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.

In 1666, residents of London, England must surely have thought that they were the victims of God’s wrath. In 1665, the Black Death came to call. And on 2 September 1666, a fire got out of control at the King’s bakery in Pudding Lane. Fires were common then, but extremely dry conditions, high air temperatures, many wooden houses, and a strong East wind combined to create a conflagration that no one could subdue. Fire brigades, aided by King Charles II himself, poured buckets of water on the flames. Buildings were pulled down in hopes of stopping the fire’s advance. Nothing worked. The public panicked, fleeing to the River Thames for relief from the heat and escape from the city. Dynamite leveled whole neighborhoods — causing fears of a French invasion — but the flames were undeterred. On 6 September, the fire was put out and the damage was surveyed. Huge swaths of the city were destroyed, along with the original Saint Paul’s Cathedral and 89 parish churches. Most of the civic buildings were leveled and 13,000 private dwellings were gone. Tens of thousands were homeless, living in refugee camps outside the city. Astonishingly, only 6 deaths were reported. In a way, the fire ‘cleansed’ the old city [of rats that carried the Plague; of tiny lanes filthy with poor sanitation], an opportunity for a more modern metropolis. Sir Christopher Wren drew up a plan for new city streets, but it was never implemented. He designed a new St Paul’s Cathedral and 57 replacement churches. His St Paul’s still stands, despite Nazi bombings during the Blitz — a symbol of resilience and refusal to give in to pressure. Does it seem that history repeats itself? In 2023, we have had three years of a newer ‘plague,’ hot, dry weather has fanned fires from Maui to Maiorca, and disaster refugees are homeless all over the world. Wrath of God? Or a ‘message’ telling us that the climate has changed drastically and that we must take active steps to prevent further loss. Resilience is a good thing when it spurs us to do what is necessary.

Our breakfast is not of that era, but it is as typically English as Wren’s cathedral. In the same decade of the Great Fire, the East India Company was begun, ‘negotiating’ trade routes and deals [at gunpoint, often], to bring the Spices of the East to the English table. Our dinner is made possible by that trade.

Improper English with Egg: 127 calories 3 g fat 3 g fiber 10 g protein 16.6 g carbs 42.5 mg Calcium  NB: The food values given above are for the plated foods only, not the optional beverages.  PB GF  The ‘proper English breakfast’ is a meal of generous proportions: several meats, eggs, mushrooms, toast, kippers, tomatoes, baked beans, plus whatever else the host cares to add. This is not a meal for a Fast Day. But wait! By taking the healthiest elements and scaling down the amounts, we can achieve all the flavor along with more balanced nutrition.

½ cup baked beans ½ hard-boiled egg 2½ oz tomato, sliced thickly pinch grated Parmesan cheese 1 slice ‘Canadian’ bacon  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]   Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Warm the beans. Place the tomato and bacon in a broiler-safe dish. Sprinkle the tomato with salt and Parmesan cheese. Broil until warm and cooked. Peel, slice, and plate the egg half along with the other elements. Proper delicious, that is.

Kedgeree: 250 calories 6 g fat 2 g fiber 22 g protein 26 g carbs 101 mg Calcium   PB GF This Anglo-Indian fusion dish is flavorful and quickly prepared. HINT: This recipe serves two [2] people.

3 oz smoked haddock [aka: finnen haddie]   ½ cup milk  1 bay leaf  ¼ cup chopped onion	Put smoked haddock, milk, bay leaf, and onion in a small pan with a lid. Simmer 10 minutes. Remove fish from milk, skin it, and pull apart into large shreds. Strain milk and put it back in the sauce pan.
2/3 cup cooked brown rice*  1/5 tsp curry powder  ½ tsp turmeric	Add rice and spices and shredded fish to milk in the pan, and put on low heat, covered.[* brown rice is preferred as it has more nutrition]
5 oz asparagus cut into 1½” pieces	Cook separately until just tender. Add to the rice/fish.
2 hardboiled eggs	Peel + cut each into 8 pieces. Strew atop each serving.