Every so often a success story comes out of My 600-Lb Life — and Ashley Reyes is one of those times! Ashley first appeared on the TLC show in 2017 weighing 668 pounds. She had a bleak outlook on life, needed help showering, couldn’t sit down in the car for long periods of time because of cramping and most importantly, didn’t have a life expectancy of more than a few years. To learn more about her weight loss journey and where Ashley is today, keep reading!
“My body is in constant pain,” she said about the weight. “It’s a nightmare.” She explained that she felt like “a monster,” and didn’t “resemble a human form.” At 30 years old, she realized she needed to make a drastic change in her life if she wanted to survive.
“If I give up, I’m not going to live to grow old with my husband,” she added. “You just have to give up on more and more of your life. I don’t give him the experience of a wife.”
And she didn’t give up at all. Instead, she started therapy and put in the necessary work in order to lose weight. She ended up losing a whopping 300 pounds — a.k.a more than 30 percent of her body weight — in less than a year. However, that led to a new struggle she needed to overcome: her loose skin.
During a 2018 episode of My 600-Lb Life: Where Are They Now?, Ashley planned to undergo her skin removal surgery in Houston. “I had gotten up to 700 pounds and now my body is stretched and disfigured and it’s depressing to see,” she explained at the time.
“So my next big goal is to get all this off as soon as possible because I know I can’t stand to let this all hang on my body,” Ashley continued. “And it’s really discouraging when I look at myself in the mirror because I’m working so hard to lose weight and get to a better place.”
In the end, Ashley reflected on the process as a difficult time with “excessive amounts of pain,” but was ultimately happy with the results. “It was harder than I could have imagined, but I’m glad I stuck with it,” she assured.
Unfortunately, because Ashley isn’t active on social media, it’s unclear how her weight loss journey is going.