Have you seen Christina Phillips from TLC "My 600-lb Life" recently? This young woman once shocked people with her 708-lb weight. Now she's dropping jaws in a more flattering way, after losing over 536 pounds. Phillips is an inspiration to other patients like Steven Assanti and Bettiejo Elmore. The Mississippi queen of weight loss shared how she shed 3/4 of herself since bariatric surgery. And you'll be startled at her amazing journey.

Christina Phillips: Lost and found

On the surface, TLC "My 600-lb Life" is about weight loss after gastric bypass.

But the roots of morbid obesity go deeper than dieting or weight loss surgery alone can reach. Each patient brings a defining struggle, of which weight gain is just the end result. Their back story is often more illuminating than their weight loss plan. The operative dilemma for Christina Phillips is losing and finding. After losing weight and finding a remarkably attractive self under the fat, she lost a husband, self-control and some peace of mind. And now the challenge is to rediscover the last two.

708-lb woman loses obesity, finds independence

The Reality TV celebrity, who also goes by the name Christina Hildreth, was 708 pounds and wheelchair-bound by age 23. She was like a huge baby, completely relying on the kindness of strangers, family and mostly her enabling husband Zach.

But after "My 600-lb Life" Dr. Younan Nowzaradan performed gastric bypass surgery, the immobile woman began to find her legs. The more she weight she lost the less help she needed. And Zach found that he didn't like giving up the caregiver role.

Christina Phillips finds then loses control

"My 600-lb Life" helped the reality television star find the willpower to stop over-eating.

But in a way, she became a slave to that self-control. Phillips found, like so many others who've achieved weight loss, that food becomes an enemy. Terrified on rediscovering lost weight, the 25-year-old often avoids eating. She still sees herself as fat. In an effort to keep 500-plus pounds off, Phillips has lost some of her power to an anorexia-like eating disorder.

Christina Phillips finds confidence in losing

One of the hardest things to lose after weight loss surgery is the arm and leg fat. Sometimes, it's just saggy loose skin. So Dr. Now offers his "My 600-lb Life" patients a reward. Those who get near to goal weight may get a procedure called skin removal surgery. Christina Phillips was certainly a success story. But the saggy skin made her still feel fat. The plastic surgery tightened up her arms and a tummy tuck removed some belly fat. These procedures leave many scars behind as reality TV star Mama June found. But most patients feel more confident afterward.
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