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 story of Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxanne. Edmond Rostand‘s plot, set in Paris, France in the 1600s, [loosely based on an actual man]. Cyrano, our hero, is a well-known nobleman, famous for his wit, his swordsmanship, and his huge disfiguring nose. He is secretly in love with his cousin Roxanne, his life-long friend. Cyrano is afraid to declare his love because he fears that she will think him too ugly to marry. Also in love with Roxanne is the good-looking young soldier, Christian. He is afraid to declare his love because he fears that he will be too tongue-tied and foolish to say the right words for wooing. Roxanne confides in Cyrano that she thinks Christian is cute and she wants a relationship with him. The crest-fallen Cyrano is convinced by Christian to write love notes to Roxanne as if they came from Christian. The ruse works so well that Roxanne falls in love with Christian’s supposed way with words, especially an unsigned letter that Cyrano had written to her expressing his own feelings. When a monk arrives with a missive stating that Christian’s commanding officer wants Roxanne for his mistress, Roxanne has the monk marry her to Christian on the spot. Their union is unconsummated because Christian goes to war within the hour. Christian is killed in battle so Roxanne goes into a convent, consoled only by the beautiful words of ‘his’ letter. Fifteen years later, Cyrano and Roxanne have a visit. Cyrano is mortally wounded and dying, but Roxanne does not know it. She tells him of her continued love for Christian, and asks Cyrano to read the letter to her. In the dark of her nun’s cell, Cyrano recites the letter from memory. Only then does Roxanne realize that she had been in love with Cyrano all this time, his soul being more beautiful than his face. She tells him, and he dies content. This story, originally a play, has been made into 12 movies and 4 operas. In this example of the genre, the lovers are kept apart due to fear of ridicule on his part, and her shallowness — not seeing that beauty is only skin deep.

Our meals today are French, of course, and might have been enjoyed in the Bergerac Region of that country, where ingredients come from the forests, the Atlantic seacoast, and the Mediterranean. The breakfast is a classic, and the dinner was suggested by an offering seen at Daguerre Marée on Rue Daguerre, Paris. The establishment has two parts: a sit-down restaurant and a seafood market selling ingredients and prepared meals — of which this was one.

Cepe Omelette: 173 calories… 9.5 g fat… 1.5 g fiber … 15 g protein… 8.4 g carbs… 109.5 mg Calcium…  PB GF Cepes [aka: ceps, porcini] are a divine mushroom. Like many good foods, they exist in a brief moment and must be savored in real time. True, they can be dried for later… But today we will be Zen-like and enjoy them now.

++ 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. ++++ 2oz sliced, raw cepes… 1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, freshly grated… 3 Tbsp 2%-fat cottage cheese… 1 tsp sage, chopped… salt & pepper… 2 oz melon OR 2 oz peach OR 4 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]…

Spritz a non-stick pan well with cooking spray. Whisk the eggs with parsley, salt, pepper, Parmesan, and cottage cheese. Cook mushrooms in the pan until tender [1 minute?] and pour in the egg mixture. Let the bottom of the eggs get firm, lifting the edges to let the raw egg run underneath. Either flip the eggs to cook on the other side, or leave the upperside soft when you fold and plate it with the fruit. With or without the optional beverages, this is a rare Summer treat

Mussels & Mediterranean Vegetable with Polenta: 294 calories… 7 g fat… 7.5 g fiber… 20.5 g protein… 39 g carbs… 120 mg Calcium…  PB GF   When I saw a tray of mussels mixed with Mediterranean Vegetables at a Parisian food stall, I realized how easy it would be to prepare it at home in New Hampshire. Adding polenta or pasta rounds out the menu. At home, I was not disapointed by this generous meal.

++ 2 squares polenta** ++++ ¾ cup Mediterranean Vegetables ++++ 113 g cooked mussels, removed from shells ++++ side salad with cucumbers and blueberries ++++ 1½ tsp Parmesan cheese, grated ++

Put polenta in a lightly-oiled pan to heat thoroughly over medium-low. Put Med Veg in a small saucepan with the mussels and heat through over medium low. Prepare the salad and toss. Plate the poleta, top with vegetable-mussel mixture as you will. Sprinkle with cheese. Ahhh.

**POLENTA: recipe from Bob’s Red Mill each slice [2.25x3x0.25”] = 43 calories..0.2 g fat..1 g fiber..1 g protein ..9 g carbs..0 Calcium  PB GF Use with pasta sauce, instead of pasta; as a side starch; for Pocahantus’ Breakfast.

12 pieces, Sv 6-12	2-qt saucepan + 9×13” pan + non-stick skillet
3 c water or vegetable stock—– 1 tsp salt—1 cup dry polenta	Bring salted liquid to a boil in saucepan. Add polenta, a few tablespoons at a time, stirring after each addition.
Optional: dried herbs—–crushed red papper flakes	Once all polenta is in, turn down heat to its lowest [I used smallest burner on its lowest setting], cook 30 mins. Stir often: to avoid lumps, to scrape down sides, to prevent sticking. Unlike risotto, it does not need constant stirring.
	After 30 mins, polenta will be very thick – spoon will stand up by itself. Cook 2-3 mins more.
Olive oil	Brush a very thin layer of oil on a 9×13” baking pan, and turn the polenta into it. Nudge batter into corners, smooth out top. Let it cool and solidify.
	Cut into 12 squares. Heat a non-stick skillet, spray with cooking spray. Cook polenta squares until they begin to take on a little color and are heated through.
	Individually wrap pieces and freeze cooked or uncooked, until needed.