Melissa Marescot is remembered by My 600-lb Life fans for being one of the shortest people to star on the show. At 4 foot 11 inches and weighing 593 pounds, her BMI of 115 was perhaps the highest ever seen on the show and Dr. Now even commented on how it may be the highest of all the patients he’s ever had.
As a result, Dr. Nowzaradan told her that she was “dying” and would continue to do so unless she drastically changed her ways.
That prompted the then-36-year-old to put more effort into losing weight. Fans of the show haven’t heard from her in a while, however, and she hasn’t popped up in many catch-up episodes.
Has Melissa managed to lose weight, or has she kept “dying,” as Dr. Now claimed she was?
Melissa Marescot did well on My 600-lb Life
My 600-lb Life fans watched as Melissa Marescot dropped 150 pounds while going through Dr. Now’s pre-surgery program. Despite dropping down to 440 pounds, that wasn’t enough for her to qualify her for weight loss surgery,
Instead, the doctor – who recently dismissed a death hoax – asked her to move to Houston so that she could keep losing weight under his supervision. Once that was done, then she could have the surgery. Melissa turned the offer down, however, and claimed that there wasn’t a point in moving.
She insisted that she was already accomplishing the goals she had set for herself. She didn’t see the need for extra help from Dr. Now, who’s known for regularly calling out his patients. During this time, she was becoming more sociable and seeing her friends outside much more often.
Melissa had also gotten a new boyfriend, Elijah. All of this was documented on her episode of the reality show. What happened when the cameras stopped running remains somewhat unclear.
What does Melissa look like now?
Many My 600-lb Life stars keep fans of the show updated through their social media accounts. Typically, that’s to try to inspire others to start losing weight and also to keep themselves on track. Melissa Marescot, on the other hand, made the majority of other accounts private not long after her episode aired.
In fact, there don’t seem to be any publicly available images of Melissa since she starred in the TLC show. That’s left fans guessing as to whether she’s lost weight or has simply been maintaining the weight she had at the end of the episode.
Given how happy she seemed that her life was getting back on track, however, it’s assumed that she’s at least trying to keep the weight off.
Monsters & Critics has reached out to Melissa Marescot and asked her to update us on where she is now and what she’s been up to. So far, she has not responded.
UPDATE: Monsters & Critics was able to speak to Melissa Marescot, who gave us an update on her story and her current progress. She wanted to point out that Elijah was not her boyfriend. They went on just one date. She did tell us that she ended up “dating someone completely different.”
Melissa is still on her weight loss journey and told us that she is maintaining and active lifestyle. She is still working out, swimming four times a week, while weight training three times a week and watching her caloric intake.
My 600-Lb Life airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on TLC.