Where is William Keefer now? 'My 600-lb Life' star struggles to lose weight after shattering divorce and cruel job loss
HOUSTON, TEXAS: Viewers of TLC's 'My 600-lb Life' are rallying around TLC star William Keefer following his sad story in the most recent episode. He lost his career and his wife, and he is now attempting to rebuild his life after everything crashed.
It is unclear where William is today, but considering his actions throughout the event, it is doubtful that he gained control of his weight. William is not on social media, except for an obsolete LinkedIn account that lists his prior employment as an assistant manager at Subway and a crew member at Dunkin' Donuts.
Dr Younan Nowzaradan advised him that he needed to drop 70 pounds in two months to be eligible for surgery. William consistently failed to meet his target, adding a few pounds.
Who is William Keefer in 'My 600-lb Life'?
In episode two, we met William from Round Rock, Texas. William, who was 34 at the time of his experience, started at 620 pounds.
Unlike some of the other people on the program, he was still reasonably mobile, but due to his weight, he couldn't drive a car and had to rely on his mother, Dorothy, to transport him to places, specifically the grocery store. William's father abandoned him before he was born, leaving him with an empty life.
William used to play sports in school, but after tearing his ACL, he became despondent and seemed to have stopped participating in sports. Not to mention that his mother took another job in a distant state; thus, his grandparents were mostly responsible for him.
After high school, he joined his local employment corps, where he met a woman. Within three months, he had married her and relocated to Colorado.
Unfortunately, they divorced, and William returned to Texas. When things became rough, William turned to food.
He stated that he would drink a six-pack of soda within a few hours.
"My wife and I were together for five years, and we no longer had those same feelings for each other," William described.
"We loved each other, but we weren't in love. And I think we woke up one day realizing that, so we separated, thinking maybe separation [would] work. We tried to get back together, and it just did not seem like it was the right thing to do; it was literally 'here's the divorce paperwork, sign it done. Okay, done."
William detailed his career breakdown, saying, "I still had my job and customer service, but starting over was hard. Rents in Colorado is really expensive. So I moved back to Texas. Staying in hotel rooms, just kind of making things easy, cheaper on me. And I was working the night shift from home. The phone systems weren't working right for the overnight people. But instead of addressing the issue and resolving it, they just kind of got rid of the people that were having the issues. They just kind of got rid of me."
"And then I moved out of my hotel room, and that's when the depression started to creep up on me. Because even when it's agreeable, I mean it's divorce. It's rough. It's tough. It does take a toll mentally. I just kept it all in, and I didn't talk to anybody about it."
He explained what was wrong with his weight, saying, "I turned back to junk food. And I started playing a lot of video games and not really being active and just sitting there, and I noticed the weight was coming on and wasn't going back off."
In the episode, William's mother describes how she tried to prevent her son from getting married in the first place. She tells the camera, "She walks up she goes, 'I'm William's girlfriend'. I'm like, Oh no. So I tried to talk him into living together."
"I tried to talk him out of getting married, I said, living together, you'll get to know each other. I don't think the marriage is the right thing right now. But nobody listened to me because her parents pushed for them to get married."
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What happened to William Keefer in 'My 600-lb Life'?
The episode followed William's year-long struggle to reduce weight and begin working with the show's resident surgeon, Dr Now, in Houston. Unfortunately, William's improvement over the course of a year was not linear.
When he initially met Dr Now, he weighed 592 pounds. After Dr Now offered him multiple chances to drop weight in order to be eligible for weight surgery, William's final weigh-in after nearly a year of attempting to change his life was 588 pounds.
He shed just four pounds. When William first met Dr Now, he was unemployed.
Within a few months, he was able to acquire a position at a restaurant. This new employment appeared to be a challenge to his weight-loss attempts.
Despite his mother's original vow to assist him on his weight-loss quest, Dorothy was hesitant to commit. Dr Now questioned William about his tendency to make excuses and lie in their sessions.
He also suggested treatment to help him overcome his honesty concerns. In one session with psychologist Dr Matthew Paradise, William told a painful story of his wife divorcing him on his birthday, then packing his belongings for him and taking him to the airport to leave her.
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What is Dr Younan Nowzaradan's 1200-calorie diet?
The Dr Now Diet is a 1,200-calorie diet that consists of low-carb, low-fat, high-protein, and high-fiber foods—with no sugar. According to Dr Now's diet literature, calories should be spread out over two or three meals each day and followed for just a few weeks.
'My 600-Lb Life' Season 12 airs Wednesdays at 8 pm EST on TLC.
