CHANTELLE Ealey battled with weight since childhood, enduring cruel comments and failed diets for decades.
Then, the now 32-year-old Bristol native shed three stone in just three months with weight loss jab Wegovy – and has since shed nearly five stone.
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“People say it’s cheating, but it’s just the next step,” she said.
Chantelle’s struggles began early. “I was nothing out of the ordinary, just a bit chubby,” she recalled.
But her weight was constantly mentioned by family, and at seven or eight, her GP had told her to keep food journals.
She had dreams of becoming a dancer but was told she was “too fat”.
Read more on weight loss jabs
“It was horrible,” she said. “It stuck with me. It made me feel like I wasn’t good enough.”
As she grew older, her weight increased, and two years ago, at 23 stone and a size 22, she had reached her heaviest.
Her size left her open to abuse.
“People can be really cruel,” she said.
“I remember being in a bar when a man moved back. I thought he was being polite, but he said he was just making space for my ‘fat ass.’ That shocked me.”
Chantelle had fibromyalgia, making exercise painful.
“I couldn’t go to the gym or for a run—it was just too much,” she explained.
“While she had lost weight through calorie restriction before, she always regained it.
“I tried restrictive diets, food diaries, meal replacements – nothing kept the weight off.”
She also struggled with binge eating. “It was an emotional response,” she said.
“If I was a bit sad, I’d get a packet of doughnuts and eat the lot.”
Her cravings were intense.
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“I loved savoury snacks – crisps, nuts, takeaway,” she said.
“Once, I brought a bag of large cookies into work, shared half, and ate about 15 myself. I felt sick after.
“I’d always had so much negativity about being overweight, and it just made me feel worse. So I’d eat more to feel better—it was a vicious cycle.”
THE TURNING POINT
In 2022, Chantelle asked her doctor for weight-loss injections and was enrolled in the NHS-funded Oviva Tier 3 Weight Management service, which combined medication with diet, exercise, and mental health support.
She started Wegovy in July 2023. “It was amazing. I just didn’t feel hunger most of the time,” she said.
“I ate because I knew I should, not because I needed to. I probably ate two-thirds of what I used to.”
The results were dramatic. “In the first three months, I lost three stone I’d now lost nearly five stone, averaging about two pounds a week.”
The reaction from others had been overwhelming.
“People kept telling me how great I looked, how I was ‘disappearing’,” she said.
“It was always said with love, but it was a lot. It came from friends, family, colleagues – just everyone. I had to ask people to stop.”
‘NOT CHEATING’
Since starting the injections, Chantelle’s eating habits have improved – she no longer binges on sugary treats after meals.
“I couldn’t stomach that anymore,” she said.
“If I ate something rich or too sweet, I didn’t feel well. I had a Krispy Kreme one day, and it affected my tummy really badly.”
Chantelle now insists the injections were not an easy way out.
She said people always ask her “‘Why don’t you lose weight the normal way?’
“I’d tried that. It wasn’t an easy option. I’d done everything else, and this was just the next step.”
“The alternative would have been surgery, which I really didn’t want to do.”
For Chantelle, Wegovy had been life-changing.
“I didn’t feel that different, but I did feel happier. I was doing really well, and it had given me a bit of a boost. It was a miracle drug.”
Fat jabs fact vs fiction
By Vanessa Chalmers
IN a world with soaring obesity rates, fat jabs have arrived and taken the world of the rich and beautiful by storm.
The injections have allegedly helped celebrities like Elon Musk, Sharon Osbourne and even Prime Minister Boris Johnson shed the pounds.
But there is a dark side to these “miracle jabs”.
UK health chiefs are investigating 20 deaths that have been reported as being potentially linked to the injections.
Several celebs, including model Lottie Moss and actor Stephen Fry, have opened up about all the horrible side effects they experienced while taking the jabs, from contorting on the floor to violent sickness.
Ian Budd, pharmacist for Chemist4U and MyBMI, says: “Using injectable weight-loss medications for cosmetic reasons or without a medical need is not recommended and can be potentially harmful.
“They are not a quick fix or a way to lose a few pounds before a holiday.
“Misuse of these medications can lead to serious health consequences and should be avoided.”
Dr Iqbal added: “They are for the management of chronic obesity, so they may not be the first step to take if your weight gain has been more recent or over a shorter period of time.”
Eligiblity hinges on having a body mass index of 30-35 (obese category), coupled with weight-related health issues such as hypertension or type 2 diabetes.
Fat jabs aren’t available over the counter, you need to have a prescription to take them.
Aside from getting a prescription via the NHS, you also have the option for paying for a private prescription.
Your eligibility will still need to be assessed by a pharmacist or GP, according to Click2Pharmacy.
But an influx of skinny jabs on the black market has resulted in people becoming sick and even risking death.
Experts warned a legitimate prescriber will have their credentials listed in registers provided by the General Medical Council or General Pharmaceutical Council and pharmacies should be registered with the GPhC.
