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.

What do Anton Dvorak, problems with your in-laws, and Good King Wenceslas all have in common? The answer is Saint Ludmila. Her complicated life is the subject of a Dvorak oratorio; she is the Patron Saint of those having trouble with family relation; and she was the grandmother of the Good King of the well-loved Christmas carol. Born circa 860, she and her husband [Duke of Bohemia] were early adopters of the Christian religion. But not so the rest of the country, nor their daughter-in-law. After her husband’s and son’s deaths, Ludmila helped with the education of her grandson Vaclav [Wenceslas]. Annoyed by Ludmilla’s teaching of Christianity, Drahomira, her aggrieved D-i-L, had her strangled to death. Ludmila was quickly canonized and her fame spread throughout the Slavic countries.

Naturally, today’s menu’s feature food favorites of Bohemia/Czech Republic. The yellow plums at breakfast are particularly loved by the Czechs, and meat stew is enjoyed all over central Europe.

Czech Breakfast: 233 calories 5 g fat 3.8 g fiber 11.7 g protein 37 g carbs [18 g complex] 65.6 mg Calcium  NB: The food values are for the meal and fruit only and do not include the optional coffee. I’m told that the majority of citizens of the Czech Republic eat this for breakfast daily. Join them: they are on to something!

1 or up to 1.6 g sourdough rye bread 1 oz sliced ham, 3% fat ½ oz Hermelin cheese, or substitute Camembert 2 yellow plums  Optional: frothy mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or blackish tea or lemon in hot water NB: No Smoothie

Whether you pile everything on the bread and eat it that way, or sample each item separatly, this is a hearty way to start the day. For those of you who start your daily eating at lunchtime, you should try this meal.

Gulyas: 283 calories 9.5 g fat 2.9 g fiber 40.4 g protein 8 g carbs [7.6 g Complex] 42.6 mg Calcium  GF This version of the Hungarian stew is from Craig Claiborne’s International Cookbook. HINT: The recipe makes 8 [eight] servings, so make it once and freeze in serving sizes.

2 pounds beef chuck [shoulder], cut in 1” cubes 1 Tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika 1 tsp olive oil 2 onions, chopped 2 Tbsp tomato paste 1 tsp salt + 1 tsp pepper 1.5 cups beef stock per serving: 1 oz green beans optional: ¼ oz egg noodles which add 27 calories 1 g fiber 2 g carbs [simple]

Heat the oven to 300 F. Toss the beef chunks with the paprika, salt, and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven [large, heavy, covered pot] and brown the beef in batches. Move the beef around in the pan to prevent it from sticking. Add non-stick spray as needed. Remove the beef to a plate. Add some water to the pan and saute the onions until they are transluscent. Return the beef to the pan and pour in 1.5 cups beef stock. Stir thoroughly, scraping brown bits off the bottom. Cover the pot and cook in the oven for 2-3 hours. Every hour, check the pot and stir, adding more water as needed. Taste for salt at the end. Divide into 8 portions, reserving the remainder for future meals. TIP: Freezes very well. Plate with the green beans and optional noodles.