Was Michael Blair From 'My 600-lb Life' Finally Able to Get Weight Loss Surgery?
Updated Feb. 24 2021, 9:00 p.m. ET
Those who regularly tune into My 600-lb Life on TLC have followed the weight loss journeys of dozens of morbidly obese individuals through the years. During each episode, a different person seeks the help of Dr. Younan Nowzaradan (aka Dr. Now) in hopes that, with his guidance, they'll be able to have bariatric surgery and completely transform their lives. If you watched Michael Blair's story, then it probably left you wondering: How is he doing now?
Michael Blair from 'My 600-lb Life' attributed his weight to childhood trauma.
On the episode that premiered on Feb. 24, 2021, viewers were introduced to Michael, 43, who lives in Conroe, Tex., with his wife, Kimberly, and their two children, Xander, 17, and Liam, 12.
"Every day, I wake up and struggle to start my day because of my size. Just basic things are so hard for me now," Michael explained. "But thankfully, I'm still able to at least get out of bed. I just can't go far."
Kim often had to help bathe, powder, and lotion Michael because he either didn't have the energy or couldn't physically reach certain areas of his body. And if it wasn't done, then "it goes fungal, and things can get bad for me," he explained.
Viewers then learned more about Michael's childhood trauma, which had been a huge factor in his disordered eating.
"When I was just a few years old, my dad left my mom and I. So we had to move in with my grandparents. And my grandma was trying to keep me fed constantly," he shared. "By the time I was 7, I was probably close to 100-110 pounds — and it made a perpetual cycle where I would get bigger, I would feel bad about getting bigger, I would eat more, and I kept getting bigger and bigger."
Things got even worse for Michael when he was 11. He went on an overnight camping trip through a "kids' wilderness club thing," and was molested by the pack leader. Eating food became the coping mechanism for dealing with this trauma — and this caused his number on the scale to rise even more rapidly.
Before he could be considered for weight loss surgery, Michael needed to lose weight to have a hernia repaired.
At his initial appointment with Dr. Now, Michael weighed in at 609 pounds. An endoscopy revealed that Michael had a hernia — something Dr. Now said he could fix once Michael lost 150 pounds. The bariatric surgeon set a goal of Michael losing 100 pounds over the first three months.
At Michael's follow-up appointment, he fell short of that goal, weighing in at 548 pounds.
Dr. Now then gave him three months to lose 90 more pounds; Michael weighed 512 pounds when he returned, meaning he had lost a total of 97 pounds so far.
Next, Dr. Now gave him four months (three if he could do it faster) to lose another 90 pounds. After staying on track with his diet and adding in martial arts training into the equation, Michael came back to Dr. Now and had lost 38 more pounds — making his total weight loss 135 pounds.
At that point, Dr. Now agreed to do another endoscopy to see whether Michael could safely have the hernia repair surgery.
"I feel really good now, and I'm optimistic about my future," Michael said toward the end of the episode. "I had my other endoscopy, and Dr. Now said a few weeks ago I'm almost ready for my hernia surgery — and if I just lose another 30 pounds or so, that should be enough. So he went ahead and scheduled my surgery for three months later."
After the hernia repair — during which Dr. Now would also remove scar tissue — the plan was for Michael to have yet another endoscopy to determine if he could go ahead with a gastric sleeve operation. The episode ended with Michael and his family feeling optimistic about his future and his health.
How is Michael from 'My 600-lb Life' doing now?
Unfortunately for My 600-lb Life viewers who were hoping to see whether Michael was able to get his hernia surgery — and ultimately, weight loss surgery — we couldn't find any public social media accounts for him. (The only Michael Blair from Conroe, Tex., that's searchable via Facebook has their account set to private.) We came up empty-handed with similar searches on Instagram.
Fingers crossed, though, that he'll provide some sort of public update for fans in the near future!
New episodes of My 600-lb Life air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on TLC.
If you need support, The National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 at 1-800-656-4673. You will be connected with a trained staff member in your area. Or visit RAINN.org to chat online with a support specialist at any time.
