Mixed up in College

[FiMo719]

All right... I'll give the standard thank you to anyone who responds to this because it is incredible how difficult it is to get advice about what to eat FROM PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT w/o paying for it. So, tipping my hat there... on to the questions.

I'm your run of the mill, poor college kid. I worked out for a few years, got to college, things went downhill. Not only did I not have any time to workout, but I was too poor to eat right. Well, this semester is the first time in over a year that I've had the time to get to some exercise. I have lost a huge amount of weight though. I'm down to prob. around 155 at 5'10 (I was at about 179 at my heaviest back in the day). I've been pretty sedentary for a long while now. Because of the money issue, I just can't get all the food I need to get into a bulk cycle. I've realized, if I want to do this, I'm gonna have to sacrifice variety for some easy gaining foods that I can eat a lot of... y'know, because it's cheaper to buy bulk.

So what I'm asking for is help in forming a very specific diet (I know it's not optimal but one that's the same every day would help w/ the $$$). Here are some of the things that I currently have and can afford to get maybe a few times throughout the month.
1. Whole wheat bread
2. Bananas
3. Eggs + Egg Whites
4. Chicken breasts
5. Cottage Cheese
6. Natural peanut butter
7. OJ
8. Hot dogs
9. Tuna
10. Sausages
11. Ground beef
12. Lean bubba burgers
13. 2% milk
14. Any cereal
15. Some swiss cheese
16. And some kinds of pasta... spaghetti, rigatoni, etc.

That's just to give an idea of what I have now, but I'm open to suggestions of buying other things... I just have to keep the price down. That was all about 80 bucks and I can't spend that too often. So you think you guys can help me out? The more strict and specific the diet the better and any additional info you guys need just let me know. On top of this, in my better off days, I bought some cell-tech creatine and some myoplex deluxe meal replacement shakes (53g of Pro per shake) and I haven't touched either. Do I still need to buy whey protein on top of this? I bought the shakes in anticipation for not having enough food but I'm afraid to rely on them too much, 1. Because they aren't real food, and 2. They'll run out fast and are fairly expensive themselves.

Thanks again for even reading this long post and even moreso to any who reply.

-Filup

[dalcowbag]

olive oil, tuna, whey, dextrose, rice and oatmeal. . .thats all you need to see very el cheapo. read the stickys and you can get a great diet going with those foods

dcb

[SwoleCat]

If you can, add another form of protein aside from tuna. Whey protein is good, but u want some solid foods in there too, and tuna gets OLD.

Stickies atop the page can help you lay out your own diet. U can post here for evaluation/critique by all of the members. Good luck!

~SC~

[Boost n Juice]

another cheap solid food I recommend is low sodium deli meat...Sliced turkey breast is only $2.99/lb at my local deli...

[GQSuperman]

its cheaper to buy the meat yourself and cut it up. you basically pay for them to slice it and package it when you buy deli meats.

[Boost n Juice]

its cheaper to buy the meat yourself and cut it up. you basically pay for them to slice it and package it when you buy deli meats.

Agreed, but he could be living in a dorm and might not have an oven...

[FiMo719]

Thanks for the help so far. I took this directly from the Bulking sticky. I can’t yet decide how much of everything I should get because I want to see how much is taken care of by the MR shakes and the Celltech. For example, I don’t need any dextrose because Celltech has 75g per serving of the stuff. I hope you get my confusion… The Celltech has 300 calories, 75g of carbs, 200mg of ALA and the MR shakes have 340 calories, 4.5g of fat, 53g of protein, and 12.58g of glutamine (plus tons of other stuff in both of these things). So how do I factor these in? Should I alternate between the whey and the MR shakes? Like here’s the sample diet w/o any amounts or numbers:

Meal 1: Pro/Carb
Egg Whites, Whey Protein, Oatmeal
Meal 2: Pro/Fat
Lean Ground Beef, Swiss Cheese, Green Veggies
Meal 3: Pro/Carb
Chicken Breast, Brown Rice
Meal 4: Pro/Fat
Tuna, Full Fat Mayonnaise, Veggies
Workout
Meal 5: PWO Nutrition
Whey Protein / Dextrose
Meal 6: PPWO
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Brown Rice
Meal 7: Pro/Fat
Lean Protein of your choice, Natural Peanut Butter
Meal 8: Before Bed
Whey Protein, Flax Seed Oil

So if I am taking Celltech on top of this (which I’m assuming will allow me to drop the dextrose in Meal 5), loading for the first 5 days w/ 2 servings a day, and from then on 1 serving PW and then using the MR shakes to replace meals that I don’t have time to eat, which of the above do I replace w/ the shake? I hope now you understand where the problem is and why I can’t think up the portions yet. Also, I used the Excel sheet to calculate my needs and I have a question. Like I said earlier, I’ve been so busy with school I’ve lived a pretty sedentary lifestyle for a few months now. I can use the bulking numbers from the sedentary row… But, I plan to jump back into working out now and that will make me at least moderately active if not more, so should I use those numbers instead? Hmm… I also just realized with the whey, MR shakes, and creatine that’s 3 shakes a day? Does that work? Is that too many? Should I mix some of them together? And not my fav. option, but should I drop the MR shakes all together? Or maybe drop the Whey protein and just do MR shakes there instead since they have tons of protein too (53g)? And question #56468841235, let’s say I drop one of those two and take it post-workout, I also have to take my creatine then… Should I just make two shakes and down them both, or what?

-Filup

Edited to add: I live in an apt. so I can cook, the lean turkey meat you were talking about would be good for Meal 7 (lean protein of your choice) right? And just out of curiosity... How do you eat that w/ natural peanut butter?

[fritz2435]

Why are you buying cell-tech if you're short on money? FOOD OVER SUPPS!

[FiMo719]

Why are you buying cell-tech if you're short on money? FOOD OVER SUPPS!

Got it before I came up, when I could afford it... I knew I wouldn't be able to later.

[decadbal]

my diet consists of chicken tenders and breast, tuna, oatmeal, baked potatoes and PB sometimes.. and wheat bread sometimes, non sweet tea and wylers light drinks.. protein shakes and lowfat milk.

[FiMo719]

I def. don't have that much food yet. I have some of that (the rest is from the sample diet) and I was gonna ask my mom to send up the rest. Hopefully someone can help me out with that question about cell-tech and MR shakes. I don't have a problem with people questioning how I'm spending my money, but it'd be nice if the questions/complaints were accompanied by answers too.

[SwoleCat]

I don't have a problem with people questioning how I'm spending my money, but it'd be nice if the questions/complaints were accompanied by answers too.

Bruh, people are helping you for free. It seems to me you think people owe you something. You won't get far w/that attitude. Do w/that what you wish.

It was just noted that cell-tech is expensive, and that you could purchase tons of food w/that money. Cell tech is also a bullsh*t supplement, but that's another story. The point is, people did not know you bought this a LONG time ago, hence the reason for the questions about its inclusion.

~SC~

[FiMo719]

You won't get far w/that attitude.

That's why I tried to be as polite as possible with my response. Because I understand that these people don't owe me anything and so anything they want to say is their right. I was actually sincere about answering those questions because I could understand their confusion, but I really was hoping that these people who are reading could also help me out with me question. There is no way to either re-ask my question or ask that people please answer it w/o looking like an ass w/ an attitude. So I tried my best not to come across that way and apparently I still did. Sorry about that then bro... Really just looking for some of these final answers as they are all I'm waiting for to get all this jumpstarted.

-F