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.  Simple way to lose weight and be healthier.                                                                               Welcome to uptightprettygirl who is now Following.

The book series that I have re-read most is The Lord of The Rings by JRR Tolkien.  He creates memorable characters; a unique and believable world; complex languages for different groups of people; and a satisfying story which makes you want to visit it again. A Quest, a Coming-of-Age plot, Star-Crossed Lovers, Overcoming Evil — these books have it all.   March 25 is the day the One Ring was destroyed: the end of evil times and the start of an era when goodness reigned.  In our house, we celebrate LotR day with special foods.  Oddly, although the principal characters are food-loving Hobbits and feasting Dwarves, the author seldom names the foods that are eaten.  Out of the 5 or so instances that ingredients are mentioned, I have crafted two meals. One is eaten at the home of the magical Tom Bombadil and his marvelous wife Goldberry.  The other is based on Hobbits’ enjoyment of mushrooms and rabbit.  We can eat with the Hobbits but not like the Hobbits — they gain weight as adults and being tubby is a bit of a plot-line. We don’t have to be plump, chubby, or stout.  We can Fast.

Bombadil’s Breakfast:   146 calories  5 g fat   2.5 g fiber  10.5 g protein  15.3 g carbs [8.3 g Complex]   312 mg Calcium  NB: the food values given are for the plated items only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF V When Tom Bombadil served his guests breakfast, it consisted of plants, fruit and dairy of his own collection or production. The plants should be watercress [since his wife Goldberry was the River-Man’s daughter] and the fruit shall be Golden Berries [aka Peruvian Ground Cherries], again in a nod to his wife.

½ oz Camembert cheese                                                                                                                ½ cup watercress leaves or microgreens                                                                                                    ½ cup plain yogurt                                                                                                                         ½ tsp honey                                                                                                                                                      1 oz Golden Berries  [aka: Peruvian Ground Cherries]  OR blueberries                                                              edible flowers [violets, chives, nastursium, or others]                                                                     Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or lemon in hot water                       Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [88 calories]

Warm the honey and stir it into the yogurt. Plate the items to your taste and enjoy a magical breakfast in The Old Forest. Wear a blue jacket and yellow hat.

Rabbit Pie: 275 calories   6.6 g fat   4.6 g fiber   25.6 g protein   27.5 g carbs [15 g Complex] 77 mg Calcium  PB  Rabbit is a common meat in recipes the world over. It is high in protein and low in fat. And yes, it does taste like chicken. You could substitute.

2 oz mushrooms                                                                                                                               4 oz chicken stock                                                                                                                             2 tsp potato starch                                                                                                                         0.55 oz [1 slice] ham from the deli                                                                                                    3 oz rabbit meat                                                                                                                                     ¼ cup onions, chopped                                                                                                                   big pinch dried thyme + big pinch savory + salt + pepper                                                                    ½ Arnold Multi-Grain Sandwich Thin OR a 4” circle cut from whole-grain bread                                     1.5 oz carrots                                                                                                                                               If the rabbit is uncooked: Cut it into bite-sized pieces and quickly cook in a saute pan which has been spritzed with non-stick spray. Remove the meat. Chop and cook the mushrooms in non-stick spray, but do not evaporate all of the liquid they give off. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside. Add the onions and the stock to the pan along with the mushroom juices and ¼ cup water. Simmer to cook the onions. Whisk in the potato starch and the seasonings. Continue to whisk over heat until the potato starch is dissolved. Cook at a simmer until the liquid measures ¼ cup and is thickened. Add the rabbit meat, ham, and the mushrooms. Simmer for a few minutes and taste for seasonings. Pour and scrape into an oven-proof dish. Top with the Sandwich Thin. Bake at 350° F for15 minutes. Cook the carrots. Plate the meal by first putting the Sandwich Thin on the plate, then covering it with the rabbit-mushroom mixture. Pour any extra liquid so that it is soaked up by the bread. Plate the carrots to complete the meal.