February health update

Today is our baby’s due date, so the little one is now officially fully baked! No sign of anything happening as yet but I understand it’s pretty normal for a first baby to go slightly overdue. I must admit that as time ticks on, I’m finding it harder and harder to focus on non-baby-related things, but I still wanted to let you know how I was doing on the health front.

Nutrition

I’ve been meal planning for a while, but I have been doing this more carefully this month to keep within our household budget. I was lucky enough to win a year’s supply of Evernote Premium through a great competition run by Laura at Keeping Healthy, so I can keep a shopping list, meal plan and any recipe ideas I find on my phone or iPad, access them offline from anywhere and share them with D for his edits. Each week, I go through the fridge and freezer to see what perishables we have left before putting together a list of meals and a shopping list, meaning we don’t buy things we don’t need, and we have very little go to waste. This week, we are looking forward to a veggie curry, turkey stir fry with green peppers and mushrooms, and tagliatelle with roasted vegetables and meatballs amongst others. Yum!

I’ve also been experimenting with alternatives to help with my mad chocolate cravings. Biscuits  and cereal bars are still featuring much more highly in my diet than they did pre-pregnancy,  but I’ve also been trying some raw chocolate from Om Bar. I picked up the strawberry version and the coconut version in my local health food shop and the strawberry one definitely gives a pretty intense chocolate hit; it’s a bit lower GI and a bit higher in nutrients than standard choccy but I would still recommend consuming in moderation. I’ve also been drinking sweeter herbal teas (I love the ones from Yogi Tea) and buying frozen fruit for simple smoothies, to help with my sweet tooth in a slightly healthier way.

Exercise

No change there, unfortunately – I’ve had a few short walks into town on sunny days but I am finding it quite hard to get around now! I’ve also been paying attention to my lower abdominals, doing some little Pilates tuck ins when I remember, and spending time sat on my gym ball rather than purely slumping in a chair. Hopefully I will see benefits when baby is born; I can’t wait to get a little more mobile!

Wellbeing

I took maternity leave at 36 weeks as there’s a bit of a family history of early babies, but I don’t regret the decision despite baby’s late appearance. Being at home has made it a lot easier to deal with the SPD pain and to cope on the four hours sleep I get per night, and it’s also allowed me to mentally adjust to a slightly slower pace of life, seeing less people, and focus on preparing for birth. I do feel more rested and while it was hard to be at home at first, I think carrying on commuting and working any longer would have been physically pretty tough for me. I’ve also been enjoying some quality time with D before we are joined by our new family member.  I’ve really enjoyed the sunny days we have had, and can’t wait for Spring as it always lifts my mood!

How was your February? Have you revised your health goals? And how do you deal with a sweet tooth? Let me know!

PS I plan to do a longer post on how I use Evernote soon; it’s a fantastic tool.

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