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. Welcome to ______ who is now Following.

As explained by the World Health Organization, “Typhoid fever is a life-threatening infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi. It is usually spread through contaminated food or water. Once Salmonella typhi bacteria are eaten or drunk, they multiply and spread into the bloodstream. Symptoms include prolonged high fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, abdominal pain, and constipation or diarrhoea. Some patients may have a rash. Severe cases may lead to serious complications or even death.” NB: Typhoid fever is not the same as Typhus fever. In the past, Typhoid was a recurrent problem throughout the world, causing the Plague of Athens in 430 BC, and the deaths of Abigail Adams, Lord Byron, Willie Lincoln [son of President Lincoln], Mao Ze Dung’s father, Theodore Roosevelt’s mother, and the Wright Brothers. The bacillus was identified by 1880, and the cause of the infection was known to be contamination of food or water by human feces. One of the worst outbreaks in the United States was traced to one person: Mary Mallon. Born in Ireland, she immigrated to New York City where she hired out as a housekeeper and cook. Mary loved to cook — good, plain home cooking and her specialty was peach ice cream. In 1906, she was hired to cook for the wealthy Warren family at their summer rental on Long Island. During those two weeks, six of the 11 members of the household came down with Typhoid Fever. Mr Warren hired George Sober, a sanitary engineer, to figure out why [Typhoid was most common among the poorer classes, not often seen in the wealthy]. At first, the culprit was thought to be fresh clams from the bay, but not everyone had eaten them. Sober then noticed that Mary showed symptoms of a mild case of Typhoid, though not enough to make her sick. He wrote a scientific paper identifying her as an ‘asymptomatic carrier‘ — a new term to medicine, meaning someone who can transmit a disease yet who shows no ill effects of it. Mary Mallon continued to be hired by families to cook for them, and in 1907, 3000 people came down with Typhoid, mostly due to Mary — directly or indirectly. At play here was a lack of personal hygiene [washing hands after using the toilet] and a lack of culinary sanitation [washing fresh fruits and vegetables before eating]. Mallon was sent to a hospital at North Brother Island, where she was kept for two years. Released on the promise that she would not cook professionally again, Mary changed her name and got a job as a cook. She was re-arrested on 27 March, 1915, and spent the last 23 years of her life in confinement, all the while denying that she carried the disease. Her name became a punchline and a cautionary tale. When I was a child, my mother would never let us cut open an apple or a melon without washing it first: “Remember Typhoid Mary,” she cautioned. To this day, all fresh produce that might have been handled by other people is washed in our kitchen before using. Although Mary Mellon died in 1938, she cast a long shadow on public health.

Our meals today require fresh, uncooked vegetables — the sort you must thoroughly wash before using, after you have thoroughly washed your hands.

Breakfast BLT w/ Egg: 180 calories 8 g fat 4 g fiber 10 g protein 15 g carbs 50 mg Calcium  NB: The food values are for the meal and fruit only and do not include the optional coffee.  PB GF – if using GF bread  A Summer evening favorite is the inspiration for this filling breakfast.

1 slice 70-calorie whole-grain bread [Dave’s Killer Thin-Sliced Bread is great]   one 2-oz egg, hardboiled 1 strip uncured bacon [the streaky American type @ 30 calories/slice] 1 oz tomato, sliced leaf of romaine lettuce 3 cherries   Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]

Cook the bacon and drain well. Toast bread if you wish. Slice egg and tomato. Lay the lettuce leaf on the plate and position the bread so that it covers half of the leaf. Break bacon so that it will fit within the edges of the bread and put it as the first layer. Top with tomato and a bit of salt. Top with sliced egg. Fold the letuce leaf so it comes up and over, becoming the top layer of the sandwich. Plate with the fruit. Ummmm-yummmm.

Springtime Shrimp Salad: 292 calories 16.5 g fat 4 g fiber 23.6g protein 21.5 g carbs 130 mg Calcium  PB GF This is a delightful meal-salad, with clementines from Winter joining asparagus from Spring.

2 cups mesclun/baby greens 2.5 oz tiny shrimp 8 sections clementine 2 oz asparagus, cooked and cut into 1” pieces ¾ oz mango chunks 1 two-oz hardboiled egg   dressing: 2 tsp mayonnaise 1 tsp Sriracha pinch garlic powder 2 tsp lemon juice

Poach shrimp, drain, cool. Slice or chop the egg. Whisk the dressing ingredients. Toss with greens in the serving bowl. Decorate with shrimp, asparagus, mango, clementine, egg.