Dr Sue Pearson

Haven’t blogged for a while as it has been a massively busy time personally and professionally.  Supportive husband and I celebrated 30 years of marriage last week and spent a couple of days away without feisty daughter and smart son. We went to the Manor of Groves which was fabulous. Did loads of swim, gym and used their body measurements machine. I was delighted by my new body stats and am now classed as a healthy weight and very muscular (from being overweight and out of breath climbing stairs) all thanks to the MyBody Challenge!

After all the exercise we went for a walk through the grounds to a nice country pub we’d seen on the way to the hotel and enjoyed a preprandial drink before we had a wonderful meal in the hotel where the food is amazing. Totally loved it there and will definitely go back.

This week, I have been going through my accounts with smart son, who is my brilliant bookkeeper and have finally submitted them to  Bracey’s Accountants so I’m feeling relieved that this is over for another year. Have also spent much of this week helping smart son fill the spare room with everything he needs to go to the University of Sheffield at the weekend. I cannot believe he is leaving home and I am both proud and worried in equal measure!

 

Wow what a week, haven’t written anything for a while as have been on hols in Mexico, which was fantastic. Swam in a cenoti, Cenoti Eden that was amazing, I have never been anywhere where the water is so clear. If you ever get the chance to do this, then do it as it is wonderful to snorkel and see fish in such natural water. Even supportive husband loved it and he hates swimming!

Stayed in a great hotel, Grand Sirenis where the service, food and cocktails are all amazing. We have stayed there before but it was even better this time as they had a new outside sky bar with live music and it was really lovely to sit chat and play cards together, it just had such a chilled vibe it was great. Smart son and I went to Cozumel, my son did a couple of dives and I did three snorkel sessions. It was great as I was swimming above and could see my son doing his dive in the coral. He saw a nurse shark plus a huge lobster and I saw some amazing fish and vividly coloured coral.

I was delighted on holiday as at long last I could wear my favourite dress to go to the Japanese restaurant, thanks to the MyBody Challenge.

Returned home on Sunday and was the only one not to suffer from jet lag. Amazingly I had only put on 5 lbs while away and so immediately went back to doing the MyBody workouts, eating sensibly and logging food in my FitBit app. I began the week seeing that the article on the MyBody Challenge with Myleene Klass and MailOnline had been published. I was really pleased to see my before and after transformation and the photographer, Glenn said I had shrunk before his eyes!

Then had a massively busy week, sorting out all the advertising for a recruitment campaign, it all got done by Thursday so I could take the morning off on Thursday. Had a massive shock on Thursday,  ‘A’ Level results day, Smart son got A in Maths, B in Further Maths and B in Physics which meant he didn’t get into his first choice university, Nottingham. He was devastated as he had worked so hard and wanted to get all As. But all credit to him, he spent all day researching other options and ringing universities to find a good place to do maths and now has a place at Sheffield. It wasn’t the day we’d planned but I have finished the week feeling much happier.

Smart son and supportive husband are off to the University of Sheffield tomorrow to look at accommodation, while feisty daughter and I are off to the seaside to visit Nan and Grandad. So it could be worse!

 

 

What a week it’s been, on Tuesday smart son and I had a day out in London as he is going off to university soon it was a great chance to spend time together. We went to Kew Gardens  via the The William Morris (had to have a big breakfast to fuel us!). The tree top walk and the gardens are fabulous and we spent several happy hours walking and chatting about life the universe and everything. It’s many years since I have been to Kew and it has changed so much and is even better than I remember.

Then we took the boat back to parliament on the Henley with Thames River Boats which was brilliant with a hilarious and I’m not sure entirely accurate commentary.

Then it was pub O clock again and we went and had something to eat in the The Moon Under Water before going to the houses of parliament at 6.30 to meet our local MP Bim Afolami. He invited lots of folks from our village to meet him and it was weird as smart son and I knew quite a few people when we got there. He took us on a tour of the Houses of Parliament which was fascinating and smart son asked lots of intelligent questions about student finance (I was so proud of him for piping up). Got home about 11pm totally exhausted but having had a great day out.

Today is the final week (week 12) of the MyBody Challenge with MailOnline and Myleene Klass. I have done MyPower3 this morning and I feel great, here’s a little video summing up the week 12 progress 

I am delighted that I have maintained my target weight of 8 stone as I have had a couple of really busy weeks. It was smart son’s 18th birthday last weekend which involved a lot of eating, cake and a visit to The Shard which was fantastic. If you haven’t been – go it’s a lovely experience. I’ve included a view from the Shard and I did take one from the loo but that didn’t turn out that well as I’m not a great photographer!

The photo shoot for MailOnline is on Weds this week and I have to be there by 8am – let’s hope that trains are a bit better this week, they have been terrible from Hitchin since the new timetable. Looking forward to the after pictures as the before ones were what made me realise how much I needed to do this challenge! I will post the link on the blog when it is published as I shall probably continue to write something once every week or two because as smart son says the hard work really starts now – can I maintain my new right sized body? Hopefully using the FitBit Charge will help as I will continue to log food and exercise and I will continue to do the 12 week programme exercises.

Today is Day 70 and week 10 of the MyBody Workouts with Mail Online and Myleene Klass and I have reached my goal weight of 8 stone which I’m delighted about. I have just done the MyPower3 workout today which I love but is a killer in this heat – I have posted a sweaty selfie below – it’s not a  good look!

I can’t wait for the photo shoot in 2 weeks as I’m probably likely to lose even more than I originally thought possible using my FitBit Charge to help me keep track so the after pictures are going to be fab. Unexpected bonus of doing exercise and overhauling my diet is that my skin and nails are also so much better and my menopause symptoms have pretty much gone (which is a total relief).

Had a great weekend, did a couple of walks up past the lavender farm which is now in full bloom and looks fabulous. As you can see it was heaving with people on Saturday morning! Here’s a link if you want to know where it is Hitchin Lavender Farm

What a great place to live that I can walk out of my back gate and do a lovely three-mile circuit in this beautiful countryside. Better crack on need to write an article on the effects of Brexit on the UK life science industry – oh how the hours will fly by discussing the pros and cons of this particular pickle the UK has got itself into. As they say Keep Calm and Carry On – thankfully we’re good at that in Britain!

Today is Day 65 and I’m now in week 10 of the MyBody Challenge, the past couple of weeks have been so busy personally and work wise that I’ve not had time to blog. I’m still doing the MyBody workouts which is a miracle as I’ve been so busy. I am now in touching distance of my goal weight, I’m 8 stone 2 lbs and my waist is 26 inches so I have lost 1 stone 5 lbs and 8 inches off my waist (how mad is that).

Wednesday June 20th I did the pilot of a new panel show with a couple of comedians which was very exciting and if it gets commissioned will be brilliant (can’t tell you any more details as I’m sworn to secrecy). I was given the name Boffin, which was better than some of the panellist had and we had to do the British citizen test and give opinions on a range of different topical issues. I laughed so much my face ached when I got home!

Feisty daughter and I did the Buttercup Walk on June 23rd and she raised £65 for the RNOH at Stanmore, which was brilliant. I even did the MyChoice workout (MyPower 3 and MyCore 2) before I went to get me in the mood for a walk.

Then on Sunday 24th I did a 5 hour Zumba workshop (my FitBit Charge said I did 30,000 steps – how crazy is that but it was brilliant.) Here I am with Annie Farrow’s Zumba girls and the international Zumba teachers (before we started). we didn’t look like this at the end!

Smart son finished his last ‘A’ exam level on June 25th (a relief all round) and supportive husband booked a weekend away for us all to decompress. Spent the weekend in Hunstanton and the weather was fabulous. I ate way too much but fortunately we walked about 20,000 steps each day so managed to stay on target as I’m logging my food in the FitBit app and this is brilliant as it helps me realise when I can’t eat anymore or I have to move a bit more to keep to target. That’s just some of what I’ve been up to – loads of other things in there but I have an article on rare diseases to write today so better crack on.

 

Today is Week 8 of the MyBody Challenge with MailOnline and Myleene Klass and I was so pleased with my progress I have made a video, here’s the link if you want to see it MyBody Challenge Week 8 Progress

In short I have lost 1 stone, 1 lb and lost 7 inches off of my waist. Feisty daughter was throwing out some shorts she no longer wears, which I can fit into so I’m having those for my holiday. This diet and exercise lark is going to save me a fortune in clothes!

The weekend was good as feisty daughter did her DoE walk, which is amazing as two years ago she could barely walk a mile without being in pain. Since her spinal fusion she has been so much better and I was so proud of her being able to walk 15 miles over the two days. I think she will find the Buttercup Walk to raise money for the RNOH Stanmore next week a breeze after doing that. Today I found out that we have another pledge for money so we have reached her target fund-raising amount which is great.

Better get on, got an annual report to finish today. Nice big skinny cappuccino required to power through that.

 

Today is the MyCore2 workout in the MyBody challenge. I have manged all three rounds  and am just about getting the hang of the final breakdance move! The other moves are all great as they are essentially variations on yoga poses. I used to do Anusara yoga but gave up when my teacher left to have a baby and I haven’t been able to find a class I like since so regular yoga hasn’t been on the exercise menu. I do miss doing yoga and this MyCore2 workout is a good replacement. I think the workout is reducing my family pack tummy but not quite sure I’m anywhere near a six pack yet!

I went to a Zumba Class last night with Annie and the Zumba ladies have persuaded me to go out to Cultivo Lounge for drinks, a bite to eat and chit-chat (three things I can never resist). I’m going to drive as after Prosecco gate last week I’m not sure I can trust myself near alcohol! Also I have to get up early on Saturday to take feisty daughter to the campsite for her DoE hike. Unfortunately, I had to get her from school yesterday as she was unwell so it’s touch and go whether she’ll make it to the weekend of yomping across the Hertfordshire countryside. She was pleased as this week, the story of her spinal fusion was featured (p14-15) in Reflexions magazine, the patient magazine for the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.  So not been a bad week. Better go, that Chairman’s statement won’t write itself (you didn’t think that Chairmen of companies actually wrote their own statements in annual reports did you!)

 

Today is a great day, haven’t blogged for a while as the past week has been incredibly busy with work and life generally! Today did the MyStrength2 workout and managed to do all three rounds, weighed myself and I am now 8 stone 7 lbs so I have lost a stone since starting the MyBody workouts and my waist has gone from 34 inches to 27.5 inches that’s 6.5 inches, I’m now comfortably back in my size 12 clothes I was bursting out of everything before and was realistically a size 14 but kept trying to kid myself I was still a 12!

Quite a few things have happened since I last wrote, I have been to the half way photo shoot and had photos done so am looking forward to seeing if there is a write-up on those in the MailOnline. I have also got a Charge 2 FitBit, which I have to say I love. I was trying to keep track of food and exercise with a pen and an old Daily Mail food diary that I had but I kept forgetting to write stuff in. I have set the Fitbit to remind me to move as being a writer I tend to get lost in my work and forget to get up to move (probably lack of movement and a love of crisps and cheese were what contributed to that extra weight which had accumulated to make me more of a fatty than I would like).

It’s not all restrictive on the MyBody plan. I had a lovely meal out on Friday night to celebrate supportive husband’s birthday washed down with way too much Prosecco. This is the first time I have had alcohol in weeks and I felt pretty awful on Saturday. The upside was I had to go for a long walk to clear my head and I couldn’t eat until the evening so I probably cancelled out the effects of the celebration! I couldn’t do a MyChoice workout through as I felt too bad but hey I have only missed two workouts in 7 weeks which I think is not too bad and I’m not going to beat myself up! To make up for it I tried a BodyJam workout at Letchworth Leisure centre on Sunday and that was brilliant so I’ll be giving that one another go again this weekend.

To spur me on to carry on with the MyBody Challenge (which is now in week 7- crumbs hope I can make my goal of losing another 7 lbs in the next 5 weeks) supportive husband and feisty daughter have bought me a gift which they saw in a charity shop. It did make me laugh and now I look at my girls every time I work out now and they do motivate me!

 

Today was the MyCore2 workout and a chance to try out my new BlissCloud Yoga mat which is really lovely and thick. You need plenty of cushioning to do the yoga moves in this section of the MyBody workout, they are tough and my abs feel worked out after that one. Looking forward to a nice quiet weekend after the busyiness of the last one. We have to keep the house calm as smart son has two physics A level exams next week. It’s also supportive husbands birthday so will have to do some shopping for pickleball and allotment related presents. Tomorrow is MyChoice again so may do all three workouts as I have the six week photoshoot next Weds and I want to see a picture of me with fewer lumps and bumps in the MailOnline this time. If I have the energy I’ll go to St Albans for a jive. Sunday is Zumba Sunday with Annie Farrow which I always go to as Annie makes it so much fun. Hmm suddenly this doesn’t sound like such an un-busy weekend.