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: a simple way to lose weight and be healthier.

Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31 in 1927. He was raised in a Spanish-speaking household and his education was marginal — he attended 37 schools before leaving after 8th grade. What he learned early on was that people like him were not treated fairly. His father was cheated out of the house and land where they had lived in Arizona. For a few years, the family traveled between California and Arizona, eventually becoming migrant workers up and down the coast and interior of central California. Cesar worked to contribute to his parents’ welfare, but he saw that the entire migrant worker community needed to be lifted up. In 1962, he founded the United Farm Workers [UFW] to gain more rights for agricultural employees. As a union, there could be collective bargaining and collective power to force change. Chavez loved learning and read widely as an adult for he realized that through education poor children could better themselves. He adopted the non-violent methods of Ghandi and the Civil Rights Movement, fasting and leading marches, to gain rights, higher pay, and safer working conditions for his union’s members. March 31st is Cesar Chavez Day. Celebrate by realizing how much the labor of farm workers matters to your everyday life. Think about where your food comes from and how it is produced.

Our meals for Cesar Chavez’ birthday contain fruits and vegetables from California — but no grapes. In 1965, a strike was begun by grape pickers in Delano, California. Five years later, Chavez and the UFW won a union contract for the workers after a successful national boycott against the grape growers.

Tostada w/ Avocado: 133 calories 5 g fat 3.6 g fiber 3 g protein 16.6 g carbs 14 mg Calcium  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage.  PB GF  For a quick, easy breakfast, this one can’t be beat. Be sure to pair it with a protein-rich dinner.

One 70-calorie yellow cornmeal tortilla 1 oz avocado, mashed 2 Tbsp chili non carne  optional: 1 oz pear or apple  Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie  [88 calories] Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]

Briefly warm the tortilla in a heavy skillet without any fat or oil. Warm the chili. Spread the tortilla with the mashed avocado, then top with chili.  Served with the fruit: 16 g calories 0 g fat 1 g fiber 0 g protein 4.4 g carbs 2.6 mg Calcium

Strawberry-Chicken Salad: 231 calories 8 g fat 5 g fiber 23 g protein 16 g carbs 110 mg Calcium  PB GF  Sometimes you go through the recipe drawer and look at all the clippings and photocopies, and wonder, “Where did these come from?” This is one of those recipes, but I think it might be from Eating Well. It is as delicious to eat as it is lovely to look at.

3 oz [¾ cup] cubed cooked chicken breast ½ cup sliced strawberries ¼ cup kiwi, peeled and sliced 1.5 cups fresh spinach 1 Tbsp slivered almonds, toasted 1.5 tsp poppy seed dressing*** OR a red wine vinegar dressing with poppy seeds + a pinch of dried mustard

***Poppy Seed Dressing – 2 tsp red wine vinegar 1 Tbsp olive oil pinch salt ½ tsp dried mustard 1 tsp poppy seeds Whisk together vigorously.

Toss 1½ tsp of dressing with the spinach. Toast the almonds in a heavy dry skillet on the stove-top until just starting to brown. Plate the greens and arrange the chicken and fruit on top. Sprinkle with the nuts. A real hit every time it is served.

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

Bob’s Red Mill 10-grain cereal	farro
maple syrup	pear
applesauce	honey
nutmeg + cinnamon
Optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

4-oz salmon fillet	cooked chicken breast + mint + oregano
maple syrup	salad greens + garbanzo or small white beans
soy sauce + yellow sriracha	tomato or cucumber + black olives + parsley
asparagus	feta cheese + lemon juice + olive oil
Sparkling water	Sparkling water