I lost 3 stone in 6 months on fat jabs after terrifying wake-up call – it’s a wonder drug… it’s time men get onboard

ABOUT 20 years ago, a dear pal of mine mocked me on holiday when I emerged by the pool in a pair of swim shorts.

“Mate,” he said with a laugh, “you look like E.T.”

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And my friend, a naturally muscular rugby-player type from Bradford, was right.

I had an unusually large — but not actually fat — torso and spindly limbs. And I did, indeed, look like something out of a sci-fi movie.

But it was still preferable to the Jabba the Hutt I became over the next two decades.

All that has been sorted, however, after I started taking fat jab Mounjaro and lost 3st in six months.

I reversed my diabetes, restored my peace of mind and returned to something that looked more like my old self.

I certainly couldn’t have gone on the way I was.

By last September I was tipping the scales at 17st, which, even for someone who is 6ft 2in, still made me obese.

For about five years I’d been pre-diabetic. If I didn’t exercise more and improve my diet, I was on a fast-track to getting full Type 2 diabetes. Of course, I did neither.

Eight months ago my blood-sugar readings confirmed that I officially had the same condition as my older relatives.

If that was not enough, just months earlier my brother, who also has diabetes but doesn’t smoke, had suffered a minor heart attack at the age of 57.

This was a particular shock, because our dad had his first heart attack aged 54 and a second at 59 was fatal. I’d just turned 20 when he died.

Food noise

Now I was about to enter my fifties with a 38in waist and arms and legs that were becoming flabby.

I longed for the days when I looked like E.T. At least I was a healthy E.T. and, heck, some parts of me were skinny.

So last September I started the jabs, which cost me about £220 from Superdrug.

Mounjaro worked for me by sapping the hunger and the side-effects of not eating

After an online assessment via emails and pictures sent to a doctor, my pack arrived in the post and the first injection was on a Friday night.

It was remarkably easy. As someone who is not a fan of needles, I was surprised by how tiny it was. Imagine a centimetre-long stiff hair.

The needles used to take your blood at the GP will suddenly look like javelins.

When I woke up on the Saturday, my hunger, which was invariably ravenous in the mornings, had evaporated.

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I skipped breakfast and went for a brunch affair, but even then I couldn’t eat much.

Usually, by about 2pm I’d be grumpy and light-headed as my blood sugar plunged, but none of that happened.

Instead, I pushed through till dinner when I had a proper meal.

It has pretty much been a similar pattern for the past six to eight months. The weight started to fall off immediately.

First, a few ounces then more as the dose intensity increased and I got used to when I could and should eat.

My tip is to eat three times a day, but only as much as you are able to physically muster.

I lost, on average, about half a stone a month and, after about three months, I could see the change in my body.

I had smaller man boobs, a flatter stomach, and a waist that shrank to about 32in. Mounjaro worked for me by sapping the hunger and the side-effects of not eating.

It allowed me to break the vicious cycle I had been on: I ate, I got bigger, my bigger body demanded more fuel, I ate more.

Crucially, the jab cuts out the food noise that seeps into our busy, daily lives — the shops, cafes, restaurants, pubs, vending machines and bags of birthday sweet treats in the office that we cannot resist.

There were side-effects for me, however, and they are not always the things you’d bring up at refined dinner parties.

The problem with fat jabs is that, unlike with women, lots of men see anything to do with dieting as trivial and faddy, and are either dismissive or wary of it

Constipation is common as the drug makes you feel fuller for longer by slowing down your digestive system.

Diminished libido is another. Why? My own theory is that you lose that brain buzz just before you enjoy something — whether it’s a chocolate bar, pint, or any other thrill.

But since I don’t intend to be on the jabs for ever, it is a small, temporary, price to pay. And I actually found I enjoyed mealtimes more, because when I chose my grub I did it on the basis of what intrigued me, not what was guaranteed to fill me up and satisfy that junk-food buzz. 

'Being a bloke'

Crucially, Mounjaro won’t transform you into an Adonis.

The weight fell off me unevenly, so I still have a disproportionately large torso and skinny limbs. But I know that just means I need to hit the gym.

The biggest positive change is that my blood-sugar levels have fallen by a third.

I’ve officially gone from being diabetic, through the pre-diabetic banding, deep into the normal category. Which is staggering in six months.

In fact, the biggest hindrance to fat jabs is perhaps the most unexpected — a chronic condition called “being a bloke”.

The problem with fat jabs is that, unlike with women, lots of men see anything to do with dieting as trivial and faddy, and are either dismissive or wary of it.

Ironic, really, given that at the other end of the spectrum are male gym junkies who think nothing of injecting themselves with steroids.

There will be loads of fellas who are struggling with their health and want to do something about it, but will not because they are too busy, too preoccupied, or too sceptical.

Crucially, they will also think it seems a tad vain.

To them I simply say this: After mocking me for looking like E.T., my muscular mate from Bradford also piled on 3st over the same 20-year period.

Then, as though by magic, he lost it all over the past six months and looks and feels fantastic.

And, no, it was not from playing more rugby.

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