Tommy Johnson came to My 600-LB Life with a very personal goal — to lose enough weight so he could walk down the aisle with his fiance.
The 38-year-old Louisiana man was featured on the March 11 episode of the TLC docu-series, showing viewers how he struggled with his 641-pound frame. As TLC noted in its preview of the episode, Tommy struggled to break the food addiction that left him almost entirely immobile and kept him from his dream of getting married.
Viewers got to see Tommy make some major progress toward the goal, undergoing weight-loss surgery and ultimately dropping more than 200 pounds as he worked with renowned weight-loss surgeon Dr. Younan Nowzaradan. Viewers didn’t get to see if he and girlfriend Amanda were able to plan a wedding, but they did see Tommy take her on a date for the first time in years.
Tommy was able to overcome more than just his dangerous weight while on the show. Through the help of a therapist, he began to confront a traumatizing childhood that included the death of his father — who passed away of a heart attack suddenly, leaving Tommy literally waiting for his dad to show up for a lunch they had planned — and sexual abuse at the hands of his caretaker in the years that followed.
The episode also showed how Tommy’s fiance, Amanda, learned how to help him on his path to recovery and stop enabling Tommy’s addiction to food.
The uplifting episode comes during a year of ups and downs for the My 600-LB Life franchise. There have been a number of episodes showing tremendous progress, like Travis Henry , who dropped hundreds of pounds. There have also been some more disappointing episodes, including some who dropped out of the weight-loss program and decided to try losing weight on their own. In the history of the franchise, those who dropped out of Dr. Now’s rigorous weight-loss regimen have rarely-found success and often remained mired in the emotional and psychological issues that caused their addictions to food in the first place.
Five years ago, Tommy promised to take his fiance Amanda out on a real date…but she’s still waiting. #My600lbLife pic.twitter.com/6QzLtW2YfK
— TLC Network (@TLC) March 11, 2020
It’s not clear how Tommy and Amanda are doing today. Tommy does not appear to have much of a public social media presence, and TLC offered no further update on what further progress he may have made after the show. Those who want to see more from Tommy can keep an eye on the My 600-LB Life official page , which is updated regularly to show progress from people who have been featured on the show.