Sport Eating clean and gaining weight on a very restricted budget...

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spicypumpkin

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I'm trying to brainstorm some ways to reduce the cost of gaining weight. One of my obstacles has been the increasing price of food, and I've dealt with it in an unhealthy manner. I started eating ramen again a while back because it's so cheap in terms of cost per calorie. I got into a big rut where I was eating practically nothing but ramen, milk, and occasional meat. The big wake up call was when I started craving oranges, lemons and tomatoes. I realized that it had been several days without eating any substantial amount of fruit. I knew it was time to get myself back on track, to where I was a few month ago.

I'm just having a difficult time finding a balance. I want to eat clean, but I can't spend $200 a week on groceries at Whole Foods. I also want to gain weight, which means I have to eat even more.

I read that rice and beans are the way to go. We have a sack of white rice that needs to be finished, and once that's gone I'll get brown. I also bought a big bag of dried pinto beans. But I know this won't be enough. I need vegetables and fruits. What is the best way to get a balanced diet, high in calories but low in cost?
 
Stop shopping at whole foods. Go to Walmart. I know. They're corporate. But so is Whole Foods.

Why are spending $200 a week on groceries for a single person?

Strawberries run around $2.50 for a package. You'll get almost 5 servings out of that. Oranges will cost you about $8 for a week if you eat one everyday (7 days). Blueberries run just a bit above strawberries. So now you're at about $14 for the week and you've had 3 servings of fruit. Bananas run about a buck a pound. So now you're at $23. Now you have 4 servings of fruit a day.

Now go to the frozen foods section and buy the big bags of frozen chicken breasts. This'll cost you about $9 and will last you almost a week.

But 3 cucumbers-this'll last you about a week if you eat half a day. Couple that with green bell peppers and eat half a day. The green bell peppers are pretty cheap (specially compared to red and yellow).

Easiest way to gain weight-drink a gallon of milk a day. This'll cost you $25 a week
 
You can get fruits and vegetables at places other than Whole Food$. Try 99Ranch and similar markets for a good selection of fruits and vegetables (and big sacks of brown rice).
 
Today I went to CostCo and bought enough whole foods to last me two weeks of eating at 4000 calories per day for less than $140. That's $70/week. And none of it was milk or anything of that nature, which would make it considerably easier. That's all lean meat, vegetables and fruits.

Conclusion: You are really bad at shopping. ^_^
 
I don't shop at whole foods or spend $200 a week. I never do it. I sad I can't do that. So I don't do that. Everyone says to go all natural/organic, so that seems like the only option, I don't do it though.

I'm down to spending maybe 20 dollars a week on food myself, and eating whatever else shows up in the house. As I said, I was down to ramen and milk. I'd like to change without having to drastically increase the amount we have to spend. It's currently at about $100 a week for my mom and I, I would guess. I'd like to reduce that and eat more.
 
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evolution said:
Easiest way to gain weight-drink a gallon of milk a day. This'll cost you $25 a week
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Wow, that's a lot of milk. I generally drink about a pint or a little more per day. But milk is about $6.00 a gallon when it's not on sale. I may be able to move it up to a quart a day without spending too much.
 
spicypumpkin said:
Wow, that's a lot of milk. I generally drink about a pint or a little more per day. But milk is about $6.00 a gallon when it's not on sale. I may be able to move it up to a quart a day without spending too much.
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Wow. Do you live in a little SoCal town or something? Because you seem to be paying more than twice what I do for... well, anything. Milk is <$3.00/gallon here. And that's for singles. If I bought it in bulk, I could get it for considerably less. But y'know... I would just make my own milk, for less than that even. Fat free chocolate, remember? Protein + sugar. Could probably mix your own for about $2.50/gallon, and it would be more caloric than regular milk. Much more so. With very little lactose, which could be a real help to many. And those are internet purchase prices, so...
 
Milk is 3.99 + tax in southern california

What about eating a jar of peanut butter every 2 days? Peanut butter is only around 4 bucks a jar.

A gallon of milk = 2400 calories
A 18 oz jar of peanut butter = 3200

Hell, eating just one jar a week on top of everything else your eating should lead you to steady weight gain.
 
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I'm the northern part of California, the SF area. The cost of living is pretty much equivalent to southern California. Everything is in economic decline, people are losing their homes left and right.

We were shocked at the prices at Costco. A bag of dried mangoes which used to cost about $6.00 not too long ago is now $13.00. Rice has more than doubled in price. With grains doubling in price, everything else doubles. It stinks.

Due to these changes, I'd like to stay away from anything that is imported form another country/state unless it's vital. Generally it's more expensive and costly to the economy. Bananas are tough since I don't think they're grown in California.
 
Phate89 said:
What about eating a jar of peanut butter every 2 days? Peanut butter is only around 4 bucks a jar.
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The man makes an excellent point. In terms of cost effectiveness, it's probably hard to beat pb. I'd be more concerned about getting quality protein, though.

If grains are so expensive, why eat them? I don't even like grains. You can get huge bags of frozen fruit for very reasonable prices. I'm paying something like $0.40 per serving.
 
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