My fitness has picked up again, so have managed to swim 13 miles on the Aspire Channel Swim Challenge – only another 4 weeks to do it. I didn’t manage to do my two usual swims at the weekend as I was out with London cousin trying to see Motown the Musical, which was cancelled (boo) after an hour of us sitting there waiting to see the show. People started to get very testy and there was even a slow hand clap at one point. I have to say the Shaftsbury theatre staff were shockingly bad at dealing with giving us refunds but it did appear in my account after a couple of hours so that’s something. Luckily, the restaurant we had booked Treadwells were able to let us in early. The food, staff and everything about the place was superb and such a contrast to the theatre. They made what could have been a disastrous time a great day out for me and my cousin. If you have not been, go there everything about it is excellent.
London cousin wanted to know how I have managed to lose weight and keep it off so here’s one of my top tips.
- Eat a power protein packed breakfast – I have 10g walnuts, 10g almonds, a tablespoon of sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds or linseeds and sunflower seeds depending on where you in your cycle. It doesn’t look like much in the bowl but trust me because it is so full of protein you’ll feel full for longer. Why? Well here comes the science – it’s because of ghrelin this is a hunger hormone which is suppressed by protein. If you eat a high protein breakfast you’ll feel full for longer. The seeds are also part of a hormone balance for the menopause – I am doing menopause without HRT so I eat seeds which have natural estrogen or progesterone boosting properties. It works really well as I don’t suffer all the menopause symptoms that I used to do before I started this. If you want to do it go to this Seed rotation to balance hormones link to find out more. It will really help.
Since I am now one swim behind, I’m going to have to up my game and do a few swims in the week instead of just at the weekend. The Apprentice is back on TV that should be easier as I can go on a Wednesday because I can’t stand watching it. It makes my toes curl how awful these folks are. Feisty daughter and supportive husband love it. I’m still swimming a mile each time I go to Hitchin Pool and so in another 9 swims, I should have done it. The fundraising is going pretty well too and some of my lovely friends and colleagues have donated £175 for the Aspire charity which helps support people with spinal cord injuries. I was surprised that just asking people on Facebook to donate seems to work! There is still time if you want to donate then please go to my just giving page Fundraising Page for Aspire Charity and donate whatever you can. Thanks!
Going to go and eat some seeds now to get powered up for writing about DNA imaging, I’m just so rock and roll.
Dr Sue Pearson 