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 WeightLossNearMe who is now Following.                                  

Locations where the tides of history throw divers cultures together are fascinating to me.  Goa is on the West coast of India. If ever there were a place where “East meets West,” this could be it.  Petroglyphs and stone tools show that people were living there at least 10,000 years ago.  By 1400 BCE,  immigrants had arrived from Africa, Australia, and Southern India.  Then came the Buddhists, bringing their Nepalese religion and cultural ways. Many Buddhists are vegetarian/vegan, but the Goan Buddhists were not due to their contact with the Saraswat Brahmins from Northern India.  In the heyday of the Greek and Roman Empires, their ships would stop in Goa to take on food and water.  And in 1510, the Portuguese arrived, making Goa a territory of Portugal until 1961.  The languages, the religions, the culinary traditions of many peoples swirl in the daily life of Goans. Perhaps because of the well-stirred melting pot, the Hindu majority lives in harmony with the minority Christians, and Muslims.  In some instances, the same foods are prepared one way by the Catholic population, and another way by the Hindu population — but they all agree on the rich spices and flavors of one of India’s smallest provinces.  Goa is an unusual little slice of the Indian mosaic. ‘Visitors’ have been arriving for centuries and they still visit today.                                                                                                                          Due to the coastline and the influences of the “spices of Indies and the East” which lured the Portuguese, breakfast will include shrimp and mixed spices.  Dinner will be that most cross-cultural dish: pork vindaloo. 

Goan Scramble: 150 calories    7.6 g fat   1 g fiber   10.4 g protein   10 g carbs [7 g Complex]   57 mg Calcium NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.   PB GF The mixture of spices and spicy foods called Cafreal Masala is typical of Goan cuisine. It really delivers a punch to these eggs!

1 ½ two-oz eggs HINT: If you are serving one person, crack three 2-oz eggs into a small bowl                       or glass measuring cup. Whip up those eggs, pour half of their volume into                                                  a jar with a lid, and put it in the ‘fridge for next week.                                                                                                      1.5 tsp cafreal masala [see recipe on above website]                                         ½ oz shrimp, cooked and chopped                                                                           1.5 oz mango                                                                                                                                                             Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or lemon in hot water                                                        Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Whisk the eggs and pour into a hot pan that has been spritzed with non-stick spray. Sprinkle the shrimp on top. Drizzle the masala paste onto the eggs and swirl it into the eggs as they cook, sort of like putting the chocolate into marble cake batter. Plate with the mango and serve with your choice of optional beverages.

Vindaloo Pork & Mushrooms: 250 calories 7.2 g fat 5 g fiber 21 g protein 15 g Carbs [10 g Complex] 52.5 mg Calcium  PB GF From southern India comes the complex flavor of vindaloo. You can substitute turkey for the pork or eliminate the meat and use extra mushrooms for a meatless meal. 

¾ Tbsp vindaloo seasonings 1 clove garlic ¼ tsp ground ginger 1 tsp canola oil 1/3 cup [~1.25 oz] onion 1.5 Tbsp cider vinegar ¼ tsp sugar 2.5 oz pork OR turkey, cut in matchsticks 100 g [3.5 oz] mushrooms 1.5 oz broccoli ¼ cup brown rice or couscous

Mince the garlic and add the vindaloo spices and the ginger. Stir in vinegar and toss the meat with this marinade. Let sit for 30-60 minutes. Saute the onions in the oil until beginning to brown, adding water if necessary to prevent sticking. Add the meat and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the broccoli and cook further for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sugar and cook for one minute more. Serve with the couscous or brown rice.