Cynthia Wells once infamously called Dr. Nowzaradan’s weight loss plan “bullsh!t” and swore she’d succeed in her weight loss journey on her own. Since then, though Cynthia has remained involved with the show, she appears to be far more independent than many of her co-stars. And, as the latest My 600 Lb Life Cynthia Wells update makes very clear, the photos speak for themselves.
Cynthia made her debut on the show at the beginning of Season 5. At her peak, Cynthia weighed 603 pounds, and the single mother was struggling to keep up with herself, her job as a special needs teacher, and the five children for whom she provided.
In fact, it was Cynthia’s inability to fully participate in her daughter Ukiah’s life that served as Cynthia’s primary motivator. Ukiah’s active dance schedule meant she was often participating in recitals — and Cynthia’s health problems kept her from watching Ukiah’s big moments.
Overall, Cynthia did find success in her first episode, dropping from 603 to 454 pounds over the course of a year. But she found Dr. Now’s orders a little too strict, and decided that she could do better without him. (Cynthia is still a patient of Dr. Now’s, but she’s one of several My 600 Lb Life cast members not to reside in Houston — Cynthia lives in Oklahoma City to this day.)
“I’ve decided to stop trying to live up to everyone’s expectations for me, including Dr. Nowzaradan,” Cynthia said at the time. “I’ve decided if he’s pushing me for therapy, I don’t need to see him right now. [I don’t] need him trying to make connections that aren’t there. He can’t help me at this point. I just think I have to do it on my own right now.”
By the time viewers caught up with Cynthia in her Where Are They Now? special earlier this year, she’d managed to make some tremendous strides. Cynthia was able to attend one of Ukiah’s recitals for the first time. And she even made peace with Dr. Now, agreeing that his goals for skin removal surgery were realistic — and worth fighting for.
The latest My 600 Lb Life Cynthia Wells update is full of more good news. Though the show’s rigid nondisclosure agreements mean we don’t know Cynthia’s latest weight, we have put together a photo gallery of her more recent social media updates. Taken together, they make an inspiring montage — as Cynthia herself recently put it in an exchange with a fan, “I feel like a new woman.”
For starters, here’s a surprising before-and-after photo Cynthia shared this past summer. The photo on the left appears to have been taken two years before the pic on the right:
Two days later, Cynthia followed that before-and-after image with a second side-by-side photo, this one of herself working out. “Gym side by side,” Cynthia captioned the shot. “The first day I walked in the gym and about 5 months ago, same shirt”:
Next up is the first full-body shot Cynthia had shared in some time. She revealed it a couple of months after the pics above, and is clearly reveling in her newfound mobility:
Finally, here’s a mystery shot of Cynthia and the new man in her life. That’s right: Cynthia Wells has herself a new boyfriend! She’s chosen not to reveal him publicly, and endured plenty of good-natured teasing in the comments when she dropped this pic a few days before Halloween — adding “He makes me smile like this.”
If you’re eager to keep up with Cynthia, she’s a frequent poster on Facebook. And you can revisit her two My 600 Lb Life episodes — her 2017 debut and 2018 Where Are They Now? follow-up — here and here respectively, via TLC.
(Photo credits: My 600 Lb Life Cynthia Wells via Facebook, TLC)
John Sharp is a Starcasm’s chief editorial correspondent-at-large. Tips: E-mail at john@starcasm.net or Twitter at @john_starcasm.
