Overweight grandmother shows off her weight loss transformation in a bikini photo

A grandmother who was left flabby and depressed after a heartbreaking divorce has become a trim fitness instructor and model after changing her lifestyle.

Kim King, 56, from Doncaster, tipped the scales at 12 stone after splitting from her husband in 2012.

But seeing an unflattering picture of herself on a girls’ holiday spurred her into action.

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Kim King, 56, from Doncaster changed her lifestyle after her divorce and is now a fitness instructor and model

Kim pledged to change her ways after seeing a picture of her looking ‘huge’ in her swimsuit on holiday

The grandmother-of-three says: ‘I never went to the gym and when my marriage started to fall apart I would just comfort eat, which made me feel better for a few minutes, then I would feel worse than before.’

After seven years of marriage to Terry, 60, her life was in flux. She moved back to her home town of Bristol but then a few months later returned to Doncaster to be near her daughter Natalie, 36, from a previous marriage.  

Then in July 2013 Kim decided she had to do something about her weight issues.

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She said: ‘I saw a picture of me in my swimsuit from a holiday in May to Majorca with girls and I looked huge.

‘When I was on the holiday I was really conscious of how big I looked. I thought my stomach was so big, as if I was six months pregnant.

‘I hated even getting out of my lounger to get a drink or go to the loo as I thought I looked horrendous. 

Kim is so dedicated to exercise that she has now passed her kettlebells training course 

Kim looks so different to how she appeared before her 2012 divorce that she won second prize in the transformation category at a beauty pageant last year 

‘When I saw the picture when I got back it was the final straw I had to do something about it.’

When a gym opened close to her home, Kim booked a session with personal trainer Kyle.

She says: ‘I told him I wanted to be in shape by September and he said it was possible but I would have to give it my all, and I was more than willing to do that.

‘I did cardio and weight training, and I built up my strength really quickly. In the past just carrying a bit of shopping home would really hurt my back.’

Kim quickly fell in love with exercise. 

‘I was 55, but felt young again,’ she said. ‘The natural endorphins helped roll back the years. I was hooked from the first session.

‘I watched the instructor and wanted to be like him. I set myself the goal of being an instructor one day.’

Her new regime really worked and she lost over four stone and really toned up now weighing 7 and a half stone and she hardly recognises the trim woman in the mirror. She has built a gym in her garage and works out at least an hour a day.

However, she needed to get herself in shape first before she could tell others how to do it, and set about a punishing training schedule.

She says: ‘I totally changed my diet. In the past I would have crisps and sandwiches for lunch, cans of Coke throughout the day. Then I would come home and eat either a pizza, chinese or Indian food. On top of that I would polish off a bottle of red wine a night.

‘Now I eat small portions of food during the day. I will have oats with water or egg whites for breakfast. Then lean chicken, broccoli and brown rice. Or perhaps fish and sweet potato with steamed cabbage for other meals.

‘I also take cod liver oil, vitamins and protein shakes to help cleanse by body. I have also stopped drinking alcohol.’

As she threw herself into her new regime, she lost over four stone and toned up. 

Kim hopes to compete in more bikini competitions and now wants to inspire other over-50s to exercise

Now, weighing just seven and a half stone, Kim confesses she hardly recognised the trim woman she started seeing in the mirror. 

‘When I looked in the mirror it was a new me, I saw staring back in the reflection. Within weeks people I had known for years showered me with compliments. Lots of people said I looked 30 not almost 60!

‘I couldn’t believe the praise I was getting it just made me want to work even harder and look even better. I am on a constant natural high.’

Kim has now passed her kettle bell instructor course and came second in a fitness modeling competition.

Kim’s transformation was so dramatic that her lean physique won her second prize in a competition last year

She says: ‘I went to a competition in April 2015 fitness. It involved wearing a bikini and I came second in the transformation section. I was competing against women almost 20 years younger than me. I was chuffed to come second.

But she wants to enter more competitions, saying, ‘You have to set yourself goals and achieve them.’

She has built a gym in her garage and works out at least an hour a day.

Kim says: ‘I want to inspire women who are 50-plus, that they can be like me. My eldest grand daughter is so proud of me and tells all her friends about her ‘super nan’.

Kim is currently single but is happy just looking after herself and her family and has set up her own cleaning business that is doing really well.

She says: ‘I feel like I have given myself another life time I can enjoy. I can’t wait for the next adventure.

‘My friends think it’s crazy doing these competitions, but I have come this far and want to show off what I have achieved.’