How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow, for a total of 600 calories. On another day this week, eat  meals that will be posted on Sunday.  Eat sensibly the other days of the week.  That’s it.  Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

The ‘Ides of March‘ are much a part of our vocabulary yet some are not sure what that means.  To the Romans, every month [there were 10 months prior to Julius Caesar] had a day called the Ides [pronounced ‘ee-dace’ not ‘Idez’], which marked the middle of the month.  The psychic’s warning to Julius Caesar, that he should beware the Ides, presaged his assassination on March 15 in 44 BCE in ancient Romes’ Theater of Pompey.  He was murdered by members of the ruling class who feared that he would turn Rome from a Republic into a monarchy. It didn’t work out for them. Augustus Caesar, Julius’ grandson became Rome’s first Emperor a generation later. Everything we think we know about that fateful day in mid-March is taken from the script by William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar, written many centuries later and made up in large part out of whole cloth.

Our observance includes what the patricians would have had available on the table for breakfast [plebians ate porridge]. Pears were popular in Rome, where they had choice of 40 different varieties! Bread was important in that era [‘Bread & Circuses’ came later].  Poultry was the most common meat, so we will use it in both meals.  And then there is Caesar Salad:  NOT named for the first Caesar of Rome, nor his followers, but for Cesare Cardini, a restauranteur in Tijuana, Mexico who invented it in the 1920s.

Roman Breakfast:  270 calories  3.5 g fat  4.2 g fiber   14.2 g protein  41 g carbs [– g Complex Carbs]   187 mg Calcium  PB  Though a bit unusual, this is a very good plate of breakfast, based on foods available to Romans in the 1^st century BCE.  It is satisfying and flavorful. 

++ 1 Pan Muffin [see ..Not by Bread.. Feb-7-’18]  ++++  1 oz pear  ++++  1 oz cooked chicken  ++++  1 oz radish  ++++ 1 oz cucumber   ++++  ½ medjool date, chopped ++++   optional:  blackish coffee or blackish tea ++++ optional:  5-6 oz green smoothie or fruit smoothie or unpasturized apple cider ++

Dice all the fruits and vegetables. Add a good finishing salt and gently stir to combine. HINT: I did this the night before and refrigerated the mixture. Prepare the pan muffin [the night before] or take from freezer with time to thaw/heat. In the time it takes to brew the coffee, you can plate the muffin and the fruit-veg mixture. Romans did not drink smoothies or coffee, but we will. Hope you’ll enjoy your throw-back breakfast.

Cesare Salad:  240 calories   9 g fat   3.9 g fiber   32.7 g protein  5.4 g carbs  106 mg Calcium GF   Straight out of the Fast Diet book, with quantities changed a teensy bit. Large portion, good flavor.

++ 2.5 slices Jones brand Canadian bacon  or what Canadians call ‘back bacon’  ++++  3 oz chicken breast, left over from a roast  ++++ 2.5 c chopped romaine or 2.5 c. mesclun  ++++  1 T grated Parmesan  ++++  salad dressing: 1 tsp olive oil + 1 tsp lemon juice  ++++ Mexican oregano [Cesare Salad, after all, is of Mexican origin, not from Roman rulers]  ++++ 3 oz tomatoes ++

Heat the bacon on a hot, ungreased griddle until it begins to brown. Remove and slice into strips. Cut chicken meat into strips or chunks, as you wish. Roughly chop or tear the romaine, if using. Whisk the oil and lemon juice in a salad bowl. Add the lettuce and toss to coat with the dressing. Plate the greens and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and oregano. Arrange the meat on top of the greens. What a big meal!

Ingredients for next week: breakfast, single portion

1 two-oz egg	10-Grain Cereal, Bob’s Red Mill
onion   +  feta cheese	pumpkin puree
canned whole tomatoes	maple syrup  +  cinnamon
orange or red bell pepper	raspberries   +  pecans
cayenne, paprika, cumin	ricotta cheese  +  nutmeg
Whatever you need for your smoothie	Whatever you need for your hot beverage
Whatever you need for your hot beverage	Whatever you need for your smoothie

Dinner, single portion:

sauerkraut	lima beans
canned kidney beans	corn kernels, canned or fresh
potato	green beans
garlic	canned white beans
smoked ham hock	corned beef
flour  +  oil
Sparkling water	Sparkling water