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Mass on a Budget
by Big Al
OK, we’ve talked about this many times and some people have different
ideas. I for one can tell you I have eaten on a budget. I have done
shows on a budget. Some of us are lucky and our mommies buy our food
for us or we live at home until we’re 30. Some are away at school
and have to make a small amount of money last. Some of us decide to
have children. Whatever it might be, most of us have a budget.
I started a family at a young age. Couple that with trying to take
classes, work full time and have a kid. Oh, now try to be a bodybuilder
too. I must have been nuts. So needless to say I had a very small food
budget during my early years in the iron game.
Here are a few things that helped me. One thing I never bought was
water, it’s free and you can keep filling up the same bottle for days.
I said it before, the dollar store saved me. I still shop there. I
would buy tuna, oats, pasta, granola bars, pop tarts (post workout),
and I would buy my household stuff while I was there. Soap, dish soap,
paper towels—all that for just a few dollars.
I would hit whatever store that was having the best sale that week. I
could live off eggs and tuna but I would try to get some ground beef if
I could swing it that week. Or sometimes luck out and find top
round or chicken for $1.99/lb. Damn, I love those deals.
I
see these gurus telling you to eat only fresh fish or steal cut oats
and drink this special water. That’s great if you can, but never think
because you can’t afford that kind of fancy shit that you can’t still
live the life. I have beat guys on stage that had no job—they just
trained and ate, All while I worked two jobs and took care of my
daughter. So yes it would have been nice to have someone pay me to
train, but you can still do well with little time and money if you have
the heart. Don’t look for excuses, make it work.
As for
supplements, if you can you want to get yourself a good whey protein.
This is the order I buy my stuff, my supplement priorities—whey,
multi-vitamin (Pak is good cuz it has everything), joint support
(Animal Flex). They need to be taken care of, then I can worry about
stuff like creatine or post workout (I use EAA Nitro).
To show you how simple and inexpensive it can be, my first meal of the
day right now is 50 grams of whey protein and a cup of oat meal. Here I
get 50 g protein and 50 g carbs—that meal only costs me a few cents per
day.
Another example of a cheap bodybuilding meal would be a can of tuna and
1/2 a box of pasta for about $1.50. Or six whole eggs and a cup of
oatmeal again might be two dollars or less. I’m just trying to throw
ideas out there and to let you know that it can be done.
Don’t get discouraged, just find a way to fit the workouts in and a way
to make cheap and healthy meals for yourself consistently.
So now you know it can be done on a budget. I’m living proof. Don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t do what you want. |
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