Third Trimester - Heartburn and Tiredness

Ugh! It's making me feel sick - ALL THE TIME!!

I literally can't eat a thing at least 2 hours before bed - and that includes water!

It is definitely sugar that makes it worse though as I only really get it on weekends when I'm having a cheat day (i.e. eating rubbish). The weeks are mostly fine, although I did have a bowl of tomato soup at 7pm last Wednesday then had to leave my swim class halfway through at 930pm because it just wouldn't stay down!

This is definitley not an enjoyable part of pregnancy!

I'm also finding that I'm starting to feel a little more tired these days. It's only been the last 2 weeks that I've noticed it, but it's definitely there. The lack of energy at the end of the day and the staying in bed till 8am instead of getting up at 7am as I had been doing previously.

Still, my workouts are still going well and this last month I've been training harder than ever as I feel more energised when I'm exercising.

Last week:

Resistance workout A - Monday
Resistance workout B - Tuesday
Swimming - Wednesday
Thursday - rest
Friday - Photo shoot for 9month club support system
Saturday - teaching Balance
Sunday - teaching Pilates

I keep getting asked when I'm going to stop teaching but I'm still managing fine so I'm hoping to go right through to November when I'm ready to drop!

Working your transverse for an easy labour

Now we've all heard about Kegels, the pelvic floor exercises designed by Dr Arnold Kegel, to support the pelvic structures and prevent urinary incontinence. But how many prenatal care professionals will tell you about the importance of working your transverse abdominus?

My guess is I could probably count the number on one hand...without the thumb. The importance of the transverse abdominus in labour is massively overlooked by care professionals but it is one of the major muscles you will need to use to ensure an easy labour.



As you can see from the diagram the TA is a deep seated abdominal muscle that attaches to the bottm six ribs at the front and the pelvis in back. It runs across our sides and inserts into the linea alba at the front (the middle of your abdomen). It is also connected to the diaphragm which helps us breathe.

It looks like and acts like a corset, pulling you in and helps stabilise your torso and pelvis. This little beauty is the muscle that, if trained correctly will give you a flat stomach.

It is also the muscle that will help you push your baby out during labour.

Transverse Exercises

1. Now to work the transverse you need to breathe. Start by taking a big belly breath into the pit of your stomach. If you put your hands on your belly the in breath should expand your belly making it rise and grow outwards. As you exhale imagine pulling your bElly button right back to your spine. Now hold it there for a count of 10 second before releasing with another belly breath. Repeat this exercise for a minimum of 10 holds.

As you get stronger you can increase the hold count to 30. Always count out loud so that you are not holding your breath as this is a dangerous movement called the valsava manoeuver which can send your blood pressure sky high.

2. Next imagine your belly button is like an elevator. When you take in a belly breath this is ground floor, as you exhale and draw the belly button back to the spine, imagine you are passing through 5 floors.

Pull all the way back to floor 5 on the first exhale.
Then as you inhale release your belly button to floor 4.
Exhale and pull back to floor 5.
Release to floor 3.
Pull back to floor 5
Exhale to floor 2
Pull back to floor 5
Exhale to floor 3
Pull back to floor 5
Exhale to floor 2
Pull back to floor 5
Exhale to floor 4
Pull back to floor 5
Inhale with a big belly breath to floor 1
Pull back to floor 5
Inhale all the way to ground floor

Do 3 sets of these exercises 5 times a day. You can do your Kegels in between sets as your rest.

Now when it comes to the big day your TA is going to act like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube to push your baby out. However, YOU MUST BREATHE! Unfortunately the majority of delivery room staff will try and get you to hold your breath whilst pushing. Not only is this ineffective, it's also dangerous.

*When you hold your breath and work a muscle (or push) your blood pressure will go mental, first rocketing upwards, then going down rapidly before shooting up to an even higher level than before. Many women have burst blood vessels in their eyes and increase their risk of stroke after labour because of this.

*Your transverse muscle will move forwards instead of back and push against your weakened rectus abdominus, (the six pack), pushing the muscle apart and giving you a diastasis - leaving your back weakened an unsupported.

*You will fatigue quickly - research shows that holding your breath whilst bearing down for more than 5 seconds is uneccessarily tiring. Labour requires stamina so you don't want to be tiring yourself out before you've finished the race!

So instruct your birthing partner to be firm with the delivery room staff. Keep breathing as your contractions come. Take a big belly breath in at the start and then exhale long and hard as you pull your transverse back to squeeze your baby out.

So long as you have been practising your transverse exercises daily throughout your pregnancy you will find you have great stamina and strength and labour should become a much easier process.

"I see the bad moon arising"

...."I see trouble on the way"

Well not quite on the way, more past actually. Turns out that there was a full moon last night, which would explain my tearfulness and sugar cravings of the last week.

No I'm not some weird breed of half woman half wolf, but I am regular as clockwork with the lunar phases. Before I fell preggers I could time my periods by the moon and ALWAYS 1 week before I would crave sugar and get all emotional. Seems like old habits die hard, my body is still in tune with the lunar tide.

Well good news after taking Tuesday and all day yesterday off to rest I went swimming last night and felt so much better. I left the pool feeling much more like myself and woke up at 6:30 am this morning. (The fact that it was sunny helped, yesterday we had rain all day and gale force winds - it was like November!). My alarm was set for 6:45 so I switched it off and woke up leisurely and had breakfast. I had the urge to go to the gym but held it back as I'm teaching Pilates at 1pm and don't want to tire myself out again, I'll save it for tommorow.

It feels good to be back. I was actually quite scared that the tiredness was to do with reaching the 6month mark of my pregnancy. Think I'd go stir crazy if I felt too tired to train every day!

Round Ligament Pain

I thought it was my abs splitting but turns out my abs are fine, (thank god!). What I was experiencing was round ligament pain.

Why midwives never tell you these things is beyond me. I saw my midwife for my 24 week checkup and mentioned I was feeling some pain in my lower abs and groin. Her advice was that I shouldn't be engaging my tummy muscles at all. Ever. WTF? Can you imagine what a mess my core would be in if I never engaged my muscles? Apart from the fact that I teach pilates and Body Balance weekly and I train at least 3 days on top of that, how on earth would I be able to support my own weight without engaging my core?

Anyway, I just agreed with and did my own research.

Round Ligament pain occurs around the 2nd trimester and can carry on all the way through the third trimester too. The round ligament is the ligament that attaches to your hip bone to hold the uterus in place. The ligaments must stretch and grow to support the weight of the baby, (you can't build a house on matchsticks!), and can grow from around 2 inches to 12inches.

This stretching can be accompanied by sharp pains or twinges in the groin. Once I'd ruled out my abs splitting I thought I'd strained my abs with too much training, but then I realised that I could still train and do most things without any pain at all. The pains would occur with getting up out of bed, getting in the car and if I was trying to do a lunge or any exercise where I would need to stretch the groin area. It wouldn't last long, just a few seconds but it was sharp but not unbearable and went away pretty quickly. Still I didn't want to have this my whole pregnancy so I took some steps to remedy it.

First off I took 2 days off of training, to allow any additional strain on the muscle tissue to repair. This worked well and I reduced the pain by about 70% just from that.

Secondly when I went back to training I focussed on getting my glutes fired up to support my pelvis. Bridges would take the weight off the ligaments so I designed a workout around these and some other glute firing exercises.

Third, I went swiming. I found the water really helped as it supported my bump and took pressure off the ligaments whilst I worked out. Breast stroke worked the gluteus medius which stabilises the pelvis and helped stretch out my groin, gently, without pressure. It also allowed me to focus on my posterior chain which is essential in supporting a pregnant posture.

These things reduced the pain to around 5% of what it was originally. Lastly I learned to roll onto my side to get up and to sit down sideways in the car seat before swinging my legs in together, to avoid loading the ligaments in an already stretched position.

Another pregnancy lesson learnt the hard way! But I'm glad I could share it in case you suffer the same thing!

Top 5 Nutrition Tips for a Perfect Pregnancy Profile!

Ever wonder how some mums to be have a perfect neat bump without piling on pregnancy poundage anywhere else? You know the ones, you see them from behind in the supermarket and you wouldn’t even know they were pregnant, then they turn around and, hey presto, there’s a perfect neat bump!
Is it to do with their body type? Well in some cases yes. We’ve all got a friend who can eat whatever she likes, never exercise, (apart from on the dance floor), and not put on an ounce, whilst we struggle to maintain our figures on high protein, low GI diets and an exercise regime that would scare the marines, but thankfully these skinny minnies are in the minority. Most of us fall into the category of watch what you eat and exercise regularly and your body will obey. Indulge one too many times and you’ll pay the price in those skinny jeans!
The same applies in pregnancy. It’s amazing just how many women will use pregnancy as an excuse to “take a break” from their healthy lifestyle, just because they know they’re going to get bigger anyway. In fact someone close to me said to me in the early stages of my pregnancy, “this is the only time you get to eat whatever you like and not worry about it!”. I was amazed as she had just had a baby herself and was struggling to lose her pregnancy weight a year on. Didn’t she realise that the more you put on in pregnancy the more you have to lose after?
So here are my top 5 tips to make sure you keep your sexy mama figure through pregnancy and pop back into shape quickly afterwards:
1. Eat small meals little and often – yes I know you’ve heard this one a million times before, but it’s important. For one it’s even more important in pregnancy to keep your blood sugar stable to avoid feeling exhausted, faint or sick. Two; small meals mean you won’t feel bloated and uncomfortable or suffer with indigestion and heartburn. Three; if your blood sugar is stable you won’t go rushing for the chocolate in a desperate bid to get your sugar levels back up quickly. Stable blood sugar = No sugar cravings.
2. Avoid processed food – all those chemicals, preservatives and stabilisers just aren’t any good for you or baby, not to mention all the hidden sugar and salt. Processing denatures food and kills off the nutrients so that the nutritional value of a processed food versus a natural product is virtually nil. What that means to you is that you will have to eat a lot more processed food to provide your baby, and your body, with the nutrients it needs to function properly and feed the growing life inside you. Eat all natural and you won’t feel the need to eat nearly as much food to satisfy your body’s nutritional needs.
3. Eat lots of fibrous fruit and veg – pregnancy brings with it the joys of constipation so make sure it doesn’t become a pain in the proverbial by including a big variety of fruit and vegetables in your diet. Aim to eat fruit and vegetables of all colours in the spectrum to provide you with a balance of vitamins and minerals and try to include more of the high fibre fruit and veg, such as apples, pears, berries, clemetines, broccoli, cauliflower, leafy greens etc.
4. Avoid all sugar – Sugar, dextrose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, beet sugar, it all does the same thing. Creates an aggressive insulin response. Insulin is your fat storing hormone. The higher the insulin response the more fat you’ll store. So eat added sugar = store more fat. All food contains sugar so there’s no need to add it to anything.
5. Eat protein with every meal – protein is essential for the cellular growth and development of your baby. It is also necessary for the placenta, amniotic and maternal tissues and the 50% increase in blood volume that accompanies pregnancy. Not only that but protein also makes you feel fuller for longer, and doesn’t create an aggressive insulin response, meaning that you won’t be craving a sugar fix an hour after eating.
If you follow these simple rules you should find that you only put on what’s necessary during your pregnancy in order to support you and your growing baby. A healthy weight gain is between 24 – 34 lbs over the course of your pregnancy. That’s roughly just over ½ pound / week. You’ll also find it a lot easier to return to your pre-pregnancy size afterwards if you’re already eating a healthy and balanced diet.

Bump bands, ab supports and why you should avoid them

At first I thought my abs were splitting as the linea negre has made a recent appearance, but I did the test and I'm pretty sure they're ok for now. However, they are bl*ody sore! I think coming back into a full weeks training after a week of doing nothing was a bit ambitious.

Now normally, I'd get away with it. Saying that, I don't think I've ever been away on holiday and not trained at least a couple of times whilst I've been away, but Ibiza was a complete break for me. I felt a lot worse because of it and I was dying to get back in the gym before I'd even boarded the plane!

So after a days rest, (I was exhausted after flying back in), I got back on it with vigour. I started swimming lessons on Wednesday night, gym on Thursday and Friday, taught my class on Saturday and had a rest day Sunday. Monday I was in the gym again. By Tuesday morning I was finding it difficult to walk at a normal pace because my lower abs were so sore, so I just did some gentle tai-chi and yoga at home.

On top of all this I was learning the choreography for the new Body Balance release and the core abs and back tracks are killers. Actually, I forgot about that till now! Now that I think of it, it was probably the balance that pushed my abs too hard! Today my lower abs still hurt!

Anyway, as I was in Mamas and Papas the other day I did, for the first time, have a look at the bump bands. I've always been totally anti-support bands for a very good reason. Most people are severly lacking in core strength as it is. By providing even more external support in the form of a bump band, (or in bodybuilding and powerlifting - a weight belt), you are reducing the capacity that your own muscles have to work, in order to support your own postural structure. By relying on an external crutch to do the work for you, you are telling your muscles that it's OK to switch off and stop working as there's always something else to rely on. It makes far more sense then to train your own muscles to do their job properly through core strengthening exercises, rather than rely on a crutch which won't be there in a few months time. By that time your muscles will have weakened so much that it will be a real uphill struggle to get them back into shape.

Regardless, I was in pain and I wanted something light to help me until my abs healed, so that I could carry on training in the meantime. I had no intention of using a band for long term use, just for the next couple of days and ONLY when running, as that was when I needed the extra support.

The bump bands which are marketed as a support band for your belly were nothing more than a thin layer of jersey to wear around your bump. There was no more support in them than if I were to tie a cotton scarf round my belly...

(What they were very good for is wearing over the top of low rise jeans so that when you sit down you don't flash your bottom to the world! I swear that Pepe are the only jeans brand that know how to do low rise properly, so they're low at the front but high on the bits that matter! Unfortunately they don't do maternity - I've looked fanatically!)

... So I wound up doing what I should have done in the first place. Taking a days rest to give my abs time to heal. It's what I would advise a client to do and I know that, what with learning the new choreography for my class on top of my normal training programme, I was pushing it a little bit. Unfortunatley work is work amd if I'm not doing it, I'm not getting paid.

So hopefully by tommorow my abs will be feeling somewhat normal again and it'll be back to the gym.

I hate bad customer service!!!

For the past 7 weeks or so I have been trying to book adult swimming lessons at my local leisure centre. Now this is a brand new complex who should be doing everything they can to bring in new business, but after 5 phone calls and two visits in person, I am STILL waiting for someone to call me back. Apparently the problem is that ONLY the swim co-ordinator can book you in for lessons. This seems ludicrous, seeing as she manages several different pools in the area and is never in one place long enough for you to contact her or for her to get back to. After leaving 7 or so messages, I finally got through to her yesterday. She was completely unhelpful and gave no apology whatsoever for the lack of communication or the difficulty I had experienced in trying to book a place on one of her courses.

I'm so frustrated but the only pools near me, (there's 3), are all under the same swim co-ordinator, otherwise I would have gone somewhere else a long time ago!

The thing is, I'm doing my resistance workouts at the gym but find the cardio machines so very boring. It's great if it's sunny outside as I can just do my interval training outdoors, but unfortunately, this is England! It doesn't always work like that. Plus as I'm getting bigger I think swimming is going to be a much more comfortable option for me.

Anyway at this point I'm getting nowhere but frustrated! It's such a shame as I'm on holiday next week and would have loved to do my intervals in the pool or the sea. I guess that's still feasible as I can swim, just means that there'll be a lot of splashing going on! Ibiza, you have been warned!

Pregnant does not mean getting fat!

Yippee, yippee! We're going on holiday on Monday! Just 4 days before we'll be jetting off to sunny Ibiza for my friends wedding!

We had a bit of a palava with the bridesmaid dress as my friend bought it at Christmas before I'd fallen pregnant. I tried telling her that it wouldn't fit, even though it was a bit big when she bought it, but she seemed to think her friends mum, a seamstress, would be able to make it bigger somehow??

Anyway went to try it on a couple of weeks ago and guesss what - it wouldn't do up! So Becky promptly got on the internet and ordered a maternity bridesmaid dress - in a size large! DOH! I didn't realise what she'd done until I got a text saying she'd ordered a large and could I come try it on - with one week to go. Not wanting to burst her bubble on the text I dutifully drove round and tried the dress on.

Now Becky's husband is a body builder and is ripped and huge. He could have got the dress on and done it up it was that big! I gently told her that although you get a bump and bigger boobs, you don't get bigger all over and thanks to my training and nutrition plan I was still a size 8 (UK, not sure what that is in US). After all, it's not like your shoulders get bigger, or your arms or back, imagine! So with one week to go, back the dress went and a small was ordered. Fingers crossed!

Thankfully the small arrived and was a perfect fit. So I won't look like a pink beach ball walking down the aisle after all!

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!

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!

Elimination day 3 and finally a cure for pregnancy acne!

Well this last week has been hectic to say the least. I finally moved home on the weekend and it's great to be back. Although I can't get used to not having to go to work. Think that may take a while!

Now that I'm home I've gone back on Elimination and it's been great. I'm loving it and the fact that I have the kitchen at my dispoal any time I want makes it sooooo easy!

Today is day 3 and it's been an absolute breeze! My body is loving it and my pregnancy acne has practically gone, (although I think that also has loads to do with the fact I'm no longer living in a cupboard, sleeping on a sofabed and completely stressed out all the time!).

The great thing about elimination is that the more often you do it the easier it gets. You know exactly what to eat, you have loads of recipes in mind that are quick and easy and I actually really look forward to my meals. I love that I'm doing the best for my baby and I'm sure tadpole is appreciating it too!

I'm still craving fruit like crazy but I'm sure that probably won't change.

For those of you who are still sceptical about elimination and the restrictive nature of the diet here's what I've eaten over the last 3 days:

Thai beef salad
Chicken Curry
Masala mincemeat and peas
Banana eggs
Muesli
Yogurt
Fruit of all colours!
Fudge walnut bounce balls (protein snack - all natural ingredients)
Loads of veggies done every way!

Tommorow I'm making blackberry muffins, yummy!

The only thing I'm struggling with is finding a raw milk supply near me. There's loads of farms seeing as I'm out in the West Country so I think I'll just get in the car and drive and see what I find!

Bookieboo

I currently blog on a couple of fitness mum sites, one of them being Bookieboo. Bookieboo was created by Leah Segedie to bring a wealth of fitness, nutrition and wellbeing information to one central place for busy mums.

The site is so supportive and it helped me through the hard times at the early stages of my pregnancy when I was feeling low and lonely.

In the last couple of months I have chatted with Leah on a regular basis and she's been great with advice. She's also really funny and makes me chuckle with some of her emails!

Anyway, this morning I had this special message from her son, whom the site was named after.



Find more videos like this on bookieboo


It definitely made my day. I'm paying this forward and sending a special message to someone I'm thinking about and want to say thankyou to. I guess my message today is don't forget to take the time to make someone special smile today!

Balance and how I found sanity...

So two days back at work and I feel normal again.

Had a well dodgy tummy yesterday, as a kickback from the weekend and as a result only had a couple of pieces of gluten free toast for tea, (translation: dinner), last night and feel ten times better today.

Had a lovely start to the day as I got to work early and practised Body Balance, which I teach.

Body Balance as the name suggests is a harmonious workout for the body. It centres and balances through controlled breathing, mental focus and structured stretches, strength poses and co-ordinated and flowing movements. It combines Eastern practices such as Tai-Chi and Yoga, with modern disciplines like Pilates and Feldenkrais.

The music is a huge part of Balance and is absolutely amazing as it takes you through a different journey on each track.

I found Balance back in 2002 when I was going through a real difficult time. I was under a lot of emotional stress and it all got too much and I had a mini breakdown. I was severely depressed for a couple of months but hated feeling like that and wanted to recover from it as quickly as possible. I went through a really tough time, but 6 months of anti-depressants, counselling and diary writing really sorted me out.

Body Balance was my time out of my head space. My instructor at the time was also a friend.

Her name is Alana and tragically she was hit by a van about 6 months after my black period. She survived but was left with severe brain damage. Bless her soul.

I digress, Alana helped show me that through Balance I could escape what was going on in the outside world and truly focus on connecting with my body and the things about myself that I loved. Balance helped me find stillness and peace and I love it to this day.

Over the last year, since I've been teaching Balance, I've brought that same feeling to my class and I've had lots of people crying at the end or experiencing great feelings of calm and inner joy.
It truly is the most effective method I've experienced of reconnecting with your inner self and establishing true body focus and awareness.

In this world of hectic pace, fast living and always rushing to get to the next thing it's so worthwhile to take some time out to just stop.

If you don't have a Balance class near you or just don't have time for one more thing, take the philosophy and spend ten minutes a day breathing, meditating and connecting with your body and mind.

My birthday, the Queen and a lot of food.....

The mayday weekend is always the first bank holiday of the year in the UK, where we get a long weekend with Monday off of work! It also happens to fall on my birthday almost every year. My Birthday is the 6th May, (today, yippee!), so I always celebrate over the entire 3 day break.

Yes you got it, I love my birthday and make the most of it by claiming from Friday to whatever day it falls on that, "it's my birthday!". This, however, turns into a bit of an excuse to eat and drink whatever I want, because....,"it's my birthday!".

This year was no different, and I probably gave myself even more leeway than normal, "because I'm pregnant". (Don't worry not using that one evey day!).

Friday turned out to be a bit of a disaster as I had planned to have dinner with my dad and boyfriend that evening after doing a favour for a friend. Unfortunately the favour turned into a bit of a nightmare. My friend works for a big name hairdressers and needed a model for a show, so I agreed I would be the model. We arranged that she would cut and colour my hair, early Friday evening before I went out.

What started well and was supposed to takle only a couple of hours turned into a 5 hour nightmare, with me obviously having to cancel my birthday plans with my dad. I'd been at work since 7am, drove straight back from London to the hairdressers and finally left there about 9:45 pm that evening.

I was not best pleased as you can imagine. And starving. And in the bad books with my boyfriend.

Got back to my dad's and it was too late to eat anything so just had half a tin of rice pudding that was in the cupboard and went to bed upset.

Woke up feeling, much better but still upset I hadn't seen my boyfrined yet. Had a good breakfast and then went off to do some birthday shopping in town. Stopped in the supermarket and bought lots of healthy salad stuff and had a good lunch.

I carried on in this vein that evening at my birthday dinner with friends and had a chicken salad and two glasses of wine. So all good!

Then Sunday came and those two glasess of wine hit you when you're pregnant! Woke up feeling tired and queasy but ate my yoghurt and fruit and felt slightly better. Carl and I went to the market and there was the sweetie stall!

During this pregnancy I have turned into sweetie monster! It was always chocolate before but I'm off that now and just love sweets! I picked at a few then we stopped and shared a mincemeat curry, (lush!).

3 hours later I was picking again and had some aubergine pakora that we'd bought earlier from the Indian stall and a chocolate dessert thing.

Then, we were out for dinner that evening with my mum! We went thai and I tried to stay good and had the thai beef salad and a little rice. ALL GOOD SO FAR!

Then the dessert menu came out and I had to have lemon meringue ice cream!

Still stuffed when I got in I managed to eat a piece of cornish fudge.

Monday after a healthy breakfast we went shopping for my new camcorder, (it's really cool!). I had to go into MacDonalds for the toilet and came out with large fries and a chocolate milkshake!

AGGGGGHHHH!

I didn't realise how much all that was till I wrote it down - I'm so glad birthdays are only once a year! I wonder how the queen manages to stay trim..she has two!!

TFI Friday!

Thank God, the weekend couldn't come fast enough this week!

I spent last weekend in Belfast with my boyf and his family and it was so relaxing it was a bit of a shocker getting up at 5:30am on Tuesday for work, knowing that I wouldn't get home till 9:30pm!

Feeling a little sick this morning but think that's tiredness from the long working week.

Elimination has been good and I'm feeling better about my skin already knowing that I'm doing something to help it clear up.

Breakfast this morning was my yummy gluten free porridge with a chopped banana. Can't wait till it gets warmer and I can swap it for bircher muesli!

I'm sooooo looking forward to tommorow as my boyfriend is visiting me for the weekend. It's really tough right now and sometimes I get a bit lonely knowing that we have another 5 months apart. Oh well all in a good cause!

I am too tired today to exercise so I'm giving myself the day off. Will do some yoga stretches and some relaxation meditation. I'll train in the morning after I've trained my client.

Todays poses:

Mountain Pose
Forward bend
Down dog
Warrior 1
Warrior 2
Triangle pose
Backbends
Long stretch roll
Supine butterfly pose

10 min relaxation and connecting with tadpole - can't wait to find out what it is so I can call him/her by name!