According to US News & World Report, over 80% of people fail at their New Year’s resolutions by February.
Author and clinical psychologist Joseph Luciani says it’s because we eventually lose motivation and that outside-in solutions rarely work unless we’ve changed on the inside.
“Unless you first change your mind, don’t expect your health goals to materialize,” Luciani says. “As the saying goes, it’s not the horse that draws the cart, it’s the oats. It’s not the gym, Pilates class or diet that will change you – it’s your mind.”
Lexi and Danny Reed, newlyweds from Indiana clearly changed their collective minds and it resulted in the couple losing a combined 400 pounds. It all started on New Year’s Day in 2017.
“We had no idea exactly how we were going to lose the weight or if we would make it – but we were determined to try,” Lexi wrote. “We knew that together anything was possible.”
In just one year and six months, 500-pound Lexi lost 303 pounds because she fell in love with taking care of herself.
“I found the secret to weight loss was working hard in the gym 5x a week for 30 mins or moving more,” she wrote on Instagram. “I found that I could take the unhealthy foods I loved and make them into healthy versions. I found that by focusing on each day not the 300+lbs I had to lose the days added up & I was making progress.”
The couple’s love for one another helped them achieve their goals.
“I am forever grateful for the way he’s loved me no matter what size and never asked me to change,” Lexi wrote on Instagram. He treated me the same exact way when I was heavy that he does not that I’m healthy. When I agreed to be his wife I agreed to spending the rest of my life with him and I’m so glad we have lost 392 lbs together and gained many years to do just that.”
After her stunning weight loss, Lexi began sharing the inspiring photos of her and her husband’s journey on an Instagram page called Fat Girl Fed Up and it’s earned over a million followers.
Earlier this year, Lexi had to have surgery to remove painful excess skin on her body.
The couple’s dramatic transformation shows just how powerful it is when people support one another in their goals. It’s a good reminder to take a look at the people in our lives and ask if they are helping us become the person we want to be or are they holding us back.
