Any guys that have or do diet on a budget?

**Flagg** · 01-13-2008, 04:11 PM

Hi, after spending quite a bit of time out the gym (4 months) I really wanna get back on track with my training and diet. I've just joined a pretty good gym on student discount, and there in lies some of the problem.

I'm currently at college now and will be going to University in September. Naturally i dont earn as much money as I was before but I really want to get back to looking like a big bastard again, albiet on a cheap diet. Any tips would be good, especially from people that trained while studying at the same time on how they managed to afford buying a lot of food to cover their meals on a daily basis.

**IronReload04** · 01-13-2008, 04:15 PM

look for sales on chicken, and spend 150-200 bucks at one time and buy in bulk. brown rice. olive oil/fish oil......boom

150 bucks, on sale, might last me under 3 weeks, be lucky to get over 2.5 weeks with that. muscle growth takes lean meat, and lots of it......their are no shortcuts.....no lunch meat, no milk, no beef jerky, no powder can compare to lean meat

**Flagg** · 01-13-2008, 04:23 PM

I was wondering, is pork an absolute no no? I live in the UK and stuff like tuna and frozen chicken is quite affordable and a reasonable price, however Beef is quite pricey. I used to buy large beef joints and then cut them up into steaks as buying steaks independantly is ridiculously expensive. Pork is nearly half the price of beef here, i was contemplating buying pork joints instead and doing the same with those.

**feanixco** · 01-13-2008, 04:30 PM

I buy lean turkey tenderloins and lots of chicken breasts in bulk.

**IronReload04** · 01-13-2008, 04:34 PM

turkey to me tastes better than chicken, i love it so much.....lean ground turkey breast is amazing

as far as pork goes.....It seriously depends on the cut of meat.....believe it or not, their are some slabs of pork out their that are thick and taste just as good as steak of cooked right, but alot of times pork has a tendency to be really fatty...so its all in the cut of meat.....a great cut of pork is just as good a protein as anything else. but if you pay crap, you might be getting crap

**convalescence69** · 01-13-2008, 04:44 PM

with you on this one, doing the same thing, been doing it for years. Being broke student dude sucks two cups of ass.
Cheap good stuff:
EGGS! - cheapest protein you can get and good quality. I do up 3 eggs minus 2 yolk
Peanut Butter
Tuna (if you find the solid white in a can on sale, it can work out good)
Beans (all kinds, cannelini I like, black beans good too)
Soy products (milk, flour)

The grocery store chain here near me every week has new buy one get one free deals, so I buy tons when I see stuff I need. Get the tuna that way, or lowfat cheeses, etc. You get the point.
ALSO If you get a bread machine and make your own bread, it is a HELLA CHEAP, and you can substitute 1 cup of wheat flour with 1 cup soy flour, adds a ton of protein and tastes pretty good. I add flax seeds to the dough too, which are also cheap if you buy them in bulk from the health food store, less than a buck a pound.
If I think of anything else I might have missed i will add it.

**Mazzive_T** · 01-13-2008, 04:51 PM

hey bud go to tesco, 1kg of boneless skinless chicken breasts = £3!

ive gotta dash now but il post here later tellin ya more cheap good food. Im a student too, at uni check out my BBing Log.

T.

**convalescence69** · 01-13-2008, 05:27 PM

Wanted to add; some of the stuff I mentioned, the biggest problem I have with the budgeting and food stuff is getting tired of eating the same stuff. I eat so much of it I get icky thinking about eating it, so you gotta mix it up a bit, eat one thing then another. Best thing I've come up with is spices and condiments, though no Mayo, that loads your stuff up with fat. A great substitute for mayo is mustard, which itself has practically no calories.
Normal black pepper became my best friend. I like grated romano cheese too, adds a bit of flavor and salt while adding only a trivial amount of fat. You can put it on your eggs, beans, whatever floats your boat. Garlic is great too and good for you. Hot spices also have a thermogenic effect if you are trying to lose some chub, though you'd need to eat a lot of it.
One awesome thing that happend lastweek, they had buy one get one free deal on boxes of protein breakfast bars, so they were like 1.50 per box of 5, I was suprised they were so yummy. Just gotta look out for stuff like that.

**ecto9** · 01-13-2008, 05:58 PM

Pasta, Tuna, Eggs, Canned Salmon... Buy bulk

**Flagg** · 01-14-2008, 03:54 PM

Thanks for the pointers guys, really taken a lot of that on board and Convelescence, I know exactly what you mean about "sexing up food". Eating a shitload of food each and everyday can be a chore after awhile and you need to throw in a few condiments and herbs to spice things up.

**Mazzive_T** · 01-17-2008, 07:40 AM

My shopping list for week:

Complex carbs
3 x Pasta fuisilli quick cook 5 min £1.19 per pack
6 x uncle bens microwaveable rice (2 pilau, 2 wholegrain, 2 normal white boiled longgrain) £1.22 each
1 x Oatibix 24 £1.78
4 x pack of 4 Jacket potatoes baking potatoes tray 4pack 55p per pack of 4

fib/simple carbs
3 x tesco Green beans £1.30 per pack
14 x Pianapple chunks in natural juice 23p each
2 x celery stickwashed 98p each

protein
60 eggs (packs of 15 for £1.50) £6
2 x packs medium sized Steaks around a fiver in total.
4 x tesco bags value Chicken boneless and skinless chicken breasts £3.00 per kg (which is around 6-8 fillets) so work it out from there. I normally have around 4-6 a day depending on how I feel.
7 x tins Tuna
6 pint milk £1.96
7 small tins Heinz baked beans

appetisers
1 x large salad cream £1.58

comes to around £25-30 per week depending on how much ive eaten week before. Definatley £25-30 a week though. The steaks are vacuum formed so they don’t keep for more then 2 days after you’ve opened them so if your having one a day get a pack of 2 medium sized ones for around £2.50-£3 but buy two packs at once cos they’ll keep for a week when the vacuum seal isn’t broken. Thatl last u 4 days, And midway through the week just go back and buy another pack!

Any more tips and advice I can think of il post.

T.

**novastepp** · 01-17-2008, 07:54 AM

chicken breast, oats, sweet potatoes, and tuna. milk if you can afford it.

**number twelve** · 01-17-2008, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by IronReload04

look for sales on chicken, and spend 150-200 bucks at one time and buy in bulk. brown rice. olive oil/fish oil......boom

150 bucks, on sale, might last me under 3 weeks, be lucky to get over 2.5 weeks with that. muscle growth takes lean meat, and lots of it......their are no shortcuts.....no lunch meat, no milk, no beef jerky, no powder can compare to lean meat

amen

**Dukkit** · 01-17-2008, 11:47 AM

work at a restaurant. worked for me for years.

**paulzane** · 01-17-2008, 12:16 PM

Buy whole chickens .... either frozen or free range. I find that they are a lot cheaper than buying chicken breasts on their own and you get loads of good meat from all over the chicken. A lot more than in a few breasts.

**Lexed** · 01-17-2008, 12:58 PM

i eat tuna all day cause its cheap

**Flagg** · 01-21-2008, 01:48 PM

Originally Posted by Mazzive_T

My shopping list for week:

Complex carbs
3 x Pasta fuisilli quick cook 5 min £1.19 per pack
6 x uncle bens microwaveable rice (2 pilau, 2 wholegrain, 2 normal white boiled longgrain) £1.22 each
1 x Oatibix 24 £1.78
4 x pack of 4 Jacket potatoes baking potatoes tray 4pack 55p per pack of 4

fib/simple carbs
3 x tesco Green beans £1.30 per pack
14 x Pianapple chunks in natural juice 23p each
2 x celery stickwashed 98p each

protein
60 eggs (packs of 15 for £1.50) £6
2 x packs medium sized Steaks around a fiver in total.
4 x tesco bags value Chicken boneless and skinless chicken breasts £3.00 per kg (which is around 6-8 fillets) so work it out from there. I normally have around 4-6 a day depending on how I feel.
7 x tins Tuna
6 pint milk £1.96
7 small tins Heinz baked beans

appetisers
1 x large salad cream £1.58

comes to around £25-30 per week depending on how much ive eaten week before. Definatley £25-30 a week though. The steaks are vacuum formed so they don’t keep for more then 2 days after you’ve opened them so if your having one a day get a pack of 2 medium sized ones for around £2.50-£3 but buy two packs at once cos they’ll keep for a week when the vacuum seal isn’t broken. Thatl last u 4 days, And midway through the week just go back and buy another pack!

Any more tips and advice I can think of il post.

T.

T, that is a crazy cool plan. I'll elaborate more in a PM.

**Kärnfysikern** · 01-21-2008, 04:54 PM

I have been managing on ground beef, lean cuts of pork and tuna for many years as a poor student. Eggs is also very good and loads of cheap whey protein. I could fit in 300grams of protein a day or more but then all my money was spent on food exclusively so not very fun

Im glad the poor days are soon at a end.

**Flagg** · 01-21-2008, 08:23 PM

Originally Posted by Kärnfysikern

I have been managing on ground beef, lean cuts of pork and tuna for many years as a poor student. Eggs is also very good and loads of cheap whey protein. I could fit in 300grams of protein a day or more but then all my money was spent on food exclusively so not very fun

Im glad the poor days are soon at a end.

HA! Those days will be beginning for me soon, well right now cause im still at college till Uni starts in September. I REALLY wish I did University years back now.

**Kärnfysikern** · 01-23-2008, 06:15 AM

Originally Posted by Flagg

HA! Those days will be beginning for me soon, well right now cause im still at college till Uni starts in September. I REALLY wish I did University years back now.

Enjoy

How do you get money while studying over there? Here in sweden uni students get roughly 1000$ each month in state funded loans and grants and thats what I have lived on for 4 years.