MAMA…SWOON?
After losing a whopping 300 pounds, the reality star reflects on her slimmeddown figure and new life
A year after she lost 300 pounds, “Mama June” Shannon talks about keeping the weight off
Mama June” Shannon made jaws drop when she lost 300 pounds following gastric sleeve and skin removal surgeries. Now, a year after she debuted her new body on her WE tv reality show, Mama June: From Not to Hot, she’s surprised even her toughest critics by keeping most of the weight off. “I always say your haters are your motivators,” the 5-foot- 4 mom to Anna, 23, Jessica “Chubbs,” 20, Lauryn “Pumpkin,” 18, and Alana “Honey Boo Boo,” 12, tells In Touch. And though she admits she fluctuates — “My current weight is like 165 to 170,” she says — she’s vowed to never be obese again. “I just try to watch what I eat and exercise when I can. I don’t ever want to go back.” Here, the 38-year-old opens up to In Touch’s Diana Cooper about her daily diet, new boyfriend Geno Doak, 42, and whether she’ll ever wear a bikini.
Do you feel pressure to maintain your weight? JS: Kind of, because people think that I’m going to gain the weight back. But hello, I’ve almost been at this [weight] for a year and a half and I’m not gaining.
What happens if you put on a few pounds? JS: I become a scale hog and check my weight a couple times a day. A lot of people say that it’s not about the number, stop going on the scale. [But] I know I’m never going to go back to what I was.
What’s your diet like now? JS: If I do breakfast, it’s like two eggs, turkey bacon. And then maybe toast or whatever. Lunch is kind of whatever I can grab, a snack kind of thing. Dinner may be baked pork chops, corn, green beans. If I snack, it’s grapes and cheese.
Do you still eat dessert? JS: Oh yeah, dessert’s my weakness — crème brûlée and chocolate mousse. Do you want more plastic surgery? JS: Hell, no. I did what I wanted to do and that’s it. Maybe I’ll do a facial every year.
Would you flaunt your bod in a bikini? JS: Negative. I still wear a one-piece!
How are things going with your new boyfriend, Geno? JS: It’s very loving. He’s like my best friend. He does these little things in life that make me and the girls very, very happy. So that’s what matters.
What are date nights like? JS: Honestly, we don’t ever get to do total date nights. We’re more about staying at home, being around the kids. It doesn’t have to be like, “OK, let’s go to dinner” or whatever. As long as we’re together, we can sit and just bulls---.
Do you see marriage in your future? JS: Who knows what’s possible, but right now, no. [We’re] taking [it] one day at a time, enjoying what we have.
What’s your relationship like with your ex [Mike “Sugar Bear” Thompson, 46] and his new wife? JS: It’s nonexistent. They’re on the drama train and I just let the drama train go and I stay on the side.
Your relationship with Anna took a big hit in 2014 [when you reunited with a man who’d gone to prison for molesting her years earlier]. You broke it off with him, but how are things now? JS: There’s nothing really new going on. We talk and stuff.
Do you miss her? JS: Yeah. We talk to [Anna’s daughter] Kaitlyn.
Anna has two kids, and Pumpkin had a baby girl in December. What’s the best part of being a grandma? JS: Just being able to love them — and [then] to be able to give them back! ◼