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. Join me in the Fasting Lifestyle.

My mother told me that there are seven basic plots in literature, and one of them is the story of the “Star-Crossed Lovers.” This plot centers around two people who are in love yet fate intervenes, in one way or another, to keep them apart. Shakespeare coined the term, implying that one’s astrology [one’s stars] controlled one’s destiny. In literature there are star-crossed lovers, and one such famous pair is found in The Great Gatsby, the story of Jay Gatsby and his yearning for the wealthy Daisy Fay. F. Scott Fitzgerald published his most famous novel 100 years ago, on April 10, 1925. Set mostly on Long Island, New York, it centers on the bachelor Gatsby, a mysterious young parvenu who lives an extravagant lifestyle on the north shore of the island. All of his partying and living large are an attempt to catch the eye of his youthful love, Daisy. They now live across the bay from each other, and Gatsby would stand at the end of his dock in the evening, gazing at the green light at the end of her dock. But in the intervening years, Daisy Fay has married. Her husband Tom Buchanan is a philandering lout, so we hope [along with Gatsby] that she will leave him. But she doesn’t/won’t/can’t. Gatsby’s life-long love and his years-long plan to amass a sufficient fortune to win Daisy’s acceptance, make the book a classic of the star-crossed genre. It is also emblematic of the decade of the 1920s: shallow, greedy, careless, hedonistic. The narrator of the book, Nick Carraway — Daisy’s cousin — is driven to near madness by the lifestyle and zeitgeist, and the tale ends in tragedy. As expected.

What were Americans eating during the Roaring 20s, when The Great Gatsby was set? Our breakfast was developed in 1926, in Louisville — hometown of Daisy Fay. Antipasto plates were popular in that decade, too, so we will enjoy one for dinner.

Hot Brown: 200 calories… 5.6 g fat… 3.6 g fiber… 9.5 g protein… 19.5 g carbs… 66.6 mg Calcium…  NB: The food values given above are for the plated foods only, not the optional beverages. PB GF — if using GF bread  HINT: This recipe serves 2 [two], the photo shows one [1] portion. The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, is the origin of this delicious breakfast. Originally, it was a late-night snack, without an egg. But with the egg, it becomes a wonderful morning meal, with calories left over for a suitable brevrege. TIP: If you want to serve only 1 [one], whisk one egg and pour it into a 10” saute pan. Cook it flat until top is set. Fold the egg into thirds, then cut in half crosswise. Save the other half for an egg sandwich tomorrow, or slice it to garnish a salad or a stir-fry.

++ 2 slices uncured American bacon @ 30 calories each ++++ 2 slices 60-calorie whole-grain bread ++++ 2 oz turkey breast, sliced thinly ++++ 1 two-oz egg ++++ 4 Tbsp Mornay sauce** ++++ 2 oz sliced tomatoes ++++  Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [85 calories] ++++   Optional:  5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories] ++

Cut bacon strips in half, cook until as crispy as you wish. Drain. Pour out most of the bacon fat, then whisk the egg and cook as described in the TIP above. Toast the bread lightly. Spread lightly with Mornay sauce, all the way to the edges. Put cooked egg on top, smear with a bit of Mornay. Top with turkey, then with the tomato. Spoon the remaining Mornay sauce on top. Put under the broiler until sauce is bubbly and browning. Plate, then top with a criss-cross of bacon.

**Mornay Sauce: makes ½ cup ++ ½ cup Bechamel Sauce, no cheese ++++ ½ oz Swiss cheese ++++ 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated ++ Gently heat the Bechamel sauce in a small pan. Chop the Swiss cheese into small pieces, and stir both cheeses into the sauce until they melt. Take off heat and use now or store in the ‘frige in a jar with a lid.

Antipasto with Tuna or Smelts: 282 calories… 10.6 g fat… 9 g fiber… 20 g protein… 24 g carbs… 250 mg Calcium…  PB GF  This one is a keeper: simple, off the shelf, pretty on the plate, good to eat. The photo shows enough for 2 people. Invite a guest who is Fasting, too. When I made it with smelts, even my smelt-leery spouse was converted.

++ 2 oz roasted red pepper, without oil [I roast my own, slice and freeze them] ++++ 2 oz mozzerella, cut into ‘sticks’ [I buy mozzerella in blocks for slicing] ++++ 3 oz tuna, packed in water, drained and broken into large chunks OR 3 oz smelts, boned and fins removed ++++ 5 oz tomato slices ++++ 3 oz whole green beans, steamed, drained ++++ 1 ½ oz marinated mushrooms ++++ 1/3 c. garbanzo beans, drained if canned++++++ 4 black olives, pitted and sliced ++++ 3 slices pepperoni, chopped ++++ 1 tsp flavored oil ++++ salt ++++ chopped fresh herbs ++

Prepare the ingredients and keep separate. On a platter, arrange the ingredients in rows as shown in the photo. Suit your own artistic nature as to what goes where. Be liberal with the fresh herbs.

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

1 two-oz egg = US large	1 two-oz egg  + Indian curry powder
‘Canadian’ bacon	asparagus + cooked brown rice
pan muffin	1/2 & 1/2 [10%-fat] cream
apple	smoked haddock + nutmeg
optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

catfish filet + Cajun seasoning	buckwheat soba noodles + 2-oz egg + garlic
slider buns [90 calories each]	hot pepper flakes + oil + onion + sugar
tomato + celery seed	sugar snap peas + scallions + lean pork
cabbage + carrot + mayonnaise + cider vinegar	Thai fish sauce + mung bean sprouts + cabbage
Sparkling water	Sparkling water