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.

 “The primary object of a novelist is to please, and this man’s novels have been found more pleasant than those of any other writer.” So wrote Anthony Trollope in his 1833 Autobiography. Indeed, his novels gave pleasure to many, many readers. Writing was his side-hustle. By day, Trollope was a postal employee. He was born on 24 April 1815, in London, England into a family of reduced circumstances. His father did not succeed as a country barrister due to his bad temper. Was he angry because all his ambitions seemed to go amiss? A lost chance at a noble title and bad investments lead to money troubles, so the family moved to Belgium where Anthony’s mother Frances supported the family by writing novels and travel books. After a miserable childhood, his choice between joining the Belgian army or working for the UK postal system was a no-brainer, so Trollope returned to England. He was not exactly Emplo-yee of the Month, but an open post within the system took him to Ireland. There Trollope’s life turned around. The 26-year-old became a Surveyor’s Clerk, traveling around the country, checking up on various post offices. He was quite good at that, and on long train trips he began to write. By 1850, his first three novels — the Irish stories — had been published. A visit to Salisbury Cathedral gave him the idea to pen a book about clerics, and so The Warden appeared in 1855. That lead to the popular Chronicles of Barsetshire books. Along the way, he championed the pillar-shaped Post Box, seen around the Kingdom to this day. How did he manage the two careers? By paying his servant extra money to wake him up at 5 am every day, so he could write 1000 words per hour from 5:30-7:00 am, then have breakfast and go to work. Some people were shocked at that idea, as it implied a mechanical rather than artistic thought process. But it worked for Trollope, who produced 47 novels. His postal inspec-tions had him traveling to foreign outposts of the Empire, so Trollope wrote travel books, in addition to short stories, biography, and criticism. In 1867, having amassed a large bank roll from his writing, he resigned as a civil servant to devote his time to running for office [he lost], and writing. Why were Trollope’s novels so successful? He wrote about “the commonplace”: details of everyday life and the “politics” of the vestry, the bank, and the tea table. As Trollope wrote, “A novel should give a picture of common life enlivened by humour and sweetened by pathos.” His work did that, showing us little insights into the minds and actions of relatable little people. Delightful.

 Frau Frohmann, from the short story about why she raised the prices at her country inn, might well have served a breakfast like this one. The lamb at dinner is a nod to Trollope’s son, whom he bankrolled to run a sheep ranch in Australia. In true Trollope family tradition, the venture failed.

Senefeier Sauce Omelette:  178 calories… 9.6 g fat… 3 g fiber… 12 g protein… 13 g carbs… 127 mg Calcium…  NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages. PB GF A popular German comfort food is the inspiration for this breakfast. Delicious and easy to prepare. 

++ 1½ two-oz eggs  HINT: If you are serving one person, crack three 2-oz eggs into a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Whip up those eggs and pour half of their volume into a jar with a lid and put it in the ‘fridge for next week. ++++ ¼ cup frozen spinach ++++ 1½ Tbsp Bechamel Sauce ++++ 1 Tbsp grainy mustard ++++ large pinch nutmeg ++++ 1½ oz pear ++++  Optional: blackish coffee  [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] ++++  Optional: 5 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories] ++

NIGHT BEFORE: Put frozen spinach in a sieve so it can drain and thaw overnight. NB: if Bechamel is frozen too, measure it out and put into sieve with spinach. Stir together spinach, Bechamel, mustard, nutmeg. Whisk eggs and pour into a hot non-stick pan spritzed with olive oil or cooking spray. Lift edges of eggs as they cook, to let uncooked egg flow underneath. When top sets, spoon spinach mixture onto half of the egg and spread it to the edges. Fold and plate with the fruit. Splendid. Zippy.

Lamb With Mediterranean Vegetables: 295 calories… 14 g fat… 9 g fiber… 22 g protein… 40.5 g carbs… 205.6 mg Calcium… PB GF Here’s a fine meal, full of complex carbohydrates and good flavor. 

+++++ 1 oz ground lamb +++++++ 1 cup Mediterranean Vegetables ++++++ ¼ cup cooked brown rice ++++++ ½ oz Gruyere cheese, grated ++++

Cook the ground lamb, keeping it in biggish chunks rather than tiny flecks. Pour into a sieve to drain any fat and rinse in hot water. Season the meat well with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Heat the Mediterranean Vegetables TIP: so much easier if they were waiting for you in the freezer. Preparing food ahead is such a good idea. Mix the lamb with the vegetables. Plate the rice, then pour the Lamb/Veg on top. Serve topped with grated cheese.

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

1 two-oz egg = US large	1.5 two-oz eggs
capicola ham	dandelion greens
marinated artichokes	brown rice
blueberries + plain fat-free yogurt	melon + garlic
optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

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

Romaine lettuce + green beans	chicken breast meat + asparagus
olive oil + cucumber	bechamel sauce with cheese
feta cheese + black olives	4 buckwheat galettes
plain fat-free yogurt + white wine vinegar	raw vegetables: carrots, radishes, broccoli
Sparkling water	Sparkling water