cheap diet plan

[harvo]

Any one know of a low budget diet plan to help u build muscle but not fat I really struggle with my diet plan cheers

[Deviation]

What have you tried thus far?

The best diet is cook for yourself.

[harvo]

Tried all sorts bit food is so expensive in UK that u struggle to buy good stuff might just start living on beans and toast ha ha

[mrwright]

Smartprice, Aldi,
Can get alot of good cheap like pasta etc

I'd suggest working out your BMR (can find plenty of calculators online) that will give you the calories you need to eat a day
Then get something like MyFitnessPal app to help track your diet, add in everything you eat normally for a few days, then you can see where your lacking, like if you have to much fat, or not enough carbs or protein then you then find foods that meet them requirements

so if your lacking in protein get more fish, chicken steak etc
carbs - pasta, potatos
then if your having too much fat, find the fattiest things your having and cut them out, and replace with either healthy low fat alternatives, or just completely different foods that offer the good bits (carbs protein etc) without the fat

[tjwood]

Yeah basically a balanced diet but work out what your protein, carb and fat needs are and try to meet them. To keep the price down cook for yourself from basic ingredients (rather than buying expensive packaged stuff which is unhealthy anyway), watch out for special offers (e.g. on meat), cheaper meats (e.g. turkey rather than chicken), and cheaper cuts (e.g. chicken thighs rather than breast). Supermarket own brands are fine and the value lines are good for basic ingredients (but not for processed food). Be prepared to alter your shopping list based on what is cheap e.g. substitute one type of veg or cheese or meat for another if one is on special offer. Also some cheap nutritious foods widely available in UK supermarkets which you can use to add to your basic diet:

- canned beans e.g. Value kidney beans 16p/can. Protein and fibre.
- lentils. Not sure exact price but not expensive. Chuck a handful or two in curries, soups etc for extra protein and fibre.
- value mozerella ball. These were 47p in Morrisons but now seem to be down to 40p! Probably the same in the other supermarkets. Delicious.
- eggs. They are quite a cheap protein source. You can get reasonably priced free range ones now but if you're really strapped for cash you might decide to give up caring about animal welfare and buy the cheapest ones.
- oats. Less than £1/kg. Lots of protein, carbs and good fat.

[harvo]

Cheers for that good advice going to start looking around for that apparently it says I have to eat 3200 calories a day in order to put on weight how do u manage to do that ha ha the most I get is about 2000 to 2500 on a good day

[Deviation]

...it says I have to eat 3200 calories a day in order to put on weight how do u manage to do that ha ha the most I get is about 2000 to 2500 on a good day

Eat more & eat often.

[tjwood]

Yeah firstly get used to eating bigger meals, e.g. an extra slice of (wholegrain) bread, extra large portions of starchy carbs (pasta, rice, potato etc with whatever you're eating). Don't be tempted to make up the calories with sugary/fatty stuff like chocolate and cake!

Secondly have smaller "meals" / healthy snacks between your normal breakfast/lunch/dinner - on workout days I eat as follows:

6:45 AM (before workout): breakfast: oats, raisins, milk, juice
9 AM (after workout): fruit/yogurt smoothie, peanut butter & jam sandwich (wholegrain bread)
10:30 AM: cup of coffee and a handful or two of plain (unsalted) redskin peanuts
12 noon: lunch: big salad with protein e.g. chicken, cheese, eggs and lots of veg, a big chunk of wholegrain bread
4-5 PM: afternoon snack: porridge (basically 1 1/3 cups oats mixed with hot water)
7:30 PM: dinner: some meal normally meat in some kind of sauce with veg and starchy carbs (e.g. chicken curry and rice, pasta with bolognese, etc)
10:30 PM: bedtime snack: 1 pot quark (high protein low fat cream cheese)

On non-workout days it's basically the same without the post workout snack.

[harvo]

How many calories does that work out at and do u put on muscle or fat as well with that

[Deviation]

harvo, grab the My Fitness Pal app. It will help you track your calories & macros. A good starting point is six smaller meals.