I ate kebabs for breakfast but lost 15st after a stranger’s comment – I only took Mounjaro for 2 months

EVERY morning for years, Reece May started his day devouring two kebabs at 11am, unemployed due to his staggering weight. You wouldn’t believe it was a singular comment that led the 35st 12lb lad, who says he got through 200 litres of gravy a year, to completely turn his life around. By the age of 26, Reece weighed roughly 35st 12lb, putting him in the severely obese BMI category Credit: SWNS Using food as a coping mechanism, he scoffed up to 15,000 calories a day of takeaways Credit: SWNS For as long as he can remember, Reece, from Hebburn, Tyne and Wear, was overweight and was cruelly dubbed ‘Fatty May’ in school. Things spiralled when the 26-year-old lost both of his parents aged 18 and 21. Sign up for the Health newsletter Thank you! He stopped looking after himself and became too overweight to hold down a job – so he claimed PIP. Using food as a coping mechanism, he scoffed up to 15,000 calories a day of takeaways – burgers, pizzas and kebabs. Self-confessed “kebab addict”, his £600-a-month junk food binging resulted in him wearing size XXXXXXL. But one day, things took a turn. In late 2024, Reece popped into a local gym to pick up a new second-hand phone from one of the gym staff working there who was selling it online. “Someone in the gym saw me and said ‘f***ing hell, you’re not long for this world, are you?’” Reece recalls. Most read in Health “I just broke down in the gym, and the trainer and I had a heart-to-heart. “He told me, if I truly wanted to change, he’d look after me and help me. “He told me to get on the scales, and when I did, I was like ‘holy s**t’.” Reece had avoided the scales for a long time. He said: “I stopped weighing myself from 22st onwards. I was in denial. “I used to wake up at 11am and have two doner kebabs for breakfast. “I used to genuinely love my food – I’d have what I called a ‘food orgasm’ when I had a kebab, I got a tremble and felt amazing. “One time, I had two kebabs for dinner, and was still hungry, so I went and had a third. I could never feel full because my stomach was so big. Things spiralled when he lost both of his parents aged 18 and 21 Credit: SWNS But in late 2024, a visit to a local gym to drop off a package turned his life around Credit: SWNS “I used to go to bed with heart palpitations, I could hear my heartbeat as I fell asleep. “I truly believed this would end my life. Sometimes, I hoped for it.” Reece’s eating habits started a long time ago. “I’d always have fry-ups, takeaways, mixed grills, fizzy pop and ice cream – I was never really taught what healthy food was, and I relied on those for comfort,” he says. He was bullied for his size and became socially isolated. He said: “I got bullied and I ended up refusing to go to school for six months. “I was a loner and got called Fatty May.” At 18, his dad passed away, and his mum three years later. Reece had been a carer for them both, and his mental health took a dive with grief. Scared to go outside because he had agoraphobia, Reece – who was living alone – would spend the day gaming and eating. “I just sat there, just eating myself to death, really,” he says. He became self-destructive and stopped caring about his health, eating so much that he consumed over 640 litres of gravy in three years. Speaking about his inability to work, Reece says: “I physically couldn’t walk, my joints were knackered, my brain too. “I wouldn’t have been able to stand more than a minute or two without excruciating knee pain and my feet hurt too. “It was painful to stand, never mind walk. I couldn’t get my belly under a desk for an office job. And mentally, I wasn’t in a position to work.” Reports from University of York said obesity prevents more than 600,000 Brits from working. Paying his trainer £300 a month, Reece followed his programme by going to the gym five days a week Credit: SWNS Reece's diet before and after weight loss BEFORE Breakfast: Doner kebab with 12oz garlic sauce Lunch: 2x doner kebabs or 14inch kebab pizza with 24oz garlic sauce Dinner: 3x mixed grills with 2x 10oz tubs of gravy with prawn crackers Snacks: Walkers grab bags (4), Celebrations (2) Dairy Milk chocolate (2) Drinks: Several litres of full fat Cherry Coke AFTER Breakfast: Six eggs, oats, Greek yoghurt with berries Lunch: White fish, chicken or tuna with rice and veg, berries and a banana Dinner: Steak, mince or chicken with rice and veg Snacks: Greek yoghurt, berries, protein shake Drinks: Sugarfree Ribena, electrolytes tablet with water That day in the gym, Reece was convinced to sign up with a personal trainer and diet coach after feeling humiliated. He ordered Mounjaro at the start, in January 2025, but only stayed on it for two months, losing 2st. He lost the remaining 13st 5lb naturally over ten months, saying that jabs helped to “kickstart his brain”. Reece said: “I felt I could do it on my own. My trainer suggested I come off it, and I never looked back.” Paying his trainer £300 a month, Reece followed his programme by going to the gym five days a week and eating a personalised diet plan. He says the cost of the trainer and jabs short term was affordable because he was replacing his £600-a-month takeaway habit. “I did a meal plan, having things like chicken and rice, pasta, and low-fat burgers, and training in the gym five days a week,” Reece says. “At one point I lost 3st in one month.” In total, he lost 15st 7lb between January 2025 and now, bringing him down to a 20st 7lb and a size XL. While he did the majority of it without jabs, he credits Mounjaro for “changing his brain chemistry” to allow him to make permanent lifestyle changes. He is also now working full-time for the first time, running his own tech repair business. For the first time ever, he’s in a relationship. In total, he lost 15st 7lb between January 2025 and now Credit: SWNS “Prior to that, nothing. I didn’t have any confidence at all, to be honest. “I wasn’t happy with how I looked. I wasn’t proud, I didn’t feel like I wanted to put myself out there.” Reece adds: “As soon as the Mounjaro pens kicked in, I have never looked back. “Now, I could use my old t-shirts as a duvet cover! “I’m working too. Before, I couldn’t fit in an office chair. “Now I realise people need to stop making excuses and take responsibility, like I did. “I feel on top of the world. I’ve had ups and downs and relapses, but for the first time in my life, I’m truly happy.” Reflecting on the journey, Reece says: “The amount of times I wanted to give up, my trainer once chased me and brought me back when I tried to leave the gym. “I tell my trainers now, ‘thank you for saving my life’ and I mean it. “I have a better view on life, and no regrets at all. “I’m a lot more confident, and you’ve no idea how happy I am. Truly happy for the first time in 26 years. “Never write yourself off, it’s never too late to change your life.” Comment now