Hey guys, I’m having trouble with Autonomic Dysreflexia atm so I’ve had to reschedule the call today sorry!

Hey guys I'm Kenzi! I'm a paraplegic with spina bifida, I've been looking for a community like this for YEARS. I used to be extremely active as a kid up until through college, played every sport imaginable and was even prospected by para-olympic teams starting in middle school. However, once I started in the workforce ... that all just stopped like I had run head first into a brick wall. Thanks to that I'm now the heaviest I've ever been in my life and have suffered mentally as well from this. I'm really looking forward to being in contact with a group of people who understand the struggles of day to day life in a chair and the balancing act of self care and social aspects that come with it!

Hey Warriors, I won't make this mornings catch up call sorry, having some issues this morning. Have rescheduled for tomorrow.

This is good advice I feel (even though most of us on here aren't doing stairs! 😂): 'It’s a marathon not a sprint. It didn’t take two months to put it on so it’s not going to take two months to take it off. The quicker it comes off, the quicker it comes back. If you’re looking for instant gratification, whatever you do, It is probably not sustainable. You don’t have to kill yourself to see results. You don’t have to change everything at once. Stop looking at the top of the staircase and focus on one step at a time'. A quote from an able-bodied friend of mine who, in just over a year, went from being depressed due to gaining weight during lockdown to winning trophies as a weight-training bikini competitor through sheer hard work and dedication.

I took this photo ~1 month before my injury. I was: Deadlifting 200kg (440lb) Squatting 180kg (400lb) Benching 120kg (265lb) I felt small, weak and wasn't real impressed with my numbers. I really struggle to appreciate my own progress, even now. Anything I do, I compare myself to the best of the best, inevitably leading to disappointment with my current situation. Recently I've been getting better at realising how much work has been done by those at the top. I'm learning to appreciate the journey instead of glorifying the outcome.