I think I'm losing the plot! I arrived in Olney yesterday to visit my best friend, Alex, and her boyfriend in their new, lovely house, and yet I have zero crack.

I'm not sure if it's because I've just waved Mike off for his 2 week 'work trip' (he keeps accidentally referring to it as a holiday!) to Sri Lanka, you know the place with tsunamis, earth quakes, civil unrest, and food that could give you the shits? Or if it's because I'm going to be living out of a suitcase for the next 2 weeks bunking at my parents, or if it's the state of the house and the fact that when we get back there's still 2 more weeks of living out of 3 of our 8 rooms (kitchen, bathroom, spare room). Equally it could be my self imposed deadline for a first draft of my work's report, which

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I turned 33 weeks pregnant on Thursday and I'm feeling better than I have done at earlier points in my pregnancy. Despite this I didn't get much chance to workout with various other things getting in the way. So on Saturday I was well up for a good gym session. Here's what I did:

20 mins on the bike (I did about 140 cals)

> 10 x squat to shoulder press (with 5kg weights)

> 20 x slow sumo squats

I had a conversation with Mike yesterday which went something along the lines of:

me: 'thankfully I only put on 4lbs on holiday and since I have to put on weight anyway, that's fine'

Mike: 'You don't have to put on weight it's just that women tend to as a result of being pregnant'

Let me clear this up for you ladies...yes we do have to put on weight because our babies need us to... If you don't put on enough weight, it can have an adverse effect on you and shorty! Follow the top 2 links in resources below for a good explanation as to why you should put on weight (oh and while you're at it, why it's bad to put on too much - it's a bleeding minefield!!)

Courtesy of precisionnutrition.com and babycenter, these are the weight gain guidelines to follow:

If you were underweight before conception, you should aim to put on

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I am conscious that it's getting on for the middle of February and I'm now 14 weeks pregnant. It's nearly a month since I wrote my mission and time to revisit it to see how I'm getting on (before I start pretending I never wrote it)...

My top priority was to concentrate on being healthy and happy. I think I'm doing pretty well on this (apart from chocolate gate at the weekend), which is probably due to the life of luxury and unemployment I'm currently enjoying.

I'm exercising for at least 30 minutes about 5 or 6 days a week;

I am doing something I like most days, although I'm so shit at actually sitting down to do the pampering things like paint my nails - I've been meaning to do my fingers for the past couple of nights but have ended up doing my blog late. And, my toe nails? I'm too ashamed

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As the second part of our Love, Hate, Avoid pregnancy diet, now we come to hate...As I mentioned previously, I'm with the NHS on most things and if they say there isn't scientific proof that something will harm baby, then the rule isn't going in my list of things to hate. It will probably go in my Avoid list, which is when you can make your own mind up. As a result this list isn't too long...

HATE

Unpasteurised dairy or some types of cheeses - I LOVE blue cheese, squidgy cheese, smelly cheese, etc. But it is all out of bounds. Now I have never become ill from eating cheese, and I mean never. However, IF you were to become ill from this type of cheeses or unpasteurised milk/dairy, you would be in big trouble (baby-wise), and for that reason I don't mind giving it up a jot. Plus, I also

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Yesterday was a busy day, with school pickups and seeing a lovely friend of Alex's and mine through the business but still I would have thought I had time to do all the things I had wanted to. Instead I seemed to have lost the day to CV writing and Lamb Tagine - which was gorgeous but, man, it took an age to make! If anyone has any tips for preparing butternut squash quickly, please pass on. It is now my nemesis.

Anyway, so TUI eating... I wanted to start with the dos and don'ts of eating for a healthy pregnancy because a) babs comes first in all of this, so we must follow the main principals, and  b) there is so much advice out there it's hard to keep up with everything so I'm compiling it together into my own Love, Hate and Avoid pregnancy diet, starting today with LOVE.

LOVE

Protein -

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I mentioned in my first post my 'mission' for the months leading up to the arrival of my first baby, so before getting stuck in I thought I'd elaborate a wee bit to explain my plan and priorities.

a) being healthy and happy in time for the arrival of my baby in August

This is my number 1 priority and my plan is pretty simple to be done daily:

1. Exercise for 30 minutes a day - I'm not talking back breaking sweat-out but studies show that exercising when pregnant is good for me and baby. I'm not a mega exerciser but I did exercise before I was pregnant and I enjoy it. Plus, I'm hoping it'll help with 'The Ultimate Issue' (TUI) of having a healthy pregnancy and baby, AND not gaining too much weight...I'll be sharing my exercise plan, put together with advice from my doctor and my gym BUT Remember if

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January 2012

My name is Hannah Parker, I'm 28 and I live in Blyth, Northumberland (originally from the midlands, if you'd told me 10 years ago - or 3 come to think of it - that I'd be living in a small, fairly rundown seaside town in the North of England, I wouldn't believe you) with my husband, Mike, and step daughter, Gabriella, who is 5.

I have recently found out I'm pregnant and I have (about a week ago) decided with my friend and business partner, Alex, to close down our business. It is for exciting reasons but nevertheless I am also unemployed.

In true New Year fashion, my mission for the next few months is to sort my life out so that...

a) I am healthy and happy in time for Bday (mid-August);

b) I have made some money/got a job so we are not completely skint; and

c) I have streamlined my life

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