How this Fast Diet Lifestyle works: Eat these meals tomorrow. On Monday, eat the 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.                                                                                                                                  Welcome to Yummy-ciouss who is now Following.

Have you ever heard of Charles Babbage ? NO?!? The fact that you are reading this on a computer should give you a clue… On June 21, 1822, Babbage proposed his Analytical Engine, Difference Machine II which eventually lead to the development of modern computers.  The inspiration for his machine came from a weaving loom developed in France in 1804 by Joseph Marie Jacquard.  The loom required cards with holes punched in certain locations to “program” where the threads would cross over or under. So Babbage designed a machine with ‘punch cards‘ [those of us of a certain age will remember those with distaste].  It was not actually built until 1991.  If you watch the video about the Analytical Engine, you might see a similarity to the machine in the film The Imitation Game about WW2 code-breakers. Interesting coincidence: Babbage was also a code-breaker.

When dieting, there are several numbers that are worth computing. Using the calculations below, you can tell if your weight is in the ‘normal’ range, and how many calories to eat each non-Fasting day to achieve the weight you want to be.

Fun Fact: There are 3500 calories in one pound of fat. But I’ve read that you need to burn 7000 calories to lose one pound.  What do we need to know to do that? Read on:

BMI =  Body Mass Index, according to the NIH, is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adult men and women.  This is a rough way to calculate if you are obese, over weight, or normal weight. It works less well for people with a lot of muscle [athletes or body builders] and those with less muscle [older people with sarcopenia]. To Calculate: divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches squared; then multiply the result by a conversion factor of 703.                                                 The formula is: BMI = weight in pounds / [height in inches x height in inches] x 703.

BMR = Basal Metabolic Rate which says how many calories your body uses up by simply existing.  When you sleep or sit down to read, you are still burning calories, and that is what this measures.                                                                                                                                To calculate it for males: BMR = (height in centimeters x 6.25) + (weight in kilograms x 9.99) minus (age x 4.92) + 5.                                                                                                                    For females: BMR = (height in centimeters x 6.25) + (weight in kilograms x 9.99) – (age x 4.92) minus 161.                                                                                                                                        Do the calculation twice: once using the WEIGHT YOU ARE and once using the WEIGHT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE.

TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure  This looks at how much energy your body uses [BMR] and your physical activity level [PAL] to calculate how many calories per day you could eat in order to lose weight. It is better to be conservative in your activity level.  For weight loss, use the BMR number based on the WEIGHT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE.

My TDEE = 1450 calories for Slow Days [our droll little name for Non-Fast Days]                     Do I ever exceed that? Sure I do! Holidays, birthdays, other celebrations. But then there will be a Fast Day to correct for it.  Do I obsessively count calories every day? No. By now I pretty much know what and how to eat to stay on track: wholesome, home-made, locally-sourced, real food in sensible portions.

Ingredients for next week: breakfast, single portion

Dinner, single portion: