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.

Sir John Franklin had been a member of several expeditions to the polar seas, but he was the last choice to head up the voyage in 1845, to find the fabled North-West Passage. European navies had long supposed that one could sail from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific by going north of Canada instead of the long way around the tip of South America. Many attempts had been made, but all failed due to the cold, the frozen sea, and lack of know-ledge of the water routes. Franklin’s expedition had two stout ships, Terror and Erebus, built for sailing through ice. The ships had a rudimentary heating system, and a 3-year supply of a new invention: tinned food, neatly sealed with lead solder — all set for an Arctic voyage. The last anyone saw of the ship, it was off Greenland in late July, 1845. After two years without a word, Lady Jane Griffin Franklin, went to the Admiralty to ask where her husband was. Several search parties were sent out, but no trace was found, until 1859, when a cached message was found saying that the crew had abandoned ship. A more complete picture emerged from archeology in the 1990s, aided by ancestral memories of the Inuit people. Bodies were located where the Indigenous People indicated, remains that told of scurvy, starvation, lead poisoning that would have caused poor reasoning, and cannibalism. The ships were finally located in 2014 and 2016. Thus ended the story of a very ill-fated expedition.

A galley full of tinned food sealed in lead was like a death sentence waiting to be carried out. So we will have a breakfast that evokes death sentences of that era. The dinner is made of fresh fish and potatoes, which might have prevented scurvy.

Hangtown Bake: 135 calories… 7 g fat… 1 g fiber… 8 g protein… 5.4 g carbs… 46.5 mg Calcium…  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB GF  The grim name for this California Gold Rush Era meal comes from the moniker of Healdsburg, Sonoma County, California. Since it was the county seat, justice was meted out there — including capital punishment.

1 two-oz egg ++++ 2 oysters, raw and out of the shell ++++ ½ oz bacon, un-cured is preferable ++++ 1 Tbsp scallion greens, chopped ++++ 2 oz strawberries ++++  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]

Set the oven at 350 F. Cook the bacon until it is a little underdone, then chop it up. Chop the scallion and oysters and stir in a little bacon fat, along with the bacon. Whisk the egg, add the other ingredients and whisk again. Pour into a baking dish lightly-spritzed with non-stick spray and bake for 12-15 minutes. Prepare the beverages and plate the baked egg along with the fruit.

Chowdah: 294 calories… 7 g fat… 2 g fiber… 33.6 g protein… 17 g carbs… 114 mg Calcium…  PB GF  Here in Northern New England, chowder is king. Cod or haddock is traditional but hake is more flavorful and lower in calories. HINT: This recipe makes one BIG bowl of chowdah, but if you double the recipe, you can freeze the remainder or enjoy it for lunch another day. If you can, make it one day and eat it the next day for richer flavor.

½ slice bacon ++++ ¼ cup onion, chopped ++++ 2 oz potatoes, ½” dice ++++ 1½ cups fish stock ++++ 4 oz cod or hake fillets, cut into 1½” pieces ++++ ¼ cup 2% milk ++++ salt + pepper + parsley + turmeric

Cook the bacon until it is almost crispy, remove from the pan, blot dry of fat, and chop coarsely. Pour most of the fat from the pan and add the onions. Cook slowly until soft and transluscent. In another pan, boil the potatoes in water until tender. Drain and salt the potatoes. Put the fish stock, cod, potatoes, and milk in the pan with the onions. Heat slowly until warm. Add the bacon, parsley, and seasonings to taste. [TIP: Best if held in the ‘fridge for 8-24 hours before you heat slowly [do NOT boil] and taste for seasonings again.]