Bhaswati Borthakur
The TLC show ‘My 600-lb Life‘ features various inspirational tales of morbidly obese people’s struggles with weight loss. The show depicts a variety of these journeys in which the individuals, who typically weigh 600 pounds or more, adhere to rigid and difficult changes, including diet and exercise regimens, to reach their goal weight. They are guided by renowned bariatric surgeon Dr. Younan Nowzaradan, also known as Dr. Now, who supports the cast members on their quest to shed enough pounds to qualify for the highly sought-after weight loss procedure.
The reality show, which launched in 2012, has followed a variety of people as they face numerous challenges along the way to weight loss. While for some, their tenacity makes the path much simpler, others go through a long way of struggle to overcome these challenges. Such was the story of Tiffany Barker, who appeared in season 7 episode 9, and had a roller coaster journey of weight reduction. Thus, her fans must now be wondering about her whereabouts; if you’re curious to know about her, too, here’s everything we found out!
Tiffany Barker’s My 600-lb Life Journey
When Tiffany Barker appeared in season 7 in 2019, she weighed 673 pounds and lived a life of misery, with her boyfriend Aaron Coronado, in Marysville, Washington. The then-28-year-old needed help to even get up from bed, could barely clean herself, craved sugar, and ate an ice cream first thing in the morning. She admitted that she was in pain, struggling through her life every day, and felt guilty that her boyfriend of 5 years had to work two jobs to support their life.
However, Tiffany still couldn’t get herself to improve her eating habits. She ate huge unhealthy meals, especially when she felt anxious, and constantly battled with the health issues arising out of it. Her food addiction stemmed from a childhood filled with verbal abuse and domestic instability. Her father and grandmother had unhealthy eating habits from the beginning and passed on the same to Tiffany as well. When her father became bigger and could not work as much, her mother, Lisa, had to work two jobs and left her and her sister, Chandra, at their grandmother’s.
Their eating habits worsened when their parents fought and argued more. Tiffany began eating more and more to mask her sadness and weighed around 300 pounds at only age 12. Although she was close to her father, when she realized he was verbally abusive to her mother, Tiffany took her mother’s side and began feeling his wrath too. She stated he started abusing her as well, which disturbed her to the point where she only used food as her escape and never dealt with that broken relationship.
By the time she graduated high school, Tiffany weighed 560 pounds and found it hard to live a social life without anxiety. She attended culinary school and then worked as a cook for a banquet at a casino. However, as she kept gaining weight, her body couldn’t move around well, and she got fired, leading her further into depression. At 24, Tiffany met Aaron while playing online games. The two soon fell in love, and later moved in together. After over four years, Tiffany finally realized she was slowly losing her loved ones and her life because of her food addiction.
Therefore, with the help of Aaron, Tiffany flew to Houston, Texas, met Dr. Now, and took two months to lose around 80 pounds to qualify for weight loss surgery. Although Tiffany tried to follow her 1200-calorie, low-carb, high-protein diet and exercises, she struggled to completely shun unhealthy foods. These occasional slips curtailed her weight loss process, and it took further few months and a health scare to make her realize her mistake.
Once Tiffany took it seriously and religiously followed the doctor’s recommendations, she successfully lost a total of 182 pounds in 9 months before undergoing gastric bypass surgery. She was also sent to therapy to work on her issues with her father and have a healthy discussion of her future with Aaron. By the end of the episode, Tiffany had shed a total of 258 pounds, weighed 415 pounds, and proudly drove the car for the first time since she was a teenager.
Where is Tiffany Barker Today?
Tiffany Barker was quite proud of her weight reduction journey and kept going on the path of transformation after the show. She still lived in Houston with Aaron and later found a job as a cashier after quite a lot of search and patience. She constantly updated her fans about her daily changes and life in general and was really excited to finally be able to lead a life without depending on others for her basic needs.
However, things turned difficult for Tiffany and Aaron because of their financial situation. As seen in their follow-up episode ‘Where Are They Now?,’ Aaron was struggling financially since he wasn’t earning as much as he did back in Washington. Eventually, the couple had to move out of the house they lived in during the show and moved into a hotel for a few days before finding another place to live. However, according to Tiffany, Aaron could not sustain himself in Texas and went back home to find jobs again.
Their relationship also suffered as a result, and although they were almost broken up, she mentioned their efforts to work things out again. Nonetheless, although they tried, they did not get back together, as Tiffany began calling herself a single lady. Meanwhile, Tiffany also moved back to her hometown and started working as a leasing agent. She is now a star on TikTok and she regularly posts TikTok videos on the platform and Instagram as well. She loves to flaunt her transformations and proudly accepts her curvy body.
Tiffany’s favorite pass time is cooking and she passionately shares photos and videos of the food that she cooks and serves her family. She always tries to cook healthy food and now channels her love for food through that. In terms of her weight loss, she did face some setbacks due to some health issues. As a 450-pound woman, she constantly tries to eat healthily and get back on schedule to lose more weight. As Tiffany Barker goes on with her weight loss journey, we only wish her the best and happiness in everything in life.
Read More: Is My 600-lb Life Scripted or Real?
