June 'Mama June' Shannon - the 38-year-old who rose to fame off of 'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo' - has opened up and spoke candidly about her dramatic weight loss and the impact that it had on her mental health.
After going from 460 pounds to a size four in the space of two years, the reality TV star has said that she didn't feel happy within herself when she was so skinny.
"I’ve gained 25 pounds, I told people that in the first season I felt like, even going through it, I felt like I was too small," the 38-year-old star recently told Page Six. "Now that I’m 185, 190 due depending on what time of the month is, I feel confident."
June's dramatic weight loss was captured by the cameras for her reality TV show 'Mama June: From Hot to Not'. The mother underwent a gastric sleeve operation in 2016, something which sped up the process.
"I know I don’t want to go over 200 pounds, that’s been my goal from the very beginning when I had surgery two years ago," the mother of four explained. "And I feel good right now. If I lose more weight, that’s fine. I don’t want to be super skinny."
June also said that her vision is struggling, an issue that hasn't helped her in her constant battle with her weight.
"It’s been a struggle. Emotionally and physically," she said. "Kind of going through my vision going and coming It’s been tough."
It's not the first time that June has opened up about her war with her waistline. In January Mama told ET that she struggles around the festive period:
"The holidays do it! I've been very good, it's over a year and a half. If you say gaining 10 pounds in a year and a half is bad, then it is what it is. I mean, I honestly have [stuck to it]. Just everything going on, medical stuff and everything... I have probably put on two more pounds."
Honey Boo Boo added: "Mama, don't lie. Where did you gain that weight back?' She then said:
However, despite her dramatic transformation, Honey Boo Boo claims that her mother still gets abuse online. In fact, according to the 12-year-old, the trolling has got worse since the weight loss.
"Since she's smaller, she's gotten more hate. Everyone's like, 'Oh, she's going to gain the weight back,' or, 'She's not going to stick to what the doctor says, it’ll all just come back on her.' She's gotten a lot more hate than when she was bigger. Everybody is gonna have something to say."
While Mama June may not seem like the most obvious candidate for being a body-positivity role model, her message that being skinny doesn't necessarily mean being happy is still important. She seems to have settled on a weight in which she feels confident and comfortable and that is all that matters.
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