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.

Let’s talk about plumbing: the industry that has grown up around the bathroom and your plumbing. In ancient Greece, ‘using the toilet’ was a public event. There were stone benches with 7 or 8 holes spaced along its length. Underneath the bench, a rivulet of water in a trench carried away the waste. People of the Minoan civilization on the Island of Crete had invented the flush toilet around 2000 BCE, but that relied on water flowing from higher up hill, not feasible in flatter landscapes. Romans used the Greek system of benches-and-trenches, as one can see at Roman forts around the old empire. Most people used a simpler method: a hole in the ground, with a log across it to sit upon. [Boy Scouts use this system when they set up camp.] ‘Indoor plumbing’ consisted of chamber pots, which were then dumped in the street. Towns and cities had streams of sewage running down the middle of streets well into the 1800s. The Industrial Revolution brought lots of people into close quarters in cities, often with many families sharing one latrine. Communal wells were sometimes contaminated with human feces, leading to outbreaks of typhoid fever and cholera. Eventually, in the 1800s, cities like Paris developed sewage systems. But still there were not many indoor toilets. Thomas Crapper, an ambitious English plumber, began to change things. His innovations include the trap under the sink or toilet to prevent sewage smells from coming into the house; the man-hole cover; improvements to the ball-cock that regulates water in the tank; and, best of all, the design show-room which made people want to upgrade the facilities. He did NOT invent the flush toilet. When Yanks went to England for WWI, with the word ‘c**p’ in their vocabulary. They thought it hilarious that toilets were labeled “T. Crapper” for the company that made them. Thus, calling a toilet ‘the crapper’ came into the parlance, and real indoor plumbing came into vogue.

Many people who start a diet eliminate fiber in the diet and that makes it difficult for them to eliminate waste. [yes, that was a play on words] In the Fast Diet, a well-balanced diet is encouraged. January 27 is the anniversary of Thomas Crapper’s death in 1910. We will put fiber in our diet with broccoli in the breakfast and whole-wheat dough for our pizza at dinner. The Mayo Clinic says that women should have at least 21 grams of fiber daily, and men should have at least 30 grams.

Korma-Broccoli Bake: 130 calories 8 g fat 4 g fiber 8 g protein 9 g carbs 62.5 mg Calcium   NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages.  PG GF   The combination of curry and vegetables is terrific in eggs. See if you agree. 

One 2-oz egg 1 oz cooked broccoli ½ oz korma sauce [52 calories/ounce] 2 oz strawberries

Chop the cooked broccoli and place in an oven-proof dish which has been spritzed with non-stick spray. Whisk the curry sauce with the eggs and pour over the brocccoli. Bake at 350F for 12-15 minutes. Plate with the fruit and have a great day.

Cep Pizza:  274 calories 6.4 g fat 7 g fiber 10 g protein 42 g carbs 109 mg Calcium   PB  Pizza on a Fast Day?? With a real crust?!? Yes. And it is made with delicious cep mushrooms with dried ham and Parmesan for a feast of rich flavors.  HINT: This one 8” pizza serves 2 [two] people.

6-oz whole wheat pizza crust, at room temperature 1 oz cep/porcini mushroom, chopped ½ oz cooked spinach, chopped 3 Tbsp/1/5 fl oz crushed tomatoes 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped 1/3 oz proscuitto, chopped 4 tsp grated Parmesan   per person: one side salad with beets and cucumbers 

Heat the oven to 490F. Have one rack in the middle and one rack at the bottom position in the oven. Brush a baking sheet with enough olive oil to cover an area 8 inches in diameter. Press and stretch the pizza dough into an 8” round on the oiled baking sheet. If the dough won’t cooperate, let it rest for 2 minutes. Combine the spinach, tomatoes, and parsley, and spread the mixture on the pizza crust. Top that with the chopped mushrooms and meat, then sprinkle with Parmesan. Place the pizza on the baking sheet in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Time to prepare the salad. Now open the oven and see if you can lift the pizza off the pan with a turner. If the pizza is too floppy, return it to the oven for another minute or so. When the pizza is baked enough not to be floppy, take it off the baking sheet and put it on the lower rack, with no pan at all.  Continue to bake another 3 minutes, until the top begins to bubble. Remove the pizza to a rack to cool and ‘out-gas.’ It must be on a rack, not the cutting board or counter or plate. Remove the pizza to a cutting board and cut into 6 pieces. On each of two plates, place the salad and 3 pieces of pizza. A bit of Pizza Heaven on a Fast Day.

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

1 two-oz egg	1 two-oz egg + plain fat-free yogurt
green bell pepper	dill weed + garlic + paprika
catsup	gozlema bread: white whole wheat flour
onion	plain fat-free yogurt
Optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

half of a trout per serving	olive oil + onion + garlic + ground lamb
butter	tomato puree + gr. coriander + paprika + gr. cumin
hazelnuts/filberts	fresh spinach + mint leaves + scallion + parsley
haricots or green beans	feta cheese + tomato + olives + gozlema bread
Sparkling water	Sparkling water