Such is life.

So my son's 2 year old birthday party was this past weekend and my 4 month old's dedication was this past Sunday. We had a celebration kind of weekend. Oh, and by "weekend" I mean Thursday thru today ;) I have no idea how many calories I had - and frankly I don't care. I made a cake for my little guy with white flour, processed sugar, real butter and yup...I used vegetable oil...aaaaaahhhhhhh! Grab the panels, my husband is down! Sometimes things just have to be made "how mamma made 'em". Life happens and lets face it, special occasions revolve around food. Its our culture, its what we do...a little too well. My son's birthday comes around once a year. My little guy is dedicated once in a lifetime. Family is not always here. Its a special time. There are times in our lives where things are more important than making sure we got in enough of a workout, kept our calories in the "maintaining" or "losing" range, or incorporating whole grains, lower sugar, better fats, and on and on. I can pretty much guarantee you that at some point in the past "weekend"'s celebrations I had a "gaining day" (perhaps a few). I wouldn't know, and yup, you guessed it, I simply don't care either. Few things in my life warrant such behavior. Birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving and Anniversaries top the list in our home. Now. Some things have to be remembered during said "special occasions":

1. It's not a binge. Common mistake. Bingeing brings on unhealthy feelings and excessive eating with thoughts that "my diet starts back tomorrow" cut it out. Have you ever realized your diet always "starts tomorrow" - how's that workin' for ya? We're not dieting. Enough of that type of thinking! This time should be simply a lack of writing down or caring so much - particularly about getting your greens, whole grains, specific calorie range or sufficient exercise. You're just living, celebrating, eating what you eat at birthdays and such without feeling bad about it.

2. Set a start date and an end date. "Lack of caring" can set people into a tail-spin making it difficult to get back on track after the event is over. Set a start and end date and stick with it. The shorter the better.

3. It will happen again. You will have more times like these. In fact, set a date right now for the next one. Do not use this time to single handedly finish off the cookie dough because you don't know when you will have such liberty again. If you want a cookie TOMORROW, you can have it. Make room for it in your day! If you feel the need to squish as much fun foods as possible into these special occasion days, you need to re-evaluate your every day eating. Make more room for fun foods in your week - in a controlled calorie setting to curb this feeling of deprivation and bingeing (see #1)

4. Special occasions can't happen with regularity. The concept of a "cheat day" just doesn't work. You cheat Thursday because its almost the weekend, Friday because its the end of the week, Saturday is always a cheat day (I guess because most of us are off of work), Sunday is a free-for-all (did I mention I was Baptist)? Hopefully by monday we're "back on track". That gives us 3 days of healthy eating... not gonna cut it. We should almost always "be on track." If birthdays occur bi-weekly - then every birthday cannot be a "special occasion" with your eating. You'll have to find ways to maintain your calories during those times.

5. They may or may not include regular exercise. Especially if getting in a substantial workout takes me away from the celebration or family, I don't. But, I'll leave this one up to you.

6. The number on the scale may go up. I highly doubt this is legitimate fat gain over a long weekend. But I don't know how much you can pile away either (see #1). Typically the types of foods enjoyed during this time incur water weight (highly processed, perhaps higher salt and sugar). You would have to eat an additional 3500 calories in excess over this time period to gain 1 pound during this time - possible, yes (see #1). Plausible, I think no. If you find the number has gone up - no worries. The water will go away when healthier eating is resumed, exercise is incorporated back in your routine, and/or you work in a couple of losing days (or weeks) in to shave it back off.

Remember, this is a healthy life, NOT A DIET!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a good weekend. ;)