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If you think that eating a high-protein, bodybuilding-type diet is expensive, I can assure you – you’re doing it wrong! I’m about to save you a TON of money. Read this post…all of it.

I’ll prove it. I eat for around £1 or less per meal. And that’s a healthy meal with about 40g protein per meal with good sources of carbs and fats. Food is slightly cheaper in the US, so although £1 might be about $1.20, the cheaper prices would make each meal come to about $1 (let me know for sure in the comments below).

NOTE: Asda in the UK is a Walmart subsidiary – so you will be able to get equivalent products in the US.

So now I’m going to take a typical meal and show you how it’s done. Start buying the right food products (and less crappy supplements) and you’ll fuel MAXIMUM muscle growth on the cheap!

 

Can I ask? 🤔 Could you please share this post with your friends/followers on social media/whatsapp? Click one of the Share Icons on this page. I want people to know once and for all that a bodybuilding diet is NOT expensive. In fact, if done right, it’s many times cheaper than a standard or bad diet.

 

MY PLATE

 

My plate is typically divided into 3 equally-sized portions:

1. A great protein source
2. A good carb
3. Some veggies

Doesn’t matter if I’m eating for lean gains, or focusing on getting absolutely shredded – my plate looks like this. When cutting, the veggie section will be increased and the carb section decreased – perhaps halved.

Now, here’s one of the keys to getting this right…

 

BUY YOUR MEAT, CARBS, AND VEGGIES IN BULK…

 

I buy:

• 1kg (2lb) bags of meat – especially raw frozen chicken breast
• 1kg (2lb) bags of rice, couscous, tins of kidney beans and so on
• 1kg (2lb) bags of frozen veggies. I especially like broccoli, cauliflower and green beans

 

 

HERE ARE PICS OF SOME THE VEGGIES, CARBS, CHICKEN BREAST I TYPICALLY BUY…

 

NOTE: Before you read on, if you like this, you’ll also love my ‘Free Broke Guy’s Guide To Protein – 13 Cheap-Ass Protein Sources’ You’ll find it really helpful. Just type in your email below to get it.

 

Yes I do eat white rice, by the way. Brown is better, but only very slightly. Plus, when you combine with protein and vegetables, the glycemic impact is slowed dramatically. Don’t fear white rice.

Just so you know, frozen veggies are not just more convenient, they are the BEST way to get your vegetables. “Fresh” veggies were picked days ago. Then they may sit in your kitchen for some days before you eat them. Frozen vegetables are frozen on the day they are picked. So when you cook them, it’s as if you are eating vegetables picked just a few hours ago. Frozen is freshest, believe it or not 😲.

Guys/Gals that have had me coach them to new levels of muscle, or create a meal plan for them to get ripped abs, know how easy it is to eat. I tell them what to eat, when, and in what quantities. They take their results to the next level – and they can’t quite believe how it easy it all was!

 

A TYPICAL MEAL

(I do put a small amount of seasoning on my chicken before cooking a 2kg batch)

• Rice – 150g raw/300g cooked weight
• Chicken Breast – 160g cooked weight
• Veg – Broccoli and Green Beans – 150g raw/100g cooked weight
• Butter – 1 x tablespoon (15g)
• Salt

Why 160g Chicken? All meat is basically 1/4 protein by weight. So to get 40g high-quality protein, I need 160g meat (cooked weight).

All meat is 1/4 protein (chicken, tuna, turkey). So 160g chicken breast = 40g protein Share on X

THE COST

 

• 1kg Bag of Rice = 0.45p. 150g Raw Rice comes to 300g Cooked Weight = 0.07p

• 1kg Bag of Raw Chicken Breast = £3.50. 160g = 0.56p

• 1kg Bag of Frozen Veg = £1.00 (all veg are the same price). 150g Raw comes to 100g Cooked = 0.15p

• 250g Stick of Butter = £1.45. 15g/1 x tablespoon = 0.09p

• A Shake of Real Salt = (750g salt is 0.27p) 0.01p or less per serving

 

TOTAL COST = 0.88pence Per Meal

 

That’s ridiculously cheap! 88 damn pennies for a quality, real-food, high protein, muscle-fueling meal! Couple this kind of eating with my free THT Training for unprecedented gains in muscle mass.

I COOK IN BULK. Make your life easy and DON’T cook 1 chicken breast at a time. I cook my carbs and protein sources in advance. Then I only have to cook the frozen veggies in the microwave (about 8mins) then add my cooked carb and protein and nuke for another 3 minutes. Done! A great meal ready in minutes!

For example:

• I cook a full 2kg (2 x bags) of Chicken Breast fillets and store them in the fridge
• I cook 500g (1/2 bag) of Rice or Couscous and store it in the fridge

If you also want inexpensive, easy-to-make recipes for high-protein treats and meals, check out my Buff Baking Anabolic Cookbook for high-protein cookies, bars, ice cream, cookie dough, low-carb pizza, protein bread, protein nutella and more!

OTHER NOTABLE CHEAP FOODS

 

Here are more cheap bodybuilding foods that are staples in my diet. Consider making them regulars in yours, too…

So with extra options like a 1kg bag of Rolled Oats for 75pence, 30pence for a tin of Kidney Beans giving 20g protein, or 90pence for a 250g tub of Quark at 28g protein per tub, you have no excuse not to eat a high-protein bodybuilding diet on the cheap! It’s easy. And it’s healthy 😊 💪

There you have it! I never set out to eat a diet so cheap. It just so happens that a great bodybuilding diet is inexpensive when you do it correctly. I would pay more if I had to, but I don’t. And neither do you. I hope this helped you.

Like I said above, please share this post with your friends/followers on social media/whatsapp, so that people know that a bodybuilding diet is NOT expensive. Remember that you also won’t be buying all those snacks and treats for in-between meals. Snacks are unnecessary, expensive, and make you fat.

If you have any questions or comments, ask me below or get me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter ~ Mark McManus 🙂

 

P.S. I know that putting together a diet for mass gains or getting shredded abs can be a pain in the butt, especially if you are new to this – that’s why I offer a service where I will do all the tough ground work for you.
You probably don’t know how many calories you need, or how many grams of protein, carbs or fat you need (based on your personal stats)…BUT I DO. Then I can take these numbers and create an exact meal plan for you to hit those numbers spot on! You’ll know what foods to eat and even when to eat them. All you have to do…is do it. No thinking involved. If you’d like me to take care of this for you, see the Get Me Shredded option on my Coaching Page here.

Did you know that you can make money from MuscleHack? You can earn 50% commissions on all of Mark’s products…at no cost to you – ever. Click here for details

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