A mother from Wolverhampton who spent £60 every day on takeaways and needed a walking stick to get around has undergone a staggering transformation after weight loss surgery.
From Food Addiction to Health Scare
Tammy Jones, 35, weighed 23 stone and 10 pounds at her heaviest, fitting into a size 32. The stay-at-home mum of two confessed to a severe food addiction, thinking constantly about her next meal. Her daily routine involved a colossal intake of calories, starting with two double sausage and egg McMuffins, four hash browns, and a hot chocolate for breakfast.
Lunch would consist of four Greggs pasties and two sausage rolls, while dinner was a £40 Chinese takeaway featuring salt and pepper ribs, chow mein, chicken balls, and chips. She would even eat the leftovers for breakfast the following day. Alongside this, she drank ten litres of Coca-Cola daily, consuming double the recommended calorie intake from drinks alone.
"I was self-employed and worked from home because I had no confidence to go out, and I was walking with a stick at 31," Ms Jones revealed. Her weekly food bill totalled an estimated £420.
The Turning Point and Surgical Intervention
The situation reached a critical point in 2021. Already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, Tammy developed pneumonia. Her weight was pressing down on her lungs, a condition that nearly killed her. "When I got pneumonia, my lungs were being crushed by my weight. I could have died, and it was petrifying," she said.
This health scare spurred her into action. In September 2022, she flew to Turkey for a £3,500 gastric sleeve operation, a procedure that reduces the stomach's size by about 80%. She used money she had previously spent on takeaways, with additional help from her husband and brother who feared losing her. "They thought they were going to lose me," she explained.
Gastric sleeve surgery is a form of bariatric surgery offered on the NHS under strict criteria. It works by significantly reducing stomach capacity, helping patients feel full sooner and consume fewer calories.
A New Life in a Size Eight
The recovery was mentally challenging—"Food is an addiction like alcohol and drugs; it was mentally exhausting," Tammy admitted—but the results have been life-altering. She has lost a remarkable 13 stone (182lbs), now weighing 11 stone and 4lbs and wearing a size eight.
She has completely reversed her type 2 diabetes diagnosis. Her diet is now radically different, featuring meals like chicken satay, bagel thins with tuna, and sweet chilli salmon with rice.
Tammy has continued to invest in her health, using £150-a-month Mounjaro weight loss jabs from August 2024 to lose a further four stone. She also underwent a £7,500 breast lift and tummy tuck in September 2024.
The transformation has rebuilt her confidence. "Life is so different. I can take my kids to the theme park," she said. She is now looking forward to a holiday in Tunisia where she plans to wear a bikini for the first time in years. "My confidence is through the roof... I was pinching myself when I first bought a size eight top."
Her change is so profound that people from her past no longer recognise her, a fact that brings her immense joy. From fearing for her life to embracing it fully, Tammy Jones's journey stands as a powerful testament to reclaiming health and happiness.
