In 2014, a woman named Amber Rachdi was featured on TLC’s show My 600 Pound Life. She had hit her all-time high of 657 pounds at just 23 years old. This is the inspiring story of Amber’s amazing weight loss journey.
Amber, from Troutdale, Oregon, could not drive, could not bathe herself, and rarely ever left her house. Barely able to even fit into her car, she moved around using a motorized scoot and had gone back to living with her parents because she just could not function or live on her own. In fact, she was pretty much housebound for years before she appeared on the TLC show.
Amber then underwent gastric bypass surgery, a surgery which reduced the size of her stomach to the size of a baseball, as well as support to stop her emotional eating, in order to lose a whopping 267 pounds.
Amber described how eating made her feel. “I have a lot of anxiety and I am at peace when I eat,” she said. She described almost never feeling full and almost always being hungry, and would eat 4 to 5 very large meals each day. Even when she was full, she continued to eat. “I could be stuffed sick but I would still want to eat something if it was put in front of me.”
Eventually, Amber realized that she would likely die before her thirtieth birthday if she did not take drastic action. She made the arduous journey from Oregon to Houston to visit with the show’s doctor, Dr. Nowzaradan. He insisted she lose 20 pounds before he even consider giving her gastric bypass surgery. Her family picked up and moved to Houston, where Amber began making her own healthy meals and taking up some exercise. She began walking again, which was painful, but managed to lose 17 pounds in three months. Even though she fell 3 pounds short of his goal, Dr. Nowzaradan recognized Amber’s efforts and agreed to do the surgery.
7 months later, Amber had lost 92 pounds.
After 9 months, she was down 145 pounds.
At 12 months, she has lost an amazing 267 pounds!
Amber’s family then moved back to Oregon, leaving her to continue her journey with her boyfriend Rowdy. “I surprised myself,” said Amber. “I’m shopping for myself, I’m eating healthy and I’m working out. I’ve taken control of my life.”
In an amazing update, it turns out that as of now, Amber has lost 400 pounds!
Congratulations to Amber for all her hard work and inspiration! She has an amazing Instagram account, which she uses to promote living a healthy lifestyle to promote a better quality of life for everyone!
