Quality Macros on Budget
One of the most burdensome issue for long-term gym and gainz maintenance is covering food costs, especially as your caloric needs increase.
Yeah, that dirty-bulk with the $5.00 ramen bulk pack and downing it down with a 69¢ 2-liter of Coca-Cola is a sweet 150 calories but the fat bloat and massive sugar spikes aren't all that worth it when you feel like shit and have to go on a cut for 2 months after doing it long enough.
Healthy food can cost a lot but not if you shop smart and shop bulk. And most of these foods can either be stored dry for a while or refrigerated or frozen if need be. Getting JACKED doesn't have to break your bank and you can actually cook cheaper than people who aren't bulking if you shop smart.
If you have a gym partner / gym friend (or several) who you can split large orders on it can make a lot of these a lot more practical.
Note: obviously, these exact options (purely examples) might or probably might not exist in your area but hopefully serve as inspiration that you can find such deals in your area.
Carbohydrates
Bulk White Rice
$25 for a 50 LB bag of white rice with 504 servings of servings at about 5¢ per serving (1/4 cup 45g) | 35g carbs at 160 calories per serving.
White rice is EXTREMELY cost effective at 5¢ per serving! Fast-digesting carb that just needs to be rinsed in water a few times to remove excess starch before cooking.
*Rice can be wrapped in seaweed or burritos to retain moisture. Use a good rice cooker for best results.
Bulk Oats
50 LB $30 bag of oats with 503 servings at 16¢ per serving (1/2 cup 45g serving) | 30g carbs, 4.6 grams fiber at 172 calories
Sweet Potatoes/Potatoes
5 lbs of sweet potatoes for $3.85 (which amounts to about 15 servings) with each serving at around 26¢ | 269g, 54g carb, 8g fiber at 260 calories
Bananas
3lbs of bananas at $1.74 with 11 servings at about 16¢ per serving | 22.8g carbs and 2.6g fiber per one 100g and 89 calorie serving of banana
Bulk Pasta
10 LBS with about 160 servings about 15¢ per serving | (56g serving) 41g carbs at 200 calories
Protein
Chicken
Bag of 4 LBS for $9.99 at 16 servings of protein at 62¢ per serving | 23 grams of protein per serving at 100 calories.
Package of 9 LBS of protein at 36 Servings of protein at about 75¢ per serving | 24 grams of protein at 110 calories.
Ground Beef
7 LB package of 88% lean beef at 28 servings of protein at 86¢ per serving | 200 calories and 22 grams of protein and 14 grams of fat at 210 caloires
Whey Protein Isolate
5 LB container with 48 servings of whey protein at $1.15 per serving | 35 grams of protein at 190 calories per serving.
Occasionally you can find clearance whey isolate that is substantially marked down (likely an unwanted flavor you could blend in a smoothie) or you can internet search "clearance" as well which will bring up a lot of search results.
Fats
Virgin Coconut Oil (cold pressed)
$16.99 for 170 servings about 10¢ per serving | 14 grams of fat (12g saturated | 0.5g monosaturated) at 120 calories per 1 tbsp
MCT Oil (coconut product)
Coconut oil that has been processed into only medium chain triglycerides and in a liquid state. MCT oil is rapidly metabolized and provides energy.
$25.00 40oz (1.18L) bottle of MCT oil of 120 servings at about 21¢ per serving | 9g of saturated fat at 90 calories per 2 tsp,
Avocado Oil (cold pressed)
$16.99 1 liter bottle of oil with about 66 servings at 26¢ per 15ml serving | 14 grams of fat (10g monosaturated | 2g saturated) at 130 calories
Peanut Butter (no palm, no sugar)
There are a lot of very cheap peanut butters loaded with 50% palm oil, these are terrible for your health. This will focus only on nearly pure peanut butter
3.5 LB container package of peanut butter (only other ingredient: sea salt). 100 servings at about 10¢ per serving | 15 grams of fat (2.5g saturated | 12.5g unsaturated fat) at 180 calories.
Nuts (peanut example)
Using two examples because not many people by large quantities
5 LBS of peanuts for $17.25 with 80 servings at about 22¢ per serving | 14g of fat (2g saturated fat | 7g monosaturated fat | 4g polyunsaturated fat) at 160 calories.
30 LBS of peanuts for $90 with 480 servings at about 19¢ per serving | 14g of fat (2g saturated fat | 7g monosaturated fat | 4g polyunsaturated fat) at 160 calories.
Flavor
This isn't intended to be an macro section but a lot of people might complain that bulk and healthy foods don't taste "good" without some kind of kick.
There are a lot of options for seasonings, flours (crusts) and other spices that can easily make food taste powerfully good. This is personal preference and most are cheap and last forever. You don't need bottle after bottle of sauces that cost a lot, some good spices and a spritz of a healthy oil (virgin avocado| virign olive) and a seasoning or hot sauce can go a very long way for restaurant quality flavor with almost no calorie impact or sugars.
Invest in a spritzer and put your favorite healthy oil in it, it is a lot better AND CHEAPER than buying can after can of propeller-based oil that usually has other garbage in it.
You can also infuse these spritzers with whatever you want (fruits, herbs, spices, peppers) to get whatever flavor profile you want as well as avoiding so much of the oil just ending up on the bottom of your plate and wasted or with more calories than you wanted, especially if you are on a cut.
#JackedPact
First-light 1mo ago
When considering protein, I think one does need to look for meat quality. Quality protein is becoming more and more expensive these days. Chicken is cheap because it is crap. The bird lives 6 weeks and never scratches the soil for bugs. Ground beef contains a whole lot of meat you might not have picked off the shelf and often a fair amount of animal medicines. I think it is worth investing a little in your food. (This comes from a poor man).
Unless you already do not spend on alcohol, other bad habits or going out, just cut one of them and spend it on food. While quality protein is getting more expensive, it is worth remembering that food is historically cheaper now than it almost ever was in the whole of human history. It might have gone up in the last decade but it is nothing like the percentage cost of a man's income that it was 100 years ago. Just check out the value of one sheep in medieval times. Its worth investing in good food when overall food is so cheap today.
For years now I have shot my own venison (perhaps a dozen deer a year) and made my own ammunition. Its a cheap way to get a lot of protein. Hunting and shooting are skills men should ideally have anyway. You end up with meat to sell and give away too. My lady has hens and so we have good eggs. In these ways we have control over our food quality.
Whey is unappetising but actually it is great stuff for an athlete. This has been known since the bronze age (Homer mentions it as a way to gain muscle). Farmers sometimes feed whey to quality meat animals to finish them for market because it build muscle well and affordably. (When did you ever see a farmer waste money on animal feed. They only spend if it leads to profit). If one is in a pinch, whey may be preferable to the cheapest meat. Knowing the milk quality that goes in is worth it if possible. There is so much crap milk made these days. I only buy organic milk but that is a digression.
Vermillion-Rx Gainz 1mo ago
Yeah i mean it be awesome if everyone ate eat salmon or high quality breef if i could and an avocado on everything but all the time
This post is definitely more for the needing to lift over staying fat or lanky and getting in the door for working out
A lot of guys here are absolutely struggling with money and eating far worse than the post.
Trying to get the best of both worlds here but yeah you raise good points
First-light 1mo ago
I agree, it is best to get men eating anything reasonable instead of rubbish and your post is perfectly sound. I am just keen to get a lot of guys to see that they really shouldn't economise on a macro at all unless they have first cut all the micros to the bone and are still broke. Few in the western world would really still be broke after doing this. This is not stressed enough in sports circles, where all the noise is generated by companies who spend on advertising things that might help in the margins.
I have always thought many of us just don't get our priorities straight and food is a good example of this. A little re-jigging of the priorities and it all gets better. I remember from my student days seeing a sign in the window of some college accommodation "Stop student poverty" Underneath was the name of a left wing politician the reader was supposed to vote for who would somehow fix this first world problem. The sign was above a collection of expensive brand whisky bottles that the owner was displaying. Even at 18, I remember thinking how that guy had got his priorities wrong.
Its hard to be unable to eat well unless one is spending badly elsewhere. Its like benefit mothers with nice clothes, sun tans, manicured nails and Iphones who appear on TV to complain they are too broke to buy proper food because the mean government does not value them enough. An athlete has not got hugely different nutritional needs to a normal person. A calorie surplus to support anabolism a little more protein than usual to give building blocks for muscle regen and hypertrophy (if required) and enough vitamins are all that is really needed. Beyond that its the darn supplements that ruin us. How much difference do they really make?
I am not too interested in weights but I am in the world of athletics and so I cross paths with a lot of people who are into gymnasia. They will happily splash out on a pre workout scoop of something expensive that could be mixed at home for far less, a trip to the gym when they own good weights at home, a post workout shake or so called protein bar, several vitamins and maybe a selection of amino capsules and then eat rubbish food "to save money". A coffee, a few scoops from bags of bulk supplements, a glass of milk, a couple of eggs and a couple of pieces of quality bread would probably actually hit the spot better than a lot of the processed junk men pay for and whether any of it makes a noticeable difference over time is moot anyway.
How much can you cram in a capsule -1gram max usually. Yet men are paying the same price for 60 capsules of ordinary aminos "high strength 1000mg" -perhaps with added herbal snake oil- when they could buy a kilo of the same amino in bulk powder for the same money. Then again many juicers are paying doctors for "TRT" when the chinese would send them a life time's supply of raw test powder and for far less than the price of a year of their "prescriptions".
There is a whole industry out there aiming to empty your pockets when all you actually need is a healthy body which you expose to an optimal amount of stress to stimulate the gains you seek, followed by an optimal amount of recovery. Healthy food is a macro, lots of sleep is a macro, low chemical, physical and psychological stress are macros. Add in happiness, friends with similar goals and appropriate training for regular incremental gains. Set that on repeat for a decade and you have got the winning formula, probably sooner than you set on the timer. Then worry about micros to beat your rivals on the big day.
Anyway rant aside, its good to encourage men to eat less rubbish. Well done.
RegisterSignIn 1mo ago
*Fats from peanuts (nuts)
Ratio of omega 3 to 6
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid_ratio_in_food
Also forgot to mention antynutrients present in peanuts and that the pn proteins have very low rate of absorbtion.
Saying all that the best nuts are wallnuts, positive balance of omegas, but more expensive and do not fit budget list.
Vermillion-Rx Gainz 1mo ago
Yes I did not include that but I should footnote it
Typo-MAGAshiv 1mo ago
Some notes.
Sweet potatoes: probably the best source for carbohydrate there is. Lots of vitamins and phytonutrients.
Oatmeal: unless you spring for the organic ones, most oats are loaded with pesticides.
Whey protein: always check the ingredients. Make sure they didn't sneak in soy or other shit that's detrimental (sugar, etc).
Vermillion-Rx Gainz 1mo ago
I can add that detail to the oats part, same with whey
Overkill_Engine 1mo ago
Honorable mention goes to lentils and beans for (incomplete) proteins, fiber, and low glycemic index carbs. An electric pressure cooker can make a batch of beans in an hour or less, ready for a meat of choice and seasonings.
Not as calorie dense as rice of course, but they should still have some utility for cutting and meal variety so you don't get too bored.
Vermillion-Rx Gainz 1mo ago
Shit i forgot to add, thank you
I will add food items as people comment