5 hours ago
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A self-confessed “borderline alcoholic” says weight loss jabs helped her lose 85 pounds by curbing her alcohol cravings – and stopped her downing one to two bottles of wine a night.
Shane Harding, 29, had struggled with her weight since childhood and tipped the scales at 264bs at her heaviest and struggled to squeeze into a size 24.
She had tried every diet in the book, but after marrying her husband, Mert Iscen, 30, a barber, she “got comfortable” and piled back on the pounds.
Shane said she became “borderline alcoholic” and would “easily” polish off two bottles of wine in an evening – and would drink four or five times a week – which led her to pile on the pounds.
She went to the doctors for help slimming down and claims she was told to “move more and eat less” – leaving her in floods of tears.
She started researching weight loss drugs and in June 2024 started taking Mounjaro – a weight loss jab – which she buys privately from a pharmaceutical company – setting her back $150-a-month.
Since starting the weekly jabs, Shane has lost six stone – she’s just five pounds away from her goal weight of 168 pounds – and she’s gone from a size 24 to a slender size 12.
Shane has already booked herself in for a tummy tuck and skin tightening in July 2025, to get rid of her excess skin.
Shane, a content creator, from Barnstaple, Devon, said: “The main effect Mounjaro has had on me is with my alcohol consumption.
“I was borderline alcoholic, I would drink three to four times a week.
“Now, I don’t crave it, I don’t need it. If I do have a drink, I will have a glass.
“Day to day, I have no craving for alcohol. Mounjaro has completely changed my life and my relationship with alcohol.”
After being big for most of her life, Shane said enough was enough and she resorted to the weight loss drug in June 2024.
She started off by using 2.5mg dose – taking it weekly – before moving to 15mg in January 2025.
Shane said: “When I was researching weight loss drugs, I thought I had so much to gain by it and not much to lose.
“When I started Mounjaro I was 18st 12lbs and now I am 5lbs away from hitting my goal weight of 12st.
“I do one injection a week – which costs $38 a week. It has been smooth sailing for me since I started.
“The only regret I have is that I wish I had started it sooner. It has given me a new lease of life.”
Before starting on Mounjaro, Shane said she would cry when looking in the mirror and avoid going clothes shopping.
Since starting the weight loss jab, Shane said she has become more confident and loves going out to buy new clothes.
Shane said: “I have always been a bubbly person, when I was at my biggest, I felt like I wore a mask.
“I used to portray myself as being happy, but I was miserable within myself.
“Anytime I had to look in the mirror, I could cry.
“But now, I feel confident, I’m happy within myself, and I love looking at myself in the mirror.
“Going on Mounjaro is the best thing I have ever done, and I wish I had done it sooner.”
Shane said she used to cook “hearty English meals” before starting her weekly jabs – including pasta, cottage pie, and a roast dinner.
Now she has ditched carb-loaded meals and swapped them out for heavy protein-based meals – like chicken salad.
Shane said: “I would eat very normal, English food – it wasn’t necessarily the food I was eating, but the portion sizes.
“We would have a takeaway once or twice a week for convenience.
“I would make hearty meals like pasta, cottage pie and traditional English food.
“I would wake up and be hungry. Once that hunger had worn off, I would eat something.
“But now, that voice inside your head telling you that you are hungry is gone.”
Shane said she will continue on her 15mg dose of Mounjaro until she hits her 12st target.
She will then lower her dosage to help maintain her weight loss.
Shane said: “I think I will hit my goal within the next 12 weeks, but as I get smaller and smaller, the weight loss gets smaller.
“I hope to stay on Mounjaro for a while.
“Once I hit my goal weight, I will lower the dosage to maintain my weight loss for six months to a year if possible.”
Shane said she does worry that she will pile the pounds back on, but is confident she has changed her relationship with food and her lifestyle to maintain her weight.
She said: “I think everyone has a slight worry of putting weight back on or going back to an old habit.
“I am hoping I have changed my relationship with food enough, and my habits so much that I can carry on with my lifestyle.”
Shane has already booked surgery in Istanbul, Turkey, for a tummy tuck, and skin tightening on her stomach, thigh and ‘bingo wings’.
The surgery is costing $8,750, and Shane said she wanted to take the opportunity now while she has disposable income.
She said: “I’m really looking forward to the surgery, I’m nervous as I’ve never had an operation before, so I am really throwing myself in the deep end.
“In hindsight, my excess skin is not extreme, there are people out there with extreme cases.
“The operations will allow me to feel more comfortable in my own skin.”
Diet before –
Breakfast – Fry up – cereal or toast
Lunch – Sandwich or wrap with a packet of crisps
Dinner – Anything from a curry to a chicken and chips or a takeaway with a can of beer or a few glasses of wine
Snack- I could make anything into a snack – whether that be another sandwich or a wrap or a bowl of cereal or some crisps
Drink – I lived off fruit juice in the day, and beer and wine from the evening
Diet after –
Breakfast – I rarely have breakfast, but if I do, I will have an Actimel (yogurt drink) with some fruit or eggs or a yogurt bowl with fruit
Lunch – Chicken salad of some sort or the leftover healthy meal from dinner the night before
Dinner – Stir fry’s, salads, grilled chicken, or anything with a lean protein with veggies
Snack – Actimel, fruit or olives
Drink – Water, protein shakes and the occasional sugar free can of pop
English (US)