To celebrate her 40th birthday in May 2022, Stephanie Hanson enjoyed a ten-day trip to Kefalonia with two friends. She had a wonderful time away from the stresses of life, and as the holiday went on, she had a sudden realization that she no longer loved her husband. Returning home, she made the difficult decision to end her ten-year marriage.
The 41-year-old also realized she was unhappy with her weight of 17 stone and decided that the start of her new era as a single woman was the perfect time to change her look.
“I was having the best time with the girls, and the thought of going back home to my husband was awful. I had a moment of clarity at the hotel that I’d been miserable in my marriage for as long as I could remember. So when I flew back, I ended it there and then, and I knew I’d made the right decision when I saw his reaction,” Stephanie said.
The mom-of-four says she couldn’t be happier with her decision.
She shared that the decision emerged while relaxing by the pool, chatting with her friends, adding: “I remember thinking while I was away about how I really missed the kids, but I didn’t miss my husband. I was in the worst shape of my life and it dawned on me, at home, I was miserable so I did something about it.” Stephanie is now dating David Baldwin, 43, whom she met in July.
Speaking of her decision to lose weight, the mom continued: “The photos from the holiday made me see what horrible shape I was in, so I started working out at home and changed my diet.”
“After leaving my ex-husband, the next thing I needed to do was lose weight. It was hard at first, but the motivation of being freshly single carried me through. In July, I met David on Facebook’s dating website and we hit it off straight away. I met him around halfway through my fitness journey, but he didn’t care about that, he loved me as I was.”
Stephanie now weighs 12 stone, but she thinks if she loses one more stone, it will be perfect.
She further insisted: “If I hadn’t gone on that holiday, I’d be stuck in a marriage with a man I no longer loved, so to be where I am now, I couldn’t be happier.” Stephanie, who works as a phlebotomist began exercising using a hula hoop and changed her diet. She swapped chocolate, take-away meals, and cream and butter-based dishes for lean meat, fish, salad, and soup.
Stephanie also incorporated running into her fitness regime and slowly but surely, she started to shed the weight she’d been carrying for a decade.
She has, however, introduced David [pictured] to her kids and says she can’t wait for the future.
