A week after Bosco came screaming into the world I found myself, once again, standing in a room full of strangers and about to brave an instrument of torture: scales.

I rejoined the local Slimming World group and decided to start taking my ‘Fit for Thirty’ pledge seriously. Although I hadn’t put on a massive amount of weight this time around – I was two-and-a-half stone lighter compared to when I was pregnant with Bear – I wanted to get back to where I was pre-pregnancy as soon as possible.

As running is out of the equation until six weeks after the section, my only way to get there is in the kitchen. I’m in no way a domestic goddess (my old work colleagues can vouch for my miserable attempt at soup) but I do enjoy cooking with my music up full blast. I sort of just make things up as I go along.

I’ve followed the plan before and found it really accessible – and more importantly: it worked for me! I didn’t feel deprived and there are a lot of recipes and ideas online. The best place to find support though is from my friend Emma. She is is so close to target and great at keeping you focused, especially on days when you really can’t be bothered.

So, this week I did my best to stick to plan. It was going well until Sunday dinner ended up being a charred mess and I settled for a 12 syn lunch of two glasses of wine. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty tasty.

I know my main downfall is going to be my return to alcohol. Despite having a lovely repaired liver thanks to pregnancy, I’m very much looking forward to falling spectacularly off the sobriety wagon. I’m not lucky enough to actually enjoy drunk people’s company; I’m in the ‘if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em’ camp.

Yesterday was my first official weigh in back on plan and it was a shocker. I had 11lbs off. Clearly quite a lot of that is still pregnancy fluid but it was nice to hear none-the-less! I got my 1/2 stone award and I’ve already brokered a deal with Conor that I get a new Pandora charm for every stone I loose. He’s feeling pretty cheated right now.

Looking at the week ahead, I had a day off plan for an early Valentine’s Day (there was a lot of chocolate consumed) and we have a wedding on Saturday – I can feel the hangover already. It’s going to be a difficult one but it would be so good to get those 3lbs…

Any words of wisdom are welcome!