£20 Bulking Diet

ok, im on a bulking regime and am wondering for just £20 a week, what can I get?

Now im a student, I work part time and earn about £50-£100 a week.

What items would you recommend in my budget, for snacks, meals etc. and where they are available?

Thanks

your find it hard on £20 mate , i eat 16 chicken breast a week that alone is £20 thats without tuna ,rice ,eggs ,steak ,sweet potato ,pro shakes,etc
not to get u down u may do it on £40 depending on your weight and how much food u need what your stats?

Im 163cm in height
and 68kg in weight

Read this, may be useful, written by one of our members theiopener:

http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/newsletter-0707.aspx

LOL, iceland, aldi or whatever. I don't really mind as long as the stuff is decent.

Interesting link redhotf. May implement some of the stuff their. Thanks

Ive never worked out exactly what i spend a week on food but im prety sure it wont be much more than £20. Tins of tuna for 55p at tesco, rice pudding 18p per tin, chicken legs 4 for £2.50, packs of boil your own rice £2.50 will last u a week, pasta, eggs, milk, nuts all very cheap sources of protein and carbohydrates. This game doesnt have to be as expensive as some people think!

Taztiddles


Get yourself to Iceland mate! Cheap as chips in there for all your meats like chicken/pork chops/mince etc.

iv tryed iceland the meat taste like dog food to me dont really like frozen stuff , morrisons is the cheapest for meat i find i must say i buy in bulk which is far cheaper like 10kg of rice £9.50 also i get my eggs off a farmer 24 for £1.50 i normaly buy over 100 and get them a little cheaper still. also your meat should have as less fat as possable i cant icelands meat would be .

You can get a lot for £20 quid if you shop right. Particulary if you not a big chap to begin with. Just need to be organised with your meals and keep it basic.

Bigjacak has made some good suggestions, ie buy in  bulk, kcal dense food making sure to get fruit and veg in

Stonehenge
 
Where the banshees live and they do live well

i would say its going to be near impossible to eat a balanced healthy diet, which includes enough protein in it for bulking for 20 a week.  just to get your fruit and veg for the week is going to use half of that.  even if you only needed 150g protein a day, then your still going to struggle to buy that, even using the cheapest mince you can get, it will still leave you short for other things, a few quid a week is going to have to go on carbs.  and your still short on efa's, so some needs to go on oils.

for 20 quid a week, no way. double it and you might be in with a chance

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dazc


i would say its going to be near impossible to eat a balanced healthy diet, which includes enough protein in it for bulking for 20 a week.  just to get your fruit and veg for the week is going to use half of that.  even if you only needed 150g protein a day, then your still going to struggle to buy that, even using the cheapest mince you can get, it will still leave you short for other things, a few quid a week is going to have to go on carbs.  and your still short on efa's, so some needs to go on oils.

for 20 quid a week, no way. double it and you might be in with a chance

Your talking from a competative bodybuilder point of view, this guy isnt from what hes posted. I bulked up without buying efa's oils. Imo its doable

bigjack



Your talking from a competative bodybuilder point of view, this guy isnt from what hes posted. I bulked up without buying efa's oils. Imo its doable

possibly im out of touch with what normal people eat mate, im not sure.  But when i think through in my head, just to get the sort of fruit and veg amounts needed is going to come to a tenner a week imo! then say 200g chicken a day which isnt even 50g protein, even at a cheapo £6 per KG its still £9 per week!  add a £1 a week for rice or pasta, and maybe same for some milk, and we are over 20 quid! 
 
then most people will want at lease some sauce or flavouring, maybe a treat meal once a week, or a takeaway. 
 
honestly, everything in, i just cant see that even a normal person with no aspirations of gaining weigth, who is eating a varied, balanced, interesting diet can do it for £20 a week!

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Dazc; the OP is 68kg. He may very well grow on 2500kcals. Why on earth dose he need 200g of chicken a day? Plus he may not care if it's not interesting or have a sauce. Varitey is overated. If he varies veg and meat over the weeks no probs.
 
Now I do think £20 is tough going indeed, but double it?
But I am curous so will try and figure out a shopping list;

1kg oats- £1 (less probably)
Skimmed milk powder 500g- £1.50
Cheap supermarket weetabix- £1
1kg Mince- £5
Rice- £1
Cheese 400g- £3
Olive oil- £2
That's a total of approx £15 so far. Then spend £5 on fruit and veg (get some cheap frozen stuff).

You could make up a 1kcal smoothy every day with the oats, milk powder, oil and banana. That's a good % of what the OP needs right there.

Now that's off the top of my head. I am sure others can make even more savings.

Again £20 seems tough going but getting close is def doable for a lighter gentlemen.

Stonehenge
 
Where the banshees live and they do live well

why the chicken?  well even somone light is going to need decent protein, after all im presuming he wants to do more than get fat. But sure, could go with cheap mince and save a quid or two.  so even if we base it on just 100g protein per day (my girlfriend who weights 54kg needs more than that)

so just meeting that requirement is going to eat up alot of the budget!

i refuse to believe that there is anyone other than those precomp, especially a student that wont eat a takeaway or something maybe once a week.  so that is going to be at least 4-5 quid right there.

the op mentions snacks as well.

he could live well on just breakfast of oats and milk, beans on toast for lunch, and a reasonable tea, but its not a bulking diet is it

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i agree with daz,as i said start of thread no chance on £20 i was 160lb when i started bulking and i was eating near on 3000 cals aday and that was 2 chicken breasts ,tuna,steak,rice,eggs ect and i was spending around £40 .clean bulk u need good food.

dannyboy84


i agree with daz,as i said start of thread no chance on £20 i was 160lb when i started bulking and i was eating near on 3000 cals aday and that was 2 chicken breasts ,tuna,steak,rice,eggs ect and i was spending around £40 .clean bulk u need good food.

thats unlucky mate im 18stone at present and eat 6-8 meals a day and dont spend £40 a week! maybe try the value section

Going back to the ops question i think its doable still. You forget that bulking up is about high protein, high cals but that doesnt mean expense. Say he had 4 tins of tuna a day thats £2, a couple of bags of nuts at 60p a pop, rice pudding 18p per tin, pasta is dirt cheap like £3 for 5 kilos! rice again a weeks worth costs £2.50ish. the most expensive thing will be chicken or lean beef mince. it is doable or near on guys

4 tins of tuna a day?  so £14 a week on tuna.  couple of bags of nuts a day thats another £8.40 

errrr can you see the problem with your food suggestions??  lol

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dazc


4 tins of tuna a day?  so £14 a week on tuna.  couple of bags of nuts a day thats another £8.40 

errrr can you see the problem with your food suggestions??  lol

lol fair enough . TAXI

lmao!   has been an interesting thread though! i like stuff like this!

i wish i could shop for 20 quid a week! no matter how i work it, my food comes to over 110 a week

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I don't think it's possible. Even if you made what in my opinion would be the wrong decision to omit fruit and veg entirely, you'll still struggle:

30 tins of tuna per week = 15 quid
bag of oats - 1 quid
enough rice for a week - say 3 quid
enough milk to cover your oats each day - 1 or 2 quid

Nobody would survive eating quite literally the same 4 foods every single day, and as people have mentioned he'll want a takeaway or whatever at least once a week.

That's not to say you can't do it with a manageable diet for say £30 quid a week. You'd still have to be very shrewd about it and probably wouldn't be able to afford too much fruit or veg, but it would allow you to change it a little to include some chicken/turkey, some nuts and some eggs for the morning with a little left over for some cheaper fruit/veg.

If you're earning 50-100 (and presumably have money from a student loan/bursary etc. also?) I see no reason to restrict yourself to 20 quid. I live with 3 people who don't work out and have no interest in changing their physiques and all of them spend more than £20 on food every week.

Age: 21
BW: 92.6kg
Bench: 105kg
Squat 145kg
Deadlift: 205kg

Goal:

Bench 100x6, Squat 165, Deadlift 220, at BW < 88kg

I've just had a quick workout based on the things i buy and came up with the following;

Weekly;

1kg Oats
8 pints Milk
7 Chicken Breasts (200g each)
1kg Frozen Sweetcorn
1kg Frozen Broccoli
1Kg Frozen Green Beans
30 large eggs
Loaf of bread
Spread/Butter
Instant Noodles x 5
Peanut Butter
Chocolate Powder
Sugar Free Jelly
Mandarin Segments x 2

This all comes to a little over £19 but doesn't include oil, salt & pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, hp sauce and sundries like that. That's plenty for 75g oats twice a day, 4 eggs, 100g chicken with rice and veg, just realised i forgot to include the rice as i buy that in bulk but then i did include noodles as i tend to have chicken with veg and noodles instead of rice half the time. Plenty of milk, 50g peanut butter a day, no real treats in there but i did include the sugar free jelly with mandarin mixed in before it sets.

I don't stick to this as i have the odd meal my brother cooks or round my parents, maybe even a takeaway. I also tend to have other treats like i made a bunch of flapjacks and a batch of brownies.

I think that although £20 is tight if you plan ahead and get yourself organised you can do pretty well on £20 a week. Maybe rounding it up to £100 a month would make it a lot easier to include all the sundries.

It's certainly a good benchmark to aim for - then if you go over it or you need a treat then who cares.

I can give a breakdown of the above if needs be

Awesome pic, but Tony you're not doing yourself many favours posting up tips on preventing the gag reflex and then a picture of a guy touching his toes - Ak

On the above he'll barely scrape 1g of protein/per lb bodyweight. IMO that isn't enough

Age: 21
BW: 92.6kg
Bench: 105kg
Squat 145kg
Deadlift: 205kg

Goal:

Bench 100x6, Squat 165, Deadlift 220, at BW < 88kg

Didn't  TT/Marmite do an article on bulking on a stupidly low budget. i think the secret is going to be buying some items such as rice in bulk (Asian supermarkets sell big bags of rice at good prices). Mince can also be bulked out very cheaply with soya mince (good protein content).  can also make seitan with wheat glutan really cheaply

www.dragonnutrition.co.uk

 
tyre flipping http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO-Oo5y_aZY[/link
some new PB's 17 August 2008

bigjack


Going back to the ops question i think its doable still. You forget that bulking up is about high protein, high cals but that doesnt mean expense. Say he had 4 tins of tuna a day thats £2, a couple of bags of nuts at 60p a pop, rice pudding 18p per tin, pasta is dirt cheap like £3 for 5 kilos! rice again a weeks worth costs £2.50ish. the most expensive thing will be chicken or lean beef mince. it is doable or near on guys

there u go near on double u said it lol bulking is not cheap how do u bulk on under £40 if your 18 stone ?is it clean?high in protein?

beans and toast with scrambled egg will go a treat :D

Moderator @ MyProtein Forum
www.PredatorNutrition.com

Tins if baked beans are golden. Cheap, protein nice!

People are still forgeting a few things;

a) You don't need a huge variety in a week
b) The OP is quite small in weight training terms
c) You don't need huige amounts of protein

As I said £20 quid is a big ask but you can get dam close.

Meal plan-

1) Make a smoothy;

100g oats
1 pints worth of skimmed milk powder
2 spoonfulls of olive oil
1 banana

Approx 900kcals with 30g of protein for approx £1. Good source of protein, carbs, fats and fruit/veg. 

2) Tin of baked beans + 2 eggs + tomato. Approx 700kcals and 30g protein for approx £1

3) 100g mince, portion rice, portion of veg. Approx 800kcal and 30g protein for £1.50

4) Another smoothy 900kcal 30g protein £1

Totals per day
Kcals 3000-3500
Protein 120g
Cost £4-5

Per week £20-25

So that's plenty of kcal for the OP to grow (depenent on life style and training) for pretty close to his budget and having a pretty balanced diet with fuit and veg. 

I would not suggest it is some kind off perfect diet but would do the job for the time being.

 

Stonehenge
 
Where the banshees live and they do live well

Haha, what school of finance did some of you boys study. '£4-£5 a day' isn't '£20-£25 a week'. it's £28, minimum.

And you can't clean bulk on 120g of protein if you weigh 150lb, i'm sorry, it's just not viable. And variety may not be important to you, but the vast majority of us, whether athletes/bodybuilders or not, would get very bored and lose motivation if we had to eat exactly the same meals day after day, week after week.

Age: 21
BW: 92.6kg
Bench: 105kg
Squat 145kg
Deadlift: 205kg

Goal:

Bench 100x6, Squat 165, Deadlift 220, at BW < 88kg

lol Whoops thinking weekdays! Brain dosn't work like it used too!

Well that's me even more stumped than before. Looks like it's harder than I imagined.

And you can't clean bulk on 120g of protein if you weigh 150lb, i'm sorry, it's just not viable. And variety may not be important to you, but the vast majority of us, whether athletes/bodybuilders or not, would get very bored and lose motivation if we had to eat exactly the same meals day after day, week after week.

What's 'clean bulk' got to do with anything. Did the OP mention that term? No.

As for protein content 120g is over 1.5g per kg for the OP. More than enough. He could have less and do well.

As for 2nd highlighted point; that's you problem with motivation. Are you telling me you'd give up on your goals if you money was tight and you couldn't afford a 'vared' diet?

This thread is nothing about taste or the fact you need varity to do well, or making silly assertations with limited experience, or infact any other side issue. It's about trying to come up with the cheapest way the OP can bulk so as to help him out!!!

So let's do that!

Now, I have failed to come up with the £20 quid mark. Can anyone else?

Stonehenge
 
Where the banshees live and they do live well

No, he didn't, but I made the assumption that he wants to get more muscular. Not fatter. and feeling sluggish through a crap diet.

I disagree with 1.5g per kilo, in my opinion, isn't enough but it wouldn't be productive to argue this point now.

I have no problem with motivation, far from it - If money was tight i'd work more hours and eat what I eat now, or make other sacrifices in order to ensure I could eat well.

I'm not making an silly assertions. I'm stating that it's not possible to have a good bulking diet for £20 a week, and gave the OP some advice of how he would be able to survive on perhaps £30.
You have no idea of my 'experience' or knowledge so let's not get into petty digs. I'm not claiming to be an expert, just pointing out obvious flaws with trying to bulk on £20.

Age: 21
BW: 92.6kg
Bench: 105kg
Squat 145kg
Deadlift: 205kg

Goal:

Bench 100x6, Squat 165, Deadlift 220, at BW < 88kg

iaink


Tins if baked beans are golden. Cheap, protein nice!

People are still forgeting a few things;

a) You don't need a huge variety in a week
b) The OP is quite small in weight training terms
c) You don't need huige amounts of protein

As I said £20 quid is a big ask but you can get dam close.

Meal plan-

1) Make a smoothy;

100g oats
1 pints worth of skimmed milk powder
2 spoonfulls of olive oil
1 banana

Approx 900kcals with 30g of protein for approx £1. Good source of protein, carbs, fats and fruit/veg. 

2) Tin of baked beans + 2 eggs + tomato. Approx 700kcals and 30g protein for approx £1

3) 100g mince, portion rice, portion of veg. Approx 800kcal and 30g protein for £1.50

4) Another smoothy 900kcal 30g protein £1

Totals per day
Kcals 3000-3500
Protein 120g
Cost £4-5

Per week £20-25

So that's plenty of kcal for the OP to grow (depenent on life style and training) for pretty close to his budget and having a pretty balanced diet with fuit and veg. 

I would not suggest it is some kind off perfect diet but would do the job for the time being.

 

as already pointed out, the maths isnt quite right lol, BUT im bloody impressed mate, thats not a bad diet for bugger all money! 
 
its alot better than i thought you would get for under 30 quid, sure not perfect in this internet forum world, but id put money on it being a damm bit better than alot of gym goers!
 
high carbs and calories is going to be protein sparing, so id agree that for the OP it would be enough protein to gain weight.

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lol Yep my maths sure did let me down! Just nobody tell my PhD supervisor please lol

To be fair ch237 you do have point, but felt this thread would be better served giving some constructive advice.
 
Anyway still waiting for a bonafida £20 quid a week diet for the OP that wouldn't leave him with scurvy!
 
Maths skills optional! ;)

Stonehenge
 
Where the banshees live and they do live well

ok, so, if the OP were to hand round the supermarket everynight before closing, he should be able to get a whole cooked chicken for £1.  so that would be proten for the day more or less.  a large bag of cheap rice for a quid, and a large bag of oats for a quid takes care of the weeks carbs.

so thats £10 spent, and we have carbs and protein for the week.  buying budget, and putting up with the taste, 3 quid should get an apple, banana and an orange for every day.  £2 on froxen veg (cheapest) gets veg for one meal a day. 

so we have a fiver left, how much are cheap eggs?  we need maybe 3 per day. couple of pounds on olive oil to bump cals and fats.


breakfast-  200g oats, with water, 3 eggs, olive oil, banana

lunch- half a chicken, rice. apple and orange

tea- half a chicken, rice, serving of veg.

before bed, portion of oats in water

of course, it relys on getting a reduced chicken!

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lol Who dosn't hang around supermarkets late?
 
Good effort!
 
At least the OP has some ideas to be getting on with!

Stonehenge
 
Where the banshees live and they do live well

its about as close as i can get! i suppose someone with a knowledge of prices to the pence of very budget food could possible squeeze a bit more out of it!

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I'm in the same situation at the OP. You can get a better than "average" diet for £20 a week but you can't get everything you want.

I'm spending £27.70 a week and get around 3200 cals & 230g protein. OP if you're interested in my shopping list I'll try and find it tomorrow and type it up.

Protein
Whey/casein blend £8 per kg = 20p per 25g scoop
10p per egg?
Minced beef £3 per kg
Tinned tuna steak 50p per 150g (drained weight) tin

Carbs
Oats 50p/kg
Rice £1.50/kg
Pasta 85p per kg

Veg
Frozen veg £1 per kg

meal 1: 4 eggs (40p) + 100g oats (5p) + 1 scoop whey/casein (20p) = 65p
meal 2: 1 tin tuna (50p) + 100g rice (30p) + 200g veg (20p) = £1.18
meal 3: 2 scoops whey/casein (40p) + 100g oats (5p) = 45p
meal 4: 200g minced beef (60p) + 100g pasta (8.5p) + 200g veg (20p) = 98.5p

£1.04p

Probs lacking some serious flavour so say add some tins of tomatoes/beans/soup etc all about 30p each. Another 60p per day perhaps. Also no healthy fats, but fats are expensive. Add some mixed nuts/seeds each day about 50g? So about another 50p per day? Prob less. But that brings total to about £2 or so a day? £2.50 a day is £17.50. I await my bad maths to be highlighted Prices mostly from asda (smart price). Best bet is to hand around getting the late deals tho, can get packs of 6 bread buns or pitta breads etc for about 8p.

gold star for allen!

two gold stars for anyone that can eat that diet everyday for more than a week!  lmao!

i hate to think what some of that stuff tastes like at those prices! lol

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would benefit from some fruit though, im not sure you would get a full spectrum of everything from just frozen veg

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Just to add, try your local butchers.

I went to mine today and bought in bulk.

22 Large chicken breasts with no added water/never been frozen (until I stuck them in my freezer) for £24. Very good value in my opinion!

When you buy in bulk one thing then everything else you get you will get a discount on so just buy alot at once so make that £20 - £40 for one shop and then you'll have meat to last you a good few weeks!

I'm a student so budgeting for me i like to think is one of my fortes.

"Train hard or don't bother training at all!"
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All4n


Protein
Whey/casein blend £8 per kg = 20p per 25g scoop
10p per egg?
Minced beef £3 per kg
Tinned tuna steak 50p per 150g (drained weight) tin

Carbs
Oats 50p/kg
Rice £1.50/kg
Pasta 85p per kg

Veg
Frozen veg £1 per kg

meal 1: 4 eggs (40p) + 100g oats (5p) + 1 scoop whey/casein (20p) = 65p
meal 2: 1 tin tuna (50p) + 100g rice (30p) + 200g veg (20p) = £1.18
meal 3: 2 scoops whey/casein (40p) + 100g oats (5p) = 45p
meal 4: 200g minced beef (60p) + 100g pasta (8.5p) + 200g veg (20p) = 98.5p

£1.04p

Probs lacking some serious flavour so say add some tins of tomatoes/beans/soup etc all about 30p each. Another 60p per day perhaps. Also no healthy fats, but fats are expensive. Add some mixed nuts/seeds each day about 50g? So about another 50p per day? Prob less. But that brings total to about £2 or so a day? £2.50 a day is £17.50. I await my bad maths to be highlighted Prices mostly from asda (smart price). Best bet is to hand around getting the late deals tho, can get packs of 6 bread buns or pitta breads etc for about 8p.

how u going to bulk on that? my missus eat more than that and she 8 st. all so very bland id eat that for 1 day and be bored.