My son is 10 months old. In the last month I've been able to start jogging, playing football (soccer), and I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks to restart Gymnastics and Olympic lifting training.

I don't know how much weight I've put on, but I certainly don't enjoy how I feel and look now.

Being able to exercise again has been a major milestone for me.

I find lack of sleep severely impacts my ability to stick to a diet, as well, as I find it far harder to resist temptations when I'm not rested. Combining reduced willpower with reduced amount of time to make proper meals is not great.

I also see this pattern. I've maintained at least some level of exercise throughout raising three kids, but somehow I have a strong desire to eat, and the willpower required to shed the weight is really all-consuming. When my last (of 3) goes to college next week I wonder if anything will change.

That's a big change, all the best for the next phase of your life!

Getting into a more regular exercise routine might be a good thing. Weightlifting works well for myself, alas it does nothing to curb the appetite. :) But it's a great way to relax the mind and get a break from everything. It helps produce testosterone as well, supposedly.

Yeah, weightlifting is the problem- it makes me hungry. I now do a four-day split: two days weights; two days core-conditioning. I've been pretty good about regular exercise all my life- with large (months) excepted for big change-of-life things like moving, having a kid, and so on. At the time if felt like I was falling behind if I wasn't exercising, but looking back it was only a small perturbation to my overall habits.

So if you find yourself likewise falling off the wagon, cut yourself some slack. You're playing the long game.

Now if I would just cut my serving sizes in half! :D