In the time since our last My 600 Lb Life Chay update, it looks like the Season 3 and Where Are They Now? star has gotten closer to her gender reassignment surgery weight goal!

Chay, who looks terrific in her latest photos, announced her intention to transition in her most recent episode. Since then, she’s been striving to meet a personal goal of 180 pounds before undergoing the surgery. And Chay’s latest photos do reveal some tremendous strides.

UPDATE – Since writing this post, there has indeed been some huge changes in Chay’s life 🙂 Click here for our feature on Chay’s surprise engagement to her fiancé Patrick! And when you’re done catching up there, be sure to check out Starcasm’s exclusive look at Chay’s recent marriage!

My 600 Lb Life Chay update: How is she doing today?

Since viewers last got a glimpse of her life, Chay has been making steady progress. With her weight loss and transition goals both clearly in sight, it looks like a much happier future for Chay.

Initially, Chay’s peak weight of 597 pounds kept her dependent upon caregivers. And her obesity in turn led her to feel like she was living a “lie” as a man.

One Dr. Nowzaradan visit and 220 lost pounds later, Chay had been approved for skin loss surgery, was feeling immeasurably better in general, and was ready to reveal to the world her identity as a transgender woman.

(Before we go any further, a quick ICYMI on why we’re calling her “Chay.” Chay initially intended to change her name to Lola, but has since explained that “I don’t like [the name] so much for myself. So I decided to just keep my regular name, ‘Chay.'”)

Unfortunately, Chay’s most recent My 600 Lb Life episode revealed that her coming out as transgender wasn’t as loving a process as one would hope.

While “a lot of” Chay’s friends and family sent her “wonderful messages of support,” her aunt and uncle — who supported Chay during her initial visits to Dr. Nowzaradan’s office — were another story.

Chay’s aunt even appeared to take a passive-aggressive shot at her niece by sharing a transphobic video on Facebook shortly after Chay announced she is transgender.

“I appreciate everything [my aunt and uncle] have done for me in my weight loss journey,” Chay said, in the Where Are They Now? update. “And I will never not appreciate it. But it really hurts me that she did this, because she knows about me now. And this is exactly what I didn’t want to happen…

“I was hoping they would still accept me.”

My 600 Lb Life Chay Before And After Photos

Though Chay has an active social media presence, she asks that most of her photos be kept off of blogs. However, Chay did grant us permission to publish one of her newest shots.

Below is the most recent photo that Chay has made publicly available, from late last summer:

(You can follow Chay on Instagram for her very latest weight loss photos.)

As we wrote in our last update on Chay, she was getting closer to her goal weight of 180 pounds after dropping forty pounds in a single month.

Chay credited the loss to good, old-fashioned “hard work,” as well as “following my program very strictly.” And speaking of that program: Chay is one of several My 600 Lb Life cast members to have moved away from Houston since her initial work with Dr. Now.

All three of Chay’s My 600 Lb Life episodes are available for streaming on the show’s official site. You can revisit Chay’s 2015 My 600 Lb Life debut here, her 2016 follow-up here, and her 2017 Where Are They Now? episode here.

(Photo credits: Facebook, TLC)

John Sharp is Starcasm’s chief editorial correspondent-at-large. Tips: E-mail john@starcasm.net or Twitter @john_starcasm.