Lauren | New York, NY

Let me start by saying that I love to eat.  I love burgers, pizza, pb&j, and french fries most of all.  I don’t think it’s worth going to the movies if I can’t get the popcorn.  I like my sushi tempura’d and spicy.  I want blue cheese and ranch dressing on my salads.  Dinner isn’t dinner without wine.  I am constitutionally incapable of turning down birthday cake at any party, anywhere.  And I really don’t love fish.

 I will admit I didn’t have high hopes before I got in touch with Hillary.  The baby weight came off easily after my first:  a combination of nursing and a few extra sessions at the gym took care of it.  I assumed it would be the same after #2, but it wasn’t.  At nine months postpartum and 36 years old, nothing was working.  Not the gym, not the old “chasing a toddler” strategy that seemed to work for every celeb, not even cutting out my beloved Swedish fish.  Nothing.

 When I spoke to Hillary for the first time, I insisted I was not someone who could or would starve herself.  Due to work, I was in restaurants constantly and due to new motherhood, we ordered in often.  I only cooked every now and then, and usually it was stir-fry.  Hillary understood all of this, and she immediately came up with a plan for me according to what I thought I could manage.

 She gave me great ideas for breakfast that weren’t just yogurt and fruit, showed me how to incorporate peanut butter and cheese and even carbs (!) in healthy moderation.  She has tricks for ordering in (I’m still allowed my beloved chicken burritos and my sushi) and checks every restaurant menu before I go to give me options.  Now I don’t even open the menu–I already know what I’m having–which has eliminated the “Wow, the fried calamari is irresistible” issues.  Hillary made me a tip sheet for healthy eating while I’m traveling on book tour (no easy feat when you live in airports and hotels), taught me how to navigate the cocktail party hors d’oeuvres, and gets me through the menus at dozens, if not hundreds, of restaurants.

 I still drink wine.  I eat until I’m full.  I have dark chocolate every single, solitary night.  And as a result of her wise planning, tricks for making “bad” meals good, and on-target suggestions, I have shed all the baby weight from my second child.  Do I binge on total junk anymore?  Admittedly, not often.  But I do not, for a single second, feel deprived, and that’s been the most incredible thing of all.

 Hillary has helped me in ways I never thought possible and has forever changed the way I think about food.  I am so grateful to her and Simply Beautiful Mom!

 Lauren Weisberger

#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada, Everyone Worth Knowing, Chasing Harry Winston, Last Night at Chateau Marmont, and Revenge Wears Prada.  And mom to two toddlers!