Featured Image Credit: TLC
Topics: 1000-Lb Sisters, TLC
Stefania Sarrubba
TLC star Tammy Slaton has shared her body transformation, getting candid about how she managed to shed a staggering 500 pounds.
The reality TV star has been chronicling her weight loss journey alongside her sister Amy on the show, 1000-Lb. Sisters, since 2020.
Initially, Tammy wanted to lose 30 pounds, which became 130 after she put on 100 pounds as a result of being stuck indoors during the pandemic.
Tammy, who weighed 725 pounds at her heaviest, had to use a walker and wheelchair to walk around, as well as needing an oxygen tube to breathe.
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The star had a difficult weight loss journey, going to rehab multiple times due to her food addiction.
During her time on the show, she’s been through some personal struggles as well as physical ones, with her grieving the loss of her husband Caleb Willingham, who died at age 40 in 2023.
Nonetheless, she persisted in her goal and despite the ups and downs, she managed to lose more than 500 pounds - which was an incredible achievement considering she'd always struggled to lose weight through diet and exercise alone.
This meant that Tammy was finally approved for bariatric surgery, which she underwent in July 2022.
In August last year, the star debuted her body transformation on season seven of the TLC show.
“When I was at my heaviest, I was 700 plus lbs.,” she said on the show. “Right now, I’m weighing in at 238. Everybody keeps telling me I’m looking smaller than Amy.
"That’s kind of hard to believe.”
Sitting down with the Ezell Film Company recently, Tammy opened up on losing around 540 pounds from her maximum weight to now, explaining how she has basically shed 'three whole versions of herself’.
She added on the podcast: "I see pictures of me now and I think 'wow'."
In recent weeks, Tammy has opened up on her highly anticipated skin removal surgery with PEOPLE, admitting feeling ‘really nervous’ for the procedure, which she underwent in January this year, more so than she was for the bariatric surgery she had in 2022.
“I was really nervous for the skin removal surgery because I was really just kind of afraid of how I'm gonna feel looking at myself without the belly there,” she said.
“The night before my surgery, I was, like, seriously freaking terrified," she went on. "I was even more nervous about having skin removal surgery than I was for the [sleeve gastrectomy] surgery because they’re actually cutting the whole belly!”
After doctors removed over 15 pounds of excess skin, Tammy had a swift recovery and actually ending up coming home four days early.
In Pittsburgh, she was celebrated by her siblings as well as fans on her social media, who have been saying how ‘proud’ they are of Tammy for her honesty and endurance.