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.

It has nothing to do with pugilism, or large corporate stores, or containers made of cardboard or wood — so why is December 26 called “Boxing Day” in the United Kingdom? The term’s origin seems to be a bit of a mystery. There are three suggestions of how the day got its name. 1] In the Middle Ages, churches would gather money all year, designated as ‘alms for the poor’. The donations would be put into the ‘poor box’, and the box would be opened on Christmas Day. The day afterward, the money would be distributed to the needy: the money from the box was given on Boxing Day. 2] In the Victorian Era, servants worked day and night for their employers — including Christmas Day. But the next day was a day off for the workers, and they would go home [most lived in the neighborhood] carrying foods and gifts in a box to give to their family members: there was a box of gifts on Boxing Day. 3] On the day after Christmas, employers would give their employees gifts: a gift in a box on Boxing Day. I can help thinking that the word is a contraction of something else…but I can’t figure our what it was. It is a difficult celebration to export: of the former British possessions, Canada, Australia and New Zealand celebrate it. Boxing Day is an official holiday where it is observed and in modern times it is a day to watch football, get together with friends, and eat Christmas leftovers. And of course, it is in no way related to the Feast of Saint Stephen, which is also on December 26.

Just as Boxing Day is unique to the UK, certain foods are also associated with the UK. We will have two of them to eat on Boxing Day.

Toad in the Hole: 157 calories… 1.4 g fat… 2 g fiber… 9 g protein… 50 g carbs… 28 mg Calcium…  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage. – PB – This whimsically-named meal is of old English origin – Kenneth Graham crossed with Beatrix Potter? It begins with a Yorkshire Pudding batter which you need to prepare in advance. The Yorkshire Pudd recipe is from the King Arthur Flour 200^th Anniversary Cookbook. HINT: make the batter the night before to save time in the morning.

Yorkshire Pudding batter: ++ one 2-oz egg ++++ ½ cup white whole wheat flour ++++ ½ tsp salt ++++ 1 Tbsp high gluten flour ++++ ½ cup fat-free milk ++

Mix all the ingredients together and let the batter stand at room temp for 30-60 minutes or in ‘fridge overnight. You will need ¼ cup of the batter per person. HINT: The remainder can be frozen in 1 cup or ¼ cup batches for future meals. When it is time to use the batter, beat it with a rotary beater until it is frothy.

To prepare the breakfast: ++ 1 chicken breakfast sausage [@ 50 cal/link] ++++ ¼ cup Yorkshire Pudding batter, well beaten [prepare the batter the night before and refrigerate] ++++ 2 oz pear or apple ++++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] ++

Heat the oven/toaster oven to 425F. Cook the sausage, using a bit of water in the bottom of the pan since the sausage will render no fat. Pour out any remaining water from cooking the sausage. Spritz 5 holes of a mini-muffin pan with non-stick spray. Dice the sausage or slice into 20 pieces, and distribute it equally into each muffin hole. Beat the batter until it is foamy, adding crumbled sage. Pour the batter into the pan over the sausage bits. Pop the pan into the oven for 15 minutes. Slice the fruit, prepare optional beverage, and settle down to a quickly-prepared, fun-to-eat meal.

Cold Beef Plate: ..292 calories… 4 g fat… 5 g fiber… 28 g protein… 33 g carbs… 17.6 mg Calcium…  — PB GF —  Here’s a simple meal. Use either meat from a roast or from the deli. Sounds rather French, with the cornichons and Dijon mustard, but rosbif is as English as a Bramley apple.

++ 3 oz cold, sliced beef roast ++++ ½ cup [about 3 oz] pickled beets ++++ 4 small [0.8 oz total] cornichons ++++ 1 tsp Dijon mustard ++++ 1 oz sourdough rye bread ++

Plate to your own aesthetic taste. Do it up right, sit down to enjoy it while listening to music by Elgar.

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

2 two-oz eggs = US large	banana
olive oil + garlic	blueberries
mushrooms + frozen spinach	plain, fat-free yogurt
milk + flour + feta cheese	orange juice OR crushed rhubarb
optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional Earl Grey tea

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

salad greens + fresh parsley	parsnips ++ onion
celery + walnut halves + apple	carrot ++++ garlic ++++ sesame oil
hardboiled egg + cooked lamb	brown rice ++++ turkey/chicken/pork
Horseradish dressing	Japanese curry sauce
Sparkling water	Sparkling water