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.

 For some people, their first introduction to the Inuit people was the 1922 documentary Nanook of the North. I saw it as a child. Igloos, dog sleds, fur suits — all the stereotypes. What more was there to know? All the Inuits lived in northern Quebec, they were primitive, they smiled a lot. It turns out that there is a lot more to say about these people! The Inuit are the indigenous people of the Arctic. They live in Alaska, USA; across Canada; in Greenland; in Iceland; in Russia. Their ancestors were the first people to ‘discover’ North America, around 5000 years ago, whether they walked across a Bering Sea land bridge or paddled over in boats from Asia. Since then, the Inuit have adapted themselves to live in the harshest environment on Earth. They invented kayaks and dog-sledding to travel across the arctic, in a semi-nomadic lifestyle that is centered around hunting, fishing, and foraging. Today, the Inuit live mostly in settlements, but since the cost of food-stuffs like ours’ is so very high, they still have hunting and fishing as part of their culture. Their environment pushed their ingenuity– they also invented sun glasses/snow goggles, toboggans, the parka, snowshoes, and the igloo. Animals hunted by the Inuit include whale, walrus, fish from fresh and salt water, caribou, seals, birds. All parts of the animals are used for clothing and toolmaking, in addition to the flesh being eaten. By our standards, their food is impossibly high in fat, calories, and cholesterol, but the Inuit are healthy when they eat their traditional foods — the high caloric value keeps them warm in their environment, and their food is high in vitamins. Hats off to the Inuit, as they prepare for another Arctic winter.

The foods today are not traditional Inuit meals, but they involve some ingredients that Inuits could forage: wild berries, eggs, and salmon or other fresh seafood.

Dutch Baby: 165 calories… 8 g fat… 4 g fiber…. 8 g protein… 17 g carbs… 95 mg Calcium…  NB: Food values given are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverage.PB V On Sundays, we sometimes have Dutch Babies as a special breakfast treat. The recipe, found in the Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham, is delicious. I was determined to make these fruit-covered popovers work for a Fast Day. Here it is: still delicious, but I would save it for a day with a low calorie dinner. HINT: This recipe makes 2 [two] of the Dutch Babies. Either invite a friend for breakfast or freeze half of the batter for another time.

++3 oz of egg [one 2-oz egg + 1 egg white] ++++ ¼ cup milk++++ 3 Tbsp white whole wheat flour ++ 1 Tbsp high gluten flour ++++ 2 tsp melted butter ++++ ¼ cup raspberries ++++ sprinkle confectioner’s sugar ++++ 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] ++

If starting the night before: combine the egg, milk, and flour in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate. The next morning, beat in the melted butter with a mixer. If starting in the morning: combine the egg, milk, flour and beat in the melted butter with a rotaty mixer. Set the toaster oven at 450 F. Spritz two 4” custard cups or 4” cast iron pans with non-stick spray and pour the batter into them. Bake 15 minutes, until puffed up, golden brown, and cooked on the bottom. Remove from baking dish to plates, top with berries and a sprinkle of 10X sugar. Celebrate something special while you enjoy your optional beverage.

Salmon Quiche: 268 calories… 14.4 g fat… 3 g fiber… 20 g protein… 13 g carbs… 137 mg Calcium…  PB GF This goes together so quickly and tastes so nice, that I urge you to serve it at your next luncheon or guest occasion. You can serve as a dinner and then for a subsequent breakfast and/or lunch. 

Quiche: makes 6 slices Per slice: 110 calories… 6 oz fat… 0.5 g fiber… 9.6 g protein… 3.5 g carbs… 56 mg Calcium … 6 eggs++++ 2 oz salmon, cooked++++ 1 cup grated zucchini ++++2 Tbsp reduced-fat ricotta++++ 2 Tbsp plain fat-free yogurt ++++ ½ cup coarsely-chopped onion++++ dill, salt, and pepper to taste ++++ Spritz an oven-proof quiche pan [I used one that is 8.5”diameter x 2” deep] with non-stick spray. Crumble the salmon into the bottom of the pan and top with the zucchini and onion. Whisk eggs with the ricotta, yogurt, dill, salt, and pepper. Pour into pan and bake at 350 F about 30 minutes, or until puffed and set in the center.   salad, per serving: 48 calories… 2.4 g fat… 2 g fiber… 1 g protein… 6 g carbs… 25 mg Calcium… ++½ tsp olive oil + ½ tsp flavorful vinegar ++++1 cup greens such as baby greens or mesclun++++ 1 oz tomatoes, diced ++++ 1 oz cooked, chilled beets, sliced or cubed ++++½ oz carrot, grated++

The Meal: Serve two slices quiche with a side salad or ½ cup of local, seasonal vegetables.