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.

Do you think that the natural world “as a community to which we belong”? Those are the words of Aldo Leopold, the father of wildlife ecology in the US. Born on January 11, 1887, and raised in Iowa, Aldo loved nature from the start. He observed, journaled, and sketched his environment throughout childhood. Leopold was graduated from Yale’s Forest School in 1909, and became an enthusiastic leader of the US Forest Service in the South West. There he established the first official wilderness area, Gila National Forest. A transfer to Wisconsin opened up new opportunities. He became the first ever Chair of Wildlife Management at University of Wisconsin. His family bought a run-down farm, the land exhausted and the buildings in ruin. Over many years, they revived the land by planting native species while living in “The Shack.” This became the inspiration for Leopold’s idea of the Land Ethic: living in harmony with nature and ethically co-existing with the natural world. A series of his essays were accepted for publication in 1948, and one week later, he died. But the work was published as A Sand County Almanac, considered one of the most important books for explaining the importance of nature to human life. He was right, you know. Humans are part of nature, not separate from it. What we do as individuals affects the entire natural world, right down to how you eat. Think about living ethically with the land, no matter where you live.

Ham and corn are popular products of Iowa, so we will start there for breakfast. A salad with pork and hard-boiled eggs is as close to the ground as it gets. Get a copy of A Sand County Almanac to peruse between meals.

Ham-Cup Egg with Corn: 140 calories  6.5 g fat 1.5 g fiber 10 g protein 11 g carbs  37 mg Calcium   NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages.  PB GF Ham and corn are such a grand combination. Easy to prepare ahead for a quick breakfast.

1 two-oz egg  1 slice “Cottage Ham” [4” diameter thin slice of ham] I used North Country Smoke House brand at 21 calories/slice    1 Tbsp fresh polenta OR ¾ oz cooked corn kernals           1.5 tsp red bell pepper, diced  Sriracha   3 oz watermelon                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]

Fit the ham into an oven-proof container that measures 3.25” in diameter and 1.25” deep. [I used a cleaned tuna can. It was perfect.] You will need to snip the ham on 2 sides and overlap the meat to make it fit better into the mold. Combine the polenta/corn with the diced pepper and season with Sriracha/salt/pepper to taste. Whisk in the egg and pour into the ham cup. HINT: I did this the night before and put it in the ‘fridge. Turn on the toaster oven to 350 F and bake the ham cups for 20+ minutes, until the filling is puffed and set. Prepare the optional beverages and the melon. Use a wide knife to loosten the ham cups from the mold before plating. Some of the egg will have oozed into the mold as it baked, but that is easy to remove too. This is a real treat!

Springtime Pork Salad:  247 calories 8.5 g fat 5 g fiber 18 g protein 27 g carbs  80 mg Calcium PB GF  This is a delightful meal-salad, with clementines of Winter joining asparagus from Spring.  HINT: this serves 2 so invite a friend.

4 cups romaine lettuce, sliced cross-wise   3 oz pork tenderloin, cooked             8 sections clementine  2 oz asparagus, cooked and cut into 1” pieces  ½ two-oz hardboiled egg   2 Tbsp cranberry orchard nut medley   2 oz whole-wheat baguette   dressing: 2 tsp plain yogurt OR mayonnaise  1 tsp Sriracha  pinch garlic powder 2 tsp lemon juice

Slice pork into thin rounds. Slice or chop the egg. Whisk the dressing ingredients, and toss with greens in the serving bowl. Decorate with pork, asparagus, clementine, egg.

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

1.5 two-oz eggs = US large	1 two-oz egg  + lemon-dill seasoning
canned white beans + scallion/green onion	chèvre cheese
shrimp + tomato	spinach, cooked or frozen
nectarine or peach	apple or pear
optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

lobster tail + ripe plantains	barramundi fish + fresh spinach
fresh lime + olive oil	puttanesca sauce + Camargue rice  + garlic
melon such as cantaloup	black olives + Dijon mustard + green beans
fresh spinach leaves	lemon zest +  olive oil + red wine vinegar
Sparkling water	Sparkling water