A mum has undergone a complete image makeover - and has put it down to leaving an unhappy marriage and starting online dating. Emma Sheppard, 42, said she had transformed her life by making the change and was so much happier.
She began by joining a gym for weights and cardio five times a week, looked at her diet and stopped eating junk food - instead, cooking more healthy options herself at home. She started to go out again and decided to make more effort with her appearance, and began using Tinder.
According to Emma, who is a welfare case worker from Blackpool, she received much attention, even from someone who claimed to have been a Love Island contestant. She said that she was ‘so happy’ that she had ‘totally turned my life around’.
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Emma added: “I feel amazing and it’s like the beauty comes from within. It’s like walking on air. Before I’d always just worked hard and cared for everyone else. But, one day after we separated, I realised it was my turn.
“I looked old empty and drained, but now I’m living my best life. I’m happy and I look completely different.” She was only 22 when she married in 2000 but after years together her husband moved out in January 2021, leading to their divorce.
Emma decided to change how she dressed - exchanging her normal black trousers and flat heeled shoes for skirts, heels and brightly coloured jackets and coats. She cut smoking down to four cigarettes a day from 20 and started working in a cocktail bar
Emma says she also switched up her eating habits, replacing egg and chips and bacon sandwiches with chicken pasta and homemade bolognaise. She said: “I’d married for life. It was him, the girls and work. I felt I’d got it all sorted. It was really bad after he left, it really broke me. I felt worthless - I was having panic attacks.
“I had no confidence in myself and was so isolated. I was just existing, working to pay the bills and just getting through. One day I woke up and thought, ‘You come from a family of strong women, you are free and you can make a difference in your life’.
“People say I look incredible compared to before, and I think it’s because I’m so happy inside. Now I just smile all the time. And this is just the beginning.”
Emma does not have a new partner yet, but is looking for love on Tinder. She said: “It was funny to get hit on by that Love Island guy. I didn’t recognise him at first but I thought, ‘My type on paper’.
“I worked it out when we talked over Snapchat and I saw videos of him. He was messaging saying how pretty I was and that I don’t look like 42. It was very flattering, and a shock, and quite funny.”
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