A mum who battled her weight for most of her life says weight-loss jabs have taken 10 years off her age and freed her from a lifetime of food addiction.
Danielle Tanner weighed 16st 6lb and wore a size 20 after becoming hooked on chocolate, eating at least 15 bars a day.
But, fed up with her larger body and warned by doctors that she was morbidly obese, the 41-year-old turned to Mounjaro.
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Now, after losing almost seven stone in a year, the cashier weighs 9st 10lb and has dropped to a size 10 – and says she looks and feels a decade younger.
To celebrate, she has recreated her wedding photos with her newly-svelte frame.
“My dress fit perfectly and laced up tighter than the first time around,” Danielle, from Wirral, Merseyside, told Need To Know.
“Since losing weight, I’ve been told by many people that I look 10 years younger.
“That’s a stretch, but I’ll take it.
“I actually feel 10 years younger too – I’m 41, but I feel 31.”
A size 20 at her largest, Danielle felt “gross” before losing weight.
She said: “Weight loss injections were all over the news. I would say ‘how stupid, surely you can just eat less and it has the same effect?’
“I would say that as I was sat stuffing my face with my third Toffee Crisp.”
Danielle was no stranger to chocolate, and it formed a huge part of her daily diet.
She explained: “After the school run, I’d eat eight Orange Clubs and two Twix’s.
“After lunch, I’d have four Toffee Crisps then another chocolate bar after diner then I’d eat a box of Malteasers in bed.
“If I was working, I’d walk home eating four chocolate bars.
“But I saw more and more articles [about Moiunjaro] – it said it would turn off the food noise and that’s what I needed.
“I needed that little monster in my head to shut up.
“I was like an alcoholic but my alcohol of choice was chocolate because I just couldn’t stop.
“It was a dopamine rush and I chased it because I just couldn’t help it.”
In January 2025, Danielle signed up for a 12-month clinical study using Mounjaro.
Although nervous ahead of her first injection, she says the results were almost instant.
She said: “It sounded too good to be true.
“But 2025 was the year of our 10th anniversary, and I thought wouldn’t it be amazing if I could fit back in my wedding dress?
“It seemed like so far a stretch and only a dream but it was the motivation I needed.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting miracles but it was worth a go.”
The first day she took Mounjaro, Danielle noticed a difference – immediately no longer having “food noise”.
She said: “My head was quiet.
“I had a salad trying to be healthy, and I just couldn’t finish it.
“It was bizarre and that was the start of it.
“I didn’t even have any side effects, just a bit of nausea on the first day.
“I hardly snacked, the desire left my body when that little injection entered.
“I absolutely did not change my diet, I just shrunk my portion sized and I think thats why it worked so well for me.”
Danielle’s struggle with food began at 18 after she gave birth to her first child, Angel, now 23.
Living independently and struggling financially, she fell into a cycle of binge eating.
Her weight fluctuated over the years and although she felt her best in 2015, weighing 10st 13lb on her wedding day, things soon changed.
After falling pregnant again with her son Dexter, now nine, food became her comfort.
She began matching her husband Ben’s portion sizes and, after landing a job in a supermarket, indulged in discounted treats.
Danielle said: “We’d have a meal for four split between us.
“I’d also bring all the treats home from work, five chocolate bars for £1 or 5 bags of crisps for £1.
“I just had no motivation.
“I tried Slimming World, and lost a couple of stone, but I am absolutely useless at cooking so I was just living off beans and jacket potatoes.
“Then my local group shut down and I lost all motivation yet again.
“When I completely change my diet, and eat super healthily, I feel I’m depriving myself of the odd treat.
“So the minute I stop, I go back to my old ways.
“This time around, nothing has been off limits.
“If I want some chocolate, I’ll have some, but only one.
“If I want a pizza, I have a couple of slices, not the whole thing.”
Although Ben supported her throughout, Danielle says her weight stopped her from fully enjoying life.
She said: “My husband is so supportive and lovely, so luckily it never impacted our relationship.
“But I felt bad for him, and I felt bad for our son.
“We’d have days out, and I would just sit and watch with a coffee while they had fun.
“I am fun, and I wanted to be fun.
“I just couldn’t be bothered and had zero motivation.”
As the weight fell off, Danielle’s life transformed.
She began walking, cycling, swimming, indoor climbing and even completed a Ninja Warrior course.
By September 2025, she had lost six stone and weighed 10st 6lb, lighter than she had been on her wedding day.
When her programme ended in January 2026, Danielle had lost a total of 6st 10lb, shed 56 inches from her body, dropped from a size 20 to a size 10 and reduced her BMI from 42.1 to 24.9.
She later switched to Wegovy after a price rise and has now been jab-free for three weeks.
Follow-up blood tests show her cholesterol levels have returned to normal and her overall health has improved.
Danielle added: “It hasn’t just been a physical change for me, its also been a mental change.
“People will say ‘I bet your husband is happy’ – and yes he is, not because of how I look but because I’m happier.
“I’m now wearing clothes I used to dream about, and can go in any shop and buy straight from the rail.
“My motivation is back, the laziness has gone and while I don’t have a specific work out routine, I’m making sure that I’m getting my 10,000 steps in every day.
“This has been like hitting a reset button for me and i will never take it for granted.
“I’m sick of seeing ‘when you come off them jabs, you’ll put the weight back on’.
“No you won’t, as long as you don’t go back to eating as you were previously.
“It’s like any other diet.
“If you don’t stick to the changes you’ve made, of course you’ll put it back on.
“Using medication to help obese people absolutely shouldn’t have a stigma around it.
“People use medication for plenty of other things without judgement.
“Is it cheating? Absolutely not.”
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