TLC’s My 600-lb Life has started airing its Where Are They Now episodes, and this week’s installment has been quite the eye-opener. Ashley Dunn-Bratcher, who was first featured on the hit reality TV show back in February 2016, was revealed to have lost more than 300 pounds since first appearing in the series. Despite her weight loss, however, Ashley was shown in the recently-aired episode to be still struggling with emotional and psychological problems, including a pervading fear of being paralyzed from the waist down. While her progress appeared to be stunted in the episode, a newly uploaded image on Ashley’s Facebook page seems to indicate that she is actually doing a lot better than what the recent My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now episode would have viewers believe.

The photo, uploaded on April 11, 2017, showed Ashley looking way better than she did in the recent episode of My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now. The image that Ashley uploaded was a simple selfie, though viewers and avid fans of the hit reality TV series quickly noted that she looked far healthier and far more attractive than when she first appeared on the show, according to a report from 2 Paragraphs. Her hair was pulled back, she was wearing makeup, and most of all, she looked genuinely happy.

Her transformation was something that was noticed by fans of the TV series, despite most of her segment in the recently-aired My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now episode being mostly focused on her challenges. Avid followers of the series even noted that Ashley’s voice sounded far younger after she lost more than 300 pounds of weight.

When Ashley was first featured in the hit TLC reality TV show, she weighed more than 700 pounds and was heavily dependent on her young son for help and support. Viewers and avid fans of the show have even dubbed Ashley’s feature as the “Gilbert Grape” My 600-lb Life episode, considering her similarity to Johnny Depp’s morbidly obese mother in the critically-acclaimed Hollywood movie. Over the past year, however, Ashley was revealed to have qualified for bypass surgery, which allowed her to lose close to 350 pounds, according to a Monsters and Critics report.

What seemed to have been emphasized in the recently-aired episode of My 600-lb Life: Where Are They Now was the fact that Ashley was still struggling with emotional and psychological turmoil as she forges ahead in her weight-loss journey. While she was not dependent on her son anymore, her husband, who is overweight himself, was shown to be of little help. A particular fear of being paralyzed and the stinging neuropathy in her leg also escalated her issues, as the condition appeared to be hindering her overall progress.

Nevertheless, her own Facebook update seems to confirm that Ashley is doing well now that she has already lost the weight that she was aiming to shed off. Looking at her Facebook feed further, it seems like Ashley’s improvement was actually quite consistent over the past year. An update last August, for one, already revealed a significant amount of weight loss for the former 700-pounder. Overall, while her updates in social media have been pretty infrequent, Ashley’s supporters and avid fans of My 600-lb Life have showered her with praise for her overall improvement.

Ashley’s progress since appearing on My 600-lb Life has been received warmly by fans of the hit reality TV series, with many lauding her for her hard work and her efforts to take back her life from morbid obesity. If her most recent Facebook update is any indication, it seems that Ashley is not only doing better since being featured on the show, she is well on her way to being the best that she could be.

[Featured Image by TLC]