i just had a baby boy 7 weeks ago and now my doctor has cleared me to start exercising and i'm not breastfeeding so i'm not required to consume a certain amount of calories. so what kind of exercises and diets do you suggest?

Oh boy, aren't pregnancy's great! Mine caused me to gain 80 lbs! OUCH! There are so many ways to lose weight! You kinda have to read & find out what is going to work best for you. I myself am a calorie counter. I log my daily food intake & exercise on The Daily Plate. It's wonderful & helps you keep a more accurate eye on your calories. They can tell you based on limited information about how many calories you should consume to lose weight, maintain or whatever. I choose calorie counting because I can still eat ANYTHING I want. I'm not big into veggies & stuff a lot of stuff that would be ideal & healthy, so it works best for me to watch what I eat, but for the most part I can eat the things that I like already. How much are you trying to lose?

As for exercise, I would suggest anything, really.
From jogging, or even taking daily walks, to doing sports like swimming, tennis, etc. The thing is, you have to be consistent in your exercise. Whatever it is that you decide to do, make sure you leave time to do it at least 4-5 times a week. Taking walks is the easiest, you could probably do this for at least an hour every day.
or you can find the answer in this article
ht tp://catrinav.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-lose-weight-after-pregnancy.html

It depends on how active you were before the pregnancy and how much extra weight you have. If you weren't in great shape, walking is a great way to start - even 30 minutes a day until you can add more in. Best thing is you can take the baby along in the stroller or a carrier and you don't necessarily need a gym membership.