Whitney Thore, star of My Big Fat Fabulous Life, has opened up about the ongoing challenges of adjusting to her slimmer figure, admitting she still finds it “disorienting” to live in a smaller body.
In a preview from this week’s episode of her TLC series, Whitney reveals that dancing—particularly ballet—has played a key role in helping her reconnect with both her body and her mindset after losing 100 pounds.
“Now that I’m in a smaller body — which some might still find laughable, but for me, it is smaller — it sometimes just feels… strange,” Whitney shared.
“It’s still disorienting,” she added. “What I want most is to feel grounded in my body. And the only way I’ve been able to achieve that is through movement — through dance.”
Whitney Thore poses for a picture in England
Whitney first found fame in 2014 when she became the on-air producer of the Greensboro, North Carolina radio show Jared & Katie in the Morning and they offered Whitney her own series on their YouTube channel called “A Fat Girl Dancing”.
She was asked to appear on various national programs to discuss her body positivity messages, and then TLC came calling.
The show focused on her journey to self-acceptance as well as finding love, and most recently it has followed Whitney’s journey with IVF and her struggle to find the perfect sperm donor.
She is also an author and businesswoman, founding No BS Active, a workout app that focuses on functional fitness for all sizes.
Whitney attends TLC’s Give A Little Awards in 2019
Ten years after the series started, Whitney’s journey is still bringing in new fans, and she recently had to defend her weight loss after comments on her Instagram page claimed she was lying over her size.
“I hate addressing this, but no, I have not had medical intervention to lose weight. In 2015 (season 1), I weighed 385 pounds. In 2018, I lost 50 pounds. When my mom got sick and eventually died, I lost 50 more,” the 39-year-old wrote.
Whitney and her mom Barbara Thore speak onstage during TCL’s ‘My Big Fat Fabulous Life’ panel
“I weigh 285 pounds and I have been this weight for almost a year now. This is the second time in my life I’ve lost 100 pounds. I’m still very fat,” she continued.
“Thank you for the compliments, but I really don’t like obsessing over my body and I don’t like it when others do it either.”
Whitney’s parents were big characters on the series, but her mom Barbara, known as “Babs”, died on December 7, 2022 of cerebral amyloid angiopathy.