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. 

“I hope you will grow up gentle and good, and never learn bad ways, do your work with a good will, lift your feet up well when you trot, and never [bite] or kick even in play.”

So said his mother to the title character in Anna Sewell’s classic book Black Beauty. This sounds like good advice from any loving mother to her child, until you get to the ‘trot’ part. ?? What was so unusual about Sewell’s book is that it was written in the ‘voice’ of a horse. Sewell grew up in the early 1800s — the time of Dickens and a dawning recognition of social ills. At that time, the most common beast of burden in Europe and Americas was the horse. Whether for riding, or drawing a carriage or wagon, horses were everywhere. As a teen, Sewell became crippled from breaking both her ankles. Since she couldn’t walk well, she acquired skill as a handler and driver of carriage horses. Sewell was her family’s chauffeur and she loved her relationship with horses. Being out and about a lot, she saw how horses were treated, mistreated, and taken for granted. To give them a voice, Sewell wrote Black Beauty, selling it to a publisher on November 24, 1877. The book was not written to amuse children, rather it was directed at the adults who had some say in the care and use of horses. She wrote that the book’s “special aim was to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses” People took note and reforms ensued: changes in harness and housing came about, all because of how a horse wrote his autobiography.

Anna Sewell and Black Beauty lived in Norfolk. Due to that region’s seacoast, we will have seafood at breakfast and at dinner.

Kippered Eggs: 152 calories… 9 g fat… 1 g fiber… 12.6 g protein… 6 g carbs… 56 mg Calcium…  NB: Food values shown are for the plated foods only, and do not include the optional beverages.PB GF Kippers are tradionally served with eggs, but why not have them in eggs? We did and it is terrific!

++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 ++ 0.4 oz kippered [smoked, salted, dried] herring +++ ¼ tsp dried mustard +++ 1 tsp lemon or lime juice ++++ 4 sweet cherries ++++   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]++

The night before: Soak the kipper fillet in warm tap water for 30+ minutes. Mince the fish. In a small bowl, combine the juice and mustard, then mix in the fish. Leave it until morning. Next morning: Put the fish with its flavorings into a lightly-spritzed hot non-stick or cast iron pan and warm them. Whisk the eggs and pour over the fish. Let the eggs cook without disturbing them, then fold and plate with the cherries. A delightful meal.

Whitby Fish Pie: 294 calories… 15.4 g fat… 2 g fiber… 17.5 g protein… 15 g carbs… 139 mg Calcium…  PB  This fabulous recipe is from Paul Hollywood, of British Baking Show fame. It is simple and delicious. Dear Husband and I loved it. HINT: This recipe is enough for two [2] people.

233 ml/1 cup skimmed milk—-½ bay leaf—–½ small onion—–2 whole cloves [the spice]	Put milk in a pan with bay leaf and clove-studded onion. Bring slowly to a boil, turn off heat, let infuse 30+ minutes. Strain milk into a measuring cup.
20 g butter—-20 g = 2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour—-40 g spinach, fresh or frozen—–1 Tbsp chopped parsley——salt & pepper	Melt butter in a pan, stir in flour. Cook gently for a few minutes, then gradually stir in infused milk. Increase heat. Cook at a simmer, stirring, for a few minutes. Add spinach, parsley, salt and pepper.
133g/3.5 oz haddock—-133g/3 oz finnen haddie [smoked haddock]—–58 g/1.5 oz shrimp, cleaned—–salt & pepper	Skin fish and remove any pin bones. Cut into bite-sized pieces and put into a 4”x 6” dish with shrimp/ prawns. Pour on enough sauce to cover, gently mix with the fish and check the seasoning.
Purchased puff pastry, 1/6 sheet ~47 g	Heat oven to 200°C/400F/Gas 6. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to form a 4×6” rectangle. Cut into 6 strips and form a lattice atop the pie. Bake 20-25 mins until pastry is golden brown.