'I binge-drank at weekends before Mounjaro - now I've lost 8st and can't finish a pint'

'I binge-drank at weekends before Mounjaro - now I've lost 8st and can't finish a pint' Grace Parkin weighed nearly 20st A mum who lost 8st on Mounjaro says it curbed her weekend booze binges and now she can't even finish one pint. Grace Parkin, 34, has always struggled with her weight and tipped the scales at 19st 11lbs and was a size 26 at her heaviest. The mum-of-one would stick to a strict healthy diet in the week, but found it all going out the window on a weekend - when she would binge-drink and gorge on takeaways and bacon butties, spending up to £400 per month on her weekend blow-outs. Opting for bottles of lager or vodka, lime and lemonades on nights out, she estimates she was drinking up to 10 in one go. Now if she goes on a night out, having switched to wine, she reckons she drinks between six and seven glasses, but “sometimes force it down” - and is saving £200 to £250 per month on alcohol - and often she can hardly finish a pint of lager. Grace had been looking into weight loss surgery but decided to try Mounjaro - getting it privately for £150 a month - in May 2024. She had got down to 17st 9lbs herself before starting the weekly injections and has now lost 8st 1lb and is a slender 11st 10lbs. Previously she was spending up to £1,000-a-month on recreational things from £1,600 of her disposable income after bills - such as clothes, eating out and alcohol - and now says she has cut this down since being on Mounjaro and is saving £600 each month. She says she has seen a reduction in her appetite of “alcohol in particular” almost immediately after taking the jab and says it has cut her alcohol intake by 75%. A study - Semaglutide and Tirzepatide reduce alcohol consumption in individuals with obesity - found Mounjaro can help reduce alcohol cravings and that 71% had a reduced desire to drink booze. Grace, a manager, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, said: “I’ve never been a heavy, heavy, drinker, I’d drink on the weekend and I just completely lost any appetite for alcohol. I will drink on occasion now, but I’d probably say I’m drinking once a month as opposed to once a week. “I’m not interested in it whatsoever. I used to be a person who would drink lager when I went out, not all the time. “I started Mounjaro in May 2024 and I think the Euros were on in June or July and I went out to watch the football and ordered a beer out of instinct. I don’t think I got a third of the way down it and I thought ‘oh god, not for me’. It didn’t have the same effect – it didn’t taste nice and it made me feel bloated." Grace previously underwent a gastric balloon in 2009 - when she was just aged 18 - but only lost three stone and didn't find it helped with her eating habits. She was never a "big eater", but would find herself gorging on weekends. She would often go out drinking on a Friday or a Saturday, eat a pizza on her way home and mop her hangover the next day with a bacon sandwich and a takeaway. Grace, who spoke to Talk to the Press, said: "By Monday I'd hate myself and be back to the diet." But she decided to give Mounjaro a shot after seeing a post about it on Facebook in May 2024. She said: "It's been incredible. It turns the food noise off." Having recently had skin removal surgery in Lithuania on February 19, she stopped taking Mounjaro in the lead up to it, having reached 10st 7lbs. The 360-tummy tuck and breast uplift with lipo procedure removed 7lbs of skin and although Grace said she gained “a little” weight back, she is now back on the medication for good. She says: “I’m 11st 10lb, but I want to maintain my weight – I was a bit too slim for my liking when I was my other weight. I’m back on it for maintenance and taking it as normal, but I’m not planning on losing any weight. I’m never coming off the medication”. Grace has also seen the mindset shift help with other aspects of her life - including her spending habits. Previously, she would spend her disposable income without so much as a second thought - splashing out on clothes, holidays, eating out and alcohol. Grace said: "I'd be just buying shoes - trainers, Uggs, boots. Then it will be - buying a load of jumpers, holiday clothes when I'd not even booked a holiday. "I'd get an idea in my head - like I need some new sunglasses. I wasn't getting into debt, but if I was bored in an evening I'd buy from Boohoo, PrettyLittleThing, Shien - any brands that did plus-sized clothes. "I spend anything from £50 to £200 to £300 a night. Two or three times a week I'd be in my local shopping centre - I'd come out with bags of stuff. "I was void-filling - looking for that adrenaline. Any disposable income would go on anything relating to pleasure. "Anything that was going to give me gratification. If I could spend money and it could give that rush, I'd do it." But now she only buys what she needs and credits the control the drug has given her. When it comes to drinking, Grace will only go out once a month now as opposed to making it a weekly occasion. “Now it’s very rare I even fancy drinking,” she said. “I will still drink, but I’ll force myself to do it rather than wanting to do it.” Grace's weekend diet before Breakfast: Bacon sandwich Lunch: Sandwich/sausage roll Dinner: Takeaway Grace's weekend diet after Breakfast: Skipped Lunch: Sliced beef/chicken skewers. Greek yoghurt, honey and granola Dinner: Steak and vegetables/curried chicken and rice Grace's spending before £200 to £300 on clothes (often in one go) £300 on holiday spending (if she went away) £200 to £400 on takeaways £200 to £400 on meals out Grace's spending now £100 max on clothes £100 max on takeaways £100 max eating out £200 on food shop