Weight-Loss Need an effective diet, but have a low weekly budget. Help!

Weight-Loss
S

sbarra1x

0
In a couple of weeks I am going to start working out at my local gym and I will be frequenting the place 5-6 days a week for roughly 2 hours per session. I will mostly be doing cardiovascular exercises, using the treadmill, bike, swimming etc.


I need a well-balanced diet to match my new workout regime as best as possible.


The problem is, my weekly budget is only about £18-20. This is where I am stuck. I know absolutely nothing about nutrition, and I really feel I need a diet that doesn’t just focus on one particular thing… I want to optimize it somehow, so that I am getting as much of what makes me healthy as possible. Energy for working out, healthy bones, improved blood flow, growth (I am still growing.) You get the idea.


Is this possible with such a small budget? What are my best options?


It really would be immensely appreciated if you guys could give me some insight here and help me find the best diet possible.


For the last few years I have been living almost entirely off of Pizza, chips, more pizza, and fizzy drinks. I am extremely out of shape, my blood pressure is very high (have seen doctor about this already,) my mental / cognitive capability has greatly diminished.


I am of course going to be doing a lot of research myself, but it would be a tremendous help if someone with more knowledge and experience could help me out. Thanks!
 
So this is how I see it and I'll probably get ripped for my unconventional approach but here goes.


First of all 5-6 days a week at the gym for 2 hours a day is a) over training and will do more harm than good and b) no way you can keep up that pace unless you have discipline out the butt - I'm talking in the upper 2% discipline wise. Something along the lines of 3-4 times a week at 45-55 minutes will get the job done. Two hours makes me think you're not planning on going at your workout(s) hard and that won't help very much. You need to get your heart rate up and going hard is how that happens. Thus, if you go hard you'll never last 2 hours. The 45-55 minutes should be, for best effect, basically a living hell.


Before I paid up for a gym membership I'd toss those funds toward food - 80% of weight loss is the foods you eat (or don't eat) and 20% physical activity. If money is tight (and I fully understand) then you have a ready made treadmill - you can find it where your feet meet the street.


Based on a quick look at the pounds to dollar ratio at present the move away from paying for a gym membership and applying it to food would give you your best chance at weight loss.


I suggest foods that are high in protein and low in carbohydrates. Your weight gain came not so much from the pizza but the pizza crust (LOTS of carbs!) and the same with chips. The "fizzy drinks" (cute) are another diet sabotage - it's not the "fizzy" it's all the sugar. When you bombard your system with sugar (which carbs basically are) you get an insulin spike and that in turn only makes you want to eat more. Protein rich foods will leave you feeling fuller for longer and stave off your hunger pangs for hours to come. I typically have three whole eggs cooked in a tablespoon of coconut oil and a tablespoon of real butter, three slices of bacon, and wash it all down with 16 ounces of ice water with a couple of scoops of whey protein powder. Breakfast should be MANDATORY and it wakes your metabolism almost instantly instead of hours after you wake. Breakfast should also be 30-40% of your daily caloric intake for best results. You wanna get fancy toss in a glass of V-8 vegetable juice with breakfast and get your first serving of veggies out of the way. You'll be full and will easily not be hungry until lunch time.

Lunch for me is typically a salad with a boiled egg and a can or vacuum pack of tuna tossed in and water or flavored water.

My evening meal is typically fish, chicken, beef or pork with lots of veggies and don't be afraid to toss lots of butter onto your veggies?

Notice anything going on here? Don't be afraid of animal fat - saturated fats.

Avoid white carbs (bread - even whole wheat, cakes, pies, muffins, pizza crusts, etc.), avoid sugars in excess and avoid processed and pre-packaged foods/meals.

Shop for eggs and lots of them (FYI, my cholesterol was checked in a recent blood test less than a week ago - it's 117. The eggs-high cholesterol thing is pure bunk). Chicken, beef, fish and pork. Remember, you only need 4 ounces of meat/fish to comprise a serving so a single pound of ground beef is four meals!). Veggies and lots of them - if you can't go fresh go frozen. Avoid canned if possible but if not it's not the end of the world. Avoid legume (beans) and canned fruits. If you MUST have them rinse them in water first to remove up to 40% of the sodium in canned beans and a like amount of sugar in canned fruits. Nuts, seeds and berries make a much better snack option. A smart, frugal shopper could pull off a week's shopping on your budget. It wouldn't be easy but with the added funds of NOT having a gym membership it could make the difference.

Finally, check out a blog at www.marksdailyapple.com, find the book "Primal Blueprint" by Mark Sisson and make it your nutrition/fitness bible then watch to readily available videos, "Super Size Me" for effect and "Fat Head" for truth. It's called "going primal" and it's helped me shed 65 pounds this calendar year, reduce my body fat from 27.3% to 14.8% and my BMI from 28.8 to 20.1... in 8 and a half months and without a gym membership. I have, however, worn out a pair of Nike cross trainers in less than seven months!

Do yourself a favor and check into the above mentioned blog, book and videos - it will stun and amaze you and could change your life - possibly even save it.

Think out of the box, take a giant dump on conventional wisdom and don't believe a word the government tells you about nutrition... good luck!
 
Hi, thanks for the reply. I will definitely check out the blog you suggested, sounds interesting.


I just want to clarify though that a gym membership is pretty much imperative for me. I have genuinely spent the last 5 or so years sitting behind a computer all day every day, getting practically no exercise at all. At the gym I will have access to a whole range of equipment that could help me tremendously. The gym I am going to be joining will only be costing me £6.50 a week as well, so I would much rather use that money to gain access to their services / facilities than to slightly increase my diet. I assume an extra £6.50 a week wouldn’t be too noticeable.


As for workout days / times that’s not set in stone by any means. I was doing a quick bit of reading and it looked as though the average amount of time people spend in the gym is about 40mins – 2 hours. Also I have a lot of spare time at the moment and want to put it to good use. But no, I do not want to overdo it as there is no sense in working and straining myself only to achieve…well, detrimental results. I plan on probably having a couple of “tough†days where I go at it hard(er,) and then a couple of light days where I take it easy, spend more time in the pool and sauna etc


I gotta turn in for the night but I’ll return to this thread tomorrow. Anyone else reading please feel free to contribute any info, the more opinions the better. Knowing nothing at all about health and fitness I have quite a bit to absorb and a broader perspective would be very useful!
 
A18 - 20 dollars? Ouch!

But it can be done. Without knowing costs in your region and assuming you can cook:

- oats are cheap and can be cooked with water and sweetened with honey or a ripe banana
- in season vegetables are usually cheap anywhere and can be cooked steamed, boiled, baked, stewed
- in season fruit is usually always cheap and if of poor quality consider stewing or baking
- wholegrain flours and wholegrain rice is also cheap if bought in bulk
- use flour to make pastry but try and limit how much pastry you eat as it is calorie high but it does allow you to make pies
- eggs are good but can be expensive these days so fit within budget
- meat isn't cheap in the UK but you can get cheap cuts of meat and stew them or get the butcher to mince them so you have a lower fat mince to work with
- use olive oil but sparingly so although it can be expensive it lasts awhile
- nuts are cheaper if bought in bulk and peanuts the shell are usually cheaper

Hope that helps...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top