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It's Week 3 of Three Good Things (for more details about this series, read this post) and I can't believe it's come around so quickly! Why does time seem to fly, especially when things are going well?

One

We had a big tidy up in our conservatory last week and as a result, we now have an actual organised space that we can use for our craft projects. Hurray! I've been lusting after some proper storage, rather than the heaps of stuff that cluttered the table, and the purchase of a few plastic containers combined with the two empty shelves in one of the bookcases now means that all our paper, card, glue, paint, crayons, and other bits and pieces has a home. I can't tell you how happy that's made me! I now enjoy spending time in our conservatory!

Two

Like last week's post, my next good thing relates to how I'm making use of my time with the boys. They both love "sticking" projects and are really enthusiastic whenever I tell them we're getting the glitter and glue out. That focus, even though it may only last for half an hour, seems to have a big impact on their behaviour the rest of the day. They play much more nicely together and listen really well.

Inspired by the weather, we made stormy pictures. What do you think?

Three

And another one that follows on from last week: Health-wise, I've noticed a real difference since I started trying to get my eating habits under control. I'm not as bloated by the end of the day and I feel a lot brighter.

I've realised that I make much better choices when I'm at home than when I'm at work (where I seem to eat chocolate and crisps at frequent intervals throughout the day) and my husband thinks it's down to boredom. I think it's more likely to be caused by disinterest rather than boredom, as I have plenty to do, just not the inclination to do it!

Anyway, my next steps have to be tackling that and I also need to start exercising, especially if I want to fit more easily into my jeans! The good thing is that I feel both things are really achievable so watch this space!

Okay, so those are my Three Good Things. What are yours? Why don't you join in and share them?

My body has spent the last 4.5 years either pregnant, giving birth, breastfeeding or trying to juggle my life and I'm convinced that it's left my hormones out of balance.

I know that one of the key ways to rebalance myself is through my diet but I'm a bit in denial because it feels like such a BIG THING to have to overhaul and I know it's going to be hard.

At the moment (and really for many years now) I am eating CRAP. High sugar, high fat and minimal fruit and vegetables.

Logic says that my body can't possibly nourish itself properly if I'm not eating nutrient rich food but, and I'm going to be completely honest here, I don't really understand food/the different food groups/and what I should be (not) eating for optimum health. Without that knowledge, my usual eating habits will just creep back in.

There are plenty of faddy diet books out there, but that's not what I'm looking for. I'm not saying I wouldn't be happy to lose a little weight, as I'm most definitely a lot squishier than I was, and my jeans are difficult to fasten, but I know that side of things can be tackled by a good dose of exercise once I've upped my energy levels and given my health a boost. No, what I need is something that will help me to understand the relationship between my body and food, what good nutrition is and what I should be aiming to eat.

Does anyone have any ideas or tips for me so that I can start making changes? So far I have:

• Start taking a daily multivitamin
• Replace coffee and fizzy drinks with water and green tea
• Cut out sugar (how? and what to replace sugary foods/snacks with?)
• Replace everything I eat with something better (!!)

As you can see, I definitely need a bit of help!

If you've ever struggled with your weight or wondered how to kickstart your weightloss efforts, I hope today's guest post will inspire and motivate you.

Written by Tina, it reveals how she managed to lose 60lb in a year and change her BMI score from "obese" to "healthy" with the right incentive, an eating plan that worked for her and the introduction of an exercise regime.

Having supported my husband when he needed to lose 7.5 stone and seen the hard work and commitment it takes, I have the utmost admiration for Tina's achievement and I'm sure after you've read her story, you will too.

In her own words, Tina is "a Mummy, a Wife, A Geek and a blogger! I blog about my family's adventures, our loves, hates, successes and failures. I am a huge fan of gadgets, technology, history, and lego (See - told you I'm a geek)! We live in Manchester, and our 11 month old Son is nicknamed Batman. I am currently pregnant with baby number 2 (Robyn) - due at the end of June!".

Tina writes a blog at MotherGeek.co.uk. You can also find her here on twitter as well as over here on Facebook.

Happy reading!

Way back in 2009, my best friend got engaged. At the time, I was 14 stone 8lb (204lb), and OBESE! When she asked me to be her chief bridesmaid at her wedding the following Summer, I knew immediate action was required. I had tried (and failed) at countless diets in the past, so this time I monitored my food intake for 2 weeks, to see what my flaws were. It became very obvious that I was eating too much fat. (Cheese, margarine, pastry, olive oil, etc). I decided to create my own meal plan based on a low fat diet. As a vegetarian, I get limited protein so I guess this is why cheese had become such a staple part of my diet.

On July 1st 2009, I began monitoring my fat intake. I kept it below 20g a day (of fat - not saturated fat). I also did 30 minutes a day, 7 days a week on my Wii Fit. I weighed in weekly and blogged daily on my weight loss blog. I found I got a lot of support from other "losers" and they encouraged me a lot to stick with it. By 1st August, I had lost 14lb! (1 whole stone in 1 month, and I hadn't been near a gym). I continued the same way, and by my birthday in November, I weighed 11 stone 10.5lb (164.5lb)! I had gone from being OBESE to being in the normal BMI range in just 20 weeks!

By this point, it had become harder to lose the weight. I was losing 1lb a week at best, and it was frustrating. I decided to switch things up and bought a couple of exercise DVDs. I had become a huge fan of the American version of The Biggest Loser, and bought Jillian Michaels' 30 days shred. I swear to god, that DVD almost killed me, but it did the job and kick started my metabolism again. It was a 20 minute workout, and very intense, so I did that for a month.

By January, I was down to 11 stone 1lb. I then found out I was pregnant, and we were thrilled. In February, my other half popped the question! I was continuing to eat healthily but had increased my daily fat intake to 40g a day - the recommended amount for someone of my then weight. At the end of February, we found out at our 12 week scan that we'd lost the baby. We were of course devastated, and initially, I wanted to eat everything in sight. My other half managed to prevent this by ensuring the cupboards contained only healthy things. I was very poorly after the procedure to remove the baby, and lost a lot of blood. It was May before I felt fit enough to start exercising again, but as I was still losing blood, I could only do light exercise.

I had signed up to do the Race For Life in July, so I started walking 5k a day on the treadmill. By the time the race came around on 4th July 2010, (a week before my Bridesmaid duties were to take place), I was down to 10 stone 4lb (144lb)! I had lost 60lb in a year! I managed to finish the race for life in a fairly good time, despite only doing half of the C25k training. I finished it in 35 minutes, 20 seconds.

The day of my best friend's wedding rolled around, and I wore a size 10 dress! It had to be taken in to fit me! I had NEVER worn a size 10 in my life! When I was initially fitted for my dress, she said I needed a size 20 dress, so I had lost 5 dress sizes by the dress maker's reckoning!

Since then, I have had a baby boy, and am now 8 months pregnant again. I suspect I will be a good 12.5-13 stone once I have had my baby, so I shall once again be taking to my low fat plan (after breast feeding duties cease, of course)!

If I had to suggest one thing to people trying to lose weight, it would be a support network. I genuinely think I did as well as I did because I had the support of my other half and an amazing online community.

I've made it through 24 hours without any chocolate or sweets or other sugary treats. I may have transformed into a crotchety old harridan but at least it's a sugar-free version!

Here's what I've learnt so far:

• When detoxing from sugar, do not walk down the cake and easter egg aisles in the supermarket.
 
• Do not leave a half-empty bag of Giant Buttons in plain sight unless you want it to spend the day winking at you.
 
• The afternoon was worse than the morning. I felt incredibly tired and kept thinking if I just had a little bit of chocolate, I would bounce back and get so much more done.
 
• I should have given a bit more thought to what I was going to substitute sugar with before I started the detox. Because I didn't, I ended up "snacking" on bread and butter, which didn't really do much for my energy levels or my health.
 

Another 24 hours to go and maybe even longer if I think my body needs it. After that, I need to start thinking about eating healthily and sensibly. I need to be a role model for my boys.

If I could just have a piece of chocolate first...