It's 7:30 pm and my 2-year-old is demanding, “pancake!” Yes, he is hungry because he hardly ate any dinner, which is all too common for this little guy.

From birth, my third child has had issues with eating. He required supplemental cup-feeding while he learned how to breastfeed properly. Then he resisted solid foods so adamantly that we finally caved in and offered him all sorts of junk food just to get him eating something. (He would literally scream and cry if a piece of unwanted food – meat, veggies, fruit, pasta - was placed in front of him.)

Dear Lovely Mommies,

The prior post dealt with basic units of nutrition. The key is to develop a diet that matches your desires and your body. Every person has different calorie requirements and metabolism. Calorie needs start around 1200 and up (based on weight and age). There are calorie calculators available on multiple web sites.

Exercise is also very important to maintain weight loss. I have found that my most successful patients incorporate exercise into their routines. Walking vigorously for 45 minutes may only burn 150 calories.

For the last two months we've been cooking on a hot plate on the back porch.

And eating at restaurants.

My home-renovating husband just put the stove and refridgerator back in the kitchen. It's wonderful to be part of civilization again!

And I'm looking forward to saving some money with real home-cooked meals.

So now I'm trying to get in the habit of planning our meals a week in advance. I'm naturally a spontanious type person. So all this planning is a bit of a change.