Scales rant

It's tricky when breastfeeding as we can retain fat in case of famine 🤦. Some women shed weight while breastfeeding, some maintain their weight and others like you gain. It's so hard as you don't want to do too much of a deficit and start to lessen your supply as well. I'd throw that scale out and work on what makes you feel best. If going to the gym boosts your energy that's fantastic and a much better indicator than any scale. You got this!

Batch cooking is the best trick if you can. Makes you eat healthier on budget and aligned with what you like eating.
We normally roast or steam more veggies to make soups or side dishes. I don’t spend more than 3hours per week doing that and it saves us time when putting lunch or dinner together. It takes a bit of will power at first but if you share the load with partner it’s not that bad. If you have a pressure cooker and a blender that can make things even easier and you can make home made desserts and dips which can help in your weight loss since you can find recipes that are healthier than store bought

Keep in mind when joining the gym, you gain muscle weight!! Its not just all "extra" weight, but muscle mass :)