The Truth Behind Mama June's Major Weight Loss

She keeps herself busy

Mama June admits that a big part of her weight loss was just keeping herself occupied with activities other than food. "Honestly, when I first started losing weight, it was just being more active, being busy with the show and doing more things with Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," she told In Touch Weekly.

Now that the show is on the outs with TLC, here's hoping she's able to keep up the healthier habits. She's doing well so far at staying busy. She and estranged common law husband Michael "Sugar Bear" Thompson appeared on WE tv's Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars in 2015, and she frequently makes appearances at parties and meet and greets, so her schedule is still relatively packed.

She walks everywhere

In November 2015, Mama June revealed to the Daily Mail that walking three to five miles per day played a huge role in her weight loss. "Once you get started with the kids you don't think about it," she said. "You're walking and you're like 'I've already walked three miles!'"

She has a personal trainer

Professional help is always a good thing when it comes to getting healthy. Mama June told In Touch that working with a personal trainer made a huge difference in her weight loss, from offering helpful tips to holding her accountable for various lifestyle choices.

"I met with this trainer [Natasha Fett] through my manager," she said. "Even though she's 3,000 miles away, she's still very supportive through everything. I'm just walking through the neighborhood three miles a day, and just keeping up with that and just keeping up with the kids and just kind of being on the go all the time." Mama June also noted on Instagram (via Us Weekly) that Fett was always a text or a call away for encouragement and positive reinforcement about good choices.

She's getting weight loss surgery

The New York Daily News reported in March 2016 that Mama June was undergoing weight loss surgery after regular dieting caused her to faint and put her at risk for some other health problems. After losing an initial 90 pounds, Mama June wanted to lose another 80 or so to reach her goal weight. Dr. Christine Ren-Fielding, who has not specifically treated Mama June, told the paper that the reality star's gastric sleeve surgery is a bit different from traditional gastric bypass surgery. "It sounds horrible that you're amputating 80 percent of the stomach, but your digestive tract stays completely intact, unlike gastric bypass, which attaches the small intestine directly to the top of the stomach. The gastric sleeve is sort of like changing from bellbottom jeans to skinny jeans."

Don't think Mama June is looking for an easy out with her surgery, because she'll still have work to do afterward. She'll go on a liquid diet for months following the procedure, and Dr. Ren-Fielding adds, "After that, it's still up to [Mama June] to maintain a healthy lifestyle. People still have to eat healthy and exercise, or the weight will creep back. But think of how much easier it is to exercise after you've shed that first 80 pounds."

Mama June also got a little help losing weight from one particular area: she underwent a procedure called "cool sculpting" to remove her double chin after losing a whopping 150 pounds.

She's eating less, juicing, and watching her calories

Remember how Mama June and the kids loved "sketti," the horrifying concoction of spaghetti, ketchup, and butter? There's a lot less of it in the house lately. She admitted on Instagram (via Us Weekly) that she and daughter Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson have been eating smaller portions. They also appear to have switched from "Go-Go Juice"Alana's former pre-pageant potion of Red Bull and Mountain Dewto tried and true H2O. Mama June has also endorsed green smoothies, admitting via Instagram, "I hate greens and vegetables, so I juice 3 days a [week]."

She has a supportive team

Mama June didn't lose all this weight alone. She embarked on her journey with daughters Alana and Lauryn "Pumpkin" Thompson. The ladies have all been dieting and walking together. Mama June announced via a since-deleted Instagram post that in the first month on their program with Fett, Alana dropped eight pounds, Pumpkin lost 26 pounds, and Mama June shed 45 pounds. Having familial support not only means a lot of encouragement and high morale, but also added accountability and less likelihood of finding "cheat" foods in the house.

She's realistic

Check out the video.

When Mama June went on Botched in the summer of 2016, she didn't get the news she wanted: she was still a little too overweight to undergo surgery to remove excess skin. "BMI is the way we doctors figure out who's an appropriate candidate for surgery and who should lose some more weight," Dr. Terry Dubrow explained on the show. "At 5-foot-6, 245, your BMI is 39, OK? So we like to see a BMI of like 28, so you lose 75 pounds, you come back to us, we'll remove that and make you happy."

Mama June was compliant, saying, "Dr. Dubrow gave me a lot of good information and hopefully in a couple months I'll be back and make them kind of proud and say, 'OK, yeah, we're gonna do surgery now. This will be my reward for everything that I've done."