Hi N.,
I have a two year old and am STILL carrying around extra weight! I'm glad you want to get the ball rolling. What has inspired me, was going to the "Mom's Losing Weight" board on Babycenter.com
You should check out the "Before and After's" photo thread. It really inspires!
At least it did me. They also conduct weight loss challenges pretty periodically, and not to mention they are a great group of gals!
From there I learned of Sparkpeople.com
Its a free website that allows your to track your nutrition,exercise and weight. And its all free!
Also I have heard a lot of good things about Weight Watchers. I have a few friends who have joined and have kept the weight off. Jenny McCarthy has noted that was how she lost her baby weight (they didn't pay her to say that either). From what I've been told they are pretty affordable too.
But for me I have been sticking to Sparkpeople.com in tracking everything.
I started in July and my goal is to be 40lbs lighter by my son's 3rd birthday, in March 2008.
I am already half way there, I have lost 20lbs, 20 more to go.
You have to keep in mind, that it took you 9 months to gain all that weight, its going to take some time to lose it.
I always believe in slow and steady wins the race. It took me 3 months to lose 20lbs, but it shows and it has been staying off.
Just watch what you eat, and walk everyday for a few minutes, that is all I do. I have completely cut out all sodas (I was a Dr. Pepper addict!) and I walk during my 1 hour lunch break everyday at work.
When I'm sitting at my desk at work, I snack on baby carrots (I used to hate carrots!) or some trial mix, or an apple.
I truly believe when it comes to losing weight it is 90% diet choices. Before when I would attempt to lose weight I kept my bad eating habits and exercised more. Of course when I stopped exercising guess what happened? The weight came back.
Keep track of what foods you eat and calories,fat,sugars, carbs are part of your daily intake. You can see how it all adds up! Also a great trick I have used to keep me on track was to always give myself an "OFF" DAY once a week. I don't eat a whole pizza or anything like that. I indulge in something, moderately.
Good Luck!!
P.S. Don't fall for those lose weight quick schemes, or pills and stuff, it does not work for the long term. Weight Watchers/SparkPeople gives you the tools to make a lifestyle CHANGE and keep it off. These others are just a quick fix.