[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

[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.

[BigBody]

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.

[hendrix91870]

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

[BigBody]

Please ask any questions, I have been in your position before at many different colleges in different settings so hopefully I can help you

[BigBody]

This is the BIGGEST thing tho:
#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

[BigBody]

Also when you order from Nutra in the comment box request a free shaker cup and samples so u don't have to buy a shaker

[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]

Originally Posted by BigBody

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.