Chay Guillory From "My 600-Lb Life" Comes Out As Trans After Over 200-Lb Weight Loss

Oct 11, 2021 by apost team

There tends to be a lot of drama surrounding reality TV shows, but some series depict incredible personal transformations, where the cast are able to overcome obstacles and change their life for the better. This is not only encouraging to see that they've turned their lives around but similar stories can be inspiring for people at home to make changes to their own lives. 

One such story is Chay Guillory's, who appeared on TLC's "My 600-lb Life" back in 2015. While she was on the show, Guillory weighed close to 600 lbs and expressed that she was incredibly unhappy with her life. She opened up about having a difficult relationship with her mom, leading her to go and live with her grandparents at the age of 15. Over the years she turned to food to comfort herself and the pounds kept piling on.

While appearing on the show, Guillory initially struggled to lose weight after the unexpected death of her grandmother, who she was incredibly close to. But after realizing this might be her only chance at getting surgery to help her, Guillory was able to break through and began losing the necessary weight to undergo the operation.

In a follow-up to her time on the show, Guillory came out as transgender to her family and began living as a woman. She revealed that before she came out her inner conflict contributed to her overeating. Since then, she's continued to lose weight, and today she looks incredible and is very happy. Let's take a look at her journey. 

Guillory's 2015 appearance on "My 600-lb Life" was the beginning of major changes that would turn her life around. On the show, the then-23-year-old weighed 597-lbs. She opened up about her past and how the emotional turmoil of her childhood led her to find comfort in food. She explains:

"Food was my comfort. It was the only thing that made me feel better, it was the only thing that made me feel like everything will be ok. And 10-lbs here leads to 20-lbs, leads to 40-lbs, and before you know it, geez Louise, you're 600-lbs. And I know if I keep living like this, I'm not going to be alive much longer."

She added that she'd get "aggravated" with herself, thinking "how could you let it get this far." After a slow start, in which Guillory's beloved grandma passed away unexpectedly, Guillory was faced with the realization that this could be her only shot at getting surgery to help her lose the weight she needed to live a healthy and happy life.

So she put in the work, and after losing nearly 50-lbs, she qualified for her first surgery. But the pain she was holding onto about her childhood was still there. After an honest discussion with her mom, who admitted she could have been better as a mother, Guillory was able to move forward.

From there, she kept at it but after losing 120-lbs, she plateaued in her weight-loss journey once again. It was then that she came to the realization that she was a transgender woman and wished to live her life openly. No longer burdened by parts of her past, Guillory was able to begin living her truth and soon after came out to her family. Some of them were supportive, while others struggled with the news.  

apost.com

In speaking about coming out as a trans woman, Guillory said: 

"I've wanted this for so long. And I feel like I'm finally starting my life as the person I've always wanted but I've been too afraid to be."

Two years after coming out, Guillory was at 379-lbs and doing incredibly well on her journey. She told TLC in the same 2018 video:

"The last two years have been the most life-changing years of my life." 

By that point, she was living her life fully as a woman and it's clear from her demeanor that Guillory is much happier in who she is. Motivated by her desire to get gender confirmation surgery — which her doctor explained she would have to wait until she was at her goal weight of 180-lbs, as her body can't handle more than one major surgery at once — Guillory is focused on the next steps in her life.

Since then, she has been living her best life and posting frequently to her social media channels. She has over 10,000 followers on Instagram, while she also loves posting videos to TikTok. Last year, she also announced that she'd gotten married to her boyfriend Patrick. Her post featured congratulations from fellow "My 600-lb Life" alumni including Nikki Webster and Brittani Fulfer.

Currently, Guillory's focus is on getting to her goal weight of 180-lbs so that she can have gender confirmation surgery. Considering how much she's positively changed her life around in the last few years, we're sure that goal isn't a long way off!  

Congratulations to Chay Guillory on living her truth and changing her life around so positively. Are you impressed by her weight-loss journey? If you found this inspiring, pass it on to others so they can read about it too.