A Couple’s Journey From Thick to Thin and Instagram Influencing

By: Calla Conway | Last updated: Dec 16, 2022

Fed up with their weight, Lexi and Danny Reed embarked on an incredible weight loss journey. Unlike those who decide on small steps to lose weight such as including water in their diet or eating more vegetables, Danny and Lexi took a whole different route all together. This decision would ultimately change their lives forever.

After their incredible journey, Lexi became a fitness influencer on Instagram. However, she ran into hot water with her following and has been accused of swindling them out of money. She claims that she needed help for a legitimate medical emergency. Read below and decide for yourself!

A Difficult Struggle with Excess Weight

For Lexi losing, the weight has been a constant battle she has had to deal with her whole life. She speaks on how she tried to use Weight Watchers and follow weight loss programs, but they never yielded results. And if she did make progress and drop a few pounds, she would always gain

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If she was able to make progress and drop a few pounds, she would always gain them back.  To try to make progress she would often skip breakfast yet end up having an extra heavy lunch. She was in a counterproductive cycle.

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Prince Charming Walks In

When Danny met Lexi, he didn’t care about her weight and accepted her as she came. He could also relate to her plight as he also struggled with his own weight. According to Danny, when he was younger and active in sports, he was able to sufficiently manage his weight.

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But once he stopped being active in sports, that stopped.  When the two came together and got comfortable in their relationship they continued to add even more weight between the two of them.

The 765 Pound Couple

Lexi admits that the couple’s favorite pastime was binge-watching Netflix and ordering in their favorite junk food in lieu of healthier options. Taking care of themselves and their health took a back seat; in her own words, they became the 765-pound couple.

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Eating was a shared interest between the couple. The couple even confessed that they would spend time at buffets eating to their heart’s contentment and encouraging unhealthy behavior in each other.

Just Keep the Food Coming

Lexi openly talked about coming from a home where money was scarce, therefore buying processed foods was easier than buying healthy foods. She was raised in an environment that made it difficult to develop healthy eating habits.

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WIthout the learned tools to make wiser choices, Lexi continued in a spiral of eating poorly, gaining weight, and feeling bad about it. It felt like the cycle would never end.

Will You Marry all of Me?

All of that changed when Danny declared his love for Lexi and asked her to marry him. She eagerly began her wedding journey to marry the love of her life.

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However, there was one big problem. At 485 pounds, Lexi could not find a wedding dress that fit her.  The high moment suddenly became a very low one, and began to spin the wheels of the bride-to-be.

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It’s Time For Taking Off

Lexi eventually was able to find herself a wedding dress and marry Danny. Like every other couple, they started looking at life after the wedding, they wanted to have children but to achieve this they had to face some difficult truths.

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Among them was that having a child with Lexi’s weight would be considered a high-risk pregnancy and the chances of her or the child surviving were close to none.

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Too Big to Travel

One of Lexis’s dreams was to visit Universal Studios to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. She realized that if she had any hopes to travel, she had to get healthier, as she couldn’t fit into a plane chair.

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Not only was air travel a problem for her, she also had to be able to fit on the rides at Universal Studios. At nearly 500 pounds this was never going to a reality.

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Still Stuck on the Couch

Lexi was becoming disillusioned with their “Netflix and Chill” lifestyle and was wanting to embrace more in their life. Yet, it was hard to stir the willpower to really change it.

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“We really were frustrated with having to spend far too many evenings lounging on our sofa binge-watching Television, consuming all our calories thoughtlessly,” she said.

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Her Health Suffered

“I ‘d wake up each morning, my muscles would be stiff, I would be exhausted, but I would also immediately be well out of breath.” Lexi said.

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Lexi was a young woman with the physical realities of someone much older than her. She was dooming herself to a life of pain and discomfort, along with missing out on key components of life and happiness.

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Time for a Change

Lexi Reed was only 25 years old and weighed a whopping 485 pounds. Danny, her husband, averaged 280 lbs. Many normal tasks were becoming complicated, including riding a bike or even taking a walk.

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When it got to their first anniversary, the couple figured it was crucial for them to start making some lifestyle changes or continue towards a life of hardship and struggle.

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Changes Would Come For The New Year

With the incoming of a new year, the couple made a resolution to take their health and fitness seriously and make true fundamental changes.

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They were both fed up with being overweight and confident that as a team they could overcome their weight loss challenges and live a more fruitful and happy life.

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Through Thick and Thin

Danny entered their commitment with less enthusiasm than Lexi. He was comfortable with the way they led their lives. Coming home to bum on the couch all day and eating comfort food was an acceptable way to live.

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However, acting as the supportive husband he was, he made a decision and chose to sacrifice his lifestyle for the woman he loved. To keep themselves on track, they came up with a set of rules.

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The Commandments

To keep themselves accountable they created obstacles for themselves to avoid reverting back to old habits. They placed bets with their friends to keep them in check, and they declined temptations.

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They took the cold turkey method to prove to themselves that they had sufficient self-control. They cut out processed food and began exercising.

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Faithful Friends Join The Challenge

When a friend learned of their plan, he agreed to help. Danny and Lexi took the risk of making a measurable commitment to abstain from alcohol and cheat eating for 30 days.

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Lexi began searching for a gym membership and the couple took the challenge head on. They had agreed to take their well-being seriously for the first time in their journey together.

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Time to Get Serious

Lexi was determined to change her lifestyle. “We were fed up with the life that we were living and all the things we couldn’t do as a couple” Lexi is an adventurous soul and there was much she wanted to see and do.

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“We also feared that if we didn’t get our health right, we wouldn’t be able to start a family. “With these goals in mind they started to track their progress, Lexi started an Instagram page.

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The Perfect Gym

Because of what she weighed Lexi experienced serious joint pain and required a gym that could withstand her weight. She also felt insecure about working out in front of people.

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It wasn’t tangible to sign up for whichever gym was most nearby or convenient. A solution that they toyed with was hiring a personal trainer to help them meet their fitness goals. However, a personal trainer is expensive.

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The Perfect Gym Does Exist

For a gym to meet Lexis’ expectations, it had quite the requirements to live up to. For starters, to go along with her joint pain, it needed to have the right equipment. She was also quite self-conscious so she needed a less populated gym for her comfort.

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Eventually, Lexi did find the perfect fit, “I found a machine called the cross-ramp that did not hurt my joints at 485 pounds and I fell in love with it.”

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What's for Dinner?

With the exercise aspect of the journey taken care of, if they were going to make any progress, they needed to watch what they ate. They stopped going out and ordering takeaways and started making homemade food. This way they could control the intake.

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Given that they both loved food, they started preparing meals for each other as an act of service and devotion. They began finding healthier ways to enjoy their meals and be mindful.

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No Excuses

Numerous people would like to lose some weight and get in shape but struggle making it a priority. Lexi decided to frame her journey as a job, a serious task, and a commitment that she couldn’t simply walk away from.

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“I just want to treat it like a work event,” she said of her workout routine. This proved to be her secret weapon.

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The Lifestyle Changes Started Paying Off

According to Lexi, minor changes yield large results if followed through consistently. The fruits of their labor began to show itself on the scale.

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They continued to avoid going out and began going for walks (a luxury they could not do beforehand due to Lexi’s weight). They were working out five days a week.

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Diets Are Temporary, Lifestyles Are Forever

Danny and Lexi insisted that what they were doing was not dieting but a complete change of lifestyle. She strongly believed that diets were a temporary solution to a problem whereas they needed a permanent one, so she chose a whole new lifestyle for them instead.

Photo Credit: Instagram

To make this process easier for both of them Lexi made a list of all the food they loved eating and found a way to enjoy this same food but in a healthier fashion.

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A Couple That Supports Each Other

It is safe to say that this couple was each other’s cheerleader. Without Danny, Lexi would not have been inspired to change her lifestyle and without Lexi, Danny would not have been bothered to leave his comfort zone.

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Leaning into the support they were offering each other, the couple was able to kick-start their journey and continue with it. However getting the journey started was only one piece of the puzzle, keeping up with it was where the challenge lay.

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New Support System At The Gym

As Lexi continued going to the gym, she became even more confident in herself. She started taking even more classes and suddenly going to the gym wasn’t as bad. She even made some new friends.

Source: Metro

She now looked forward to going to the gym. Yes, making friends who work out just like you can really be all the encouragement one needs.  Her new friends became her biggest supporters, making workouts less of a chore.

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You Reap What You Sow

The hardest part about working out is that sometimes you put in the work, but the results take time to show. You might be doing everything right, you go to the gym, you’re eating healthy, but the scale stays the same.

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Because Lexi was dedicating herself entirely to her new cause she lost 20 pounds in just a month after she started. The progress was inspiring and it only motivated her more.

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Danny's Progress In The Gym

Although Danny did not weigh as much as his wife, he still weighed quite a bit. By joining his wife on the weight loss challenge, he also lost the excess weight he had put on, as evident by his great results.

Source: Metro

Danny went from 280 pounds to 190 pounds in just two years. Though a majority of the weight he lost in his first year, he kept going to the gym in solidarity with his wife.

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Introducing the New and Improved Lexi

When Lexi started working out she weighed close to 500 pounds but as of May 2018, she had lost 312 pounds. She reaped the fruits of her labor and she was over the moon with the results.

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The first time Lexi noticed the change in her body was out to eat one day. As she sat at the restaurant it occurred to her that her stomach was not resting on the table as she sat as it used to. She now had plenty of room to breathe.

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Lexi, The Instagram Influencer

As a means of progress, Lexi started an Instagram account with the handle @fatgirlfedup where she would post her pictures just to challenge herself and motivate anyone taking on the same fight as her.

Source: Instagram/fatgirlfedup

She would post a motivational quote under each picture and before she knew it she had a huge following of people who were drawing their inspiration from her posts and quotes. Her Instagram documentation of her weight loss inspired many people to start working on their journey as well.

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Life In The Limelight For The Couple

Soon Lexi and Danny’s story had spread to anyone and everyone, and they quickly became a bit famous. Most news stations ran their story increasing the spread of their inspirational journey.

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Being in the limelight has also acted as another means of accountability and support for the couple as they continue on their journey to a healthier lifestyle.

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Freedom from the Shackles of Weight

Now at a healthier weight, Lexi says that she no longer feels enslaved by her own body. She says she is grateful for the journey and continues to enjoy it every single day. Although she says she loved herself when she was bigger, life is more enjoyable in her current weight.

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“I loved myself even at 485 pounds just to be able to wake up and do whatever I want to do and go wherever I want to go, I no longer feel like a prisoner in my own body.”

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A Constant Dose of Self Reflection

For Lexi, looking back at how far she has come is a constant in her life. Looking back at all the hard work she had to put in to get to where she is today was not an easy task to forget. Lexi is always open to sharing.

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She communicates to her followers through her Instagram posts. Her platform inspires others constantly as she shares how everyone’s fight is different but regardless of this, you just need to start.

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Lexi Is Not Picture Perfect

The majority of Instagram influencers tend to try and appear flawless and trying to relate to them is difficult. Of course, they have their personal struggles and failures; they just don’t show them.

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Unlike the rest of them, Lexi was not trying to hide anything. She posted her imperfections and her failures in the hope that she would inspire someone. Even now that she has lost weight, her videos of when she was struggling are still on her page.

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She Talks About Being Kind To Yourself

Lexi insists that weight loss is just as mental as it is physical. In the summer of 2018, she encouraged her followers to speak nicely to themselves because as a person you’re always listening. She insists on the importance of the way we speak to ourselves.

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If you constantly speak negatively to yourself then the results will be negative and the opposite applies. If you’re positive towards yourself then the results will show. Talking and being kind to yourself also contributes to how you show up for your workouts and the results that follow.

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You Don’t Have To Live In The Gym

Lexi likes to remind her followers that the gym can also be fun. She insists that you don’t have to live in the gym to get and stay healthy. Lexi and Danny like to mix up their routine by incorporating different workouts.

Source: Instagram/fatgirlfedup

Ten hard minutes can easily be just as effective as thirty minutes if you push yourself. Make it fun and start where you can, at the end of the day we all start somewhere. Working out outside or even taking the occasional walk can help you enjoy your workouts more too.

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Exercise Can Be Found Anywhere

It is possible for some people to be intimidated by the idea of working out in a gym, especially if it has a lot of people, and you are just starting your fitness journey. Lexi likes to encourage people that you do not have to go to the gym to get in your daily activity.

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She once shared a photo of a hike she once went on with a friend and encouraged people to go out and spend time with nature and explore.

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Changing Her Daily Habits Changed Her Life

Up until now, Lexi still admits that she is not always motivated to go to the gym or stick with it either, but she quickly learned that she did not take care of herself first. She would never get it done because she would immerse herself in other things.

Source: Instagram

She once posted a caption saying, “When I woke up this morning, I was sore, tired, full of excuses and not motivated however despite my excuses I knew I had to get it done. I have learned the key to weight loss is in your daily habits. When I started to work out in the morning it helped change my
life.”

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The Couple That Work Out Together Stays Together

Ever since Danny and Lexi started their weight loss journey together one thing has remained constant- their love for each other. It was their love for each other, their goals, and their dreams that pushed them into creating a healthier lifestyle for themselves.

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The new life that Danny and Lexi have created together is now healthier than what they previously had when they were dating. Their weight loss journey is truly inspiring and anyone out there struggling with their workout habits should look to this couple for inspiration.

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She Shares Food for the Soul and the Mind

Lexi is proud of the fact that she lost all her weight without having to go for surgery, using diet pills, or any other measures that people tend to rely upon. Instead, by changing her eating habits and consistently going to the gym, she was able to lose her weight.

Source: Instagram/fatgirlfedup

Lexi documents her eating journey on Instagram, explaining why she chooses some of the meals she does and how you can make some of your favorite meals healthier. For example, she once explained how sushi could be made healthy.

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Any Meal Can Be Turned Into a Healthy Meal

Lexi advises people on the kind of meals to take while still maintaining their healthy journey. She notes that often the kind of meal people order in restaurants is not the problem, rather the accompaniments that come with the food such as salads with dressings.

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She not only shares about her health fitness journey concerning food, but also how she manages to eat her favorite foods in a healthy manner. She asks people to be aware of extra condiments as these can easily increase a person’s calorie count.

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It’s The Little Things In Life

The little things in life can mean the world to you or get under your skin. The one thing that always bothered Lexi was her limited choice of clothes when she weighed close to 500 pounds. She did not have a lot of options to choose from.

Source: Instagram/fatgirlfedup

When Lexi and her husband finally went for the Vans Warped tour in 2018, she finally got herself a T-shirt because she could now fit into one. She says she had attended the same tour for over eight years and couldn’t fit.

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Lexi Doesn't Let Fear Rule Her Life

Lexi was finally able to nurture the adventurous components of her personality and see new things as she had always wanted to.

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In a recent post on Instagram, she explained how she had recently conquered her fear by finally going kayaking. In the post, Lexi stresses that the importance of life after weight loss is putting herself out there and doing everything she once couldn’t do.

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Her Following Grows

Lexi’s inspirational quotes and honesty about her journey connected to a lot of people. She gained thousands upon thousands of followers

Source: Instagram

Eventually, her account blossomed to the millions. Her message was coming across and she took on the role with pride.

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A Medical Emergency

In February of 2022, Danny posted a photo of his wife onto her Instagram account. In the photo, Lexi was unconscious in a hospital bed.

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Danny mentioned in the post that the couple does not health insurance prompting many in the comments to ask how they could help.

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Her Followers Begin to Turn on Her

Two days later, a screenshot of a GoFundMe appeared on Lexi’s Instagram called “Support Lexi Reed in her Medical Expenses.” It became clear that the couple was asking for help.

Source: Instagram

This did not prompt the response that they had hoped from some of their followers, who questioned the legitimacy of their need for help. Many suggested that as a influencer, Lexi should be able to afford healthcare.

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Lexi Responds to Her Critics

Many followers pointed out that on the website allfamousbirthday.com, Lexi’s net worth was listed at $1.5 million. This did not sit well with Lexi. “People on the internet are reading that I have all kinds of money, which is insane to me, because I clearly don’t.”

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She added, “Our house isn’t even paid off and we only drive one vehicle so I’m not quite sure why people are so quick to believe anything these days.”

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Influencer Wealth is Hard to Calculate

According to Forbes magazine, influencer wealth is extremely hard to calculate due to the fact that they make most of their money from brand deals.

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A few of Reed’s posts are are marked as paid sponsorships and she is also in business with DietBet’s website where she is listed as a “coach.”

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Lexi Admits She Could Afford Health Insurance

Lexi admitted that although she could have afforded health insurance, she did not see a reason to invest in it. Lexi said she rarely goes to the doctor and has never been diagnosed with with a condition.

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On top of that, Lexi lives in Indiana, where there are no state laws that mandate their residents have health insurance.

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Lexi Says Her and Danny are Struggling

According to Lexi, her household income has dropped due to her hospitalization and she has been unable to work or even walk.

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Lexi and Danny are trying to weather the storm with their savings all while paying for expensive hospital stays, blood tests, and other expensive medical costs.

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Her Followers Did Support Her

All and all, many of Lexi’s supporters did offer to foot some of the bill of her expensive medical costs. However, the website GoFundMe.com did remove her from their site.

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According to Lexi, her and Danny were able to collect $70,000, all of which they claim goes directly to her bills.

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She Still Doesn't Know What Happened

Lexi still doesn’t know what caused her organ failure but said the doctors do not think it was because of her weight loss journey.

Source: Instagram

She went on to say that she was “grateful and blessed” by those who contributed to her recovery, she added, “especially when most of them haven’t met me in real life.”

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