More parties - BH. They dont seem to end (that's a good thing) and the food challenges seem endless as well. So today there was a party for a 1 year old - extravagant and beautiful. The room, the guests, the gifts, the entertainment and the food. It was a brunch - so you can imagine what kind of food there was - hot dishes and cold salads and fishes, etc. etc (you know the drill). I would like to put in a plug for TIMING. How many times have you skipped breakfast and by the time you eat the first thing of the day you can't stop? Or have you ever waited too long between meals and felt shaky, cranky, out of sorts and irritable? Have you tried leaving hours and hours before eating and then couldnt control the cravings? It has to do with TIMING and BLOOD SUGAR! To keep blood sugar stable you need to eat approximately every 3-4 hours. This does not mean sitting down to a big meal - it means eating SOMETHING. It is also important to eat breakfast within 2 hours of getting up (or else the metabolism slows down 20% and 60% if you dont eat within 2 hours of getting up). So today I got up at 6 AM and didnt have a chance to eat breakfast until the party (11AM). So here I am - hungry and surrounded by all of this food. How can I make an intelligent choice when I am truly hungry and ready to eat anything? This is not good. SO - I quickly got a fruit and some yogurt, SAT DOWN and ate it as slowly as I could. I immediately felt better - not tired, energy returning and guess what? No cravings! Not hungry! Able to walk away from what I would be sorry I ate. Moral: Eat in a timely way. Eat something on program BEFORE you make the wrong choices for yourself. So, here it is 7PM - I ate lunch at 3:30 and am in the middle of cooking dinner and I FEEL SO ACCOMPLISHED and PROUD OF MYSELF. I wish this feeling for you too.....