Let's Help Lexi Get to WSSC
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Welcome! Firstly, I'd like to thank you for clicking the link that got you here! If we haven't met before, my name is, Lexi. I am writing this to share my recent journey in personal health and wellness, as well as the next step in achieving my dream!
To start with a bit about me- I am a 33 year old, married mother of a beautiful 4 year old boy. He is the absolute love of my life! From his birth in February 2011, the direction of my life became my focus. I was morbidly obese and a smoker, as I had been most of my life. I remember standing on the deck of the house we had recently moved to into in Coventry, CT, just staring out into the yard with my husband. Our son was around 5 months old at the time. I turned to him and said, "I need to start making some changes in my life." At that time, I didn't really know what that meant beyond a complete admission that I was in poor health. As I began to imagine being around for him to grow up, a sense of fear came with it. "How can I be sure I'll be here? What if I can't keep up with him? What if I pass away prematurely? Who will raise my son?" For all of you parents out there, I'm positive, beyond a doubt, that you have had similiar thoughts. Sadly, this was not enough to fuel my sincere desire to change.
In February 2013, within one day of my son's 2nd birthday, I recieved some news that I was in no way prepared for. My father had passed away of a massive heart attack. The cause is a bit hazy, but it is my uderstanding that he was an untreated diabetic. My father was a newly remarried, 52 year old father of 2 year old twin boys. This loss was beyond devastating. This was not the way that I invisioned our families merging, but within a few days, my husband, my Aunt Nani, and I were in a car on our way to Georgia to meet my half brothers and step sister and to attend our father's services. In the few months following, I reconnected with my paternal grandfather. It was then that I found out that he was a Type 1 diabetic. Our family only had a few short months to come together before, he too, had a stoke and passed away. By December of 2013, I was completely lost and boardline without hope for much of anything at all. There was a history of diabetes in my family and I never ever knew about it until it starting taking the lives of people I love. Sadly, I wasn't ready yet.
On April 25, 2014, I was driving to the grocery and off to work when something happened. I pulled into the wrong parking lot and there it was.. Cardio Express. The "X" in the sign was huge and emphasized. What happened next was kind of a blur, but I walked out with an X-Zone membership. I became super absorbed in "gym life" and lost about 10 lbs in a couple of months. On June 4th, 2014, after 22 years of smoking, I quit "cold turkey". The month after, one of the part timers brought me to my first Spinning® class. For those of you that aren't familiar with it, it is an indoor cylcing program (see link below). But is is so much more than that. This program helped me change my life. It is based on a mind/body connection, and when followed, leads it's riders to a new sense of strength and awareness that one would never think possible within themselves. The instructors and members that I met in this program are some of the most amazing people I have ever had the fortune to encounter. After absorbing so much love, support, and results, I became a certified Spinning® instructor. They say once you get it, it becomes your job to pass it along. What is it? "It" is the desire to love, respect, and honor your mind and body. "It" is the desire to live each day to the fullest.. To live it, love it, own it. Today, as I type this, I am 85 pounds lighter and for the first time ever, living my life with an undeniable sense of purpose to help everyone I meet to acheive the same inner alignment and peace. For the first time, I know what I was meant to do with my life. Yes, this is about a career, but in the end, it is so much more than that. Once you get it, it becomes your job to pass it on.
The next step in bringing this dream to reality is getting to the World Spinning and Sports Conference in Miami, FL. This opportunity will provide me with a wealth of knowledge, experience, and contacts to assist me in becoming the very best instructor I can be. Sounds easy enough? The kicker is, this conference takes place at the end of this month. Why did I wait this long? Frankly, I didn't think I had a single solitary hope in the world of making it here. But today, May 7th, 2015, I thought differently. I asked myself, "Why not me? Why can't I make something I believe in with all of my heart come to reality?" The love and support of the people in my life have helped me get this far. And now, I need to ask for people to continue to have the belief in me that I have, and help me move forward in reaching my goals. So, here I sit, asking you, to help me raise the money to make it to the World Spinning and Sports Conference so I can become the best instructor I can be.
This is a Link to a Video of a ride instructed by, Josh Taylor at WSSC
This is a Link to WSSC Website
The photograph on the left is from one of the last times I saw my Father before his passing. The one on the right is of me April 25, 2015.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
To start with a bit about me- I am a 33 year old, married mother of a beautiful 4 year old boy. He is the absolute love of my life! From his birth in February 2011, the direction of my life became my focus. I was morbidly obese and a smoker, as I had been most of my life. I remember standing on the deck of the house we had recently moved to into in Coventry, CT, just staring out into the yard with my husband. Our son was around 5 months old at the time. I turned to him and said, "I need to start making some changes in my life." At that time, I didn't really know what that meant beyond a complete admission that I was in poor health. As I began to imagine being around for him to grow up, a sense of fear came with it. "How can I be sure I'll be here? What if I can't keep up with him? What if I pass away prematurely? Who will raise my son?" For all of you parents out there, I'm positive, beyond a doubt, that you have had similiar thoughts. Sadly, this was not enough to fuel my sincere desire to change.
In February 2013, within one day of my son's 2nd birthday, I recieved some news that I was in no way prepared for. My father had passed away of a massive heart attack. The cause is a bit hazy, but it is my uderstanding that he was an untreated diabetic. My father was a newly remarried, 52 year old father of 2 year old twin boys. This loss was beyond devastating. This was not the way that I invisioned our families merging, but within a few days, my husband, my Aunt Nani, and I were in a car on our way to Georgia to meet my half brothers and step sister and to attend our father's services. In the few months following, I reconnected with my paternal grandfather. It was then that I found out that he was a Type 1 diabetic. Our family only had a few short months to come together before, he too, had a stoke and passed away. By December of 2013, I was completely lost and boardline without hope for much of anything at all. There was a history of diabetes in my family and I never ever knew about it until it starting taking the lives of people I love. Sadly, I wasn't ready yet.
On April 25, 2014, I was driving to the grocery and off to work when something happened. I pulled into the wrong parking lot and there it was.. Cardio Express. The "X" in the sign was huge and emphasized. What happened next was kind of a blur, but I walked out with an X-Zone membership. I became super absorbed in "gym life" and lost about 10 lbs in a couple of months. On June 4th, 2014, after 22 years of smoking, I quit "cold turkey". The month after, one of the part timers brought me to my first Spinning® class. For those of you that aren't familiar with it, it is an indoor cylcing program (see link below). But is is so much more than that. This program helped me change my life. It is based on a mind/body connection, and when followed, leads it's riders to a new sense of strength and awareness that one would never think possible within themselves. The instructors and members that I met in this program are some of the most amazing people I have ever had the fortune to encounter. After absorbing so much love, support, and results, I became a certified Spinning® instructor. They say once you get it, it becomes your job to pass it along. What is it? "It" is the desire to love, respect, and honor your mind and body. "It" is the desire to live each day to the fullest.. To live it, love it, own it. Today, as I type this, I am 85 pounds lighter and for the first time ever, living my life with an undeniable sense of purpose to help everyone I meet to acheive the same inner alignment and peace. For the first time, I know what I was meant to do with my life. Yes, this is about a career, but in the end, it is so much more than that. Once you get it, it becomes your job to pass it on.
The next step in bringing this dream to reality is getting to the World Spinning and Sports Conference in Miami, FL. This opportunity will provide me with a wealth of knowledge, experience, and contacts to assist me in becoming the very best instructor I can be. Sounds easy enough? The kicker is, this conference takes place at the end of this month. Why did I wait this long? Frankly, I didn't think I had a single solitary hope in the world of making it here. But today, May 7th, 2015, I thought differently. I asked myself, "Why not me? Why can't I make something I believe in with all of my heart come to reality?" The love and support of the people in my life have helped me get this far. And now, I need to ask for people to continue to have the belief in me that I have, and help me move forward in reaching my goals. So, here I sit, asking you, to help me raise the money to make it to the World Spinning and Sports Conference so I can become the best instructor I can be.
This is a Link to a Video of a ride instructed by, Josh Taylor at WSSC
This is a Link to WSSC Website
The photograph on the left is from one of the last times I saw my Father before his passing. The one on the right is of me April 25, 2015.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Organizer
Lexi Rendon Palmer
Organizer
Coventry, CT