TLC’s ‘My 600-lb Life’ has presented its audience with several inspirational and unique weight loss stories of morbidly obese people looking to better their lives. They are required to follow strict and demanding rules that are opposite to their lifestyle, which has led them to become around 600 pounds. These rules are provided by Dr. Younan Nowzaradan AKA Dr. Now, along with a customized set of food and exercise regimes necessary to lose excess weight. Only then can they qualify for weight reduction surgery.
Since its debut in 2012, some have suffered personal setbacks, while some patients successfully reached their goals and are now leading healthy lives. Rena Kiser was one such patient from season 6 episode 1, who was also one of the most talked-about patients. She had to go on a roller-coaster journey to reach her goal weight and did so along with her boyfriend Lee Sutton. Now that she’s been away from the cameras for a while, her fans must be curious to know where she is. If you’re eager to know about Rena Kiser as well, here’s everything we found out!
Rena Kiser’s My 600-lb Life Journey
Rena Kiser, a native of Vanceburg, Kentucky, weighed 549 pounds when she first appeared on the show in 2018. The then-39-year-old lived with her boyfriend Lee Sutton, who himself weighed 714 pounds, and both appeared on the show together. They were dependent upon each other; Lee also needed help with cleaning himself up. Rena was devastated at their situation and constantly felt sad and embarrassed about their inability to do anything themselves. They rarely went out of their home, but when they did, it was only to get food supplies.
The couple first met 11 years before the show at a bariatric rehabilitation center. As Rena went there to support her brother, Lee was the latter’s roommate at the center. He was soon smitten by Rena’s helpful nature. They got to talking and soon took a liking to each other. One thing led to another, and they started dating, which was not permitted for patients. Hence, Lee and Rena decided to leave the rehab center together. Since then, although their bond grew stronger, they also could not control their eating habits and fell into the same spiral, gaining more weight each day.
Rena’s food addiction, however, goes way back to her childhood. On the show, she revealed that her mother experienced issues with hallucinations. As a child, it was scary and a lot for Rena to deal with, and hence she started eating more food to distract herself from those situations. By the time she turned 13, she had weighed 280 pounds, and at the same time, their mother left the kids with the father. The abandonment, coupled with hearing from her mother that Rena’s the reason she left, boosted her food addictions. She gained around 400 pounds by the age of 18.
When Rena decided she needed professional help and went to Dr. Now, she was determined to lose all the weight. She religiously followed the diet and exercise regimen the doctor made for her and lost a lot of weight even without surgery. While they were going through the process, Lee’s father got diagnosed with cancer, due to which Rena could not undergo her weight loss surgery at the time. However, with her own dedication and strong spirit, Rena managed to lose around 271 pounds and brought down her weight from 549 pounds to 278 pounds.
Rena Kiser is Leading a Private Life Today
Rena Kiser continued with her diet and exercise routine to lose more weight. According to reports, she managed to undergo weight loss surgery. Whether she went under the knife or not, it’s great that she lost the excess weight that was bothering her. Even in her follow-up episode, ‘Where Are They Now?’ in 2019, Rena was well ahead of her plan as she lost almost 50 pounds as advised by Dr. Now. She was ecstatic over her feat and decided to maintain that diet to reach her goal weight.
While Rena hasn’t updated about her personal life much after that, she does share motivational quotes and posts for her followers relating to her journey of weight loss. She also reminisces about her time with her father and brother and often posts old pictures, especially remembering her beloved father. In terms of her relationship with Lee, while the two mentioned their probable plans of getting married soon after the follow-up episode, there has not been any update on that ground. In fact, break-up rumors were doing the rounds around that time.
It began with a number of posts in 2019, wherein Rena alleged that Lee had cheated on her. She called him a “cheater” and “extra baggage” in a since-deleted post and also updated her relationship status to “single.” Lee followed it up with a picture of another woman, prompting everyone to believe he was cheating on Rena with a married woman. On May 29, 2019, he proceeded to update his status from “single” to “in a relationship,” causing followers to wonder what was going on between him and Rena. However, on June 13, 2019, Rena once more altered the status of her profile to “In a relationship.”
After making her declaration, Lee shared a picture of the two enjoying themselves in a park. Post that, it looks like Lee and Rena have managed not to let anything get in the way of their bond. Lee has made it very apparent on his social media that Rena is the love of his life and that her brother, Michael, is apparently his “brother-in-law.” Since their present status has not been confirmed, from what we can tell, we infer they are likely together and choose to keep their relationship private. Irrespective of her status, we only wish Rena a happy and fulfilled life in the future.
Read More: Is My 600-lb Life Scripted or Real?
