‘1000-Lb Sisters: This Tragic Life Event Is What Caused Amy Slaton to Gain Hundreds of Pounds

Amy Slaton has struggled with her weight on '1000-lb Sisters.' But weight wasn't always a problem for her. After a major life event, she turned to food for comfort.

by Christina Montford

Published on November 1, 2021

2 min read

Amy used to be the “skinny sister” before ‘1000-lb Sisters’

During season 1 of 1000-lb Sisters, Amy and Tammy went to weigh themselves at a junkyard because they couldn’t find a scale that was big enough anywhere else. During their first meeting with Dr. Proctor, Amy revealed that she didn’t always struggle with her weight.

“When I was at the junkyard, the scale said I weighed 406,” she said. “I’m hoping this time I weigh less. I’ve always been the skinny sister so seeing that 400 lbs, I don’t know what went wrong.”

Amy didn’t always struggle with weight

In an interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal, Amy revealed that she used to be a healthy child. But when her grandmother died when Amy was around 10 years old, she turned to food for comfort.

“My mom worked two to three jobs at a time, and my grandma was basically our mom,” Amy said. “When she died, our whole world changed.”

Because their mom was out of the house working so much, she and Tammy had to fend for themselves when it came to food. They didn’t know how to cook, so they began eating a lot of ramen noodles, frozen pizza, and pre-packaged meals.

“It’s what we ate to survive, and that stuff is not good for you,” Tammy told the outlet. “Depression and just trying to live all kind of caught up with us.”

Amy’s goal was to get pregnant

When Amy got married to Mike Halterman, she got serious about trying to get pregnant. However, at the weight she was, pregnancy wasn’t a possibility. So, she consulted with doctors and started her weight loss journey with her sister. Throughout the course of the seasons, Amy lost enough weight to qualify for surgery. But even still, losing weight wasn’t easy.

“It’s still a battle,” Tammy told the outlet. “I do wish that restaurants would have more options that are healthier, and it would help if the healthier foods were cheaper.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad,” Amy agreed. “You go to McDonald’s and you can get a cheeseburger for a dollar, but a salad costs like five.”

Amy’s journey on ‘1000-lb Sisters’ Season 3

After giving birth to her son Gage, Amy got down to 270 lbs. But season 3 will still pose some problems for the new mom.

“Amy is dealing with her own stress, and while her dreams came true when she became a mom to son Gage, balancing the demands of motherhood with her own weight-loss goals may prove to be impossible,” the summary for season 3 reads.