While my first trimester saw me losing my appetite because of nausea and the second trimester had me finally enjoying food again, I'm finding that well into my third trimester now, I'm constantly being hit by hunger pangs.

While it might not be possible to avoid hunger pangs altogether (after all we do have a growing baby inside us) there are a couple of ways we can avoid the sudden urges to grab anything in sight in order to please our hunger.

Packing my own healthy snacks (fruits, baby carrots in a bag etc.) when I go out is a helpful tip, especially if I'm out for more than a couple of hours because then I know I'm going to be hungry very soon and suddenly any kind of food looks tempting, especially doughnuts...

My hunger pangs are most apparent when I wake up in the middle of the night to pee and realize that my stomach is rumbling and crying out for food. In my sleepy state, I stumble over to the kitchen, open the fridge and attack the first thing I see. To help this somewhat, I find that having a snack before going to bed is always a good idea, even if I had a proper dinner earlier. Usually a bowl of cereal or a cup of yoghurt fills me up well before falling asleep.

Make sure your kitchen and fridge is well stocked with snacks that are nutritious and easy to prepare, particularly the grab and go type of food so you can satisfy your hunger quickly in the middle of night and then (hopefully!) fall back into a comfortable sleep.

Contributed by Ziana, a freelance writer
via Creative-Reporter