I am short on money right now.

[books555]

I only have enough money for one meal a day right now. Can anyone give me advice about holding onto muscle with out any supplements. I dont know how long this will last.

[Scooby1]

food is cheaper than supplements. Eat as much as you can. And make some money will ya

[SwoleCat]

Ouch bro. One meal a day is hard enough for someone who ISN'T into fitness and retaining lean mass.

I hope your situation gets better soon, for your diet and your financial situation.

Best wishes,

~SC~

[MatrixGuy]

I only have enough money for one meal a day right now. Can anyone give me advice about holding onto muscle with out any supplements. I dont know how long this will last.

Sorry to hear this bro. Why is this? Tuna is very cheap to buy and full of protein, but you need other food too.

[Kärnfysikern]

i would say spend your money on soybeans. its the cheapest protein rich food there is. Maby not the optimal food but if you just want to retain muscle and keep a decent protein intake on the least ammount of cash possible then soybeans is hard if not impossible to beat.

Also rice and potatoes is dirt cheap. Eat alot of it. Im assuming here that higher kcal even if it is from carbs alone will help you retain muscle more then if you eat very low kcal. So live on rice and soybeans.

That will also make sure you get decent ammounts of fibers and good fats along with other good nutritients. You dont want to suffer from malnutrition(sp?)

try to squeese in a few fruits if you can afford it so you dont get vitamin and mineral deficencies(how on earth is that spelled). That would probably not only make you sic but also be wastefull to musclemass.

[books555]

Thanks guys.

[SwoleCat]

I have to disagree on the soybeans, that is one food I'd NOT worry about purchasing.

Just my opinion, but the protein quality sucks for building/maintaining lean muscle tissue, and it raises estrogen levels and makes you soft/pudgy.

No thanks.

~SC~

[harl]

Eggs and pasta= cheap!

[collar]

if your only going to be eating one meal a day i would think ur not going to be able to train
if u are training i suggest u dont cause one meal a day is going to work against u
not with u
till u have some money and have life settled again then start training with more meals

[Manson]

ouch bro,
Get your financial situation up and then worry about your muscles....
Best wishes

[Red Ketchup]

Bro, having lived thru a "lean" period a few years ago I can sympathize

Eggs, canned tuna (or canned salmon) and pasta or rice bro...

Tuna is prolly the best protein for the lowest price. Since you don't want to be eating tuna 7 days a week you may also want to look at pork... it's quite affordable (here it's MUCH cheaper than beef or chicken) and contains plenty of protein.

Red

[devil1]

tuna and eggs bro

[IronFreakX]

Fava beans , Eggs , pasta , rice , Minced meat , Tuna

[Kärnfysikern]

I have to disagree on the soybeans, that is one food I'd NOT worry about purchasing.

Just my opinion, but the protein quality sucks for building/maintaining lean muscle tissue, and it raises estrogen levels and makes you soft/pudgy.

No thanks.

~SC~

I aggre with the quality(havent personaly noticed the bloating from it however). Its just that atleast here in sweden if compering meat/fish/fowl to soy one can get 3grams of soybean protein for the price of 1gram of meat protein. So even with the lower quality the quantity would more then make upp for it since it do contain all the essential aminoacids in atleast decent ammounts. Along with stuff meat usualy doesnt have(efa's, fibers ect).

Maby not the optimal choise but when short on cash I think it would be a healthy and cheap chooise that gives benifits beyond the protein. Eating once a day to me sounds like he is risking getting deficiencies in protein, fibers, fats, vitamins, the works. So I would make sure every food choosen contains alot of macro and micro nutritients. Thats why I recomended the soybeans and fruits.
More of a health choise then a muscle building/preserving chooise.

[Kärnfysikern]

books give this a try. Most pizza places have HUGE cans of tuna that they use. If you are familiar to the owners in one of those places maby they will sell some for you cheap.

When I was the shortest on cash I got alot of food from a friend of mine that is head/chief(no clue what the proper term is)chef on a resturant.

Try to think of every possibility. I bet you atlest know one person who maby can help you out(hunter, farmer, butcher, chef ect). Best of luck bro

[longhornDr]

I'd go with eggs or beef...you can get a dozen eggs for like 99 cents and 2lbs of ground beef for 2-3 dollars, look in the discount bins at the supermarket for cheap meat.

Eggs or beef = excellent amino profile and high fat to keep your total cals up.

[Kärnfysikern]

2ibs ground beef for 2-3 dollars?!?!?! here in sweden its more like 6-7 dollars. Holy ****ing christ Im living in the wrong country. Is that lean ground beef to(10% fat tops)? With those prices I totaly take back my soy recomendation.

eggs are usualy a dozen for 2,5-3 bucks here.

[SwoleCat]

Yeah, move to the U.S. and watch your body blossom brutha.

~SC~

[collar]

yeah in aus dozen eggs like $3
and ground beef bout same $6 to 8
dammm oh well lol

[Kärnfysikern]

beeing a bodybuilder in food expensive countries sux donkey dick

[collar]

true that

[Money Boss Hustla]

I get a farm butchered beef from family for ~50 cents per pound. Nothing beats a filet mignon for $1.

[Money Boss Hustla]

I don't know about the beans...so I can't comment.

Cheap cuts of meat, tuna, rice or pasta from the bulk section.

[AnaBolic_hOsS]

forget the diet until funds are back up...stock up on ramen noodles

[SwoleCat]

Nah, it's never that bad. Ramen noodles are sh*t food. Nothing but fried flour basically, with no nutritional value.

~SC~

[KBZ]

Get peanuts/peanut butter (the generic stuff on sale can be found for way cheap), eggs, tuna, eggs, more eggs, whey protein, and oatmeal. Those things are the staple of my life, no not just my diet, but my life I'm broke heh Not only that but some of the cheapest foods out there, and they help me maintain great. Even the cheap beef if drained, then strained then cooked through can be a good cheap food source.

[bigdogc]

steal food from albertons, or your local grocery store.... until you get more money!

[Deezuhl]

bro seriously rob a grocery store... worst case scenerio you get caught and youll get 3 meals a day.. no seriously though good luck on improving your situation i dont have much advice on what to eat though as one meal..