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.

In the Northern Hemisphere and the near-equator Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are told in the stars. Unlike the circumpolar stars such as those in Ursa Major and Minor that are visible all year, the constellations of the lower celestial latitudes move in and out of view like actors walking on stage left, then exiting stage right. These are constel-lations that are visible only in certain seasons. One well-known set of stars is the Pleiades or Seven Sisters, part of the constellation Taurus. They rise above the horizon in the late Autumn, before the more noticeable Orion. These stars were first written about in China in 2350 BCE, and are mentioned in the Book of Job. In a Greek myth, Orion the Hunter was pursuing the sisters, so Zeus changed them into doves and they flew into the sky. In a myth of Indigenous Americans, they were seven little girls who were chased by bears. The girls stood on a rock and prayed to be saved. The rock grew into a mountain which the bears clawed at. The girls were transported into the sky, and the rock is known today as Devil’s Tower/Mateo Tipi. The Pleiades are an unusual set of stars because they seem to be covered by a gauzy veil — which today we know to be a nebula of gases. It is a loose group of stars that were all formed at the same time within a gas cloud. This is unusual since most constellations are made of stars of different ages and distances from Earth. The Pleiades are listed as Messier Object #45. The best time to view the famous Pleiades is in December.

Whether you are in Mexico [North America] or in France [Europe] or Asia, you can see the Pleiades if there isn’t any light pollution. Turn off the porch light and try looking for it in the southern sky: find Orion, then draw a line through the three stars of his ‘belt’ and keep going up and to the right until you reach the fuzzy-looking cluster that is the Pleiades. Then view it through binoculars to see the details.

Enchilada Bake: 140 calories 6 g fat 1.7 g fiber 15.3 g protein 12.5 g carbs [11 g Complex] 75 mg Calcium NB: The food values shown are for the egg bake and the fruit, not for the optional beverages. PB GF Since we enjoy enchiladas for dinner, why not have the same flavors at breakfast?

1 two-oz egg ++++ 1 Tbsp crushed tomatoes, slightly drained ++++ ½ oz green chili pepper, minced ++++ 1 Tbsp plain, non-fat yogurt ++++ ¼ oz chicken breast, cooked and chopped ++++ 1/8 oz Monterey Jack or Cheddar ++++ ½ tsp cornmeal ++++ ¼ tsp oregano [Mexican, if you can find it] ++++ pinch chili roja [red pepper flakes] ++++ 2 oz apple OR applesauce ++++ Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories]  ++++ Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Spritz a ramekin with non-stick spray and set the toaster oven to 350 degrees F. Put the cornmeal and minced chilis into an ungreased cast iron skillet and toast it over direct heat until cornmeal becomes darker in color and fragrent. Do not let it burn or scorch. Remove from hot pan to a bowl. Into the ramekin, put the chicken and the cheese. Whisk together the egg, cornmeal, chilis, half of the yogurt, and seasonings, and pour over the eggs. Bake 12- 15 minutes while you portion the fruit and prepare the beverages. Top the eggs with the remaining dollop of yogurt.

Mollusk Gratinees: 283 calories … 14.6 g fat… 2 g fiber… 31.6 g protein… 17.5 g carbs… 216 mg Calcium… PB GF -if using GF flour When we steam mussels for a feast, there are often some left over. Removed from their shells, the meat can easily be frozen in the cooled cooking broth. A wonderful item for a quick future meal.

Serves 1	Spritz a ramekin with non-stick spray.
2 tsp flour ++++  4 T. mussel broth ++++  ½ tsp curry powder	Whisk together over low heat until thickened.
3 oz cooked mussels ++++  2 shucked oysters	Roughly chop the cooked, shell-less mollusks. Stir into thickened broth and pour into an oven-proof dish.
½ oz grated Gruyere	Sprinkle over the mixture in the dish.
	Bake at 350F for 10 minutes, until cheese melts.
3 oz green beans	Plate with cooked beans.