A nutritious 250kcal snack

Ingredients:

25g soya mince (aka TVP) (80kcal)
1 low-fat instant soup sachet (65kcal)
Spices (to taste) (10kcal, say)
Boiling water (0kcal)
3 slices dark-rye Ryvita (95kcal)
(Ryvita is a dense, high-fibre crispbread)
-- optional --
1 mineralised multivitamin tablet (?kcal)

This simple snack is best prepared in an old Pot Noodle container or similar. Sprinkle the soup and spices over the soya and rehydrate with about a mugful of boiling water. Stir well and cover for five minutes. Break up the Ryvita and immerse in the mixture. Add a little more boiling water and stir, aiming for a thick consistency when the Ryvita has disintegrated. Cover for another five minutes and stir once more. Eat slowly (it's still hot!), then swallow the multivitamin tablet.

Nutritionally, this snack is extremely rich in protein (equivalent to 11-12g of egg yolk protein), high in fibre, low in calories, low in fat, and provides a very good base for digesting multivitamins.

Even if you're dieting VERY heavily (say 1250kcal/day for a woman; 1500kcal/day for a man) a balanced diet built around this snack will easily provide all the protein you need daily. You should also treat the multivitamin tablet as mandatory and ensure you eat lots of green vegetables (peas, spinach, broccoli..) and acidic fruit (apples, oranges, grapefruit..), a soluble-fibre cereal (eg oat bran with a calcium-enriched fresh* soya milk, perhaps sweetened with jam?) and SOME fat too (typically from condiments: avoid meat). I also recommend bulking your intake with mushrooms, which are highly nutritious and very low in calories. You should also do your own research into human nutrition: I've cut several corners giving this oversimplified advice; nevertheless, no well-nourished dieter will suffer much by following it for at least a month unless you literally starve yourself. Clue: if you catch cold, eat more.

In the longer term, aim for a varied, balanced, weight-sustaining diet, ideally without any red meat, or even white meat. Though I personally don't eat any meat or fish (except carrion) for ethical reasons, certain fish are (admittedly) highly nutritious. Remember though: the higher up the food chain you go, the denser foods are in all nutrients (especially calories!) so the less your body needs, and the more you need to eat to feel 'full'.

*UHT soya milk is no more pleasant than UHT dairy milk. Try the fresh stuff.