A good college diet

[hendrix91870]

I am college student who works out hard in the gym, yet i find it tough to eat right being in college. Eating at the dining halls leaves my selections limited and as a college student, money is always tight. I am looking for any tips, tricks, or cheap healthy foods. Any input is appreciated.

 

[spatch]

the solution- get a house off campus :cheers:

 

[Hurleyboy05]

I'm sure they must offer meats and salads... find a good balance, also use fitday.com (free and very useful)

 

[hendrix91870]

i will be living off campus, next fall and i know then i will have more control over it..but, money will still be an issue..i cant afford to buy what i need to stay as healthy as possible..i do have a gym; working out isnt the problem, i get good workouts in 6 days a week.

 

[Hurleyboy05]

Whats an example of how much you can spend weekly/monthly on foods and supps?

 

[hendrix91870]

i can probably spend no more than 150-175/month on food and supps. I spend about 80-100 of that on supps. the cheaper the foods, the less expensive they are.

i checked out that fitday.com, that does seem very helpful, ill start using that tomorrow

 

[Hurleyboy05]

So you have $75 (in a good month) for food. I like a good challenge, lets see what I can find!

What supps are you using?

 

[Hurleyboy05]

Okay, this site is a bit general, but it covers some good basics on cheap foods and supps. Check it out...

Bodybuilding on a Budget - It Doesn't Have to Put Your Wallet in a Wheelchair

I'll see what else I can offer as ideas, and check on some older threads (search for "cheap" or "budget" and see what comes up) This isn't a new problem, and there are lots of ways of getting your nutrients fairly inexpensively!

 

[hendrix91870]

i take a multivitamin, protein, beta-alanine, citrulline malate and creatine monohydrate

thanks for the site..i love how awesome people are on this site.

 

[hendrix91870]

i like the idea of using protein shakes for inbetween meals, its definitely cheap in bulk and easy for me to do

 

[hendrix91870]

thats cool, they give you free stuff..well ill look into getting some bulk proteins and creatines.

 

[hendrix91870]

discipline is a huge thing..its easy for me to workout regularly, its eating right consistently is the problem. For the most part, i could eat healthy at the dining halls, but it would be salad all the time...i guess i can get cheap healthy food that i can eat at home too

 

[Hurleyboy05]

More than anything you need a good protein powder.
I would buy Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard to cover you in general.
#1 rule is don't skip any meals at your dining hall.
DOn't sleep in and be lazy and irresponsible, wake up and have breakfast.
Eat all 3 available meals at the dining hall
Throw in the O.N. Whey after workout and before bed.
Possibly in between meals if needed.
Add raw oats for carbohydrates if needed. Very cheap.
You can just put some ON whey and oats in a shaker and carry it around with you for insurance.
Follow the Glycemic index when choosing foods.
If you need to cut taper your carbohydrate intake from morning to night, high to low.
Meaning high carb breakfast to....just the shake at night.
Spend your remaining money on bulk creatine monohydrate from Nutraplanet, its 12.95.
Grab the Kwick Karb if bulking.
Buy MST Ragnarök for preworkout.
Get a multivitamin. Either ON Opti-Men or MVP (120 cap) By: Millennium Sport Technologies would be best, at least take some Centrum or equivalent commercial multi.
I would suggest buying ALL your supplements from Nutra's bulk line, you can save money and take more for less.

This is great advise (Definitely DO NOT skip any meal!) and Nutraplanet is the way to go on supps for sure. But follow these rules for a little while and learn how your body reacts. Once your understanding of how different things effect you, you can start tweaking your routine and creating your own style. (And stash some cash every now and then just in case you ever really have the urge to try a more mainstream supp, but that can wait for now, just stick to the basics until you get the feel of things) Good luck man, and I'll try and post up anything new or helpful that I come across.

BTW, I'm in college right now too, and I know exactly how you're feeling, but once you ask around (especially on this site) it starts to get much easier and you can start visualizing your goals a whole lot better! Stick to it! You'll be glad you did.

 

[LilPsychotic]

I am college student who works out hard in the gym, yet i find it tough to eat right being in college. Eating at the dining halls leaves my selections limited and as a college student, money is always tight. I am looking for any tips, tricks, or cheap healthy foods. Any input is appreciated.

Turkey breast, grilled chicken, fruit/veggies, sushi post w/o. I know, its tough. Ive been getting the no drain packs of tuna to take with me and eat straight out the bag w/ some mustard, stock up when they're on sale. I don't think its possible to avoid high sodium foods while eating at school, but the most important thing is to get enough protein. Then I see what other students eat--straight garbage. You couldn't pay me to eat waffle fries-yuck.

 

[MashedPotato]

Heres what i do:

(Walmart is your best bet for this selection)

Heres my grocery list (also based on little cooking time):

Be sure to buy the "great value brand" if possible. You get basically the same ingredients and substitue on the taste a litte. But we dont have that luxury so:

Carbs:

Oatmeal - Lots of it. Cheap and effective
Wheat Bread - Cheap and effective. 2 Loaves last me a week
Baked Potato - I buy 6 of these. Cheap and great for post workout glycogen replenishment.
Rice - I prefer brown, again cheap and effective.

Protein:

Tuna - Walmart has great prices on canned "lite" tuna. I buy 10 at a time for about $5.55
Chicken - Frozen chicken breasts, about $7 for 10.
Eggs - Very cheap and very good protein source.
Powdered Milk: Makes alot of milk and cheap. Just add water. You will usually find it in the "health foods/Breakfast/Baking isle, depending on the size of the store.

I also buy Apples and Bananas, lettuce and cucumbers, but thats your personal preference.

This list shouldnt break the bank, and as long as you stick to walmart brands, you will be fine. There are some other items I add from time to time, but this is my basic list. Cheap and effective.

- Mashed

 

[Hurleyboy05]

How goes the diet? Find some decent food?

 

[bpmartyr]

If I had that limited of a budget I would skip the supps and buy all food. There isn't a supp in the world that makes up for food. IMO

 

[sreeja]

college diet

i recommend a 1200 calorie diet to help lose weight...I have gained 20 pounds in three years (still have grad school to go)...and weigh 112/5'3"-I want to get back down to my pre-college weight! I exercise around two hours a day (sometimes twice a day)...and try to watch my diet sometimes the weight you put on in college is from your metabolism changing from what it was in adolescence into what it will be in adulthood. Keep exercising and eating healthy and try not to worry about weight.

 

[CrissyJ]

Ive been in your position, Make sure you eat all 3 meals a day at your caf so you dont waste your meal plan cash. Its hard to find healthy foods there , I did a lot of wraps without cheese, and salads with tuna on them.