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.

There is a riddle that science teachers sometimes tell. “A student conducted a poll to assess science literacy. She asked 50 people this question: ‘There is a chemical found in every home that is so dangerous that if you breathe in one teaspoon, it can kill you. It is called dihydrogen monoxide. It is a component of acid rain, and it can burn skin in both the solid and gaseous form. Pre-cancerous tumors are composed largely of this chemical in liquid form. Should it be made illegal?’ All 50 people said yes it should be outlawed and that they would sign a petition to ban it.” The chemical, of course, was water, H2O, and all those facts about it are true. Yet we can use water safely in all its forms. Fluorine, number 9 on the Periodic Table, is a gaseous atom that has been in the news lately. This element is highly reactive, bonding with other elements easily. It has been used as a flux in metallurgy, and for etching glass. The benefits of tiny amounts of Fluorine were discovered in 1931, after a 30-year search to find out why residents of towns in Colorado, Idaho, and Arkansas had teeth that resisted tooth decay. Turned out, their drinking water had naturally high amounts of Fluorine. Too much Fluorine can cause fluorosis, a staining in the teeth of children. Scientists at the National Institute of Health thought that adding less than 1.0 part of Fluorine per one million parts of drinking water would reduce decay. In 1944, residents of Grand Rapids, Michigan became the field testers of that idea, by fluoridating their municipal drinking water. After 15 years, the results were undeniable: the study of 30,000 school children showed that the rate of tooth decay decreased by 60% !! Today, 73% of US communities add Fluorine  [0.7 mg/L] to their water, and stannous fluoride is an important ingredient in toothpaste. In larger amounts, Fluoride is not good for health, and guess what — drinking too much of any water can kill you. I’m a big fan of scientific evidence. Fluorine in the correct amounts is a safe addition to water and it is highly effective as a method to reduce tooth decay.

Fluorine in the water helps to strengthen teeth, and Calcium in your food can help. Both our breakfast and our dinner are high in Calcium. Eat these and you are one quarter of the way toward your Calcium goal for the day.

Bombadil’s Breakfast: ..205 calories…. 5 g fat… 2.5 g fiber… 10.5 g protein… 15 g carbs… 312 mg Calcium…  NB: the food values given are for the plated items only, and do not include the optional beverages. PB GF  When Tom Bombadil served his guests breakfast, it was plants, fruit and dairy of his own collection or production. The plants should be watercress [since his wife Goldberry was the River-Man’s daughter] and the fruit shall be Golden Berries [aka Peruvian Ground Cherries], again in a nod to his wife.

++ 2/3 oz Camembert cheese ++++ ½ cup watercress leaves or microgreens ++++ ½ cup plain yogurt ++++ 1 tsp honey ++++ 2 oz Golden Berries ++++ edible flowers [violets, chives, nastursium, et alia] ++++  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]

Warm the honey and stir it into the yogurt. Plate the items to your taste and enjoy a magical breakfast in The Old Forest. Wear a blue jacket and yellow hat.

Egg Curry: 299 calories… 12.6 g fat… 2 g fiber… 18.4 g protein… 27 g carbs… 205.6 mg Calcium…  PG GF  This Indian curry is delicious and so simple to prepare. Need I say more? The recipe is from Jacquline Herault’s Oriental Cooking the Fast Wok Way. HINT: This recipe serves two [2].

1 tsp oil +++ ½ c onion, chopped [2.25 oz] ++++1½ coins of fresh ginger, minced	Heat wok over medium. Add oil and count to 30. Add these, stir-fry 3 minutes until onions are golden. Turn heat to low.
1 Tbsp minced parsley++++ ½ tsp turmeric ++++ 1 tsp curry ++++ ¼ tsp garam masala	Add ingredients off heat, then simmer uncovered 2 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add water if too dry.
1½ Roma/plum tomatoes, quartered	Add these and some water, simmer 8 minutes.
4 fl oz / ½ c plain yogurt ++++ 1 oz weight = ¼ c mushrooms, chopped	Add, mix well, and simmer 10 minutes or less as sauce thickens.
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced	Add, simmer 3 minutes
1 Tbsp lemon juice ++++ ¼ cup cooked brown rice/person	Add and stir to combine. Plate.
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved	Nestle egg halves on top of the curry mixture.

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

1 two-oz egg = US large + apple or applesauce	2.5-oz egg + garlic
crushed tomatoes + chicken breast meat	scallion + bell pepper, any color
plain, fat-free yogurt + Green chili pepper	white or sweet potato + plain, fat-free yogurt
Monterey jack cheese + several pinches cornmeal	Cheddar cheese + chives
optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

3 oz shelled mussels	70-calorie whole-grain bread
2 oysters + curry powder	3%-fat ham or turkey
mussel broth from cooking mussels	Bechamel sauce + 2-oz egg
flour + Gruyere cheese + green beans	Gruyere cheese + side salad
Sparkling water	Sparkling water