Weight Watchers Members Bare All in Magazine
— -- The new issue of Weight Watchers magazine will feature real women opening up and baring it all for the first time.
"Numbers weren't the biggest thing to me," Tracey Steckmeister, one of the 11 Weight Watchers members featured in the 14-page "I Am Beautiful" photo spread, told ABC News. "Being comfortable in my own skin was the most important part of this journey."
The women in the new issue have each lost anywhere from 12 to 87 pounds. They shed the pounds the way Weight Watchers recommends -- gradually.
"I am my biggest cheerleader and I always tell people to love themselves," said Steckmeister, who has shed 41 pounds. "I embrace every day that I'm in this body."
"Some days I fall off the wagon, but I tell myself that I am worthy and I get myself back on," the 27-year-old said. "I know that this is the path for me."
The women also said they have valued the input of Oprah Winfrey, one of Weight Watchers' most famous members who has been public with her recent weight loss success. Last year, Winfrey bought a 10 percent stake in Weight Watchers and joined its board of directors.
"To have her input of this and realize we are all in this together," said Steckmeister.
Weight Watchers is not the first company, with its new issue, to champion real women and real bodies. In 2004, Dove had women strip down, showcasing a non-stereotypical ad with different body types.
"The more we can embrace our strengths the more we can embrace who we are and then we can show other women they can embrace themselves just the way they are," Dr. Robyn Silverman, a New Jersey-based body image expert, told ABC News.
