An Ashford woman has bared all for a magazine photoshoot.

Nicola Weston joined the Weight Watchers slimming group held at Julie Rose Stadium on Saturday mornings in March 2014, weighing 17 stones 5lbs – and has lost three stone so far.

She and five other women got involved with the photoshoot though the Weight Watchers Instagram page, which sought volunteers to pose naked for the September edition.

Miss Weston said: “I can’t tell you why I decided to do that!”

The photoshoot will be part of Weight Watchers magazine’s first-ever naked issue.

The 44-year-old added: “I wanted to do something for me and to try and be proud of myself.

“I do feel quite empowered and liberated.”

She wants to continue with her weight-loss programme and hopes to run a marathon next year.

Miss Weston said: “On your way it is good to stop and reflect on how well you have done.”

She moved to Ashford from London a few years ago and used Weight Watchers to build a social network with the encouragement of her mum.

“Weight Watchers changed my life. It is about the social side of it and making new friends and doing it together.”

She is determined not to go back to her old habits and put weight back on following a difficult year caring for her younger autistic sister, who was recently housed independently, and the sudden death of her stepfather, jazz pianist John Taylor, in France.

Michelle Lockyer, the Ashford Weight Watchers leader, said: “I am very proud of Nikki for not giving up during what has been a difficult year for her and her family.

“She is an inspiration to the meeting and myself.

“Nikki tells me she would never have dreamed of doing this had she not lost weight with Weight Watchers but her confidence is growing every day and she is now feeling comfortable in her own skin.”

Miss Weston added: “There’s so much in the press about bikini bodies and I feel quite passionately about all women looking different.”

Helen Renshaw, editor of Weight Watchers magazine, said: “It is worrying that so many people feel unhappy or ashamed of their bodies.

“We hope that showing and celebrating healthy, strong, ‘real’ bodies will inspire people to feel more confident about their own body shape.”

Three male Weight Watchers members will also be appearing naked in the October issue.
New research from the company has revealed that 60% of British women and over a third of British men admit they avoid looking at themselves in the mirror when undressing.

Forty per cent of women said images in magazines and celebrity focus led to them feeling a dislike for their own bodies.

More than 2,000 men and women were questioned to mark the launch of the naked issue.