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. Simple way to lose weight and be healthier. Welcome to Loraganic and rduncanheart who are now Following.

Edward Teach/Thatch grew up in a well-to-do family in Jamaica, although he was born in or near Bristol, England. In 1706, for some reason, he signed over his birthright to the family plantation and set sail for England. There he joined the navy. By this time England was engaged in Queen Anne’s War against the French and their Spanish allies and ‘privateering,’ or state-sanctioned piracy, was a feature of war-fare. In 1716, Teach was back in the Americas crewing for a Captain Hornigold. Was Hornigold a pirate or a legal privateer? Depends on your perspective. His mentor gave Teach a ship of his own and the career path was set. Teach’s flagship was the frigate he named “Queen Anne’s Revenge,” captured from French pirates who took it from the English. Soon Teach was going by the name “Blackbeard” and he invented the cult of personality with a clever PR campaign.

He was tall, with a long beard. He wore 3 pistols, bandoleer-style, and an elaborate hat. Not one to go unrecognized, he would light his beard on fire while capturing a ship. Yet he never killed anyone. His reputation for cruelty and brutality and wickedness preceded him so well that ships simply surrendered to him. The governor of North Carolina took bribes from Blackbeard in exchange for immunity from arrest, although it was well-known that his operations base was Ocracoke Island, NC. In early 1718, after his blockade of Charleston, SC, Blackbeard downsized his crew and retired to Ocracoke. Too late. The governor of Virginia had had enough and paid Lt. Robert Maynard to capture Teach. On November 22, 1718, after a sea battle and hand-to-hand combat, Blackbeard the Pirate was killed. His severed head was put on display as a warning to other pirates. That did not stop the legend from growing, nor did it stop the search for his [presumably] buried treasure. Queen Anne’s Revenge was salvaged after its discovery in 1996, providing many insights into Blackbeard’s pirating life.

Since the Caribbean was called the ‘Spanish Main,’ our breakfast is from Spain. The ship that Teach commandeered happened to have a French cook on staff. Teach, who knew good food, kept the man on. Our dinner is French and based on a common fish of the North Atlantic.

Flamenco Eggs: 125 calories 5 g fat 2.6 g fiber 7.5 g protein 13.5 g carb 44 mg Calcium  NB: The food values shown are for the plated foods only, not for the optional beverages.  PB GF  From Everyday Tapas , this recipe shows how a meal can go from being a dinner to being a breakfast. Similarly, any breakfast could also be a dinner. 

1½ Tbsp tomato puree or ¾ oz tomato, chopped 1½ tsp parsley, chopped 1½ Tbsp onion, chopped [½ oz] 1½ Tbsp/1½ oz bell pepper, chopped salt & large pinch cayenne 1 two-oz egg 2 oz applesauce or apple or cherries Optional: blackish coffee [53 calories] or blackish tea or mocha cafe au lait [65 calories] or lemon in hot water  Optional: 5-6 oz fruit smoothie or berry-yogurt smoothie [88 calories]

Spritz a small ramekin with cooking spray or olive oil. Put the tomato, parsley, onion in the ramekin. Microwave for 4-5 minutes to cook the onion. Add the bell pepper and seasonings, and microwave for another 4 minutes. [Alternatively, saute the above ingredients, instead of microwaving].  HINT: you can do this the night before. Remove from microwave and make a ‘nest’ in the cooked vegetables. Crack the egg into the nest. Bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes. Meanwhile, prep the fruit. Prepare the optional beverages and have a snappy day.

Mackerel stuffed with Leeks: 285 calories 16 g fat 1.6 g fiber 22 g protein 9 g carbs 46.5 mg Calcium   PB GF  This is from Joanne Harris & Fran Warde’s delightful French Market . If you are lucky enough to get fresh mackerel, this one’s for you.

Two 2-oz mackerel fillets to total 4 oz per serving salt & pepper oregano 2 tsp grainy mustard, like ‘country Dijon’ ¾ ounce sliced leeks coriander 3 oz tomatoes, sliced OR sliced cucumbers + cherry tomatoes

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Slash the skin of the fish and season the skin-side with salt and pepper. Turn the fillets over and spread each one with mustard, then sprinkle with oregano. Put one fillet skin-side down on the baking pan and pile the leeks on top of it. Sprinkle with a little coriander and more pepper, if you like. Put the other fillet on top of the leeks, with the skin-side up. Press down a little on the fish to compact it a bit. Roast for about 12 minutes, until the fish is opaque. Meanwhile, slice and plate the other vegetables. What a lovely meal!