How Honey Boo Boo's Mama June Went From 460 Lbs To A Size 4
Special bonus: find out how you can do it too!
YouTube If you were ever a fan of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo? — and frankly, even if you've never heard of her before, I have GREAT news for you! “Mama June" Shannon, 37, and her family are BACK in a new reality TV series starting tonight, February 24th, at 10 p.m. EST on the WeTV network.
That’s right, kiddos. Strap yourself in.
Because not only is Mama June back, she's undergone extreme weight loss procedures to that took her 5'4" body from 460 lbs (size 28) to 150 lbs (size 4)!
The series, Mama June: From Not to Hot, will document her weight loss and reconstructive surgeries over a seven episode journey.
In case you forgot who is who in Mama June's life, here's get a quick look at the main cast:
"Mama" June Shannon — mother of four and the family matriarch.
Sugar Bear — the family patriarch who inspires Mama to lose weight after he invites her to his wedding (to someone else).
Alana, AKA Honey Boo Boo — the funniest, loveable beauty pageant queen EVER.
Lauryn AKA Pumpkin — Honey Boo Boo's big sister, who struggles with weight issues of her own (and often encourages her mama to find a new man! ).
According to WeTV, Sugar Bear’s getting married to a woman he’s been dating for eight months. Rocked by Sugar Bear’s bombshell wedding news, June decides to go on a revenge diet so she can get "skinny and sexy" for Sugar Bear’s wedding — and even find a hot date to make Sugar Bear jealous!
After trying to diet and exercise on her own and failing, as she has so many times before, June decides she needs more help and consults with a weight loss surgeon in LA. She learns that losing weight with the help of surgery will mean that she’ll be able to live longer for her kids, too, so she decides to go under the knife.
But weight loss surgery isn’t the quick fix that Mama June expected it to be — she’ll have to stick to a strict diet, change her eating habits forever, and exercise to drop the weight and keep it off.
According to WebMD:
"Gastric sleeve surgery makes the stomach smaller and help people lose weight. With a smaller stomach, you will feel full a lot quicker than you are used to. More than half of your stomach is removed, leaving a thin vertical sleeve, or tube, that is about the size of a banana. Surgical staples keep your new stomach closed. Because part of your stomach has been removed, this is not reversible."
Before you rush out to make an appointment to get half of your own stomach removed, be prepared lots of insurance paperwork and a slew of doctor appointments to make sure that you:
- Are eligible for the surgery
- Have unsuccessfully exhausted all other attempts at reasonable weight loss methods
- Are mentally and emotionally prepared to handle the recovery and outcome
- Are physically well enough to handle the surgery
Some insurance companies require 6 months to a year of preparation for the surgery, including support groups, mental evaluation, and several rounds of cardio/pulmonary testing.
If you want to see the first episode now, we have a special surprise for you!
WeTV has made the first episode available — free of charge and no login required — ready for you to watch.
And, if you're feeling inspired, but surgery isn't your thing, here are five great weight loss tips you can put into action immediately:
1. Calories in/Calories Out.
Thanks to smartphones, keeping track of your calories is SO much easier now than it was years ago.
Apps like MyFitnessPal and Lose It! do most of the work for you. After entering in your information like height, current weight, goal weight, and how much activity you do in a day, you'll be given how many calories to eat per day.
The trick is: You need to burn more calories than you take in. I said it was a trick, but I never said it was easy!
2. Exercise.
I know, believe me, I KNOW! It's not something I look forward to, but I will admit that, when I'm done, I feel fabulous. According to LiveStrong, alternating between light and heavy workouts yield the best results.
Oh, and you don't necessarily need an expensive gym membership. There's super cheap at-home equipment you can find to get you going!
3. Drink more water!
This might seem like a no-brainer, but you're probably not getting enough water per day. A study published in The Journal of Clinical and Endocrinology and Metabolism showed that people who increase their water intake by 500 ml (approx. 16.9 fl oz.) per day increase their metabolism by 30%.
That's a simple thing to do to get your body in shape!
4. Keep dinner light!
Do you ever go out to eat after work, gorge on mozzarella sticks, cheese fries, other super yummy appetizers? It's fun and all ... until you get home and feel like you can't even move off couch.
If you eat heavier meals earlier in the day you will at least have time to work it off. When you wait until night time, all that fatty food sits in your stomach, creating new fat cells and unhappy thoughts in your head.
5. Cut out the alcohol.
Sorry, I know. That'll be tough if you tend to go to happy hour with the girls.
But seriously, just decrease the amount of alcohol you consume slowly, and you'll notice a difference in no time.
Liza Walter is a love and entertainment writer.