How Is Tammy From 'My 600-lb Life' Doing Now? Learn More About Her Journey

Michelle Stein - Author
By

Mar. 17 2021, Updated 9:00 p.m. ET

Tammy from 'My 600-lb Life'
Source: TLC

As captivating as it is to watch the extreme weight loss journeys unfold on My 600-lb Life, sometimes the endings are, well, less than satisfying. That's because the stories of the morbidly obese individuals featured on the show often aren't neatly wrapped up by the conclusion of each episode. So viewers are left wondering: What ever happened to them? Were they able to get the surgery and ultimately reach their goal weight?

The same goes for Tammy Patton. So how is she doing now?

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Tammy from 'My 600-lb Life' struggled with food addiction.

At the beginning of her My 600-lb Life episode (which premiered on March 17), Tammy Patton of Wichita Falls, Texas, was 41 years old and hovering around 600 pounds.

"Every day I wake up desperate for change," she said on the show. "Because being the size I am and carrying around this much weight, my body is in constant pain because of the strain I have on it. And every day it gets worse. Because every day, something new hurts. And I just feel like I'm trapped in this body."

my  lb life tammy beginning
Source: TLC
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Her two daughters, Alize, 19, and Serenitti, 21, lived with Tammy in order to help take care of her; Tammy's mother had also recently moved in to help out.

"At this point, my addiction to food is leading me to get worse by the day because I can't stop going to it for the comfort I need, that happiness it brings me," Tammy said. "And to keep that feeling with me as long as possible. And so I eat constantly."

Tammy explained that her food issues started when she was 9. At that point, her family started having financial problems because of her father's addiction to drugs. Tammy and her mom ended up moving from California to Texas to live with her grandfather, who helped them start over. 

"I didn't know anyone. All of our family was back in California. I didn't have any friends," she said. "So food became all I had for a while. That was how I dealt with the loneliness in my life then, by eating."

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Source: TLC/Twitter

She weighed 150 pounds by the time she was 10 and over 300 pounds by the time she graduated from high school.

As a young adult, Tammy had three children with her boyfriend, Victor. Tragically, Victor was murdered when their youngest was only 1 year old. And although he and Tammy weren't a couple at the time, the news completely devastated her.

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"I didn't know what to do. So I just thought of eating to deal with the pain and to try to make it go away," Tammy explained. "So by the time I was in my 30s, I was over 500 pounds. And now I'm 41, and I know I have to be over 600 because I'm getting immobile. But I have grandkids now, and I want to play a very active role in both of their lives."

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Source: TLC
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Tammy's weight loss journey started slow, but she eventually saw progress.

During her first visit with Dr. Younan Nowrazadan (aka Dr. Now), Tammy weighed in at 594 pounds. The bariatric surgeon gave her the goal of losing 60 pounds in two months — and Tammy hit the ground running with her weight loss journey. She seriously revamped her diet, with the support of her family, and dedicated herself to completing the exercises Dr. Now assigned her to do.

my  lb life tammy
Source: TLC
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During the week of her follow-up with Dr. now, Tammy had only lost 19 pounds, according to her at-home specialty scale. She called him and was honest about her progress, and he gave her another month to lose the weight.

When Tammy returned, she weighed in at 550 pounds, making her total weight loss 44 pounds in six months.

Dr. Now still needed her to lose another 40 pounds in the next two months in order to qualify for weight loss surgery. Per his instructions, Tammy met with a psychologist, Dr. Paradise, who encouraged her to go to her kids' father's grave in order to fully process his death — instead of always being strong for others and keeping the pain bottled up inside.

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dr now my  lb life
Source: TLC

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tammy was unable to follow up in person with Dr. Now two months later. Instead, she talked with him via a video call to let him know that although she hadn't lost any more weight, she also hadn't gained any.

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One year and one month into her journey, Tammy followed up in-person with Dr. Now and weighed in at 552 pounds — meaning that although she technically gained 2 pounds, she essentially maintained her weight.

Again, Dr. Now gave Tammy the goal of losing 40 pounds in two months. She doubled down on her efforts, and weighed in at 496 pounds during her follow-up appointment — which meant a 57-pound weight loss. Her total weight loss: 98 pounds.

tammy my  lb life weight loss surgery
Source: TLC
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At that point, Dr. Now approved her for weight loss surgery.

"I am very proud of Tammy for sticking with it and getting to where she is now," he said to the camera. "It may have taken her a while to get to this point, but she didn't give up and she proved to me she can do this for the long run. So as soon as we're able, we'll get her on a schedule to do the weight loss surgery, and that will help her lose even more weight quickly."

How is Tammy from 'My 600-lb Life' now?

By the end of her episode (one year and five months into her journey), Tammy weighed 468 pounds — meaning she'd lost 126 pounds total.

"Dr Now says if I keep applying myself, I could be to my goal weight within a year," she explained. "And so that's what I'm focusing on doing. So I'm very excited about that, and I'm going to work my hardest."

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Considering Tammy's weight loss surgery was already scheduled by the end of her My 600-lb Life episode (and she kept losing more weight in the meantime), it's probably safe to assume she was able to have the surgery.

tammy my  lb life today
Source: TLC
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Unfortunately, we weren't unable to uncover what Tammy's exact progress has been up until now. Her recent Facebook activity is not publicly available, for starters, and her Instagram account is set to private, too. We'll keep you updated when/if Tammy is able to give an update on her weight loss journey!

New episodes of My 600-lb Life air on Wednesdays 8 p.m. ET on TLC.

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