She’s the debut cast member for Season 7, but the My 600 Lb Life Octavia episode was only the beginning of this weight loss journey. Octavia has shared a handful of brand new photos in the days leading up to her big night, and they show someone who’s clearly in a better place now than when viewers first met her.
Octavia is one of the few My 600 Lb Life cast members who didn’t know her weight when the cameras started rolling. The 42-year-old Missourian knew only that she hadn’t been able to leave her bed for a full year. So her journey to Texas and Dr. Nowzaradan’s office was difficult from the outset.
In fact, Octavia needed a huge boost just to get out the door. She explained that she had the support of her family — “Everyone is packing everything up now and we have the van that I’m going to be riding down to Houston,” Octavia said. But the van needed to be fitted with her mattress before the family could depart. And Octavia needed a team of EMTs to get her from her apartment to the van itself.
“It’s embarrassing to have all of this just to leave my apartment,” said Octavia, who sounded equal parts mortified and relieved. “But I’m doing this to make sure that this isn’t my life. I know I’m fighting for my life…but it’s hard to be leaving my family.”
As is the case with all the show’s cast members, Octavia has been unable to share her new weight since filming for the My 600 Lb Life Octavia episode wrapped several months ago. But Octavia has gone officially public with a brand-new Facebook page in order to control her narrative. And her Facebook presence reveals a woman who seems to feel a lot healthier.
For comparison’s sake, here’s a photo of Octavia on her 40th birthday two years ago:
And here’s a pic of a beaming Octavia during a visit to Dr. Now’s office late last year:
In fact, almost every new photo Octavia has shared over the past few weeks features a huge smile — as well as some noticeable weight loss:
We say “almost” because this beautiful, artsy shot from last September was too good to pass up. Judging by the images’ quality, it looks like Octavia had been posing. The session may have run a little long, though. We’re not sure whether that finger is hers, the photographer’s, or just a photoshop job — but Octavia did confirm that it is indeed a middle finger 😉
Finally, we’ll note that Octavia’s public profiles state she still lives in Houston. As we’ve explored in some of our recent My 600 Lb Life updates, not every one of the show’s cast members stays in Houston after moving there to work with Dr. Nowzaradan. Octavia still calling Houston home would appear to suggest that she’s still losing weight in conjunction with the show.
You can follow Octavia on her official Facebook page here. And you can stream her episode here, via TLC.
(Photo credits: My 600 Lb Life Octavia via Facebook, TLC)
John Sharp is a Starcasm’s chief editorial correspondent-at-large. Tips: E-mail john@starcasm.net or Twitter @john_starcasm.
