The time has come to stop hitting the sweetie cupboard!

When I was a newcomer to the joys of parenthood, the sleep deprivation that came with a newborn baby hit me like a ton of bricks.

For the first thirty years of my life, my body had been used to getting a good night's sleep and, as we all know, this rapidly became a distant memory.

As I'm sure the vast majority of women will agree, being kept awake night after night can feel like absolute torture.

Nothing beats those gorgeous snuggles, but I just wish I'd been more awake, focussed and a lot less headachy, so I could have enjoyed them more!

My husband had a daughter from a previous relationship and I remember saying to him after a few days: "How long does this last for? I'm not sure I can do many more nights like this!"

When he informed me it could take months, if not years, for a baby to sleep through the night, I about died of shock!

But, like with many things to do with pregnancy, birth and parenthood, I just had to suck it up and get on with it the best I could. After all, my little man needed me to!

One of the things that got me through those first few fuzzy-headed weeks was coffee and an awful lot of chocolate.

Now, I wouldn't advocate these quick fixes to anyone. Really, it should have been all about bananas, porridge and other slow release energy boosting things.

But I'm not that saintly. Chocolate and coffee worked for me and it also felt like a little treat to myself for all the hard work.

And that continued well past the birth of my second little man... so now, let's just say I'm pretty used to raiding the treats cupboard!

The problem is, now I'm getting more sleep and not running on vapours anymore, how do I stop? Because if I don't, I'm going to end up being the size of a house and that's no fun for anyone!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not classed as overweight and I still use up a lot of energy running around after my little men. But treats and chocolate fixes here and there aren't going to get me that flat stomach I desire and sleep deprivation is no longer an excuse!

So, in the drive to be fitter and healthier, I've started exercising more. The added energy this gives me is fab and I can't recommend Pilates enough.

I'm also home cooking more, cutting down on fast food and getting the children out and about loads, now the tiredness has abated.

The road to perfection is a long and unrealistic one, but I'm trying and I think it's working.. Slowly.

All I need now is more will power and healthy treats that taste like chocolate... Or coffee!