Latest news with #NatalieStrange
The Sun
17-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
We lost a staggering 48 stone between us but THREE of us used Mounjaro – can you guess who?
THESE Sun readers have shed an impressive 46 STONE between them but can you spot who used so-called 'skinny jabs' and who lost weight the natural way? Injections such as Ozempic and Mounjaro work by suppressing appetite, helping users slim fast. 13 But experts say the results can lead to 'Ozempic face' – a hollowed, gaunt look, with sagging skin and more prominent wrinkles. Natural weight loss tends to be slower so may come with fewer dramatic facial changes and less sagging of the skin. Here, we reveal before and after shots of our slimmers. See if you can guess which transformations were jab-assisted, and which were not. 'Doctors warned me that my life was on the line' Before: 19st (size 22) Now: 11st (size 10) MUM Natalie Strange, from Norwich, spent £250 a month on takeaways before she slimmed. 13 Natalie, 36 and 5ft 4in, says: "I USED to hate to look in the mirror. Nothing fitted, and people said I looked bloated. The words weren't as harmful as the damage I was doing myself, though. I couldn't help myself ordering kebabs or Chinese. I was gorging on 3,000 calories a day. In March last year, I was 19st and a size 22. Doctors told me my life was on the line. My blood pressure was 'dangerously high' and I was pre-diabetic, with high cholesterol. I've got washboard abs & weigh 13 stone at 5ft10 but I'm 'obese' by BMI standards I researched weight-loss medication, having tried Saxenda before and found the weight was coming off, but Mounjaro had better results. Each week I injected Mounjaro, which I got privately for £200 a month. I ditched my daily morning pastry and a Big Mac for Greek yogurt with berries and chicken with veg. In a week, I'd lost 10lb, then quickly 2st and eventually eight. 'Wow!' said my husband. I hadn't looked in a mirror in weeks but now I saw a new person. I joined yoga, strength and running classes. Long gone are Weight Watchers and Slimming World. Skinny jabs offer a solution to people in a vicious cycle. Cutting takeaways funded my jabs – and I have money left over. I spend that on hair, nails and a new wardrobe. I encourage anyone considering jabs to do it. It's life-changing but also life-saving." 'Wake-up was my 30th birthday …I lost 23st' PRODUCTION car operator Sam Astley, age 31 and 5ft 11in, is a married dad of two from Crewe. He was tired of being the 'fat dad' so he shed 10st in just one year. Sam says: "I'VE struggled with weight since childhood. Mum showed love through food. By my teens, I was between 16st and 18st. At college and uni, takeaways and boozy nights pushed me to 26st. I gorged on kebabs and burgers. But I hated how I looked and felt. To slim for graduation, I followed the juice-and-soup diet from the film Fat, Sick And Nearly Dead. I got to 10st 7lb in nine months. But working as a chef after uni, I piled on weight again, eating leftovers. And when I met my wife, Rifu, I stopped worrying. By the time our sons arrived, in 2018 and 2020, I was 20st-plus. The wake-up came before my 30th, in 2023. I weighed nearly 23st, and a test said I had the heart of a 70-year-old. Mates joked it was 'all downhill from here' but it hit a nerve. I had to change, for me and my sons. I started the James Duncan Diet – under 800 calories a day, no sugar or refined foods – and lost 13lb in a week. I added healthy meals and began walking up to six miles a day. By October, I joined a gym, then kept it up. I lost 1st a month and got to 12st. Now I eat balanced, home-cooked meals, stay active, walk loads and document it all online. I'm energetic again. My sons joke about the 'old, fat Dad' but I changed. Jabs are a quick fix but real, sustainable change comes from hard work." 'I was in psychiatric unit for three months' Before: 16st 7lb/ size 22 After: 10st 7lb/ size 10 MUM Mel Llewellyn, 44 and 5ft 3in, from Dunstable, Beds, used to 'judge' the fat people she saw until she piled on weight when her business and marriage crashed. She says: "I NEVER had weight issues growing up, and was a size 8 even after having my daughter at 19. But that changed in 2012 as my marriage collapsed and the art gallery I'd built up folded. It triggered a breakdown and I spent three months in a psychiatric unit. Anti-depressants and inactivity led to an 8st gain – I went in at 7st 11lb and left at 16st 4lb, a size 20-22. I felt broken. Once I started to rebuild, I tried every diet but I'd lose a few stone then regain it. At the end of 2023, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. The thought of blindness, heart disease and kidney failure terrified me. I reduced portions and lost 3st – but couldn't get below 13st 10lb. Then a friend who'd lost weight on Mounjaro told me to try jabs. I did, and within weeks I lost nearly 1st. My diabetes went into remission, I no longer craved carbs and six months later I was down by more than another 3st and back in my size 10 jeans. Mounjaro costs £200 a month, and I worry how I'll keep the weight off without it. But the change is worth it. I'm now a weight-loss coach and honest about using the jab but understand some prefer natural methods. I used to judge overweight people. Now I know everyone's journey will be different." 'Humiliated after being barred from fairground ride' Before: 18st/size 20 Now: 10st 11lb/size 8 LAWYER Georgina Bailey, 32 and 5ft 7in, from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, went from being the 'fat, funny friend' to an Instagram model after slimming. 13 She says: "I'VE struggled with weight for as long as I remember. At primary school, I was bullied with 'Fatty-fatty-bum-bum' taunts and, to cope, became the funny, bubbly friend. But despite the friends, I felt unlovable and turned to food and drink. At university, I tried diets. But in my final year, I gained 3st. Tests revealed an overactive thyroid – one of the rare cases where it caused weight gain. I was constantly hungry. Takeaways, and sugary drinks became the norm. By my mid-twenties, I was nearly 18st, and size 20. Exercis e was painful. Walking caused chafing and running bleeding. I was humiliated by being refused a fairground ride or squeezing into a plane seat. In summer 2023, I joined a gym. After I failed at three spin classes, a personal trainer named Jonny offered me a free session. He encouraged me to focus on weights, and I tracked everything with the MyFitnessPal app. Soon I was lifting, walking 10,000 steps a day and making steady progress. When I finally finished a spin class, I cried in the changing room. By December, I'd lost 3st and joined a running club. I've since run a marathon and built a community of over 18,500 followers online. I understand why people turn to fat loss jabs, but they don't teach long-term habits. Lasting change only comes from within." 'Missus loves the new me and love life is on the up' Before: 22st Now: 15st AMBULANCE driver Karl Pearce, age 46 and 5ft 10in, from Norwich, says wife Sophie, 44, loves his new slimline body: 13 "AT 46, I never thought I'd be thin again. But in ten months I've lost 7st, and instead of a 4XL I'm now a size L. I always had a big build but at 23 I had a motorbike accident, broke a leg and suffered a life-threatening blood clot. The recovery was long and I began comfort-eating. I'd scoff red meat, crisps, biscuits, sweets, and chug up to four litres of fizzy drinks a day. I tried every diet – shakes, keto, Atkins – but was embarrassed to join weight-loss groups full of women. By 2022, I'd hit 22st and would be breathless on stairs. Doctors warned I risked a heart attack. I tried for weight-loss jabs on the NHS but faced an 18-month wait. So from last August I paid £160 a month for Mounjaro on a private prescription. I inject once a week. It costs less than I spent on takeaways and snacks, and I couldn't believe how fast it worked. My cravings disappeared and I had more energy. When I started at the gym in October, I could barely manage ten minutes' walking. Now I run for half an hour, and completed a 10K. Many men are afraid to discuss body image but I've shared my journey on TikTok and had messages. My missus loves the new me – our love life is on the up, and my confidence is now sky-high" 'Godchild gave me a necklace … and it didn't fit' Before: 17st 7lb/size 22 After: 10st/size 8 CARER Marv Young, age 51 and 5ft 1in, from Norbury, South London, ballooned after losing her brother and dad. 13 But before her 50th birthday, she lost nearly 8st. She says: "GROWING up in a Caribbean family, food was our love. After my brother died when I was nine, eating became therapy. I gained weight but stayed in denial, blaming 'shrinking jeans'. Life was good – I had a career in HR, great friends and a close family. But when Dad died aged 62, I moved back in with Mum, and my eating spiralled. I'd binge on sweets. I quit smoking in 2020 but was diagnosed with MS. The meds caused more weight gain and I was in pain. I feared ending up in a wheelchair. At Christmas 2022, my god-daughter gave me a necklace – it didn't fit. Something had to change. On January 1, 2023, I found the 1:1 Cambridge Weight Plan and a coach. I swapped my usual meals for 200-calorie replacements and three litres of water a day. I went from 3,000 calories to 800 a day overnight, and stuck to it. By summer, I'd dropped 4st and my MS symptoms had eased. I turned 50 in a size 8 swimsuit in Jamaica. The necklace fitted that Christmas and my family cheered. I feel sexier and healthier than ever. I'm now a 1:1 consultant helping others. Fat jabs? I'm glad they were not around then – they are a quick fix, not cure."
Daily Mirror
13-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
‘I ditched takeaways to fund my skinny jabs - now I'm saving money'
She lost 7st and gained £250 each month Natalie Strange has faced a lifelong struggle with her weight, tipping the scales at 19st or 120kg. After years of unsuccessful attempts with various programmes like WeightWatchers, Natalie encountered Mounjaro. The innovative weight loss and type 2 diabetes treatment has been making waves globally for its impressive outcomes. Despite its cost, she found it balanced out by putting the £250 a month she spent on takeaways into funding her weight loss jabs instead. Natalie, 36, from Norwich, shared with NeedtoKnow: "I felt disgusted by my body and avoided travelling with my husband because I felt like an embarrassment. I didn't even really enjoy eating takeaways. It just left me feeling guilty and bloated. People used to tell me I looked unhealthy, or severely bloated." The turning point came when doctors highlighted the severe condition of her physical health: "It really got me down and I was desperate to find a way out of this never-ending cycle. When doctors told me how poor my physical health was, though, that was the moment I knew something had to change." Her journey with Mounjaro began in March 2024, and the results were quickly visible. Natalie recounted: "In the first week, I lost 10lbs and then in less than a month, I went down by two stone. "I never felt full before and was constantly craving junk food; but not anymore. Now I feel like a new person. I'm struggling to find my new style though, as I'm unsure what to wear now since none of my clothes fit me." Before embarking on her weight loss journey with medication, Natalie's diet was far from ideal. She would often start her day with three bowls of cereal, pastries or a full English breakfast. Lunchtime meant a trip to McDonald's for a Big Mac meal, an extra cheeseburger, apple pie, and a milkshake. Come evening, dinner was typically a takeaway, with choices ranging from Chinese dishes to kebabs, while snacking on chocolates and sweets throughout the day was the norm. This costly and unhealthy eating habit had consequences for her health. Nowadays, Natalie opts for a healthier start with a protein shake or berries and Greek yoghurt. Lunch is a more balanced affair with a jacket potato and baked beans or a protein bagel with ham and cream cheese. For dinner, she enjoys chicken with vegetables or a high-protein, low-calorie ready meal, and she has cut down on snacking, choosing fruit when she needs something between meals. Natalie's transformation has seen her drop an incredible 12 dress sizes and she's been sharing her progress and challenges on Instagram, attracting thousands of followers. Alongside her weight loss, she's discovered a surge in energy, which she channels into yoga, strength training, and running. However, the journey hasn't been without its difficulties. The stay-at-home mum has faced side effects of the medication, such as nausea, stomach cramps, and frequent headaches. Stopping her takeaway habit allowed Natalie to pocket around £250 each month. While close to £200 of that is now spent on her Mounjaro injections, she has plans to stop this year as she's currently on a maintenance dose of 5mg. Natalie said: "I think there is a general thinking that using medication for weight loss is cheating. I feel like it's just levelling the playing field. "My desperate need to overindulge was a health problem, not a willpower issue. The skinny jabs have just made me normal."
The Sun
08-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
I've spent £££s to shed 7st on fat jabs but it's saved my bank balance
FOR years stay-at-home mum Natalie Strange tried everything to lose weight - all the trendy diets, calorie counting, you name it. So when fat jabs came along, she expected drastic results - and she got them, shedding 2st in the first month. Despite a series of grim side effects she says the surprising financial benefit has helped 'change her life'. 8 8 8 While many consider weight loss jabs 'cheating', Natalie tells Sun Health they simply 'level the playing field' and just make her 'normal'. Before she resorted to taking the medication, the 36-year-old indulged in pastries for breakfast and burgers for lunch. Come the evening and with her phone in hand, she could rarely resist the temptation - one night a Chinese takeaway was ordered, the next a kebab. At her largest, a size 22, the stay-at-home mum from Norwich was spending hundreds each month feeding her 'takeaway addiction' - until fat jabs changed everything. Now, Natalie says she feels like 'a new person'. Within a year of starting the medicine, she's lost seven stone - dropping to a size 10. And what's more, her dramatic change in eating habits has helped her start to build up her savings account at the same time. Before turning to the jabs, Natalie had tried various diets - from Weight Watchers and Slimming World to calorie counting - but nothing worked. 'I had been trying my whole adult life to lose weight," she explains. The mum hated her body so much she would avoid travelling with her husband. "I felt like an embarrassment," she explains. 'It made me miserable, anxious and depressed,' she adds. Natalie admits she would spend £250 a month on takeaways instead, which she "didn't even enjoy". 'It just left me feeling guilty and bloated," she says. This cycle continued until she visited her doctor, who warned she was pre-diabetic with 'dangerous' high blood pressure. 8 8 Before, she'd eat pastries or a full English for breakfast, followed by a large Big Mac meal with a milkshake and apple pie for lunch, followed by a takeaway for dinner. Natalie, who always felt exhausted and could never muster the energy to squeeze in any exercise, was left weighing 19st at her heaviest. Terrified about the future, she came across Mounjaro and cut her unhealthy habits to fund the jabs instead, costing £200 a month. '[Cutting this addiction] has basically funded my medication," she explains. Instant results Mounjaro contains tirzepatide, which is designed to suppress a person's appetite so they eat less. It mimics a gut hormone called GLP-1, which is released after eating, and slows down the movement of food in your gut, so you feel fuller for longer. It's closely related to the better-known diabetes drug Ozempic, which contains the active ingredient semaglutide, but works in the same way. In the UK, Ozempic is only approved as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, but the active ingredient semaglutide is also found in Wegovy, approved for both diabetes and weight loss here. Meanwhile, Mounjaro is available privately, meaning people can access it through private clinics or online services after a consultation with a doctor. It is typically prescribed for people who are overweight or obese. While it is not yet widely available on the NHS for weight loss, it is approved for type 2 diabetes treatment. The cost for private prescriptions generally ranges from £129 to £249 per month, depending on the provider. After starting Mounjaro in March 2024, Natalie saw instant results. She says: 'In the first week, I lost 10lbs and then in less than a month, I went down by two stone. 'I never felt full before and was constantly craving junk food; but not anymore.' And she also noticed a difference to her savings account. Natalie paid £200 a month for her prescription – £50 less than she was spending on takeaways. By making the switch, she could now save around £600 a year. She now regularly does yoga, strength training and running, which has led her to finding new friends and given her confidence a boost. 8 'Skinny jabs have just made me normal' Currently, she's on a 5mg maintenance dose and plans to come off the jabs completely this year. Like many other users, Natalie did experience some side effects, including nausea, stomach cramps and frequent headaches. Other reported side effects include dizziness, extreme fatigue, dehydration, and even vomiting or diarrhoea. There are also bigger risks, like inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), thyroid problems, gallstones and kidney issues. Earlier this year, The Sun reported that 82 people in the UK had died after using weight loss or diabetes jabs. But Natalie is adamant, the side effects were worth it. 'My only advice is to do it,' she adds. 'It's changed my life – and only for the better – you won't regret it. 'I think there is a general thinking that using medication for weight loss is cheating. 'I feel like it's just leveling the playing field. 'My desperate need to overindulge was a health problem, not a willpower issue. 'The skinny jabs have just made me normal.' If you're considering fat jabs it's crucial to speak with your doctor. They can assess your eligibility, discuss potential risks and benefits, and help you determine if this treatment is right for you. Weight loss injections are often prescribed by specialist weight management services after a referral from your GP. 8 Everything you need to know about fat jabs Weight loss jabs are all the rage as studies and patient stories reveal they help people shed flab at almost unbelievable rates, as well as appearing to reduce the risk of serious diseases. Wegovy – a modified version of type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic – and Mounjaro are the leading weight loss injections used in the UK. Wegovy, real name semaglutide, has been used on the NHS for years while Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is a newer and more powerful addition to the market. Mounjaro accounts for most private prescriptions for weight loss and is set to join Wegovy as an NHS staple this year. How do they work? The jabs work by suppressing your appetite, making you eat less so your body burns fat for energy instead and you lose weight. They do this my mimicking a hormone called GLP-1, which signals to the brain when the stomach is full, so the drugs are officially called GLP-1 receptor agonists. They slow down digestion and increase insulin production, lowering blood sugar, which is why they were first developed to treat type 2 diabetes in which patients' sugar levels are too high. Can I get them? NHS prescriptions of weight loss drugs, mainly Wegovy and an older version called Saxenda (chemical name liraglutide), are controlled through specialist weight loss clinics. Typically a patient will have to have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, classifying them as medically obese, and also have a weight-related health condition such as high blood pressure. GPs generally do not prescribe the drugs for weight loss. Private prescribers offer the jabs, most commonly Mounjaro, to anyone who is obese (BMI of 30+) or overweight (BMI 25-30) with a weight-related health risk. Private pharmacies have been rapped for handing them out too easily and video calls or face-to-face appointments are now mandatory to check a patient is being truthful about their size and health. Are there any risks? Yes – side effects are common but most are relatively mild. Around half of people taking the drug experience gut issues, including sickness, bloating, acid reflux, constipation and diarrhoea. Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical consultant at said: 'One of the more uncommon side effects is severe acute pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and happens to one in 500 people.' Other uncommon side effects include altered taste, kidney problems, allergic reactions, gallbladder problems and hypoglycemia. Evidence has so far been inconclusive about whether the injections are damaging to patients' mental health. Figures obtained by The Sun show that, up to January 2025, 85 patient deaths in the UK were suspected to be linked to the medicines.
