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.

To be ‘seeing red’ means that you are very angry. Even if we are not angry, we can see [perceive] the color we call ‘red’ because red light travels through space and the atmosphere with a particular wave-length [620 to 750 nanometers]. It is the longest wave-lengths of all the seven colors of visible light. When a red light wave hits certain surfaces, instead of going into that surface, the wave reflects back to enter our eyes. If our eyes are working properly, special ‘cone cells’ in our retina detect that wavelength and our brain interprets that surface as being red. The color red has long been associated with hostility and danger: bloody banners in war, stop signs, the ‘Red Wedding’. The color red is used in pictorial advertising because it elevates the heart-rate of the observer, generating excitement and approval of what is being shown. Red roses stand for passion. What would Valentine’s Day be without the color red to make us think of love? Red runs the gamut from prostitute’s garb in the Red Light District to the Red Hat of feisty older women. The “Reds” were the communists who overthrew the Tzar of Russia. Their first leader was Vladimir Lenin who was born on  April 22, 1870. On that same day in 1954, televised hearings began as McCarthyism’s “Red Scare” upended peoples’ lives when they were accused of being Russian sympathizers. Love or hate; passion or anger, the color red punches above its weight when it comes to symbolism.

Our foods today are red in hue — not because they are dangerous, but because of their delicious red ingredients: strawberries at breakfast and red beets at dinner.

Cholermüs: 211 calories… 14 g fat… 4.5 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. The batter 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 + 3 Tbsp white whole wheat flour + 1 tsp maple syrup + 1 tsp canola oil	Combine these with an electric mixer until smooth.
Smear of Butter + PAM	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. Combine with other ingredients in a small pan. Heat over medium until fruit is soft. 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 syrup.
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

Red Flannel Hash & Egg: 249 calories… 9 g fat… 2 g fiber… 12.6 g protein… 18 g carbs… 43 mg Calcium  PB GF  This is a venerable New England farm meal, with the recipe coming from Hayden Pearson’s  Country Flavors Cookbook.

1 cup cooked diced beets (1/3” dice) + 1/3 cup diced potatoes (1/3” dice) + ¼ cup diced onions 2 slices Canadian Bacon/back bacon, diced + one 2-oz egg + lots of salt and pepper to taste

Cook, peel, and dice the beets and set aside to cool. [HINT: do this the day before] Peel and dice the potatoes. Put into a pan of tap water and put the pan on the burner. Turn on the heat and let the pan sit, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until the water starts to boil around the edges. Take off the heat and leave potatoes to cool in the water. Then drain and set aside. Dice the onions and bacon. Spray a saute pan with non-stick spray and add the Canadian bacon. Cook it as crisp as you wish, or not so crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside. Add the onions with 2-3 Tbsp water, and cook until the onions are transluscent and the water is mostly gone. Now put the potatoes in the pan with the onions, add salt and pepper to taste. Stir until the potatoes are cooked. Add the beets and bacon to the pan and continue to cook until heated through. Meanwhile, fry the egg: sunnyside-up or over easy as you prefer. Plate the hash and top with the egg. Country dining.