I need advice on a cheap diet for my bulking goal. I live in the UK and its been hell trying to make ends meet with buying certain foods such as salmon, breasts of chicken , whole oat cereals etc, and the worst one is having to get the Milk i go through over 1 ltr a day of it. I need cheap sources of protein,carbs and whatever else is needed to fully assist my bulking targets.

Note: i already use reflex instant whey protein for snack shakes.

However i am barley achieving the 1g of protein per body pound which is 161 lbs for me. Right now im getting around 120g.


Help

im a college student so i know about eating on a budget. at wal-mart, in the states, i can buy 4lb of tilapia fillets for $10. also, chicken thigh fillets are relatively cheap. then stop by your local produce stand and pick up some sweet potatoes, veggies, fruits and you are good to go. also, buy a 12lb frozen turkey for like $9 and you have meat for a week.

Try buying frozen chicken they are relatively much cheaper then fresh chicken. Get some plain old oats and cook it with water forget buying milk. Choose lean ground sirloin instead of chuck ground beef, ground beef is usually cheaper then certain cuts of steak. Sweet potatoes are cheap as well as brown rice. You don't HAVE to eat salmon if you want get some fish oil caps to fulfill your omega 3 needs. For veggies canned veggies and frozen veggies do wonders. If you want something sweet fresh fruit is good too and usually not all that expensive. Finally, tuna is usually cheap as well and an excellent protein source. For fats you can just use natural peanut butter or whatever type of nuts you like or get olive oil.

Yea thanks I know that Tuna is an excellent protein source and I would eat a 120g can as much as I can however i find that I can't eat the same thing day after day so something else with the same amount of protein would be really good and for the same cost. Additionally i dont eat steaks or whatnot yet I would eat minced meat in Spaghetti and othe pasta's. Do oats contain protein? what do they do for my bulking? and also would you recommend them for breakfast.

1.65g protein/kg of bodyweight isn't that low. Besides that, protein isn't the only part of your diet. Make sure you're getting plenty of good carbs and fat as part of your calorie surplus for the day.

You can't go wrong with whole grain Oats as part of a good breakfast. They are relatively inexpensive as well when you buy in bulk. They are more of a carb source than protein however. A 300 calorie bowl (cooked in water) would have about 54g of carbs and 10g of protein.

A 300 calorie bowl (cooked in water) would have about 54g of carbs and 10g of protein.

Those aren't complete proteins in oats, though. They lack some essential aminos.

I had this exact same problem recently. I've began bulking over the past few weeks, and buying fresh steak, chicken and fish has proved pretty expensive. As a fellow UK'er, you are bound to have a Sainsbury's somewhere near you. I found packs of 6 cod steaks(frozen) for £1.20, which is two meals, each steak containing 15g of protein and nothing else, so that's 45g protein for 60p. Also, since it's frozen, you can buy in bulk(:)), so spend £5, and thats almost a week's worth of cod. Then you can mix and match with other stuff. This is fantastic for me now, I don't need to spend £4 on one cod loin anymore and you don't need to either.

Head on down to Tesco - Tesco Value tuna is 29p a tin, I use the whole tin for a portion.

Salmon is around £1.20 - prob enough in there for 3 or 4 portions.

£2.99 for 5/6 frozen chicken breasts.

£2 odd for a big bag of muesli - good mix of oats, nuts and dried fruits and lasts for ages.

Frozen veg is pretty cheap in Tesco and Asda.

£1 for a big jar of peanut butter in Asda.

Try looking towards the end of the day too, that's when all the reduced to clear stuff comes right down. I've picked up packs of chicken breasts for 10p before now, it's a bit of a lottery with what's on offer at any one time and how cheap you can get it for but you can pick up some bargains. Just remember that you may have to be eating what you buy within the next day or 2.

Less helpful, but still worth watching out for periodically are seasonal bargains, not sure if all of them do it but the Asda I used to work in literally gives away surplus stock if they haven't sold it by the end of the season. By that I mean they've given away pumpkins at the close of business on Hallowe'en and had a "help yourself" mountain of veg at the end of Christmas; it was cheaper to have customers come take it off our hands than pay for disposal - like I said, it's periodical in nature but make the most of it and you'll save a fair amount at the time.

Also, if you have a Holland & Barrett's near you, watch out for their sales, they have them pretty regularly, you can get up to 75% off. Managed to get a £40 tub of whey protein powder for a tenner.

I had this exact same problem recently. I've began bulking over the past few weeks, and buying fresh steak, chicken and fish has proved pretty expensive. As a fellow UK'er, you are bound to have a Sainsbury's somewhere near you. I found packs of 6 cod steaks(frozen) for £1.20, which is two meals, each steak containing 15g of protein and nothing else, so that's 45g protein for 60p. Also, since it's frozen, you can buy in bulk(:)), so spend £5, and thats almost a week's worth of cod. Then you can mix and match with other stuff. This is fantastic for me now, I don't need to spend £4 on one cod loin anymore and you don't need to either.


Nice find, I'll have to stop by my local :)