Woman who lost 80lbs and dropped from a size 20 to a size 8 is left feeling cheated after before and after photos were ‘STOLEN’ to promote diet pills
Natasha Gage was alerted to the images by fans of her popular healthy lifestyle Instagram
A WOMAN who lost an incredible 80lbs in 18 months was left feeling “violated” after she spotted her transformation pictures had been used to promote a diet pill company.
Natasha Gage, 25, from Chester, Cheshire, proudly showed off her inspirational before and after shots on Instagram where she went from a size 20 to a size 8.
started to gain her lots of new followers online, who were keen to follow her tips for shifting the pounds.
However, within a few months many of her fans sent her screen shots of her pictures that had been lifted without her consent and used to promote weight loss capsules.
Not only had the companies stolen her images, but also created a backstory for her saying she was a “mum-of-two” and that she had used garcinia cambogia supplements.
Speaking exclusively to the Sun Online, Natasha said: “I felt really cheated and almost violated because not only was my hard work degraded in them saying I had used weight loss products but people actually believed that I had so they called me a fake.”
One of the websites that featured her images was Bollywood Dubai, who claimed her name was “Aisha from Abu Dhabi” and that she “lost a healthy 14kg in 5 weeks on the Pure Cambogia Ultra and PureLife Cleanse.”
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Another website that stole her images was a website who tweeted her photo saying she had used the “rapid weight loss pill of 2014.”
She even saw people try to sell products on eBay using her images.
She said: “I asked them to remove any affiliation to me. They thought I was a competitor and I had to send them a photo of my tattoo to show it was actually me.
“I did send a couple of forms to the IP providers of other websites but I never even received any response.
"I appreciate I put my photos into the internet and maybe that somehow gives someone ownership to my intellectual property but I think it's so wrong that they've kept using them for their own gain without any regard for the person they're using.
The fitness blogger said that she worked hard for her weight loss, which was prompted after being horrified at some pictures of her from her sister's wedding.
She said: "I was absolutely mortified when I saw the photos from the wedding so, being the lazy person I was, I went to my doctor to ask about medical ways for me to lose weight.
"My doctor weighed me and told me that I weighed 235lbs/106kg and, for the first time ever, someone told me that I was obese.
"I cried on the journey home and decided that I would immediately change and couldn't lie to myself anymore."
She started her fitness journey following Jillian Michaels and her 30 Day Shred workout.
She said: "I cleaned up my eating and gave up drinking every single Friday night."
After months the weight started to fall off and she upped her exercise to include running and Blogilates.
She said: "I want to help more people understand that our bodies need to be properly nourished and that there is no magic trick to weight loss other than harnessing your motivation and knowing that you either get it done or remain the same."
She now has 60,000 followers on Tumblr and 11,300 on Instagram and regularly blogs on topics such as healthy food inspiration and
Bollywood Dubai has been contacted for comment.
It's not the first time images have been stolen from someone's social media accounts.
Recently a flight attendant revealed her horror at a ‘Catfish’ Facebook account using her photos to trick hundreds of men into sending nude snaps.