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.

On August 20, 1858, Charles Darwin woke up to a day that was going to bring the world down around his ears. As a 22-year old, he had been the naturalist on the research vessel Beagle in her circumnavigation voyage. What he saw opened his eyes and mind to new possibilities about the variety of life on Earth. He became famous for his journals from the trip, since they formed an exotic travelogue for early Victorians. Very quaint. But now, after 30 years of dithering, his article was going to be published in the Journal of Proceedings of the Linnean Society. A letter from Alfred Russell Wallace, another amateur naturalist who was working on the Malay Peninsula, had shocked Darwin into action: Wallace had developed the same ideas and was going to publish them. What ideas were those? That all the species of plants, animals — all life on Earth — had achieved their characteristics slowly, over time, through a process Darwin called “Natural Selection.” He could not explain how that worked, except that it was similar to how hobbyists bred varieties of dogs and pigeons to look very different from each other. After the publication of “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection“, and the full book in 1859, the world of science was never the same.

On that August morning, Darwin probably ate a normal breakfast [unless his stress-induced digestive problems prevented it], and might have enjoyed kippers, perhaps with Yorkshire Pudding. The dinner honors Wallace, who’s name was listed as co-author on Darwin’s paper, who was probably eating food very much like Pork Pad Thai in his research area. By the way, when Fasting, a selection of natural foods [as opposed to processed foods] is always preferable. Make your own natural selections when shopping.

Kippered Yorkshire Pudding:  226 calories 5 g fat 5.8 g fiber 11 protein 33.5 g carbs [26 g Complex] 102 mg Calcium  HINT: This is enough for 2 [two] servings. Nothing says Yorkshire like the iconic pudding and kippers. This is a meal to eat at home or to take on the road.

1 oz kippered herring ½ cup 1% milk one 2-oz egg ½ cup white whole wheat flour [or all-purpose, for lower protein and fiber] ½ tsp dry mustard ¼ tsp salt 3 oz pear   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]

Soak the kippered herring in water for 30 minutes. Drain and mince. [If the herring is still quite firm, soak it longer.] Whisk the milk, flour, egg, mustard and salt until combined, but do not over-mix. Spray a 7” pie plate with cooking-spray and sprinkle in some kippers. Carefully pour in the Yorkshire Pudding batter, then sprinkle with the remaining kippers. Bake at 400 F for 15-20 minutes, until puffed and golden. Cut into 4 pieces. Plate two pieces per person along with the pear. What a flavor combination!

Pork Pad Thai:  265 calories 7.3 g fat 4.7 g fiber 20 g protein 28 g carbs 94.4 mg Calcium  PB GF  This is our son’s recipe, with a few tweeks by me to make it fit our calorie requirements. HINT: This makes enough for 2 [two] servings. Share with a friend or pack it up for a later lunch or dinner.

1 oz Asian noodles [I used buckwheat soba noodles] ½ tsp oil + 2-3 Tbsp water ½ cup onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2 cups sliced cabbage 1 cup mung bean sprouts or chopped celery 2 oz scallions [about 3], slice in 1” pieces 3 oz lean pork, cooked or raw, sliced into thin pieces about 1” square 6 oz sugar snap peas, cut in half cross-wise one 2-oz egg 2 Tbsp Thai fish sauce pinch hot pepper flakes + 1 tsp sugar

Heat a wok or large cast iron pan. Stir-fry all the vegetables in the oil and 3 Tbsp water for 3 minutes, adding more water if the vegetables ever stop sizzling in the pan. Boil the noodles according to package directions, drain, rinse, and set aside.  If using raw meat, add to cooking vegetables after 2 minutes. Add the raw egg to the pan of vegetables and scramble it in.  If using cooked pork, add it now. Stir the noodles into the wok and combine with other ingredients over the heat. Mix well as you add the fish sauce, the sugar, and red pepper flakes. Pass the Sriracha for added kick.

Ingredients for next week: Breakfast, single portion for Monday ……… single portion for Thursday:

1 two-oz egg + watermelon	1 two-oz egg + blueberries
4″-diameter thin ham slice	white whole wheat flour
red bell pepper	yellow cornmeal + strawberries
fresh polenta + Sriracha	fat-free French Vanilla yogurt
Optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

Dinner, single portion for Monday: ……………………… single portion for Thursday:

chicken breast + cilantro	100-calorie hot dog + tomato
part-skim ricotta + sugar snap peas	hard-boiled egg + yellow mustard
Swedish cucumber salad + Sriracha	4-Bean Salad
cherry tomatoes + Finn Crisp	Parmesan cheese
Sparkling water	Sparkling water