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 purpleroses912 who is now Following.

At the Paris Olympics 2024, the ceremonial Olympic Flame ignited a ‘cauldron of fire’ in the shape of the basket of a hot air balloon which was tethered at the West end of the Jardin des Tuileries. [I put cauldron of fire in quotes because there was no fire. The effect was achieved by intense LED lights and steam, to look like smoke.] This was an homage to the first human ‘flight’ which occurred in France in the 1700s. It was the brain-child of the Montgolfier brothers. Joseph-Michel was born August 26, 1740, and his brother, Jacques-Étienne, was born 5 years later. Their father was a prosperous paper-maker, with lots of children. Jacques-Étienne was studious and practical, while Joseph-Michel had a good imagination but no common sense — as a child, he jumped off the roof to see if he could fly. The brothers ended up inheriting the business, and Jacques modernized the factory, while Joseph thought up things to invent. Seeing laundry billow over a low, drying fire, Joseph thought that hot air from a fire might lift things from the ground. His first idea was to raise soldiers above ground to attack a height during battle. In 1782, Joseph made his first model, then convinced his brother to help him to scale it up. The following year, a prototype flew two kilometers before landing and being destroyed by a local resident who probably thought it was witchcraft. For a larger balloon, fabric was covered with wall-paper to contain 1,060 cubic meters of hot air. The air was kept hot by a brazier containing smol-dering plant matter. At last, in 1783, a public demonstration was held at the Palais de Versailles for the king and queen. The balloon basket held a rooster, a duck, and a sheep who flew for eight minutes. Thus began the history of flight. The Montgolfier Company still makes paper, and humans are still flying: on balloons, in airplanes, in space craft.

Just as ballooning was of French origin, so are the cheeses in our meals: Camembert from Normandie with eggs, and bleu cheese from Languedoc on pizza.

Camembert Bake: 146 calories… 10 g fat… 0.6 g fiber… 9 g protein… 6 g carbs… 90 mg Calcium…  NB: The food values given above are for the egg bake and fruit only, not the optional beverages. PB GF  The best-known cheese of Normandy stars in this egg dish. Easy to prepare and so delicious. I hope you will try it.

One 2-oz egg ++++ ½ oz Camembert ++++ 1 tsp Dijon mustard ++++ grating of nutmeg ++++ 2 oz strawberries OR 1.5 oz apple slices ++++  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]

Cut the cheese [rind and all] into small chunks and leave to soften at room temperature. Stir in the mustard and nutmeg. Whisk the egg, then stir in the cheese mixture. Pour into an oven-proof dish that has been spritzed with non-stick spray and bake at 350 F for 12-15 minutes. When the beverages are ready, plate with the fruit.

Bleu Cheese & Garlic Pizza: 280 calories… 8.6 g fat… 5 g fiber… 10 g protein… 29.5 g carbs… 203 mg Calcium…  PB When a character in a book ate this, I just had to try it. It is good! I based the recipe loosely on one from simplyplayfulfare.com

++++ 1 fajita shell or wrap [be sure it has no more than 150 calories] ++++ 1 Tbsp plain, fat-free yogurt ++++ 1 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess moisture ++++ 3 or 4 cloves roasted garlic ++++ 3 Tbsp [½ oz] bleu cheese crumbles ++++ 1 oz finely diced tomato, drained to remove excess moisture ++++ 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated ++++

Heat the oven to 400 F. Put the fajita shell on an ungreased baking sheet. Smear the yogurt evenly over the fajita then sprinkle the spinach evenly on top. Break off pieces of garlic and distribute them around, then put on the bleu cheese and tomato. Dust evenly with the Parmesan. Bake for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese starts to melt.