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.

In the the late 1800s, everyone who traveled knew Baedeker — if not who he was, then what it was. Karl Baedeker was born in 1801 in Germany. His family were printers and ran bookshops. Son Karl, fluent in many languages, saw a need to specialize in a certain type of book: guides for the far-flung voyager. His was not the first such book, but Baedeker’s guides came along at the right time. In 1832, when he bought out another printer and his line of travel books, Europe was peace, and people had begun to travel again. Baedeker expanded the existing guide to the Rhine River, telling you not only what to see, but where to stay and what to stay away from. He had been to the places which he described, so he knew his subject. More guidebooks followed, covering Holland and Belgium. The idea of including tour routes was ‘borrowed’ from an English rival, but Baedeker had innovations of his own: descriptions of foreign customs, recommendations on tipping [which he hated], first aid tips, and useful local vocabulary. By the time of his death in 1859, the series of small red-covered books included one for Paris. With a new line of books translated into English, the guides were embraced by Britons. Karl Baedeker’s sons continued the business, and expanded the territory. By 1908, the name Baedeker was synonymous with travel. In E.M. Forster’s A Room With A View, poor Miss Lucy Honeychurch‘s visit to the Santa Croce in Firenze is ruined because she does not have her Baedeker and thus does not know ‘what to see’ at the church. Baedeker’s books went out of fashion after two wars with Germans, but Karl Baedeker paved the way for Lonely Planet and the Guide Michelin. Much better than anything on-line travel sites have to say.

For the patriotic Karl Baedeker, a breakfast from his homeland — even though Germany was not a unified nation during his lifetime. For dinner, a meal in honor of Lucy Honeychurch’s eye-opening trip to Italy — without a Baedeker.

German Breakfast: 136 calories 3 g fat 4.4 g fiber 9 g protein 15 g carbs 104.4 mg Calcium PB GF — if using GF bread Sturdy whole-grain bread, some curd cheese with chives and a slice of ham will get you going in the morning, just as it does for the Germans.

1 slice 70-calorie whole-grain bread [we like Dave’s ‘Good Seed’] 2 Tbsp Quark/Fromage Blanc OR small-curd cottage cheese, reduced fat 1 oz pear 1-2 Tbsp chopped chives ½ oz slice of 3%-fat ham from the deli, thinly-sliced    Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [85 calories]  Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Toast bread lightly. Stir chives into cheese, and spread on the bread. Plate with ham and fruit.

Spinach or Swiss Chard Fritatta:  284 calories 12.5 g fat 4 g fiber 18.5 g protein 24 g carbs 166 mg Calcium  PB GF Susan Herrmann Loomis is the source of this recipe, which also can be a wonderful breakfast, scaled down to serve two. HINT: Serves 2 as a main course. Could serve 4-6 as an appetizer.

3 oz swiss chard or fresh spinach 1/3 tsp olive oil 8 oz eggs = 4 two-oz eggs in their shells 3 pinches granulated garlic + 3 pinches salt + large pinch paprika 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese ¼ cup pickled beets  1 oz 7-grain sour-dough bread, or something similarly hearty

Clean the chard by holding the leaf and pulling off the stem. Chop the leaves. Put olive oil in an oven-proof pan that can also be used on the stove-top. Turn on the broiler and move the upper oven rack to the top. Cook the chopped leaves in the oil until the leaves are limp, adding water as necessary to prevent sticking. Be sure to cook off the water/liquid in the pan. Spray the pan and its contents with non-stick spray. Stir and distribute the cooked chard evenly in the pan. Combine the eggs, cheese and seasonings. Whisk well and pour over the chard in the pan. Cook over medium heat until the bottom is well set, 4-5 minutes. Put under the broiler until the top is cooked. Serve from the pan or slide the fritatta out onto a serving plate, along with the toasted bread and the vegetables.

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

1.5 two-oz eggs = US large + 3%-fat ham	four heart-shaped waffle sections, 2×3″
bing cherries + leek or scallion	non-fat vanilla yogurt
garlic + mushrooms	almond flour/ almond meal
chicken liver pate OR chicken liver	clementine + blueberries
optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

basil leaves + olive oil + red pepper flakes + garlic	slivered almonds + celery + carrots + lettuce
canned crushed tomatoes + 2%-fat cottage cheese	sesame seeds + rice wine vinegar + kale
egg + plain breadcrumbs + Pecorino-Romano	bulk bratwurst sausage + brown rice
parsley + zucchini + tomato paste + side salad	Go-chu-jang sauce + soy sauce  + mint leaves
Sparkling water	Sparkling water