Sophie Falkiner, 34, presenter of Foxtel's Confidential show, talks to Kate Minogue about her pregnancy health regimen.
I really love the variety of my work. I could never be a nine-to-five girl. I'm currently presenting Confidential on Foxtel, which involves interviewing local and international stars and I'm fortunate enough to report on all sorts of fantastic people and events.
I'm also very proud to continue as the face of Berlei and I'm thrilled with my role as the ambassador for AMP Shopping Centres. I love working with different teams in my many appointments, and each of them have been great to me throughout my pregnancy.
I have a daughter, Isabella, who is three-and-a-half years old and I'm pregnant with my second baby. Although I'm not due until February, I'm already quite big. The first three months of the pregnancy are always a little bit hard for all women because you feel nauseous. But as soon as I hit the end of the first trimester I felt better, and now I feel great.
I'm having a baby boy. We've got a few names picked out, but we're not telling anyone. Everyone has an opinion, but I don't want to be influenced into changing the name. Isabella was going to be called Grace Lucia but, when she was born, she didn't look like a Grace, so now she's Isabella Grace. I believe a name has a lot to do with the baby's personality and appearance.
Isabella is fantastic — she's very energetic. She has an amazing sense of humour and loves to sing and dance. She goes to day care when I'm working — I have booked her in a few days a week, but only use it when I need to.
If I go to evening functions, my sister often looks after her. My sister is 10 years younger than me and at university, and I would much rather pay my sister than a babysitter! My daughter and sister have both become very close.
My whole life has changed since I had Isabella. Before you have children, it's all about yourself and your husband. But when you have children, you need to think things through ahead of time. On weekends, we love going to the beach and out for lunch. Isabella loves her food as much as her mum! My husband, Tony Thomas, and I both love to entertain, too.
My appetite has increased a lot since being pregnant. I'm trying to make sure I'm eating all the right things for the baby. Most mornings, during the week, I'll eat porridge with LSA (linseeds, soy and almonds), prunes and soya milk, because I'm allergic to dairy. On the weekends, I'll have poached eggs and spinach. For lunch, I'll have a chicken, avocado and tabouli salad with flaxseed oil. For dinner, I'm into salmon, lentil hotpots and sweet potato mash.
I'm eating more carbs at night, whereas before I would only eat them during the day. I need to eat carbs at night to cope with the hunger. I always snack throughout the day and include lots of healthy fats, such as nuts and avocados, in my diet. And I never deny myself a regular hit of chocolate. My weakness is potato wedges — Isabella and I share a bowl a few times a week. I really believe you have to listen to your body and go with it.
Sophie's exercise tips
I love exercise. I do it for stress release and to get the endorphins going. You've got to listen to your body when you're pregnant. For the first three months of my pregnancy, I did nothing because I felt extremely nauseous, so I stuck to walking. Before I was pregnant, I would go to FitStation — a gym with vibration equipment (it's best not to do that when you're pregnant).
Now I'm doing prenatal Pilates once a week and a Preggi Bellies class — where half the class is on the Fitball and the other half is strength-training and doing Pilates moves, which are safe for pregnant women.
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