‘I Refuse to Hide My Body’

NEED TO KNOW

• Fitness influencer Lexi Reed is opening up about “taking her power back” following her battle with the rare disease calciphylaxis

• The social media influencer, 34 — who has been candid about her 300-lb. weight loss and health journey — shared an Instagram video of herself rocking a swimsuit

• “This summer I’m taking my power back & I refuse to hide my body, take it for granted, or not wear the swimsuits!” she wrote

Fitness influencer Lexi Reed is opening up about “taking her power back” following her battle with the rare disease calciphylaxis.

The social media influencer, 34 — who has been candid about her 300-lb. weight loss and health journey — shared an Instagram post just before the start of summer and wrote openly about wanting to wear a swimsuit, titling her post, “Scars, Skin, Self Love & Swimsuits.”

“I’ll never forget crying in my husband’s car during the summer when I wasn’t able to go swimming anymore as I was battling a rare disease called Calciphylaxis that left me with 30+ open wounds unable to do so many things I’d once enjoyed,” she wrote in the lengthy caption.

“I’ll also never forget losing 300+ lbs, feeling so proud walking into a dressing room that wasn’t only plus-size, finally trying on bathing suits just to be told by a family member that I should cover up my legs since I had so much skin,” Reed continued. “At my heaviest, I’d also stopped wearing swimsuits in public without covering them with clothes because despite swimming always making me feel care-free. I couldn’t take the stares any longer due to my size.”

In the video, Reed can be seen wearing a blue, one-piece swimsuit as she posed for the camera, showing off her weight loss before kissing herself on the arm.

“This summer I’m taking my power back & I refuse to hide my body, take it for granted, or not wear the swimsuits!” she continued in the caption. “This summer I’m taking my power back, loving myself, being grateful I’m capable to go swimming again since I’m in remission & making the memories. Skin is skin (especially in the grand scheme of so many other things)! Speak kindly to yourself because you’re always listening! ♥️”

“As someone who was once 485 pounds that has loose skin, varicose veins, calcium deposits and scars…this is your reminder to wear the suit, and all bodies, are beach bodies,” she added in the video.

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Reed has been sharing details about her calciphylaxis and weight loss for several years. According to the Mayo Clinic, the disease is rare and debilitating and is caused by calcium accumulating in small blood vessels of the fat and skin tissues.

She previously shared that she was diagnosed with the condition after suffering from severe kidney failure, which landed her in a medically induced coma. After being diagnosed with calciphylaxis, she underwent 59 weeks of treatment, which often involved a medication called sodium thiosulfate being given intravenously multiple times per week.

Last year, she shared in a post that it had been one full year since she’d had her last infusion for the disease.

“I’m so thankful my last infusion was a year ago & that life has gotten so much better!” added Reed, who originally started her weight loss journey at 485 lbs. before calciphylaxis.

She first dropped to under 200 lbs. on Christmas Day of 2023, and in February, she announced she had hit a goal weight of 185 lbs. after regaining 90 lbs. following her diagnosis.

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“I’m trying not to just get on here and, like, scream and shout because I’m just so excited,” she said in a post on her February 2024 Instagram Stories.

“I wish I could go back and hug myself to let her know it gets better,” she added at the time.

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