Dear Jenny: I was wondering if you had any suggestions on how to bounce back in the weight department. I have 2-year-old twin boys. When they were 4 months old, my husband and I separated. I restarted everything. I went back to school, and am now starting a business and a new job. I'm still at the same weight I was after I had my kids — and then some. It turns out that divorce ice cream-eating packs on pounds. I'm not interested in a relationship, but I don't want to be fat anymore. I need to get myself back, but can't get motivated. Any suggestions? What did you say to yourself to get your butt off the couch after a day of caring for your son and working? Help! — Anonymous

Jenny says: After I had my son, Evan, I had a lot of weight to lose and, like you, I worked and cared for him during the day. I understand how it feels to be exhausted and to want to collapse on the couch after logging hours and hours of work. Many times, exercise was the last thing on my mind at the end of a crazy day, but I also wanted to feel good. I realized I had to take it one step at a time, because it was overwhelming to think about how and when I was going to get to the gym when I had a little one at home.

My first step in losing weight was to cut back on my calorie intake. I knew eating healthy was something I could do without requiring a lot of time, so I started with Weight Watchers (you may remember that I was their spokesperson in 2006). Once the pounds started coming off, I had more energy and my self-esteem rose. Exercise no longer seemed like a chore. Instead, it was actually something I wanted to do for myself. I stopped making excuses as to why I couldn't exercise and used every spare moment to do something active. I did jump squats in my family room, walked whenever I could, used the stairs instead of the elevator, played outside with Evan. Day by day, I grew stronger and felt better about myself.

Losing weight and getting fit takes effort and determination. You can lose weight IF you really want to. Take it one day at a time and, if you feel like quitting, remind yourself why you started in the first place. As Robert Collier says, "Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out." Today is the day! You can do it!

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