Suzanne “Sue” Chapman will celebrate her 80th birthday in November, and says its never too late to adopt a healthier lifestyle
Grandmother-of-four Sue with granddaughter Harriet(Image: Submitted)
When Suzanne “Sue” Chapman celebrates her 80th birthday on November 3, she certainly won’t be marking the milestone by putting her feet up. The Hull grandmother is approaching her 80th feeling healthier and more active than she has in decades after shedding more than 3 stone and going down four dress sizes.
Hull locals may recognise Sue, who is now a regular fixture walking around Hull Marina, regularly clocking up 10,000 steps before lunchtime and often heading out again after dinner. It’s a very different life to the one she was living just a year ago, when she weighed around 15 stone and wore size 22 clothes.
Her knees were swollen and painful, her mobility was more limited and she had been told by her GP that her cholesterol was too high and that she should consider taking statins. Today, she weighs around 11st 11lb, a loss of more than three stone, and is now a size 14. She says her lifestyle has changed for good.
Sue was born in 1946 and describes herself as a “Yorkshire lass through and through”. The mum-of-two has lived her whole life in Hull, aside from a short stint living in Driffield.
Sue has been living independently since her husband, Mark, died suddenly 18 years ago. The couple had been together since they were in their twenties and have two sons, Mark and Dave, and four grandchildren, Sienna, Harriet, Hannah and Lewis.
Sue embraces a mainly plant-based diet, inspired by her daughter-in-law, Sharon. Despite following a largely vegan diet, Sue was still eating frozen, processed food, and it was a conversation with her GP about taking statins that made her think twice about her lifestyle.
Other people’s side effects while taking the medication and concerns about potentially needing to take the medication for the rest of her life prompted Sue to see whether lifestyle changes could improve her health first. He put her through to the Be Well programme which helped her work on improving her health.
You may spot Sue after breakfast walking around Hull Marina. She usually enjoys an oat milk latte in a cafe after her morning walk, and sometimes heads out again in the afternoon, often clocking up 14,000 steps in a day. The exercise and whole foods have also helped her sleep.
Sue said: “I didn’t feel ill but it came about through a medical review. Apparently my bad cholesterol and good cholesterol are now on the right road and my BMI is doing ok now. About 9am I go out and I’ll just go on the bus into Hull, walk around the Marina and to the ice arena, I walk round there, then back into Hull, have a coffee with oat milk and see how my steps are.
“I’ll get the bus back home, and if I’ve still got steps to do I’ll get on a certain bus where I can get off and finish my walk. I’m doing my 10,000 steps every day, I drink plenty of water, I don’t have as many teas, and if I do, I’ll have a green tea and a turmeric tea. The rest is fizzy fruit water or plain boiled water with a lemon in it.
“I was having problems with my knees. I had arthritis and my left knee used to swell a lot at the side. I’m not getting the swelling like I used to, and I can kneel now, not for long, but it’s better than I used to.” She said the last time she painted skirting boards she had to do it while laid down on her stomach. “I’m pleased I can now kneel, its not for a long time, but if I drop something I can get it now where I couldn’t before.” She says she is “chuffed” as long as she gets her 70,000 steps in each week.
“It’s a lovely place to walk,” she said of the Marina. “There are always plenty of people around. You get people walking dogs, runners and at one side you have apartments and you have the hotels, so I feel perfectly safe.”
Sharon, who says she “adores” Sue, began batch cooking meals and filling her mother-in-law’s freezer with whole plant foods, vegetables, and whole grains, while leaving out meat, refined sugar and highly processed foods. Sue made lunch her largest meal of the day and also began to exercise. During the first month, she lost almost a stone. Within three months, she’d gone from 14st 13lb to 11st 11lb.
Almost a year later, she has maintained her healthy lifestyle and weight loss and she no longer is in conversation with her GP about statins. Most of her old wardrobe has been donated to charity and even her coats had to be replaced.
Sharon said: “Her old coat was so big that all the cold air was getting inside. She’s definitely feeling the cold more without that extra layer, but I don’t think she wants it back.” Her swollen knees have drastically reduced and are no longer painful. She can even bend down now to pick up her pet tortoise, Tilly, who she took on as a loan from her granddaughter. Sue has now become Tilly’s permanent owner.
Sharon said: “This was never supposed to be a diet where Sue lost three stone and then went back to her old life. A real lifestyle change is almost a change of identity. You’re eating differently. You’re moving differently. You’re building different habits. Eventually you’re not trying to follow a programme anymore. It’s simply the way you live. That’s what I’ve watched happen with Sue. Almost a year later, this is her normal life. She’s still our Sue, still the grandma we absolutely adore. But there’s a new Sue too.
“She’s about to turn 80, she’s supposed to enjoy her life. This isn’t about being perfect. It’s about what you consistently do most of the time, and Sue is enjoying her life more now, not less.”
Sue will celebrate her 80th in November surrounded by her family – and of course with a plant-based meal. She has a simple message for anyone who looks at their age and thinks it is too late to make a change. “I would tell them to give it a go, because I wish I had done it a long time ago,” she said.
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