AN ARCHAEOLOGIST from Llandrindod Wells is so delighted to have lost more than six stone she has opened new weight loss clinics in Powys to help other women.

Kelly Davies, 35, was 16.5 stone when she joined a Weight Watchers meeting in Cardiff five years ago and since then her dress size has dropped 10 sizes from a 22 to a 12.

Kelly, from Howey, said: “It took a good three or four years to lose it all because my work and life in general meant I had to move around a lot and I didn’t make my whole life about it.”

She researched the different groups locally and their diets to see what suited her before settling on Weight Watchers.

Kelly, who is currently undertaking a PhD on ‘Engagement with Welsh Archaeology’ at Swansea University, said she knew she had to lose weight.

However she never imagined she would be where she is now or leading weight-loss group meetings.

She said: “I remember going to the first meeting and being sat there feeling uncomfortable and thinking ‘I’m going to have to do this’.

“But I never thought I’d feel as good as this. I feel so much better – so much healthier, fitter and I can go clothes shopping and buy things to wear that I actually really like.

“My confidence has really improved. I didn’t even realise that I had low confidence until I’d started to lose the weight.”

Kelly said she started to lose weight around the same time that she started working as a professional field archaeologist.

She said she knew she had to lose weight to continue her career as she was struggling during the excavations because “I just wasn’t fit enough”.

Now Kelly has taken to outdoor activities such as uphill walking and mountain climbing and last year she even went zip-lining in India.

One of the achievements she is most proud of is the first time she walked to the top of Pen y Fan.

Kelly, who has appeared as a digger on an episode of Channel 4’s Time Team, has since decided to go back to learning with her PhD.

She said she featured on the last series of Time Team just after she graduated and qualified as a field archaeologist.

She said: “It was on the same site which I’ve done field work for my PhD, which is the CAER (Caeru and Ely Rediscovering) heritage project in Cardiff.

“It’s like a multi-period site where the public can join Cardiff University and the professionals in excavating the ruins.”

The CAER heritage project is an Iron Age hill fort which also features medieval ring work along with other historical artefacts. It is often visited by local schools whose pupils learn about archaeology as they assist the digs, or excavations, in the warmer months.

Since her weight loss success, Kelly has opened Weight Watcher meetings in Llandrindod Wells, Rhayader and Brecon.

Weight Watchers have a variety of membership options including online or app only.

Kelly recommends women with weight worries go along to one of the groups. She said: “The meetings really do help – it’s going and talking to like-minded people who are in the same sort of situation as you.”

For more information about groups available in Powys, visit the Weight Watchers website.