A beauty therapist who posted dozens of ‘selfie’ pictures of her new slimline figure on Facebook has hit out after she was reported to the website for encouraging ‘nudity’.
Alyson Larkin, 33, gorged on junk food and fizzy drinks and saw her weight soar as she led an unhealthy lifestyle.
The pretty mum-of-one lived on microwave meals and takeaways while drinking five cans of coke and downing a glass of wine every other day.
But she embarked on a health kick after discovering she could no longer fit into her trousers and even sold her car to force herself to take more exercise.
Alyson of Gourock, Inverclyde, lost three stone and dropped three dress sizes as well as joining an online weight loss programme which encourages people to eat healthily and exercise.
She took to Facebook to share her snaps and show off her new look but she was reduced to tears after an anonymous complaint was made to the website.
She said: “It actually made me cry as I felt hurt that people think I would do something wrong.
“How anyone could say that picture was encouraging nudity is beyond me.
“I’m not interested in promoting skinny bodies from fad diets, I’m just showing people how I look after changing my own lifestyle to one of eating healthy meals and regular exercise.”
Alyson received a message from Facebook notifying her an anonymous complaint had been made about one picture.
The message said: “Someone has reported your photo for displaying nudity.’
The ‘selfie’ image showed a before and after image she had taken showing herself when she was heavier and how she appears now.
She added: “I post a lot of pictures of myself but that’s because I’ve got them on my phone so it’s easier to do, anyone who knows me in real life will know that I’m just pretty normal and have a smile for every person I meet.
“I won’t stop posting my pictures because of a minority. For every person who doesn’t like it there’s 10 more message me on a daily basis to say they’re great.
“I am proud of my body, I work hard at it and if I want to show people where a wee bit of hard work can get you I will.
“So my message for anyone who doesn’t like it is delete me from Facebook and don’t look at it.”
Dozens of messages of support for Aly were left on her Facebook page by outraged friends.
Bernadette Gillan said: “They’re just jealous honey you look beautiful, very proud of you. I love seeing your pictures, you work hard xxxxxxx.”
Michelle Brown wrote: “You shouldn’t feel like you have to explain yourself and you certainly should be bloody proud of your body, you look fantastic and work hard for it! Xx.”
Andrea McAuley added: “You should be proud you fitty! And fair play to you for promoting a healthy body image/confidence and hard work. Don’t let others get you down. Chin up buttercup and stick at it.”
Facebook rules state: “Facebook has a strict policy against the sharing of pornographic content and any explicitly sexual content where a minor is involved.
“We also impose limitations on the display of nudity. We aspire to respect people’s right to share content of personal importance, whether those are photos of a sculpture like Michelangelo’s David or family photos of a child breastfeeding.
“If you see something on Facebook that you believe violates our terms, you should report it to us. Please keep in mind that reporting a piece of content does not guarantee that it will be removed from the site.
“For this reason, we also offer personal controls over what you see, such as the ability to hide or quietly cut ties with people, pages, or applications that offend you.”