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.

In 1950, the book Kon-Tiki made a big splash. Detailing his voyage on a balsa-wood raft from Peru to Polynesia, the book and subsequent movie [Oscar winner, 1951] made Thor Heyerdahl well-known around the world. He was born in 1914 in Larvik, Norway, and studied zoology and geography at university. In his spare time, Hey-erdahl studied Polynesian culture and history. On their wedding day, Thor and his 1st wife Liv Coucheron-Torp set off for the island of Fatu Hiva. Supposed to be a sponsored expedition to study how plants from other places ended up on isolated islands, the newly-weds were seeking a forever-home, a pre-industrial refuge from modern life. Unprepared for the realities of subsistence survival, they lasted one year. But what they learned about plants and Polynesian lore convinced Heyerdahl that there had been a link between the people of South America and of the Polynesian islands. No one believed him, despite the fact that sweet potatoes from the Americas grow also in Fatu Hiva, and that there is a Polynesian legend of ‘white men with beards’ arriving from the East. Such curiosities intrigued Heyerdahl, and he set out to prove his theory. Hence the Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947. Fascinated now with the idea that pre-contact, Stone Age cultures could have traveled long distances by sea, Heyerdahl pursued his dreams with further expe-ditions: 1955, archeology in Easter Island/Rapa Nui; 1970, Ra II voyage from Morocco to Barbados; 1977, Tigris expedition from western India to the Red Sea. Although nations and universities showered Heyerdahl with honors, ethnographers and archeologists were leery of his ideas. He might have gotten some things right: although modern DNA shows that Polynesians came from Asia, not South America, there is a link between Easter Islanders and the natives of the Americas. Heyerdahl died of brain cancer on April 18, 2002. His many books still inspire those who dream of adventure.

Since the Kon-Tiki set sail from Peru, our day will begin with food from there. Tahiti was settled by the Polynesians — from Asia, not Bolivia. Our dinner shows the influence of colonization on the food of Tahiti, just what Heyerdahl was studying in Fatu Hiva.

Peruvian ScrOmelette: 143 calories…. 8 g fat… 1 g fiber… 12 g protein… 8 g carbs… 70 mg Calcium   NB: Food values shown are for the ScrOmelette and fruit only, and do not include the optional beverages.  PB GF  Traditional foods of Peru from land and sea combine with the new taste of coffee, now grown in the Andes Mountains.

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  2 oz diced tomato ¼ oz [2 tsp] anchovies canned in olive oil, drained but not rinsed 2 oz melon OR mango  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]

Night before: After you dice the tomato, put it in a strainer over a bowl to reduce the moisture. In the morning: Chop the anchovies and add to the eggs. Spritz a non-stick pan with non-stick spray and add the tomatoes. This will cook them a bit and warm them. Whisk the egg/anchovy and pour into the warm pan. Scramble or cook as an omelette. Plate with the fruit, pour the beverages, and dream of the Andes.

Chicken and Limes: 283 calories… 7.6 g fat… 3.5 g fiber… 23 g protein… 35 g carbs… 61 mg Calcium   PB  GF  Limes, chicken, and pineapple were added to the ecosystem of Tahiti by various visitors, and were promptly incorporated into the cuisine. We served this at a dinner party and no one would have guessed that it was a Fasting meal. Here is the one-serving method for <Poulet avec Limettes.>

3 oz chicken breast, boneless, skinless, and cut in 2 pieces across the width + 1 lime: ½ of it zested and juiced; ½ of it sliced + ¼ cup chicken stock + ½ tsp sugar + 1 tsp cornstarch [cornflour] + ½ fl. oz heavy cream + thyme 3 oz slice of pineapple, fresh or canned + salt + pepper + ¼ cup brown rice, cooked

Marinate the chicken in the lime juice, zest, salt, pepper, and thyme in the ‘fridge for at least 2 hours. Remove the chicken from the marinade, and put 1/3 of the liquid into one small container and the remainder into a sauce pan. We grilled the chicken briefly and then removed it to a plate while the pineapple and lime slices were grilled. If you are not grilling today, put the pineapple and lime under the broiler until slightly charred and hot all the way through. Meanwhile, add the stock and chicken to the pan with the marinade and heat it until the chicken is mostly cooked. Remove the chicken and keep warm. Bring the liquids to a boil and reduce by 1/3 of the volume. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and remaining marinade. Reduce the heat and stir until thickened. [this happens rather quickly] Return the chicken to the pan, add the cream, and stir to combine and to coat the chicken with the sauce. Plate with the rice and pineapple and lime slices for a taste of Tahiti.

Ingredients for next week: Breakfast, single portion for Monday …………………………… single portion for Thursday:

1 two-oz egg + canola oil + maple syrup	1 two-oz egg
skimmed milk + 2%-fat cottage cheese	1/2 oz mushrooms
white whole wheat flour + strawberries	one Buckwheat Crepe/Galette
butter + 35 calorie chicken breakfast sausage	Mediterranean Vegetables
optional smoothie	optional smoothie
optional hot beverage	optional hot beverage

Dinner, single portion for Monday:………………………….. single portion for Thursday:

red beets + red potato	butter + portobello cap + asparagus
back bacon or Canadian bacon	4 oz filet mignon + olive oil
onion	shallot + white wine + heavy cream
one 2-oz egg	grainy mustard + fresh tarragon
Sparkling water	Sparkling water