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 bellyflatxtreme and edwardlorilla who are now Following.

Doesn’t it seem as if every week or two there are articles touting a “new super food“? Each one is ‘the BEST’ and only food to eat for good health, and then the next time, another one comes along with the same claim. Well, we know that some foods are better than others: whole grains, fish with Omega-3 fatty acids, colorful vegetables, berries with antioxidants, dark leafy greens. We also know — or you should know — that certain foods should be avoided: highly processed foods, simple carbs, fried foods, trans-fats, feed-lot-fed meat. Since the foods to avoid are so easy to find and eat, that means that the better food must be unavailable and difficult to prepare, right? Nope. Unless you live in a ‘food desert,’ and unfortunately many people do, these choices are most likely available in your supermarket. Eating them can lead to better health outcomes, on a Fast Day and on a Slow Day.

Our breakfast utilizes two of the most trendy foods of our time: quinoa and kale. Dear Husband doesn’t care for them separately, but he ate them with gusto in this bake. Also in the bake is that diet stand-by, cottage cheese. The herbs and spices each carry health-promoting properties. And then we add the blueberries. Whew! That’s a lot of good stuff in one meal. The dinner contains two of the well-known standards of healthy eating: wild salmon and broccoli. Can’t get better than that!

SuperFood Bake: 132 calories 5.6 g fat 2 g fiber 10 g protein 11 g carbs [7 g Complex] 53 mg Calcium  PB GF   Hearty, easy, good-tasting, with many of your favorite superfoods baked into a fine breakfast. Whole grains and dark leafy greens! at breakfast!

one 2-oz egg 2 Tbsp cooked quinoa ½ oz cooked kale 1 Tbsp cottage cheese, reduced fat 2 pinches of cayenne, sage, garlic powder, turmeric ¼ c wild blueberries, fresh or frozen 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]

Plan to cook some quinoa for a dinner a day or two ahead to have some left-over for this breakfast. Tip: The night before cook the kale, squeeze it out, and chop in well. In a small bowl, combine the quinoa, kale, cheese, and seasonings. Add salt to taste. Heat the toaster oven to 350 F. Spritz an oven-proof dish with cooking oil or spray. Whisk the egg, then stir in the mixed ingredients. Pour into the prepared dish and bake 12-15 minutes. Plate with the blueberries and serve with your choice of optional beverages. Power-packed!

Salmon & Broccoli:  241 calories 9 g fat 3 g fiber 27 g protein 8 g carbs 83 mg Calcium PB GF This is a meal that is so simple to prepare and so delicious that it seems impossible that it can be so good for you. Indulge yourself often.

4 oz wild Pacific salmon filet 4 oz broccoli florets 2 Tbsp mango salsa [Newman’s own]

Spray either a cast iron skillet or a stove-top grill pan with non-stick spray and heat it over medium-high. [You could also broil or bake the fish. If you bake it, go for 9-10 minutes at 400F] Salt and pepper the fish on both sides. Cook about 4-5 minutes on each side, then take off the heat. Cook/steam the broccoli until it is tender, then plate topped with purchased mango salsa.