Love is a giant R2D2 birthday meat cake (a post on birthdays)!

So last week I started my 5th decade of life.

I`m really good with it, as the alternative to getting older (not getting older) sounds infinitely worse, and the fact is, I could count my blessings all day long and still need a few more days to finish. I have my health, a wonderful wife, terrific kids, a fulfilling and fascinating job, and a semi-exciting life.

Many of my patients worry about things like birthdays and what their inevitable celebrations will do to their weight management plans.

Simply put?

If your life excludes birthday cake on birthdays, that sure isn't much of a life.

And that goes for so many other events, celebrations and dietary indulgences.

It's part of the human condition to use food to celebrate. It's also part of the human condition to use food to comfort, and food makes up an integral part of the social fabric of our lives.

Try to take those roles away from food and while you might lose faster, my guess is over time you'll throw in your lifestyle change towel altogether as those overly strict changes aren't part of a healthy lifestyle, they're part of an unhealthy diet.

So go through those two questions I once posted on for before you indulge and do remember, you're only here once - you'd better enjoy it.

Thanks to my wonderful wife who I adore for giving me the family of my dreams and an R2D2 meat cake.

(for those who are wondering - the head is a basically meatloaf covered in tricked out mashed potatoes, while the body is made of 5 batches of Rice Krispies treats, more marshmallows than you can shake a stick at and covered with homemade fondant and edible marker)