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 work by suppressing appetite, helping users slim fast.
But experts say the results can lead to “Ozempic face”;; – a hollowed, and more prominent wrinkles.
Natural tends to be slower so may come with fewer dramatic facial changes and less sagging of the .
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.
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 , with .
I researched , having tried Saxenda before and found the weight was coming off, but 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’
Before: 23st After: 12st
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, and 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. 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 .
The thought of , and terrified me. I reduced portions and lost 3st – but couldn’t get below 13st 10lb.
Then a friend who’d lost weight on 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 bedifferent.”;;
‘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 model after slimming.
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. 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 .
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:
“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 . 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 . 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 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 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.
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 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.”;;
