumed that Lexi underwent liposuction, but she proudly told them that she didn’t. “You don’t have to have surgery, you don’t have to pay crazy amounts of money just to eat healthy or to have a trainer, like just move! Start walking,” she said. It’s true that Liposuction leads to weight loss, but there are definitely healthier ways of getting slimmer.
No Liposuction Required
Huge Following
Today Lexi has more than 750,000 followers on Instagram, and all of these followers have found inspiration in what she has done. “I just would be happy if like maybe ten people would follow me that were my friends. I didn’t think anybody would follow me. It’s just crazy.”
Huge Following
Inspiring Others
“It’s not even about that, just for people to come and be like, ‘You really inspired be. Because of you I went to the gym today’ or, ‘because of you I’ve started to diet and I’ve lost 20 pounds and I can do this now.’” Lexi isn’t searching for glory, instead she’s just happy knowing that she’s making a difference in other people’s lives.
Inspiring Others
Just Numbers
For most people the best way to tell if you’re healthy or not is on the scale, but Lexi believes otherwise. “Always remember to love yourself because at the end of the day the scale is just a tool & you are worth more than a number.”
Just Numbers
Cooking VS Eating Out
It’s no secret that a bad habit is hard to break, but once you do it, a huge weight is lifted off your shoulders. “The hardest part of our journey was changing our relationship with food. To go from eating out for every single meal to teaching myself how to cook every single day to meal prepping together, it was a very drastic change,” explains Lexi.
Cooking VS Eating Out
Not Paying Attention
When the couple opened a YouTube page, they didn’t realize that it would become a public platform for answering questions. Someone once asked how they gained so much weight while they were dating and Lexi simply said, “I don’t think we realized in actuality how large we were because I look at progress pictures and I’m like, ‘That was me. That doesn’t even look like me.’ We didn’t feel like it was a problem.”
Not Paying Attention
Their Channel
Their YouTube channel is also called “Fatgirlfedup” and it has a following of more than 30,000. The couple uses vlog-style videos to inspire others who have a desire to get into better shape.
Their Channel
It Takes Hard Work
Even though we are constantly flooded with commercials that promise easy and fast weight loss, the truth is that it takes a lot of work. Danny and Lexi really drive the point home that losing weight is a journey with many obstacles; not just a single-pill solution.
It Takes Hard Work
Comparing Themselves
Taking a look at the first picture of this couple and comparing it with a recent one can make your jaw drop. We can hardly believe that these two people are the same people, but it does prove that hard work and determination can literally change who you are.
Comparing Themselves
Over Eating
Looking back at the days of bad health and unhealthy eating, Lexi and Danny recall that every trip to a restaurant was another opportunity to pile their plates with food. Going out for Chinese would usually mean that they would munch down as many as seven plates of food – be it chips, ribs, chicken, meats or whatever else, and usually they ordered them deep-fried.
Over Eating
Loved For Who She Was
When the couple first met when they were just 16 years old, they knew that they were meant for each-other. Danny didn’t see Lexi’s weight as an issue, he saw her for who she was. Lexi said in an interview, “When Danny and I met at 16 years old, I weighed over 300lbs. He never knew me as any less and never asked me to change.”
Loved For Who She Was
Homemade Fastfood
One of the most difficult challenges for the Reeds was not eating out anymore. “For the first month, I didn’t eat out at all, I made everything and I don’t even like cooking, so I was constantly learning. I was cooking foods I enjoyed and taking foods that I had liked before and making healthy versions of those meals. I didn’t feel deprived and could still eat the foods I wanted.” Lexi was making “homemade fastfood”.
Homemade Fastfood
Walking Was Difficult
Some of us can’t even imagine what it means to be so overweight. For Lexi she hated the fact that everything was a burden, “I wanted to be able to go on hikes and walk with my husband, to go on the bike and rollercoasters. I wanted to do all the things you want to do, that you can’t when you are overweight. For me, even walking was chore.”
Walking Was Difficult
Waiting For Results
Lexi knows very well how challenging it is to keep to a goal of losing weight, so she has some inspiring words for those working on it: “Obviously you didn’t gain all that weight overnight, you’re not going to see results right away and you’re not going to lose all your weight in a day.”
Waiting For Results
Finally, A Sign
Even when she had started changing the way she led her life, it took three weeks for the first results to come up. She said, “It took 3 weeks before I really saw results. Once I did, I became addicted.”
Finally A Sign
Straining The Relationship
Even though the two of them were spending time next to each-other on the sofa, they were actually drifting apart. Lexi recalls, “We would spend so many nights, eating and watching Netflix and not talking.”
Straining The Relationship
No Knowledge, Just Will
It was no easy decision and task to do what these two did. Lexi said, “I just decided enough was enough. I was ready to change my life. I decided I was going to work hard for it every single day. I didn’t have a trainer or meal plan.” She went on, “I didn’t know about nutrition, cooking, I had no surgery, took no pills. I was just your average girl who was fed up and wanted to change.”
No Knowledge Just Will
One Day At A Time
The path to becoming healthier was also a learning experience for Lexi, about herself. “I was willing to learn every single day. I focused on the single day ahead of me, not the 300 pounds I knew I had to lose, because that would have overwhelmed me. It made me feel like I didn’t have such a long way to go.”
One Day At A Time
Lexi’s Diet Plan
Now for those who want to know what Lexi does and eats to have gotten to where she is – 30 Minutes Cardio (Elliptical Machine), Breakfast – 3 Pieces of turkey bacon, 2 Large eggs, Snack 1 – Protein shake, Lunch – Salmon patties, asparagus, broccoli cottage cheese, Snack 2 – Banana + Almond butter, 30 Minutes Cardio (Elliptical Machine), Dinner – Turkey Burgers (Buns – Honey Wheat Sandwich Thins, Cheese – Fat Free), Steamed Broccoli/Cauliflower, Mushrooms.
Lexis Diet Plan
Saving Their Lives
When a person becomes so severely obese, they are actually putting their lives in danger. Their decision to get healthy was actually saving their lives. “There are no words to explain the feeling of saving your own life,” Lexi Told. “Going into 2018 I have nothing but a newfound happiness for this life I am living. I no longer am a prisoner in my own body and instead of just existing in my own life, I’m finally alive. Every day I wake up is a blessing.”
Saving Their Lives
Studying Nutrition
Everything that Lexi has learnt about nutrition has motivated her to look deeper into the subject. She wants to study it at university.
Studying Nutrition
Getting Out
Obviously changing what you eat and the exercise you do will influence your weight. But getting outdoors is good for your body and for your mind. Lexi explained, “We now have a more adventurous relationship & can do more active things together such as hiking, walking, bike riding, etc.”
Getting Out
Get The Right People
Support and love can do amazing things, and that’s what Danny and Lexi Reed were all about. Lexi explains how the positivity and support from those around her made such a difference, “Losing weight is hard & even harder when those you love don’t support you. I’m one lucky girl to have someone who always loved me no matter what size & saw who I could be.”
Get The Right People
Leaving The Comfort Zone
Shedding those pounds has given Lexi a ton of self-confidence that she’s basking in. “Riding a dirtbike! Never in a million years did I ever think that my weight loss journey would take me here or I ever would get to do something that [Danny] loves so much.”
Leaving The Comfort Zone
Protein Shakes
According to Lexi, a safe and healthy meal replacement is a protein shake. At least once a day she’ll make herself a shake and also points out that these shakes can serve as “in-between” meals.
Protein Shakes
Setting High Goals
Although there are many who say that you shouldn’t set goals that are unrealistic, Lexi and Danny believe that you should still set high goals to challenge yourself. Each of them serves as the other’s inspiration and motivation.
Setting High Goals
Summer DietBet
There’s a movement called “DietBet” which motivates people to lose weight and win different money prizes. “DietBet” has aided hundreds of thousands of people to lose weight, and some have even become a little richer.
Summer DietBet
Needles And Tattoos
How do you feel about needles? Tattoos? Lexi has wanted to get a tattoo representing the distance she’s come on her weight loss journey. There’s one catch though, she’s afraid of needles. On Instagram she posted, “Fun fact – I HATE needles and even though I want a weight loss tattoo I’m terrified.”
Needles And Tattoos
Making Dreams Come True
Something amazing this couple has taught us is that when you set your sights on a goal, you can achieve it. There will be tough days and rough challenges, but if you’re committed you can do anything.
Making Dreams Come True
