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.
Saturday 28 March 2009
Saturday 21 March 2009
squash rackets: ten essential rules
These rules are intended for novice, amateur and generally friendly play.
1. First serve is decided by a spin of the racket, all of which are dissimilarly marked (often with 'your serve' and 'my serve' printed on opposite sides).
2. Points are scored only by the server, whenever the non-server doesn't make a good return; if the server doesn't make a good return, non-server wins the right to serve. Games are scored first-to-nine points, unless eight-all is reached, in which case the then non-serving player may announce "set ten" to force a ten point game. British games never go beyond ten points, except in doubles play (forget it).
3. The server decides which side of the court to serve from first; this is the 'even' side for that game. (Whenever the sum of the scores is even, a player must serve from that side, and vice versa).
4. The out-of-court line is highest, and stretches right around the court, sometimes horizonally, sometimes diagonally. The highest horizontal marks the front of the court. If a ball hits a wall anywhere above this line, or hits the ceiling, it's out.
5. Every shot must hit the front wall before it bounces on the floor. A serve must hit it directly, and always above the front 6ft 'cut line'. A return may strike it indirectly, and need only hit above the front 19in 'tin' line, so called because a metal plate is often fixed below it; this makes an obvious noise when a ball strikes it.
6. To begin a rally, the server throws the ball into the air. A thrown ball must not bounce before it is hit by the server, so a ball thrown by the server but not hit concedes the serve. So does not having at least one foot inside the marked square on that side of the court.
7. A served ball must also, if it is not volleyed (ie hit before it bounces) by the non-server, bounce behind the 'short-line' that forms the front of each service square, and also in the non-server's half of the court.
8. A ball cannot be returned if has bounced twice on the floor after striking the front wall.
9. A ball was not properly returned if it was struck twice, or if it bounced on the floor before hitting the front wall (directly or otherwise).
10. Players must actively allow their opponents to reach the ball and so play a legal shot. A point is granted (or serve awarded) is a player fails to do this. A let (replay) occurs when a player makes a good return but cannot also 'vacate' the court. (Hence, lets are relatively frequent in amateur play).
1. First serve is decided by a spin of the racket, all of which are dissimilarly marked (often with 'your serve' and 'my serve' printed on opposite sides).
2. Points are scored only by the server, whenever the non-server doesn't make a good return; if the server doesn't make a good return, non-server wins the right to serve. Games are scored first-to-nine points, unless eight-all is reached, in which case the then non-serving player may announce "set ten" to force a ten point game. British games never go beyond ten points, except in doubles play (forget it).
3. The server decides which side of the court to serve from first; this is the 'even' side for that game. (Whenever the sum of the scores is even, a player must serve from that side, and vice versa).
4. The out-of-court line is highest, and stretches right around the court, sometimes horizonally, sometimes diagonally. The highest horizontal marks the front of the court. If a ball hits a wall anywhere above this line, or hits the ceiling, it's out.
5. Every shot must hit the front wall before it bounces on the floor. A serve must hit it directly, and always above the front 6ft 'cut line'. A return may strike it indirectly, and need only hit above the front 19in 'tin' line, so called because a metal plate is often fixed below it; this makes an obvious noise when a ball strikes it.
6. To begin a rally, the server throws the ball into the air. A thrown ball must not bounce before it is hit by the server, so a ball thrown by the server but not hit concedes the serve. So does not having at least one foot inside the marked square on that side of the court.
7. A served ball must also, if it is not volleyed (ie hit before it bounces) by the non-server, bounce behind the 'short-line' that forms the front of each service square, and also in the non-server's half of the court.
8. A ball cannot be returned if has bounced twice on the floor after striking the front wall.
9. A ball was not properly returned if it was struck twice, or if it bounced on the floor before hitting the front wall (directly or otherwise).
10. Players must actively allow their opponents to reach the ball and so play a legal shot. A point is granted (or serve awarded) is a player fails to do this. A let (replay) occurs when a player makes a good return but cannot also 'vacate' the court. (Hence, lets are relatively frequent in amateur play).
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