How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a calorie total of less than 600. On another day this week, eat the meals from a different post, another day of eating 600 calories or less. Eat sensibly the other days of the week. That’s it: a simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

My mother loved to celebrate holidays with special foods. Whether the holiday was religious, patriotic, or ethnic, she would find a recipe to go with it. The tradition continues with me.  May 1-4 is the festival of Floralia, the Roman Goddess of Springtime and Flowers. The English celebrate it with baskets of flowers and maypoles.  The French celebrate it by decorating their towns with floral displays and wearing green.  

The recipes for today were chosen because they look like or contain flowers. Celebrate the season, eat well, lose weight.

Strawberry Cottage Cheese & Pears:    164 calories  3.5 g fat     5 g fiber     10 g protein   26 g carbs  61 mg Calcium   NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage.  PB  GF    This is from the Fast Diet book. You will see some other good recipes there, too. I added the pecans to this for deeper flavor and more protein.

4 oz ripe pear of which Comice is the best, but at this time of year use Anjou or Bosc                                                                                       1/3 cup fat-free cottage cheese             2 ripe strawberries, chopped          ¼ tsp pecans, finely chopped                                                                                                                                                                   Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories] Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water                                                                                                                                        

Section the pear into slices and remove the cores. Do not peel the pears. Fan the segments on a plate in a circle. Mix the cottage cheese with the strawberries and spoon into the center. Sprinkle with the nuts. Pour your beverage of choice. Good stuff!

Tuna-Egg-Tomato Salad    283 cal   16.5 g. fat      27.5 g. protein           29.5 g. carbs         Here we have  a Spanish-inspired meal from a cookbook called Everyday Tapas. I took out the potatoes and substituted garbanzo beans. I added the salad greens, too. Feel free to add more greens and tomatoes, there are calories to spare.  The recipe is very simple and delicious as well – perfect to dress up with pansy blossoms [they are edible] to honor a day in spring or summer.  HINT: This makes enough for two meals. Invite a friend or enjoy the left-overs as a lovely lunch the next day. Today’s lettuce will wilt by tomorrow, so plan around that.

5 oz canned white-meat tuna in water                2 egg, hardboiled and cut into 1/2” dice                                                                                                           4 oz tomato, cut into 1/2” dice                          ½ cup garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed                                                  1 cup baby salad greens  [mesclun]          1 ½ tsp olive oil         1 tsp white wine vinegar                                                                                                                                                               fresh parsley, salt, pepper          pansy or violet flowers for garnish             per person: 1/2 slice 70-calorie bread such as Nature’s Own 100% whole grain 

Drain the tuna and flake the meat into 1” pieces. Whisk the oil and vinegar together and toss with the lettuce. Add everything else, except the flowers, and gently toss to combine with the salad dressing. Garnish with as many flowers as you wish. Serve at room temperature.