Inside Tammy Slaton’s Weight Loss Journey: See the “1000-Lb. Sisters” Star Before and After She Lost 500 Lbs.

Tammy Slaton and her sister Amy Slaton have been sharing their weight loss journeys on the TLC reality TV show 1000-Lb. Sisters since 2020.

Tammy initially weighed 608 lbs. at the start of the show, and her weight fluctuated as she struggled to overcome her food addiction over the series’ seven seasons.

In August 2024, Tammy debuted her 500 lb. weight loss after undergoing bariatric surgery two years prior. During the season 7 premiere of 1000-Lb. Sisters on April 15, Tammy said that her weight loss is “kind of hard to believe.”

“When I was at my heaviest, I was 700 plus lbs.,” she said in a confessional. “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.”

So, how did Tammy Slaton lose 500 lbs.? Here’s everything she has said about her weight loss on 1000-Lb. Sisters.

Tammy Slaton began documenting her weight loss journey in 2020

Tammy made her reality TV debut in January 2020 on 1000-Lb. Sisters, where she continues to share the challenges and triumphs that have come along with her weight loss journey.

While Tammy started the series at 608 lbs., her younger sister Amy weighed 406 lbs., giving them a combined weight of over 1,000 lbs.

The sisters, who have struggled with weight their entire lives, previously explained to PEOPLE that the show made them feel accountable for the first time.

“We were already trying to lose weight before the show even got a hold of us, so it was like the perfect opportunity,” Amy told PEOPLE in December 2023.

Tammy struggled to lose weight through diet and exercise

Tammy told PEOPLE in 2023 that she had struggled with obesity from a young age and never learned how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“I’ve always had a weight issue. I was born 9 lbs. 10 oz., and then I just kept gaining,” Tammy said.

She continued contending with her weight as a child, due in part to her mom allegedly needing to work three jobs. Tammy shared that her mother couldn’t always prepare healthy meals for her or her four siblings.

“The microwave was our best friend,” she explained. “Ramen noodles, bowls of soup, things that were quick and easy — stuff that adds on carbs.”

Tammy experienced food addiction and weighed her heaviest at 725 lbs.

Tammy’s relationship with food got more complicated as she grew up and developed a food addiction. Both Tammy and Amy’s health took a turn after their grandmother, who helped care for them, died in 1999.

“[We] took it hard and turned to food for comfort,” Tammy told PEOPLE in 2023, while Amy said, “I started eating my feelings.”

Tammy started prioritizing her health when she began filming 1000-Lb. Sisters and subsequently checked into rehab to treat her food addiction. However, not all of her treatments stuck and she left one rehab center early in 2021.

After entering the facility at 689 lbs., she decided to return home after she shed 60 lbs. — 40 less than her goal.

“I know I’m supposed to lose 100 lbs., but 60 is a great start,” Tammy said during the season 3 premiere in November 2021. “I’ve been here long enough, I’ve seen what to do. I just gotta do it.”

However, Tammy hit a turning point later that same year when she was hospitalized and weighed her heaviest at 725 lbs. Doctors placed Tammy in a medically induced coma because her lungs had “given up,” put her on a ventilator and she was eventually released three weeks later.

In 2022, she lost 180 lbs. at a weight loss facility

Tammy’s near-death experience inspired her to lose enough weight to qualify for bariatric surgery — a procedure that modifies a person’s digestive system to decrease food consumption.

“I wised up,” she told PEOPLE in June 2023. After enrolling at an Ohio weight loss facility in 2022, Tammy lost 180 lbs. and weighed 534 lbs. Her new weight made her eligible for the surgery.

Tammy qualified for bariatric surgery and underwent the weight-loss procedure in 2022

Shortly after she became eligible for bariatric surgery, Tammy underwent the procedure in the summer of 2022.

Tammy’s surgery helped kickstart her weight loss goal, and she subsequently checked into another weight loss center. After 14 months in the facility, Tammy revealed that she had lost nearly 300 lbs.

“I’m feeling great! I’m thankful to be alive, and it’s fun to be progressing as much as I am,” she told PEOPLE in July 2023.

Tammy’s surgery contributed to her 500 lb. weight loss, allowing her to enjoy a “whole new world”

During the season 7 premiere of 1000-Lb. Sisters on April 15, Tammy announced that she was “down 500 lbs.”

Tammy previously told PEOPLE that the weight loss has been life-changing and has allowed her to do things others may take for granted — including buckling her seatbelt, sleeping without the use of oxygen and walking without a wheelchair or walker.

“One of the big changes that I have gone through this past year is probably small to most people,” she said in December 2023. “But for me it was huge.”

Tammy specifically mentioned being able to sit in the front seat of a car and told PEOPLE that it felt “like a whole new world.”

“You’re experiencing everything from a different point of view. Instead of being the second person to see stuff, you’re the first person,” she explained.

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