Tina Bashford tipped the scales at 23st when she decided to take drastic action
A 23st mum spent £2k on Mounjaro to shed 10-and-a-half stone – after pre-diabetes diagnosis left her fearing she was eating her way to ‘an early grave’. Tina Bashford, 41, had a large appetite from childhood and was already classed as obese before hitting her teens.
After having daughters – Sophie, 23, and Jessica, 21 – in her late teens and early twenties, Tina tried every diet and weight loss strategy. But the stay-at-home mum would always be tempted by ‘comfort eating’ a takeaway or chocolate in the evening.
After having third daughter, Aniyah, three, in 2022, she reached 23st 7lbs and a size 26 and suffered with arthritis in her right knee. Tina says she would regularly go to the doctors and would be told she needed to lose weight.
In June 2024, she was diagnosed as pre-diabetic too, and was told to consider weight loss surgery abroad – as Tina began to realise she was eating her way to ‘an early grave’. Tina decided to give weight loss jabs a go and ordered her first dose of Mounjaro – and in her first month of taking it, she lost 1st 2lbs as it ‘stopped the food noise’.
As the numbers on the scale dropped Tina changed her diet and began exercising more to maintain healthy habits. After 16 months and £2k on the injections, Tina has a slender 12st 6lbs frame and is a size 12-14 – having reversed her pre-diabetes diagnosis and says she ‘feels 21 again’.
Tina, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, said: “I had a difficult childhood and I tried to fill a hole in my life with food, as a comfort mechanism. When I found out I was pre-diabetic, I knew I was heading to an early grave.
“When the doctors said they couldn’t do any more for my arthritis, it gave me a kick up the backside. I told my mum if Mounjaro could help me lost a stone, I’d be ecstatic – and now I’m over 10st down.
“Now I can run around with my daughter, go on bike rides, fly without using a seatbelt extender and go on theme park rides. I have so much energy and I feel 21 again.”
Tina said she had a difficult childhood and dealt with trauma from a young age by overeating. This led to her developing a ‘toxic relationship’ with food which she took with her into adulthood.
After having her first two daughters young, she tried Slimming World, WeightWatchers, keto, and even Orlistat weight loss tablets to shed the pounds. But she would always go back to her unhealthy ways again.
She said: “If we went for food, I’d be wondering what meal is going to be the biggest portion. If I baked a cake, I’d wake in the middle of the night and panic someone else had eaten it and left none for me.”
After reaching her heaviest weight after having her third child, Tina began suffering with an arthritic knee which got worse the heavier she became. But she could not help gorging on sweet treats and takeaways whenever she felt down.
She said: “I felt like I was living but I didn’t have a life. The only thing that made me feel better was food.”
After several trips to the doctor for knee pain, where she was advised to lose weight, she made one final plea to her GP. She was informed that, not only was bariatric surgery abroad her only option, but she was also pre-diabetic.
Fearing she had never see her daughters grow up, and in a bid to avoid surgery as a single mum, she ordered her first Mounjaro pen. She said: “I felt like I was already losing everything, so I had nothing to lose. I had one shot or I knew I’d be going in a box early.”
Tina started the injections and says she noticed a reduction in her sugar cravings within hours. After amending her diet and ensuring she walked a minimum of 10,000 steps a day, as well as going swimming, the weight began to drop off.
After losing her first stone, her goal was to lose three – and every time she met her target she would raise the bar higher. Now, at 12st 6lbs, she plans to start tapering herself back off the jabs.
She has thrown all her old size 24-26 clothes away bar one t-shirt – that she keeps to ‘humble herself’ as a reminder of her progress. She said: “I see myself now and think ‘is that really me?’
“Now my knee pain is gone, I’m no longer pre-diabetic and my doctor says I’ve saved the NHS thousands by doing this.”
Tina has sworn never to go back to her old eating habits – after realising how much her weight caused her to miss out on. She said: “I look at old pictures of myself and I mourn for her, she missed out on so much.
“But it has given me a new longing for life – and so much more energy. Mounjaro does get some bad press but it’s been life-changing for me. It’s been the best £2k I ever bloody spent.”
Diet before
Breakfast: Cereals, biscuits, pastries
Lunch: Sandwiches, crisps, cakes, pizza
Dinner: Take aways, fried food
Snacks: Biscuits, chocolate, sweets, cakes
Drinks: Coffee with three sugars, full fat Coke, juice
Diet now
Breakfast: Fruit, protein shake
Lunch: Salads, yogurts, fruits, wraps
Dinner: Chicken, steak, veg, stir fry – homemade whole food
Snacks: Apples, ready cooked chicken, yoghurts, fruit
Drinks: Coffee with no sugar, squash, water
