Emotional highs and lows

These last few weeks have been great. Being at home, free from housing issues, landladies and awkward housemates is a whole other world! On top of that I can structure my day as I see fit, meaning that I get to train every single day. I did take Monday off as I realised I'd trained 6 days last week and probably could do with giving my body a rest.

All in all, life was good but every now and then, I'd see an advert on TV for baby products and I'd be struck by an overwhelming urge to sob. In fact a couple of times I did have a little cry and then wondered where on earth it had come from?

Then I realised. I hadn't really seen Carl for a couple of weeks and wouldn't see him for another week on top of that! It was a particularly long spell away for him, working for 15 days in a row and then he was off to Glastonbury Festival for a week. I managed to grab a few hours with him last night before he left at 7am this morning to meet his mates and go off to be a hippy for a week. It dawned on me that although I had friends and family around me, it was, (subconciously), getting me down that he wasn't around to watch my belly grow, or feel our baby's first kicks.

The second trimester is always a heightened time for emotions and dependency on your partner or loved ones is increased at this time, so at least I knew I wasn't being a wimp, or neurotic.

Once I'd realised what the problem was, I started to think that I'd actually had quite an easy time of it, emotionally, if this was the only thing that brought on my tearfulness. Thinking back on what I'd been doing for the past few weeks, since returning home at the beggining of June, I understood that all the good nutrition and daily exercise had really kept my mood buoyant and had it not been for that, then I probably would have been feelin a lot more lonely and a bit sad that Carl and I were seperated by unfortunate circumstances.

I loved the daily buzz I'd get from spending 20 mins on my body and it was definitely showing. My friend, also a trainer, commented on the fact that you could see definition and tone in my arms and legs and that I wasn't holding any water. My Auntie mentioned what a nice neat bump I had, especially for 5 months. And, to top it all off, when I was out with my single girlfriends at the weekend, the guys they were chatting to all commented on how trim I looked!

So, my point is, not to blow my own trumpet, but to tell you firsthand that following an all natural, clean, whole foods diet, plus regular short exercise sessions works. I'm looking well, feeling better and more motivated to keep it up!

The Power of Positive Mental Talk

South Pacific Lyrics
Happy Talk Lyrics

Maybe I shouldn't say this, but you're pretty hot!

Last night I went out for a few drinks with my newly single friend and her friend - a single mother of two. My friend S has been through a major traumatic time recently. After trying desperately for a baby for three years, her husband of 5 years told her he never wanted kids anyway. As if that wasn't enough she then answered a call from a mystery woman on his phone, then found a hotel bill, itemised with drinks etc. Anyway to cut avery long complicated story short, he did the unthinkable and was cheating on her, with a woman who has 3 kids!! What a scumbag!

Anyway so I met the girls at one of our favourite bars and by the time I got there they were already sat at a table surrounded by kiwi guys who were over for the NZ vs England 20:20 cricket match that was on here at the weekend. I took an inward sigh, as I walked over, preparing myself for an evening of chatting to the leftover guys, stone cold sober, while my friends flirted away and got drunk. Oh the joys of pregnancy - I couldn't even drink to take away the pain!

Before I got to the table they spotted me and started shouting and calling me over, asking me who'd eaten all the pies! (UK slang for you're looking fat). S hasn't seen me for a couple of weeks as she's been on holiday and couldn't believe how much my bump had grown! I jokingly replied that I'd been living on lard for the past few weeks, and did it show?

Anyway, the guys were very gentlemenly, pulled up a seat for me under the awning so I didn't get soaked by the rain and I'd barely sat down before a bottle of sparkling water was brought to me. They were all very sweet and interested asking me how I was feeling and when it was due..blah,blahblah...

I was feeling quite grateful for this polite show of interest when the one who had been chatting up my friend S, suddenly was showering me with interest and then commented, "You know, you're looking pretty hot though". I explained I was a trainer but that I was still working out 6 days a week. The guys all looked very surprised at that and after all the, "is it safe though", and "when will you stop?", were very impressed with the fact that I wasn't one of those women who choose to use pregnancy as an excuse to stop everything and stuff their faces with junk.

Needless to say I left pretty early and left the girls to it after a couple of drinks but I left on a high, knowing that I wasn't looking too bad after all. So next time I look in the mirror in despair at my growing tree trunk thighs, I can at least think back to the compliments I got and know that I'm not looking so bad after all!

20 week scan!

Finally, the day arrived! I was so excited that I woke up super early and then had to fill my morning to keep me from boredom. Today I would find out the sex of my little tadpole!

Carl managed to get the day off of work and I was really pleased as this would be his first hospital appointment. i just knew once he saw his little baby on the monitor it woiuld all hit home for him and become real!

Now when I wake up in the mornings I'm generally quite dehydrated as I try not to drink too much at night so I can get a good night's sleep without running for the loo every two minutes, so as usual I woke up and downed a couple of pints of water. At around 11am I remembered that I wouldn't be able to pee from midday as I needed a full bladder for the scan and hastily stopped drinking and went to the loo.

We got in the car and all was fine till we reached the hospital. I was DYING! I was desperate to pee but knew I had to wait. Well isn't it just typical that when they have you waiting, tell you to come with a full bladder and tell you not to pee, that they're running late!! I just had to cross my legs and hope for the best!

The scan went well and Carl was really chuffed to find out he wwas having the boy he'd hoped for! It was so great to hear him say that it almost brought a tear to his eye, seeing him for the 1st time, (for Carl this is a miracle and he's not the most emotional of people - I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't cry at the birth!)

I swear the little monkey knew we'd seen him as the very next morning he started kicking!

Extreme Skinny Celebrity Mums

The trend for super skinny celebrity mums is on. Keeping your weight down during pregnancy and rapid and extreme weight loss after giving birth has become the norm within the celebrity world. Whether it's pressure from the papaparazzi, a social event to look great for, or a million dollar contract hanging in the wings, it's no longer OK to lose your baby weight in anything over three months. Stars like Nicole Ritchie, Victoria Beckham and Jordan are experts in this game having cut down the time to a matter of weeks or less. But what message is this sending out to pregnant women?
This isn't to say you shouldn't want to look after yourself during your pregnancy - there are still too many women out there who use pregnancy as an excuse to stop being active, stop exercising and comfort eat whatever they want. A good friend of mine did exactly this and put on 30kg with her first child. On interviewing her about her pregnancy weight gain she said,

"I did eat a 500g bar of chocolate most nights and wouldn't think twice about eating whatever I wanted regardless of whether I was actually hungry or not. I do wish I'd taken more care as it's going to be a real struggle to lose the weight now"

Putting on too much weight during pregnancy has it's own set of complications such as toxemia from sugar and more dangerous implications like increasing the risk of the potentially fatal pre-eclampsia. A controlled diet and exercise programme is therefore beneficial but are the celebrities pushing the trend too far?

Nicole Ritchie was back down to a size zero just two weeks after giving birth and Jordan admits to living on fresh juices to shed two stone in just a few weeks to get back to her pre-pregnancy weight of 8st 2lbs. So what effect are these extreme diets having on mum and baby?

Any extreme and uncontrolled weight loss will see a rapid decrease in lean muscle mass. As our major organ, the heart, is just one solid muscle this also dramatically decreases in size bringing severe consequences. In an invetagative documentary for UK's Channel 4, when Natalie Cassidy tried the favoured maple syrup diet of Hollywood stars, she suffered palpitations, a racing pulse, followed by a blackout. The rapid decrease in size of the heart muscle in these circumstances can lead to a heart attack.

Not only are the major organs at risk then but the limited nutrition can lead to brittle bones and osteoporosis. Inadequate nutrition during pregnancy means that the baby will source minerals from wherever it can and if you're not eating enough, that's going to be from your bones and teeth. Combine the weakened bone structures with the extra weight you carry during pregnancy and you're looking at back pain, hip and knee problems.

So what is the right amount of weight to shed after your baby? James Clapp MD found that anything over 1lb a week can affect milk production, however, experts such as Dr Hilary Jones surmise that around 7-9 months is a good guideline to go by.

However, these guidelines are very general. If you are eating well and exercising properly you should lose your baby fat at a safe and steady pace, that fits with your body type and metabolism. This will be different for everyone as we are all unique and it depends on how much weight you put on, what your diet and exercise programme was like before, during and after your pregnancy, whether there were complications, etc. At the end of the day you will know what feels right for you, and as long as you aren't endangering the health of you and your baby, then there's nothing stopping you getting your body back relatively quickly. Just don't put pressure on yourself to be like the celebrity mums. In the real world, health comes first.

Thai Beef Salad Recipe

I love thai food. I find the flavours and ingredients so fragrant and healthy. I recently went out for dinner with my family to my favourite thai restaurant in Bristol and had Yam Nua, a spicy salad with wonderfully hot, fresh and sour flavours. I'd forgotten about this dish but it's something I lived on when I was in Thailand travelling a few years back and it inspired me to make my own version.

Now traditionally you are supposed to use sugar in it to balance the hot and sour flavours but I wanted to keep mine as healthy as possible.

Salad:

Sirloin / Rib Eye Steak (400g )
2 medium tomatoes diced/ 12 cherry tomatoes quatered
1/2 a large cucumber peeled and diced
4 shallots diced / 4 spring onion
Handful of chopped mint (fresh)
Handful of chopped coriander (fresh)

Dressing:

1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
2 1/2tbspn lime juice
2 bird's eye chillies
1 red chilli
2 cloves garlic
1tsp lemongrass paste (optional)
1tspn agave syrup

To Serve:

Salad leaves

Grill or griddle the steak and remove from pan. Leave to rest for 5 mins then slice thinly.

Pound the garlic with the chillies and mix with the rest of the dressing ingredients.

Mix the salad ingredients in a bowl and toss well with the dressing. Spoon onto plate lined with a bed of salad leaves and serve.

Are Big Corporate Gyms A Rip Off?

I have to have a rant as I've just gone to join my old gym - where I've worked for 6 years, and they've tried to charge me the full membership fee plus joining fee into the bargain. I've literally been away for 5 months and now that I'm back as freelance they wouldn't cut me a deal!

The worst thing is that I'm still working there! I teach classes there at least twice a week and even so my membership rate is higher than some of the public members who have joined on a sale offer!

The gym in question was in the media here recently for holding people into contracts unfairly and continuing to take direct debits out of bank accounts even after members had cancelled their memberships. It was one of a few of the big names that got in trouble over this so I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but hey you'd think 6 years loyalty to the same place would at least get you a friends and family rate!

I'm so fed up I think I'm going to write them a letter to complain.

Anyway, sorry had to get that off my chest.


Apart from that nothing really to report apart from Elimination is still going OK and nothing major exciting has happened over the weekend, so a very short post from me today!