Hello lovelies, hope you are enjoying the long weekend so far! With the typical UK bank holiday weather I’ve been spending this weekend at home avoiding the rain, getting some stuff done and playing with my new camera, more on that in a mo. On Friday I was delighted to receive a box of fresh juices and raw nut milks from Crude Juice. Obviously I’m not detoxing in any way shape or form, but it’s been a pleasure to try them in amongst my usual meals which this week have included…
Eat
Choc cherry kale smoothie with chia seeds and The Food Doctor Cacao Tangerine granola
Squash smoothie topped with tahini and mixed fruit and seeds
Creamy eggy porridge with strawberries and almond butter
Mexican beef and pepper lettuce wraps with avocado
Great Food Falafel salad with tomato basil hummus dressing
Lentils, home made roasted tomato and pepper sauce with pesto mixed in and courgette spaghetti
Lemony salmon salad
Apple and big spoonful of home made cashew coconut butter for a snack
Fresh nectarine, cucumber and celery juice topped up with a little coconut water
I also did some kitchen experimenting and made my first batch of water kefir:
I made this batch strawberry flavoured. I’ll be blogging more on how to make this probiotic rich fermented drink soon, it really is pretty easy and tastes delicious!
Move
Workouts this week:
- Monday – Gym – 10 minutes step machine, 10 minutes bike, chest presses, back extensions etc on the machines
- Tuesday – Rest
- Wednesday – Gym – 10 minutes step machine, 10 minutes bike, seated chest presses, seated shoulder presses, squats
- Thursday – Selection of pregnancy Pilates videos from You Tube
- Friday – Gym – 20 minutes bike, Pilates exercises
- Saturday – practiced my Pilates exercises
- Sunday – Rest
As I said in my 21 Weeks Pregnant update I had been suffering from some quite severe lower back / glute pain which I first noticed after putting my jeans on after the gym on Wednesday. The more I’ve read up on it the more it seems to be posterior pelvic pain which can be common in pregnancy as your posture changes. Luckily, since Wednesday it has improved dramatically. In some ways I’m glad I had it as it has highlighted the need for me to be more proactive with strengthening my core and lower back, getting more varied workouts and maintaining a better posture. I also need to make sure I sit down when putting pants on as it’s the crouched over standing on one leg position that seems to set it off!
Wear
When the weather was actually nice at the start of the week I wore this outfit which I now realise is almost entirely from Primark! The shirt, maternity leggings and floral belt which I wore above the bump all came from Primark. Lovely sandals c/o Duo Boots and bag from Oasis. I’ve been hanging out on eBay quite a bit too and found another pair of cheap maternity jeans, this time with an over the bump fitting ready for when I get bigger.
Love
I’ve been thinking about getting a new camera for a while, so when I got some unexpected cash James encouraged me to use some of it on myself (the rest is going towards getting the flat sorted for the baby). I bought this entry level DLSR, a Nikon D3200 with lens, plus another lens more suitable for food photography. Well I am in love! I studied photography as part of my Art and Design degree, but back then I was going old school using film and a dark room so I need to relearn a lot of things. It has been great fun practising though! Plus I think it will be handy for taking lots of baby photos in the future. Also…
some very kind words from a lovely lady about this site // being in a great groove right now // working on some big plans for the blog // organic veggies // long baths with candles // raw chocolate making // deliveries of the cutest baby clothes!
Link
- Wabi-sabi – discovering the beauty of imperfection
- Another Day in the Life post!
- A few of my current ‘go to’ evening meal recipes
- My recipe for Nutella fuel bars
- 21 Weeks Pregnant – focus on skincare
- 29 Totally Awesome Raw Desserts via Brit + Co
- How your parents diet before birth impacts on your health via The Conversation
- Graysons Birth Story from Jenna at Eat, Live, Run – I completely sobbed my heart out reading this, can’t quite believe I have this to come!
- 3 gut healing gelatin recipes via Cat Food is Good for You – very tempted to buy some gelatin to make these!
Today we are off for lunch at my parents then I think the rest of the weekend will be pottering / working / photographing everything in site. I was also asked to take part in the Curry’s Blogger Bake Sale so I’ve been getting my bake on! Perfect for a rainy bank holiday weekend. More on that to come later in the week.
How are you spending the long weekend? What was the last experimenting you did in the kitchen? Do you enjoy photography?
Ooh I’d love to hear more about your experiments with water kefir! I gave it a go but now the grains are getting neglected in the fridge – I hear after the 3rd batch it starts to have a bit more umph! Rather jeal of the new camera ;) Enjoy the bank hol!
I have to say I’m loving it! Got a coconut water version getting some extra fizz while I’m brewing a new batch of ginger infused kefir. My kitchen looks a bit strange with all the glass jars though! Hope you have a great weekend too :-)
That outfit is so “springy”, I love it! I did a photography A-level years ago when I was working in London, it was fun to learn how to develop film and things, but digital is so much easier! I wonder if we’ll notice any changes in the pictures on your blog?! Your falafel reminded me of a box of falafel mix I have in the kitchen, it’s now on my meal plan for the week! Hope you get some sunshine this holiday weekend!
I hope so, I can see a huge difference between the iPhone ones now, but it’s still taking me so much time to figure it all out! Enjoy your falafel!
Hi Laura,
Hope you’re well. I had a wee girl 3 months ago and had pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy. It started at 18 weeks with the same symptoms as yours. By 40 weeks I couldn’t walk without crutches. I think some people do just get wee twinges but if you get any more I would ask your midwife or GP for a physio referral. I told my midwife my symptoms and she said, ‘Pregnancy isn’t meant to be pain free I’m afraid.’ I ended up seeing my GP when it got worse and he was much more sympathetic!
Take care!
Joanne (formerly Thirty and Healthy- now 34 and less so!)
Hi Jo, So lovely to hear from you! It must be years since you were blogging? Congrats on having your little girl! I’m hoping that it doesn’t progress into anything too painful, I have a docs appointment booked in for the end of next week so will see how it goes x
Gorgeous spring outfit! Love the little floral belt idea too!
Yay for a new camera! I love Nikons – good choice! I’ve experimented here and there with photography but it really came into use for making my book and was quite pleased with how my photography had improved in time for that! Makes such a big difference to photos and will definitely come in use when you get snap happy with you’re little boy :)
I’ve just been chilling this weekend..I’ve officially finished uni so taking a bit of time to chill out before I start up with my company properly next month :)
Thanks Nicky! It’s definitely going to take me some time to get used to the new camera, especially the lighting we have available but I’ll get there! How exciting about starting your company, looking forward to finding out more!
OMG your eats look amazing that squash porridge with tahini…and that egg scramble looks amazing!!
looking great girl!
Michelle and I actually tried making our own homemade coconut yogurt using just a can of milk and a probiotic. haha think it came out ;)
Haha I think I tried that once using a probiotic pill and it didn’t quite work!
The new camera looks great! Those juices look so yummy too :) x
Those juices look yummy! Love the new camera, very pretty and shiny!
Glad the pelvic pain has subsided. I guess it’s just your body getting used to the different shape and weight?
The beef lettuce wraps sound just like my sort of thing. I’ve been meaning to make them so many times after always seeing them on Claire’s blog (Flake & Cake).
I think hope so! Yes I forgot they are a regular on Claire’s blog, they were delicious and great for the warmer weather :-)
Choc cherry kale smoothie with chia seeds and The Food Doctor Cacao Tangerine granola, Squash smoothie topped with tahini and mixed fruit and seeds, Fresh nectarine, cucumber and celery juice topped up with a little coconut water? Sign me up for all of them! Actually, I love the courgette spaghetti and apple/nut butter combo as well. Gorgeous – you’ll need a new camera to photograph all of that amazing food.
I’m so jealous of those amazing juices as well – I am the worst about making them, mostly because I can’t stand cleaning the juicer!
xxx
You know it’s funny how things go round and balance out, after going from vegan to a bigger focus on animal products I seem to be swinging back into the middle – I’m definitely enjoying more vegan meals again, not sure if it’s something about the pregnancy? Oh the juices, Jess you would love them, especially the Choco Maca milk it was amazing!
Enjoy the new camera! I was tempted to get that Tangerine granola – I saw it cheaper in TK Maxx – it’ll prob be gone by the time I go back haha :) Please can you come & cook for me, your meals look delicious x
Hope you had a great long weekend. That camera looks awesome, as do those juices!
Your food all looks lovely as usual! Nice outfit, you look really well :-)
Hooray for your new camera! I think you have a fantastic eye for photos, your food/ recipes are always photographed so prettily.