From ‘My 600-lb Life’ to a Model and Social Influencer — Inside Amber Rachdi’s Journey
Reality TV can turn regular old people into stars overnight. The show My 600-lb Life can be a star-maker, just like other reality shows, despite the sometimes heavy content. Subjects of the docuseries experience obesity, which is often the result of an eating disorder caused by childhood trauma. Some of the subjects change their lives forever, while others, unfortunately, don’t. But all the participants of My 600-lb Life make an impact on fans, and Amber Rachdi is no exception. Is she one of the show’s success stories?
‘My 600-lb Life’ is filmed over the course of a year
The docuseries My 600-lb Life follows a morbidly obese person for a year as they attempt to control their weight, usually through weight-loss surgery. Dr. Nowzaradan, a weight-loss surgeon, is often at the heart of the show. Sometimes the subjects are reluctant to seek his help, and there have been cases of people who chose not to get weight loss surgery during their year of filming for the program.
It seems like the patients who get surgery are often vastly more successful in their weight-loss journey. Dr. Now, as his patients call him, can guide his patients to lose hundreds of pounds in their first year of weight loss. But as he often explains, it isn’t in his power to make people lose weight. His patients do all the work, and they need the motivation to do it. Luckily, Rachdi had what it took to be successful in his program.
Amber Rachdi made a splash on her episode of ‘My 600-lb Life’
Rachdi was just 23 when she decided she needed to make a change. According to Looper, she was reluctant to start her weight-loss journey, like most people are. But she took the leap and traveled to Houston to meet Dr. Now. Rachdi made a splash in the airport when she was unable to walk on her own and had to be pushed on a luggage cart. People made fun of her and took pictures as she rolled by.
But this first setback didn’t deter Rachdi. She arrived at Dr. Now’s office weighing more than 600 pounds. Even though she was quite young, her body was already showing signs of giving up. She struggled to lose the weight necessary to qualify for surgery, but once Dr. Now performed gastric bypass, Rachdi’s life changed forever. She lost more than 200 pounds in the 12 months she was followed by cameras for the show.
Now, Amber Rachdi is a social media maven
Rachdi is basically an influencer. She’s continued to lose weight since her time on My 600-lb Life, although according to Suggest.com, she can’t say how much. Rachdi’s TLC contract prevents her from sharing her weight, in case she is featured on a My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now? episode. Instagram proves, however, that Rachdi has a much healthier relationship with food, and is working hard to maintain her progress. She has around 200K followers.
Despite Rachdi’s public weight loss success, she’s honest with her fans. She knows that if she’s not careful, she could fall back into old habits. Rachdi grows her own food in her garden, which helps her stay on track. She occasionally works as a plus-sized model. Even though she’s considerably lighter than before, Rachdi still refers to herself as “fat” in her Instagram bio. It reads, “I was REAL fat. Now I’m just normal-fat. Life ain’t bad.”
