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.

Ulric was born in Kyburg [now in Switzerland] to a well-connected noble family in the year 890. He was ill as a child and was given [yes: literally given, as a gift] to a local religious house. There he was educated, proving himself to be an apt pupil. There he was also fed a diet of whole grains, vegetables, and no meat, which he thought were key to his improved health. Through family influence, Ulrich was appointed to be the Bishop of Augsburg, Bavaria [now part of Germany]. He saw his role as being a cheer-leader for the clergy, while setting an example of self-deprivation and poverty. Ulrich was also a builder of churches, repairing those damaged in wars and raising new ones so that the poor could attend more easily. His austerity was legendary: fasting often, sleeping but little, eschewing the trappings of a Prince of the Church. Ulrich’s icon is a fish. Once, while on a visit with a fellow cleric, the two men talked so far into the night that they did not eat the picnic meal that the other provided. They finally opened the basket the next day, a Friday — which was supposed to be meat-free. To their amazement, the meat [not to eat on Friday] which had been packed had turned into a fish [OK to eat on Friday]. Other legends about Ulric abound: a pregnant woman who drank from his chalice had an easy birth; earth from his grave deters mice; a touch of his staff cures rabies. At the battle of Lechfeld [near Augsburg] against the Magyars in 955, when Ulric rode unarmed into the battle to rally the troops, an angel handed him a cross which protected him. At the time of his death on July 4, 973, holy people were declared to be saints by popular opinion or by local bishops. Ulrich was the first to be named a saint by a pope, only 20 years after his death. NB: he was an ardent faster, but I do not recommend the levels to which he took it. Ulrich was dizzy and weak so frequently, that he is the Patron Saint of those with vertigo. No doubt, he should have eaten more.

For Saint Ulrich’s country of birth, a Swiss pancake breakfast. [Ulrich would have given the sausage to a poor person at his table, but you may eat it.] For dinner, a plate of fish — of course.

Cholermüs: 211 calories 14 g fat 4.3 g fiber 18 g protein 40 g carbs 380 mg Calcium  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage.  PB  A Swiss pancake topped with fruit is a wonderful breakfast. Can be prepared ahead for a quick and special morning meal.  NB: above food values are for a 35 calorie sausage. The photo shows a 60 calorie sausage. You decide.

Sv 1 = 1 pancake	6” nonstick skillet with lid**
1 two-oz egg pinch salt ¼ c fat-free milk ¼ c cottage cheese, 2%-fat 3 Tbsp white whole wheat flour 1 tsp maple syrup 1 tsp canola oil	Combine these with an electric mixer or food processor until smooth.
Smear of Butter cooking spray	Smear butter in skillet, spray with oil and heat pan to medium. Pour in batter, cover and cook until top sets. Flip and cook other side until lightly browned. The pancakes are fragile, so handle carefully.
½ c Strawberries ½ tsp butter 1 tsp maple syrup	Slice fruit and combine with other ingredients in a small pan. Heat over medium until fruit is cooked through. OR Microwave in a glass jar in short increments until berries are softened. OR Heat syrup and butter together. Put raw berries on the pancake and drizzle with syrup-butter
	Put one pancake on serving dish. Top with fruit.
1 chicken breakfast sausage mocha cafe au lait	Cook breakfast sausage [35-60 calories] to serve along side. Mocha cafe au lait is a perfect beverage

Pan-Fried Smelts: 276 calories 9 g fat 4 g fiber 33 g protein 14 g carb 120.6 mg Calcium  PB GF— if using GF bread  When Spring is near, the smelts swim up the rivers and into my frying pan!

5 oz smelts, trimmed & boned 1 egg white ½ slice 70-calorie whole-grain bread, ground to crumbs salt, pepper, thyme 1 tsp olive oil   your choice of sides to total 45-50 calories: 2 oz cooked beets OR ¼ cup pickled beets OR 2 oz broccoli OR 2 oz snow peas OR 2 oz green beans

Trim tails and fins from the fish and remove the backbones. Whisk the egg white until frothy. Mix the seasonings with the bread crumbs. Dip the fish in the egg whites, then in the bread crumbs. ‘Pan fry’ in oil in a non-stick skillet until lightly browned and cooked through. Prepare your vegetables and season to taste. Plate it all and enjoy the bounty of Spring. Looks and tastes like a lot of calories.