‘I was spending £400 a month on takeaways but lost 7st on £136 jabs’

Ashley Nickson, 35, weighed 17st 10lbs and wore a size 18 to 20 after gaining weight following the birth of her two children – Mally, six, and Charlie, two.

The mum would pick off her kids’ dinner plates, constantly snack and opt for takeaways three days a week – admitting her “unhealthy habits” cost her over £400 a month, but that it “made parenting easier”. After she “felt disgusted” with the way she looked in old photos with her and her kids, she started taking Monjouro weekly – costing £136 for a month’s worth – in March 2024.

A year on, she has lost an impressive 7st 10lbs and now weighs a healthy 10st – and wears a size 10 – and “couldn’t be happier with the results”. Sharing her Mounjaro journey on TikTok, the microinfluencer says trolls told her she looks older since the weight loss and that it was “obvious” she had the jab, but Ashley insists it was “one of the best decisions I’ve made.”

Ashley, a Tesco employee from Rainhill, said: “My weight was my biggest battle. “Trolls may say I have gained years – but I actually have. I’ve got much more of my life to live now, thanks to Mounjaro.

“I feel a lot more confident in myself and I’m proud of my journey,

“I’d rather people say I’ve aged rather than being unhappy and unhealthy. The jab was one of the best decisions I’ve made.”

After giving birth to her two children, Ashley, who was originally a size 12, “struggled” to find time to cook or work on herself. During school runs, she would often sneak in a takeaway – typically McDonald’s or a Costa – at least thrice a week.

Four years later, these habits led her to tip the scales at her heaviest, a staggering 17st 10lbs.

“I wasn’t always big,” she confessed. “But motherhood meant I had to take shortcuts, and so it just became routine. Every week, I would pop into Costa or McDonald’s for a bite. I simply didn’t have the time to hit the gym or focus on myself.

“At home, I would pick off my kids’ plates when I made them dinner and I was just ashamed.”

It was only when Ashley glanced at a photograph from February 2024, where she was holding her youngest, Charlie, post childbirth, that she “felt disgusted” by her appearance and decided to alter her lifestyle. She had attempted various diets in the past but had found it difficult to stick to them.

She signed up online for her first injection of Mounjaro, which cost £136 for a month’s supply, after securing a 40 per cent discount through private firm VOY. Ashley administered the initial 2.5mg dose in early March 2024.

“I was really apprehensive,” she admitted.

“But nothing transpired for the first fortnight apart from waking up with a dry mouth and slight nausea. I assumed it was a placebo, but then I began to feel less peckish. And that’s when the weight started to shed.”

Ashley detailed how the injection resulted in her waking up without any hunger pangs or cravings, leading to a drastic weight loss of over a stone in just three weeks as she cut out takeaways and her regular fast-food pit stops. Instead, with her fiancé Jack Chadwick’s support, they began a subscription to a Hello Fresh meal delivery service.

“I was originally scared to tell my fiancé, but he’s been so supportive,” she said. “It made my weight loss journey a lot easier, and I took it more seriously. At this point, I had stopped snacking completely.”

Ashley managed to refer at least three people a month for the jab during this time and secured four months of Mounjaro completely free. A year after starting and under £1,000 later, she finally reached her goal of losing seven stone, weighing just over 10 stone.

But it came with a deluge of insults when she shared her progress on TikTok with trolls claiming she looks “a lot older.”

“A lot of my fat was in my face,” she said. “So when I lost weight, it left me with some loose skin around my cheeks and under my eyes.

“People would comment that I didn’t look like my age and that I looked unwell.” One troll succinctly said: “The excess skin has aged you horribly.”

“Added another 15 years to your face, you looked way better before,” another penned. A third added: “The ‘Mounjaro face’ is too obvious, good luck hiding that.”

However, Ashley, who has stopped using the jab, insists she is unfazed by her ‘Mounjaro face’, remarking, “I can always get Botox,” and adding optimistically, “I may look older, but I’ve probably added 10 or 12 years onto my life.

“And I’ve definitely saved money by ditching takeaways.”

Despite occasional cravings for chocolate and treats, the resolute mother-of-two maintains that there’s no going back to old ways. She has become an influential proponent of the weight-loss injections.

“If people saw me in real life, they wouldn’t be saying that I look older,” she confidently stated.

“And I’m extremely confident with the way I look now. I would recommend the jab to anyone who is struggling with their weight.

“It has saved my life and I can be there more for my family now.”