Her Diet And Fitness Routines
From the early days of “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” to “Mama June: Family Crisis,” Mama June Shannon has been giving her fans a raw look at the highs and lows of her life for over a decade.
While navigating family drama and her battle with addiction, Shannon also took viewers along for the ride as she embarked on a weight-loss journey in her series “Mama June: From Not to Hot.”
After undergoing bariatric surgery in 2015, the reality star maintained her new weight for several years.
Earlier this year, however, Shannon acknowledged that she’d gained back over 100 pounds in recent years and was ready to recommit to a healthier lifestyle.
After starting out around 280 pounds in April 2024, Shannon is down to 245.4 pounds as of July 8, 2024. As she seeks to reach her goal weight later this year, we’re taking a look back at the reality star’s weight loss journey.
She got gastric bypass surgery in 2015
The series “Mama June: From Not to Hot” chronicled Shannon’s weight-loss journey, including the gastric sleeve surgery she underwent in 2015.
Per the Cleveland Clinic, the procedure “removes a large portion of your stomach, leaving behind a narrow ‘sleeve.'”
“Reducing your stomach helps restrict calories and reduce hunger signals. This surgery is offered to help people with clinically severe obesity achieve effective weight loss,” the Cleveland Clinic adds.
Per Shannon, she went from 550 pounds to 311 pounds on the day of her surgery.
“And in six weeks, I went from 311 all the way down to 195,” she told her Instagram followers in April 2024.
When she plateaued in her weight loss, Shannon started working with weight loss expert Kenya Crooks. In 2017, he told People how he helped rework Shannon’s diet.
“We had to change how she looked at food. We had to cut down the portions, because she used to eat really, really big. So we had to change how she ate, how she worked out, and just put it all together!” he said.
In April 2017, Shannon gave ET an update on her weight.
“I’m in the 160s. I’m probably four or five pounds off from being there,” she said.
She gained 120-130 pounds back in the years following her surgery
For a few years after her bariatric surgery, Shannon’s weight stayed stable.
“Since then, I kinda kept off the weight. I stayed at like 130, 140, 150 and to me I looked super skinny and just wasn’t used to that,” she said in an Instagram video.
When her daughter Anna Cardwell was diagnosed with adrenal cancer, Shannon became one of her primary caregivers and she instantly experienced an uptick in her stress levels. While focused on caring for Cardwell, who died in December 2023, Shannon didn’t have much time to focus on eating properly.
“I have noticed over the last year and a half that I’ve really put on weight,” she said in her video.
The reality star estimated that she regained 120-130 pounds of the weight she had previously lost. Per the Mayo Clinic, this is not unusual following weight-loss surgery.
“It’s also possible to not lose enough weight or to regain weight after any type of weight-loss surgery, even if the procedure itself works correctly. This weight gain can happen if you do not follow the recommended lifestyle changes, such as getting regular physical activity and eating healthy foods,” the website reads.
She considered revisional bariatric surgery
In April 2024, Shannon revealed she had previously considered revisional bariatric surgery, a procedure that can “repair or change a previous weight loss surgery,” per Penn Medicine.
“It might be appropriate for you if you’ve had less-than-optimal weight loss or weight regain, or if you experienced complications from your original procedure,” the Penn Medicine website reads.
While considering the surgery a year and a half ago, Shannon learned that she wasn’t a good candidate for the procedure.
“My stomach was still the same size and the hole leading down to my stomach was the same size, so (the doctor) said it would do no good to do the revision surgery,” she said in an Instagram video.
Instead, Shannon focused on curbing her eating habits and cutting back on eating out.
“Nothing was actually helping,” she said.
She recently started using weight loss injections
When Shannon’s efforts to lose weight hit a standstill, she decided to start taking semaglutide, a medication that can reduce appetite.
Per the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, there are three FDA-approved semaglutide products: Ozempic injection, Rybelsus tablets and Wegovy injection.
The reality star shared the news in an Instagram video and explained that she was starting off by taking four units of the medication for four weeks then would adjust her dosage with the help of her doctor.
Over the last few months, Shannon has been sharing regular updates with her social media followers. After a month of taking weight-loss medication, the reality star reported that she’d lost 16 pounds.
At the end of June, Shannon told Us Weekly she’d dropped 30 pounds so far and shared the name of the exact medication she’d been taking: tirzepatide. She also noted that she’s losing an average of “four to five pounds a week.”
On July 9, 2024, she told her TikTok followers that she was down to 245.4 pounds after 11 weeks.
She’s been hitting the gym more often
In addition to using weight-loss medication, Shannon has been stepping up her workout routine. In May 2024, her husband Justin Stroud told TikTok viewers he was “super proud” of his wife for signing up for a gym membership.
“It’s not really about losing weight. It’s about being able to be healthy, being here for moments in life that you need to be here (for). And especially you want to be around for your children’s life, you want to be around for the grandkids. It’s just about being healthy at the end of the day,” he said.
While chatting with Us Weekly, Shannon said she’d been hitting the gym “three or four times a (week).”
On June 30, Shannon told her TikTok followers she hadn’t been to the gym in two weeks but said she’d been incorporating vibration plate exercises into her routine twice a day for 40 minutes.
She’s revamped her diet
While taking medication and hitting the gym, Shannon has also been revamping her diet and upping her protein intake.
“My kids and Justin say I’m way too strict. And Kaitlyn (my granddaughter) says I’m way too strict. But for me, I know this is what I want. This is what I need,” she told her TikTok followers on June 30.
Over the last few months, Shannon has shared several hacks for sneaking protein into her diet and has tried high protein cookie dough, protein bars, protein yogurt and other foods.
“I think of food differently. This is a lifestyle change,” she told her TikTok followers.
She hopes to reach her goal weight by December
Shannon has set a goal weight of 170-180 pounds for herself. In a recent TikTok video, she revealed that she hopes to be down to 230-235 pounds by July 16 then reach her goals by December.
“I don’t ever want to go down to 130 pounds, (which) I was when in season 1 (of ‘Mama June: From Not to Hot’). I went from a 24 to a size zero,” she told Us Weekly.