The first thing Ashley O’Driscoll does when she gets out of bed in the morning is head to the bathroom, stand on the scales and make a careful note of her weight in her phone.

Throughout her day, the mum-of-one writes down every calorie she eats, a habit borne out of years of weight gain and loss that has seen her half in size.

Ashley, from Dublin, has a story similar to many women. Size 12 for most of her adult life, when she gave birth 16 years ago she struggled to go back to her pre-baby weight. Over the years her attempts to ‘move more and eat less’ in a bid to slim down were unsuccessful. 

At her heaviest, Ashley was 5ft 11in and 22st, obese and unhappy.

‘The slightest thing would make me put on weight. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get it down and keep it down,’ she tells Metro.

Ashley’s size affected her confidence and she left the house only to go to work, the school run or the supermarket; even a simple trip to the cinema would take excessive begging from her best friend.

‘I felt really bad. I’m nearly 40 and I haven’t lived my thirties because I’ve been in constant isolation because of my weight,’ Ashley, 38, says.

She decided to seek help from her doctor at the beginning of 2023, who suggested gastric surgery but it had a five-year waiting list. So, as a last ditch attempt to lose the weight, Ashley decided to try Ozempic. 

Also known as semaglutide, Ozempic is a medication used to treat diabetes which works by mimicking the hormone GLP-1, making people feel fuller and less hungry.

However, a new study of over 6,000 people by scientists at Oxford University has reported that those who use GLP-1 drugs will put their weight back on within 10 months of stopping if they don’t continue to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Having endured years of failed diets, slimming clubs and exercise regimes, Ashley admits the jab felt like a last resort – and she wasn’t entirely convinced it would work.

She obtained a prescription from her doctor, picked up her first dose from the pharmacy, took it home and injected it into her abdomen. Despite a few mild side effects of headaches and nausea, Ashley’s weight started to fall away within the first week.

‘It was great; it started coming off very quickly and I noticed the “food noise” disappear,’ she remembers.

‘You’re not constantly thinking about your next meal and what you’re going to eat. It decreases your appetite and makes you feel full for longer.

‘On Ozempic, I might have a breakfast of porridge and honey and then not eat again for another six hours. I would have a soup or something really small for lunch, then a small dinner.

‘It was amazing, seeing those numbers come down on the scales. And the more weight I lost, the more activity I could do. So I was walking, running and weightlifting, which really helped. It felt amazing because I was sporty in my teens, but then I spent so much of my adult life not being able to walk upstairs without being out of breath.’

With her appetite suppressed on the weekly injections, by spring last year Ashley had lost 12st – nearly half her body weight – and wore jeans for the first time in years. She motivated herself by doing challenges on social media to walk 10,000 more steps each day for seven days.

‘Ozempic transformed my life completely. I’m a totally different person, physically and mentally,’ she says. But while Ashley was overjoyed to have lost the weight, she was dismayed by what was left behind.

‘When I was overweight, I had an ass and was quite big-chested. Now my bum and boobs have literally gone. I’ve got nothing there now. There’s more skin than there is breast tissue and I only wear sports bras. I’m completely flat. In fact, they’re actually just down to my knees. It’s all skin,’ she explains.

Ashley has also been left with saggy skin on her arms, thighs and belly, which stil makes her feel insecure. She ‘wouldn’t be seen dead in a bikini’, she says.

‘There is no way you can lose that amount of weight and not have loose skin. It’s inevitable. Instead, I hide it well with body suits or the clothes that I wear,’ Ashley explains. ‘If I was to get it removed, I say I’d probably lose another 7lbs just from that. It’s horrible. But I could never afford that.

‘It’s sad because I worked so hard to get the body that I have, that you’d think that I want to show it off, but nobody needs to see all that saggy, loose skin. It’s not very nice.’

Last summer, Ashley fell ill with gallstones, six months before she stopped taking Ozempic, but she doesn’t blame the medication. Rapid weight loss causes the body to metabolise fat, which means the liver releases extra cholesterol into the bile leading to gallstones. She had her gallbladder removed in July, but felt it was a ‘small price to pay’ for the weight loss. Especially as by November last year, she had reached her target weight of 65 kilos – just over 10st. 

However, having been made redundant, Ashley found she could no longer afford to spend £147 a month on the medicine.

As they Oxford University study suggests, as soon as she stopped the injections, the hunger came back and she piled on the weight. Buying a dose when she could afford it, but putting on pounds when she couldn’t, her size yo-yo-ed over the course of a few months.

When she had to go totally Ozempic free for six months – Ashley put on over 2st.

‘I’d literally eat anything I could get my hands on,’ she admits. ‘I could make a ham and cheese toastie. I could then make cereal and one bowl will lead to two. I might have gone for toast, which quickly turned into Nutella on toast… You have a lot of cravings when you’re not on Ozempic.’

When Ashley realised she couldn’t do without the drug just before Christmas 2024, her partner helped pay for her prescription and she started the injections again. Now, Ashley is well on her way back to her target weight.

‘Going on Ozempic was one of the best things I ever did, but it’s not all sunshine and rainbows,’ she says. ‘It brings with it a lot of trauma from being overweight and trying to accept your new body. I’m not there yet.

‘A lot of people think, “Oh, it’s just a case of you lose the weight and it’s over” – and it’s far from it. It’s trying to deal with and accept everything that comes with it, and it’s a work in progress. You have to maintain that weight. You’re always working on your body. It’s never ending.

‘For me the fear of weight regain is so strong that it’s a daily battle. I worry about every single thing I eat. I count the calories, check the packets – and that doesn’t stop. Sometimes I worry that I am heading down the road of an eating disorder.’

In total, Ashley spent more than £5,000 over the two years, and her doctor believes she will need to take weight loss injections for the rest of her life – another issue that has been raised following the results of the study.

One of the researcher, Professor Susan Jebb, said: ‘Either people really have to accept this as a treatment for life, you’re going to have to keep going forever, or we in science need to think really, really hard, how to support people when they stop the drug.’

Ashley remains grateful for the revolutionary drug, which she aims to rely on at a maintenance dose level to ensure she stays at her target weight. 

She doesn’t worry about any long term impacts on her health, either. ‘I’ve been on it for two years and nothing drastic has happened. I’m happy enough at the moment to stay on it,’ she says.

‘Obesity is a disease for which there is no cure. If you come off that medication – you’re going to be at risk of becoming obese again, and that’s the way that I look at it. I have to do what’s best for my health, and that’s to stay on it.’  

A version of this story was first published in December 2024.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Claie.Wilson@metro.co.uk 

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If you love nothing more than heading to Primark, IKEA, or Flying Tiger to browse (and buy) cute homeware items, then you’re going to want to keep reading.

That’s because there’s a new, little-known, high street retailer that’s giving some of these big name brands a run for its money with similarly priced items, and shoppers are going wild over the products.

Danish homeware chain Søstrene Grene has around 17 stores across the UK already, with it’s new flagship shop in London’s Oxford Circus opening on March 28 this year.

But the Argyll street store isn’t the only expansion the chain has planned. Retail Gazette confirmed the company is planning 60 new store openings in 2025 alone, hoping to reach 100 UK sites by 2027.

Several of these will be opening up shop very soon, with new locations being confirmed in Peterborough, Guildford, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Telford, and Basingstoke. 

As well as homeware such as candles, plates, mugs, bowls, cabinets, chairs, and bedding, the shops also sell stationery, accessories such as jewellery, bags, and glasses, children’s toys and costumes, plus beauty products and food.

And perhaps the best part of the whole thing is that it’s incredibly affordable. Prices for candles start from 40p, with kitchenware from £1, and furniture from £10. 

To put that into context, Primark also sells kitchenware from £1 and has candles starting from 80p.

On social media, people are loving the brand, with TikTok user sharing videos of the aesthetic stores and the sweet new spring collection, that features lots of pastel hues and fruit-themed items.

One user, @student.dine described the store’s range as ‘beautiful and so affordable’. She added: ‘It was very difficult to not just put everything into my basket. I did end up get a few bits though. It’s one of those places I can’t go too often just because I know I won’t be able to control myself. This is a must-visit.’

Similarly @em1ly.030 said she was ‘in love’ with the retailer, as @stephaniekaluza hailed it as her ‘new favourite shop’.

There’s also a consensus among fans that the store is like a ‘little Ikea’.

And TV presenter Iwan Carrington is also a fan, he recently shared a clip of his visit to the Manchester store, saying they had ‘loads of nice homeware’, a ‘fantastic craft section’, and everything was ‘reasonably priced’. 

As well as being able to visit one of the various bricks and mortar stores, those who may not live near one can also shop all the products online. It’s a win-win!

While many Brits are just discovering the brand, it’s not actually new and has been around for years. The first Søstrene Grene opened in Aarhus, Denmark’s second biggest city, in 1973. 

It was launched by husband and wife Inger Grene and Knud Cresten Vaupell Olsen and the brand is based around two fictional sisters, Anna and Clara, who feature on the shop’s logo.

Anna and Clara are said to be inspired by two of Grene’s aunts. The company’s website explains: ‘Anna is a creative aesthete, while her sister Clara is practical and organised – together, they represent all that Søstrene Grene is and has to offer.

‘Polite and traditional, the sisters share their recommendations on how you can bring more creativity, joy and aesthetics into your daily life.

‘The sisters feature in all written narratives about Søstrene Grene. Anna and Clara are the ones crafting and creating – and generally spreading the message about the creativity, aesthetics and joy which are at the heart of Søstrene Grene.’

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Relieving yourself, taking a leak, spending a penny. Whatever you call it, urination is a near-universal experience, although the frequency of doing so can be far more individual.

Some people wake up bursting multiple times a night, while others can go for a full working day without so much as a single trip to the loo – and where you sit on this scale can say a lot about your overall health.

According to Hamid Abboudi, consultant urologist at New Victoria Hospital, tea, coffee, alcohol or fizzy drinks can make you pee more often than usual, as they ’cause the bladder to become over active or over twitchy.’

Medical conditions – including UTIs, prostate or bladder cancer, multiple sclerosis and strokes – can also impact this, along with your gender and whether you’re pregnant.

But the main factor affecting frequency is your age, as Hamid explains: ‘Across a patient’s life span there are likely to be several changes to toilet habits.’

Wondering what’s ‘normal’ for each stage of your life? Urine luck.

Children: 6 to 14 times a day

‘Young children may urinate 8 to 14 times a day, which decreases to 6-12 times for older children,’ Hamid tells Metro. 

If a child needs to pee more often than this, it could be down to one of the following issues:

• Anxiety

• Caffeine consumption, which increases urine output and can cause bladder muscle spasms
• Constipation
• Consuming ingredients a child is allergic to
• Holding on urine for too long
• Small bladder capacity
• Structural abnormalities in the bladder or urethra

Teenagers: 4 to 6 times a day

While teenagers typically pee around 4-6 times a day, it’s not uncommon for this to increase while they’re going through puberty and the ‘transition of hormonal imbalances’ that comes with it.

Hamid says that most of the time this is ‘nothing to worry about and will naturally clear up,’ but adds that it can potentially be a sign of something more serious.

If frequent urination continues, issues such as urinary tract infections (UTIs), diabetes, excessive caffeine consumption or – in rare cases – bladder cancer could be to blame.

Adults under 60: 6 to 9 times a day

Hamid says it’s normal for most adults to pee 5-8 times during the day and ‘once at night depending on their circumstances.’

However, he adds that ‘women tend to urinate more frequently than men,’ citing one study which found women average 5.6 times per day, while the figure for men sat at 4.8.

‘For women, pregnancy can be a trigger, as the pressure effect of the baby on the uterus can cause increased frequency of urination and nocturia (nighttime urination),’ explains Hamid. ‘Urinary tract infections are also very common in women and can lead to increased urinary frequency.’

Adults aged 60+: Up to 10 times a day

As we age, we may find it harder to hold on, as kidney function starts to decline and bladder muscles become weaker.

According to the NHS, nocturia is also more common, and elderly people ‘may be getting up twice a night’ to use the loo as a result of reduced antidiuretic hormone (ADH) regulating the amount of water in the body.

Additionally, Hamid says ‘older adults are more likely to be on a form of medication called diuretics for various medical conditions’, and this can make for more frequent toilet trips throughout the day at night.

He adds: ‘For men, as they get older the prostate gland increases in size. This puts a pressure effect on the bladder and can increase the number of times a man urinates.’

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From labiaplasty and labia puffing, to pubic hair transplants, penile implants, and monsplasty, it seems there’s nothing we won’t do to our nether regions.

But there’s one procedure that many plastic surgeons would never get done themselves: a BBL.

In a recent Reddit thread, cosmetic practitioners were summoned to share the body altering surgery they’d avoid and why — and out of more than 2,000 responses, the Brazilian Butt Lift was by far the most common.

‘BBL is the only aesthetic procedure that has its own autopsy technique,’ wrote one, while another added: ‘It carries a surprisingly high mortality rate and the recovery is brutal.’

What is a BBL and why is it so risky?

Plastic surgeon Dan Marsh, co-founder of The Plastic Surgery Group, tells Metro that a BBL involves liposuction to remove fat from the abdomen waist flanks – what we might know as ‘love handles’.

This fat is then collected in a canister before being injected into the buttocks to change their shape and size.

‘You can inject up to two litres of fat per buttock either between the skin and muscle or into the muscle itself,’ he explains. ‘The risk is if you inject it into the muscle you could accidentally inject it into one of the big veins in the muscle which can be fatal, because fat will lodge in the patient’s lungs.’

The method is primarily used in South America and the US but is less common here in the UK.

Practices that do perform fat transfer buttock augmentation here typically use an ultrasound while injecting between the skin and muscle, in an effort to decrease the risk.

However, the BBL still has the highest mortality rate of all cosmetic procedures, and regulatory body BAAPS recommends its members refrain from offering it altogether, claiming the results can be ‘disturbing’.

Just last September, 33-year-old mum-of-five Alice Webb died from complications of a ‘liquid BBL’ using dermal filler.

This saw Save Face campaign for ‘Alice’s law’ to make it illegal for anyone other than a registered plastic surgeon on the GMC specialist register to perform the treatment.

Dan himself stopped performing BBLs once reports of serious complications began to rise.

‘I decided it was too risky,’ he says.

This was echoed by a nurse on the Reddit thread who wrote: ‘From blood clots to sepsis, it’s just not worth it. If the fat travels into the bloodstream, it’s over. Not worth the risks.’

Is the BBL falling out of favour?

Despite the risks, in 2023 a blinding 771,333 BBLs were performed, making it the eighth most popular surgical procedure across the globe, according to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

There’s a death for every 4,000 of the procedures performed according to the inquest of Alice Webb, and it seems people are gradually realising its not worth the dangers.

Nearly 50,000 fewer BBLs were performed in 2023 than 2022 – and according to Dan, it’s becoming less and less popular.

Geordie Shore’s Chloe Ferry even had her BBL reversed in February, announcing on TikTok: ‘I’m really happy. It just looks so much better, I look more in proportion and more like me.

‘The surgeon couldn’t get all the fat out he wanted to because the previous surgeon might have put the fat too close to the muscle, which is really dangerous, so he took out as much as he could.’

While of course there are those who still want that coveted Kim K aesthetic, the £7,000 price tag of the procedure along with more widespread news of potential complications could finally be turning us off.

What other procedures would plastic surgeons avoid getting?

The BBL wasn’t the only procedure copping heat from surgeons on Reddit – rib removal was also widely criticised.

Dan says the treatment – known as the ‘Barbie waist’ in the plastic surgery world – is ‘coming back into fashion’ in recent years.

‘It’s pushed by South American surgeons a lot in tandem with a BBL so you get a small waist and big bum,’ he explains.

‘You don’t actually have a rib removed, they break the lowest rib and put a tight waist trainer on, so when the rib heals it looks much narrower.’

Dan would never do rib removal, as the ‘excessive’ complications include the broken rib puncturing the liver, spleen and lungs and in some cases even causing pneumothorax (collapsed lung).

‘Plastic surgery should be safe and never put you at high risk,’ he adds. ‘First, do no harm is the rule of a doctor.’

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Amal Clooney looked gorgeous when she wore a butter yellow dress to the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 alongside her husband George – and her one-shoulder gown is more on trend than ever