Pauline Potter: The World's Heaviest Woman's Weight Loss from 307 to 112 Kilos
With her weight, Pauline could barely move around the house, let alone go outside for a walk.
Sometimes excess weight is not just love handles and legs that prevent you from wearing once-favorite clothes, but a matter of life and death. Pauline Potter learned this firsthand like no one else. At one point, the scale she stepped on showed more than 300 kilograms (661 pounds).
«I Forget All the Bad Things When I Eat»
Pauline Potter was never thin. She started gaining weight as a child. When her parents divorced, her mother struggled to provide for herself and the child, and the girl often went hungry. But as soon as her parents reunited, food appeared in the house again, and Pauline began eating away her stress and compensating for missed meals. As a result, by the age of 17 the girl already weighed 139 kilograms (306 pounds) and continued to gain weight rapidly.
At 29, Pauline gave birth to her son Dillon. After the baby was born, she weighed 229 kilograms (505 pounds). Potter was unhappy with how she looked and that every movement was difficult, so she started experimenting with diets. In her lifetime she tried about 30 ways to lose weight, but they all ended the same way — with a relapse.
«I forget all the bad things when I eat. Eating is the main event of the day,» admitted Pauline.
At 47, Pauline entered the Guinness World Records: she was recognized as the world«s heaviest woman. At that moment her weight was 297 kilograms (655 pounds), and that number only grew.
Pauline could no longer take care of herself. All the care fell on her son«s shoulders. He went shopping, cooked food, cleaned the house, and helped his mother get dressed. Twice a week a niece also came to Potter to wash her.
«I don«t do anything myself. I can only eat and wipe myself, I need help with everything else,» complained Potter.
Pauline applied to the show «I Weigh 300 kg» hoping she would get gastric bypass surgery and her life would get better. As it turned out, one doctor«s appointment is not enough to lose weight.
«I Don«t See the Need to Get Up and Walk»
Pauline filmed for the program for a year. She arrived at the surgeon«s appointment weighing 307 kilograms (677 pounds), and he refused to perform the operation until she lost at least 20 kilograms (44 pounds) on her own. Pauline was put on a strict gluten-free diet and forbidden to eat more than three times a day.
No matter how Pauline tried to follow the doctors« recommendations, she could only reach the needed mark on the scale while hospitalized. After the operation, Pauline did not gain more willpower. To help Pauline recover as quickly as possible and avoid blood clots, the doctor insisted that she must get out of bed.
«My abdominal muscles hurt. You think it«s an excuse. But I»m really in pain. I only had the operation five days ago. You expect activity from me, but it«s too early,» Pauline tried to convince the doctor.
Potter spent several months in the hospital but only got out of bed a couple of times. During that time she lost 65 kilograms (143 pounds), but all of that was the result of the surgery, not her efforts. Discharging Pauline home, the doctor insisted that she must go to physical therapy, leave the house, eat right — only through this, he said, could she lose up to 7 kilograms (15 pounds) a week.
Months passed, but Potter did not plan to change her habits. She refused physical therapy, also indulged in tasty food at home, and did not want to get out of bed, believing the time had not yet come.
«I don«t see the need to get up and walk. Eventually I»ll have to do it, but I want to be allowed to recover at my own pace and not be rushed. It doesn«t seem like I»m asking for too much,» Pauline remained dissatisfied.
The doctor expected the participant to lose about 50 kilograms (110 pounds) in three months, but instead it was only 3.5 kilograms (8 pounds).
«I«ll manage, it»s visible on the scale. I«m happy with my progress, it»s a pity the doctor doesn«t notice it. I don»t know what he expects from me?» Pauline wondered in bewilderment.
«The Fat Girl Still Lives Inside Me»
Seeing that Pauline did not want to change her mindset and give up old habits, the program«s doctor refused further cooperation. Pauline herself blamed her doctor for not helping her change her mindset, and shifted the responsibility for her excess weight, which was in no hurry to leave, onto him.
«The fat girl still lives inside me,» she said in a conversation with journalists. «The doctor operated on my stomach, but didn«t rid me of the problems in my head.»
When Pauline returned home, a stomach ulcer was added to her weight problems. The cause was painkillers that she started taking uncontrollably due to knee pain. The woman required another operation and a long recovery period, during which she lost more weight.
Potter lost weight to 197 kilograms (434 pounds) and scheduled surgery to remove excess skin. After the plastic surgery, she weighed 112 kilograms (247 pounds).
Pauline only had to maintain her shape and follow the doctors« recommendations. However, it soon became clear that Potter was gradually gaining weight again.
«She is engaging in self-destruction. She doesn«t want to change,» the doctor admitted disappointedly.
In 2025 Pauline was in a serious accident with her son. She developed heart and breathing problems, and in November she died.
