Honestly, if you looked at Tammy Slaton back in 2020, you might have thought her story was already written. It felt heavy. Literally. At her absolute peak, the 1000-lb Sisters star tipped the scales at 725 pounds. That is a number that is hard to wrap your brain around. For most of us, it’s just a statistic, but for Tammy, it was a prison. She was living her life through a tube—oxygen, specifically—and her world was the size of a single room.
Fast forward to the Season 8 premiere in January 2026.
The woman on the screen is... well, she's different. Not just "reality TV different," but fundamentally changed. Tammy recently revealed she has lost a staggering 560 pounds. She is currently weighing in at approximately 180 pounds. If you’re doing the math, that is nearly four of her current selves gone. Just vanished. But the path from 700 to 180 wasn't a straight line, and it certainly wasn't the "easy way out" that internet trolls love to talk about.
The Breaking Point and the "Hard Way"
People love to say weight loss surgery is a cheat code. It's not.
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Before Dr. Eric Smith or Dr. Charles Procter would even consider putting her on the table, Tammy had to prove she could survive the procedure. In 2022, she hit a terrifying low. She was hospitalized, placed in a medically induced coma, and eventually required a tracheotomy to breathe. It was "do or die" time. She spent 14 months in a weight loss rehab facility in Ohio. That was the real turning point.
While she was there, she didn't just lose weight; she lost the version of herself that used food as a shield. She had to drop nearly 200 pounds just to qualify for the bariatric surgery that finally happened in late 2022.
What She Actually Eats Now
You’ve probably seen the TikToks. Tammy (@queentammy86) is surprisingly open about her plate. It’s not the giant portions of fried food and sodas that defined the early seasons of the show.
- Protein is the law. She focuses on eggs, Greek yogurt, chicken, and fish.
- The "Sleeve" effect. Because of her gastric sleeve, her stomach is roughly the size of a banana. Two bites and she’s often "thanks, I'm done."
- Water over everything. The soda addiction was one of her hardest battles, but now it's mostly water and sugar-free drinks.
The 15-Pound "Skin" Problem
By mid-2025, Tammy faced a new kind of pain. When you lose over 500 pounds, your skin doesn't just "bounce back." It hangs. She described it as "painful folds" that made moving difficult and caused frequent infections.
In January 2025, Tammy underwent an intensive 8-hour skin removal surgery in Pittsburgh with Dr. J. Peter Rubin. They removed over 15 pounds of excess skin from her chin, arms, and stomach. If you saw the episodes that aired in June 2025, you saw the raw reality of that recovery—the bandages, the swelling, and the emotional breakdown when she finally saw her new jawline. She joked on social media that she finally lost her "bat wings."
It sounds funny, but for someone who couldn't see their own lap for a decade, it was a miracle.
Why 2026 Feels Different for Tammy
The 2026 update on Tammy Slaton isn't just about the scale, though. It’s about her life.
She’s recently been spotted volunteering at an animal shelter. She’s going on job interviews—her first ones ever. She’s even navigating a new relationship with her fiancée, Andrea Dalton, after the devastating loss of her husband, Caleb Willingham, back in 2023.
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It’s Not All Sunshine
We have to be real here: the journey hasn't been perfect. There are still rifts with her sister, Amy Slaton, whose own journey has been much rockier lately. And Tammy is the first to admit she still struggles with "head hunger." That’s the psychological urge to eat even when your stomach is physically full.
Medical experts, like those at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, often point out that bariatric surgery is just a tool. If the mental work isn't done, the weight comes back. Tammy seems to be doing that work, attending therapy to deal with the grief and trauma that led her to 700 pounds in the first place.
Actionable Insights from Tammy's Journey
If you're looking at Tammy’s story as inspiration for your own health goals, there are a few "real world" takeaways that apply even if you don't have 500 pounds to lose:
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- Environment matters. Tammy didn't see real success until she was in a controlled rehab environment. If your kitchen is full of triggers, you're fighting an uphill battle.
- The "Slow" approach is the only approach. It took her six years to get to this point. Expecting results in six weeks is how most people fail.
- Protein-First rule. Whether you've had surgery or not, prioritizing protein helps manage hunger hormones (ghrelin) more effectively than any "diet" pill.
- Mental health is the foundation. You cannot fix a physical problem with a purely physical solution if the root is emotional.
Tammy Slaton’s weight loss is a testament to the fact that it is almost never too late to turn things around. She went from being a "walking death sentence" to a woman looking for her first job and planning a future. It’s messy, it’s been filmed for the whole world to judge, and it’s been incredibly expensive—but she’s still here.
To keep your own health journey on track, focus on one "boring" habit this week, like hitting a daily protein goal or walking for 10 minutes, rather than trying to overhaul your entire life overnight. Consistency is the only thing that actually moves the needle long-term.