i breastfed from when my child arrived, and i noticed at the eight month mark, i must have lost a significant amount of weight, cos i needed to get smaller maternity bras, and all my clothes looked ridiculously baggy on me.

no gym - i was hardly well enough to leave the house, too depressed to go anywhere thanks to PND, not well enough to stand and cook. Was not leaving the house, so not pushing the stroller around the block. the only thing i can think of was that i was breastfeeding.

i wonder how a breastfeeding mum can go to a gym, cos you get told to wear no underwires when you're breastfeeding. i coudln't imagine doing a fitness class or exercising without an underwire sports bra on (i'm a d cup).

Give yourself some time, unless you earn millions of dollars and have a fleet of assistants, you are not going to be pencil thin straight after having a bub, you body is adjusting to lots of things.

i still am not in a good space with PND, still not cooking anything, but i've started to buy stuff like bags of spinach leaves at woolworths, punnet of cherry tomatoes - so i can throw together a quick green salad in a bowl, toss olive oil and some flavours i like - so at least have some salad greens. I didn't do this before, buying this stuff seemed too pricey and indulgent, but if i don't eat something healthy, how can i keep going, and look after my DD. So even though it feels very wasteful and naughty, i am buying this stuff now.

ANother thing is keeping the kitchen full of fruit. If there is a bowl of fruit always easy to reach, when you get nibbly, it's just as easy to reach for an apple instead of crap stuff you know is only going to give you a sugar rush and then the sugar fall. THis works for me when fruit is here.

ANother thing is making sure you have a decent breakfast. i put a 800gm can of fruit in the fridge (in tupperware) so i can have that fruit over weetbix and milk. the days i don't do this, i really notice the difference. Instead of running around doing 18 things in the morning, i must make more of an effort to put the "having breakfsat thing" first.

people who start the day with a decent breakfast, can think clearer and are not desperate for a sugar rush on the way to wherever you go.

some mum's groups/playgroups are terrible for nutrition, others are great. if you have one that only offers coffee and sugar (cake, biscuits) - you need a strategy to deal with that - e.g find a different group, or ask whoever runs it, if healthier options can be offered instead.

i ate fantastically healthily while pregnant, then let it all slide after i had my child. In reality, we need that healthy diet JUST as much after baby arrives, to give us energy to breastfeed (which is super tiring) and do everything else we need to do.

be gentle to yourself, you're not a movie star, you're a real mum, don't put too much pressure on yourself.

do you have a particular thing you like to do? like swim? or ride? whatever is your fave, find out how you can do it with your baby, or find a gym with a creche, a sitter (if you are lucky enough to have relatives who will do that for you).

i've heard of Pram Keep Fit classes, where everyone in the class has a bub in a pram, and you use the pram and your baby's weight, in your exercises, no idea where these classes are, only that they exist (and sound really good).

Babies under six months, from what i read, are meant to be kept out of the sun, so bear that in mind, with whatever you choose.

If you love water, and you want your bub to go to water safety classes, maybe the both of you getting into an indoors pool, will get you both in the water, and might give you encouragement to swim laps yourself (if you like doing that, and have a sitter/creche).

i really need to take my own advice, two years on, my child still hasn't been to water safety lessons. i gotta do that for her.