When Pauline Potter claimed the Guinness World Record for the heaviest woman in 2012, she weighed as much as an adult female polar bear.
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After being dubbed the “world’s fattest woman,” the 61-year-old star of TLC’s My 600-lb Life underwent a shocking transformation that left fans amazed by her new appearance.
Pauline Potter became a sensation in 2011 when she achieved the Guinness World Record for the ‘world’s heaviest living woman’ weighing 320 kilos.
At that time, she and her ex-husband Alex held the title in high regard.
“Alex encouraged me to eat whatever I wanted. He made huge meals of turkey and roasted potatoes and piled it on my plate,” Potter said about the man she married on Valentine’s Day in 2003, less than a year after meeting him online. “Because he loved my size, I set a goal to reach [700 pounds], to make sure I was even bigger for him.”
In an interview with the Mirror, Potter explains that Alex loved larger women and enjoyed stuffing her: “He made spaghetti and garlic bread for me. He brought home pudding and gave that to me. It was very intimate. It was very loving.”
But according to Dr. Chris Steele, former resident doctor of ITV’s This Morning, there is nothing loving about endorsing obesity.
“With [700 pounds], Pauline weighed more than her age at 47 and is gambling with death. Anyone with such severe obesity faces enormous potential health problems.”
‘World’s fattest woman’
When Potter heard that Guinness named her “the world’s fattest woman,” she said she was “shocked.”
Furthermore, her seemingly loving husband had ended the relationship, leaving her in the care of her 17-year-old son Dillon.
Potter, who could “only feed herself” and “wipe herself,” was dependent on Dillon for almost everything, including mobility and cleaning.
“I have a walk-in bath and sit on a stool with a flexible showerhead on a line. There’s a lot to it. With lots of flesh rolls, you can get infections in the folds,” she tells the Mirror. “To prevent this, I wash every day, dry myself properly, then rub cornstarch in the folds around my stomach and behind my knees.”
She adds, “My son has to help me if there are places I can’t reach.”
Potter also needed her mobility scooter to get around since she had outgrown her car, and Dillon often had to assist her with grocery shopping.
“I get nasty comments occasionally. I try to rise above it, but I feel sad for Dillon. I know he feels embarrassed and I worry about what his friends think.”
Progress and setbacks
Potter’s health issues, combined with the desire to regain her independence, motivated her to seek help. Her turning point came when she appeared on My 600-lb Life on TLC in 2014. In the reality show, she worked with renowned bariatric surgeon Dr. Younan Nowzaradan – affectionately known as “Dr. Now” – who guided her through the grueling process of weight loss.
When Potter first appeared on the show, she weighed 643 pounds. Despite initial setbacks, including struggling to stick to a strict 1,200-calorie diet, Potter’s perseverance began to pay off.
The woman eventually made progress on her weight loss journey, losing 44 pounds, leading Dr. Now to approve her for a gastric bypass surgery.
However, the road after her weight loss procedure was far from smooth. Instead of rapidly losing weight, Pauline struggled, made excuses, and even gained weight.
“Her attitude right now is her biggest problem,” Dr. Now said about the stubborn woman, who often refused to get out of bed and continued to eat junk food.
Extreme weight loss
But Potter eventually regained control of her health and years later lost 500 pounds and underwent a skin removal surgery, reaching her lowest weight. In January 2022, Potter shared an Instagram post, her first in “a long time.”
“I am proud to say I now weigh 223 pounds, it feels amazing to not be reliant on someone else to even do the smallest things for me,” she writes in the post with pictures of her beautiful slimmed-down physique.
Inspired by her weight loss story, fans continue to support her and cheer her on at every milestone.
“What an amazing transformation and inspiration you are, you look fantastic!!!” one fan shares, while another writes: “Well done, you look so beautiful.” A third adds: “You look amazing! What an achievement!”
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