Octavia Gahagans of My 600 Lb Life Season 7 had a great first year on the show. The Kansas City native lost a little more than one-third of her peak body weight and got a whole new outlook on life in the process.

Since her episode kicked off My 600 Lb Life Season 7, Octavia has offered regular updates for fans following her journey on social media. Among those updates? Some encouraging new My 600 Lb Life Octavia before and after pics showing just how much farther she’s already come.

My 600 Lb Life Octavia before and after photos: A wonderful transformation

We’ve gotten a bevy of Octavia Gahagans before and after photos of late. In addition to depicting Octavia’s ongoing weight loss success, they also show how much more fun the 42-year-old seems to be having.

It’s typical for a My 600 Lb Life happy ending to wind up far removed from where the story began. As filming for her episode started, Octavia’s wasn’t even sure of her exact weight. She hadn’t been strong enough to stand on a scale in years.

But Octavia knew her health was bad enough that she’d been bed-bound for a full year. And her peak weight of 692 helped explain why.

Octavia’s journey from her native Kansas City to Dr. Nowzaradan’s Houston offices was an odyssey unto itself. Just getting her into the mattress-equipped van for the road trip south was an ordeal.

Fortunately, Octavia was able to lose enough weight working with Dr. Now that she received fast approval for gastric bypass surgery. And by the end of her My 600 Lb Life debut, Octavia had lost 236 pounds in total, leaving her at a still-obese but far healthier 456 pounds.

Octavia had become more mobile. Her general mood had improved. And, as we noted in our earlier article on Octavia, her social media profiles still list Houston as her current home.

The location suggests Octavia is still getting tough love from Dr. Now, as well as encouragement from the broader My 600 Lb Life cast in the area.

Octavia Gahagans weight loss: Has she kept the weight off?

We won’t get an official weight loss update until Octavia’s Where Are They Now? episode airs. But her latest weight loss photos show Octavia’s journey continues to be a successful one.

For starters, go back and check out that pic at the top of the article. It’s one of the more recent Octavia has shared; she posted it just a few weeks ago.

Octavia has also taken the infamous ten-year challenge. My 600 Lb Life cast members tend to *really* benefit from this particular trend.

Here’s Octavia showing yet more progress in side-by-side shots from 2009 and today:

And finally, below is the most recent pic Octavia has made public:

With all that said, Octavia is also one of the show’s more reserved cast members. Though she does offer regular updates — usually in the form of photos — she doesn’t interact with fans too much.

But Octavia did recently share some surprise pics of herself posing alongside fellow My 600 Lb Life cast member Destinee Lashaee. The two were actually in the waiting room at Dr. Now’s office, ready for their check-ups.

And in response to one recent question about her ongoing weight loss, Octavia did give a quick response. She told the inquiring fan, “It’s going great.”

If Octavia is filming for a Where Are They Now? episode, it likely won’t air until next spring. Until then, you can follow Octavia on social media through her official Facebook page here.

And you can stream her debut My 600 Lb Life episode via the show’s official site.

(Photo credits: Facebook)

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