HOW TO EAT HEALTHY FOODS ON A BUDGET
Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.
— JOHN WOODEN
By getting the majority of your calories from nutritious foods, you’ll enjoy improved energy levels, immune health, cognitive performance, and a general sense of well-being. And anecdotally speaking, the guys I know with the best physiques are “clean” eaters, getting only a small portion of their daily calories from “unhealthy” indulgences.
The benefits of eating nutritious foods aren’t news to anyone, though. Willpower aside, there’s another major problem people trying to eat healthily wrestle with: cost.
According to research conducted by scientists from the University of Washington, eating healthfully can cost up to 10 times as much as living off cheap, heavily processed “junk food.”
Sure, a good argument can be made to eat mainly organic foods, but it costs an arm and a leg. Eating too many low-quality, highly processed meats poses serious health risks, but finding healthy, affordable alternatives can be tough.
Thus, it’s no surprise that many people think that eating healthfully requires that you blow half your paycheck on groceries every week.
Well, fortunately, eating well doesn’t have to be as expensive as you might think. With a little forethought, you can pack your meal plans full of nutritious foods without breaking the bank.
CHEAP SOURCES OF HEALTHY PROTEIN AND FAT
No matter what your goal is with your body, it’s going to require eating a lot of protein. And this can add up quickly.
Here are my favorite high-quality, affordable types of protein.
EGGS
Eggs are one of the best all-around sources of protein, with about 6 grams per egg, and they are also a great source of healthy fats.
Eggs also have several health benefits, such as reducing the risk of thrombosis and raising blood concentrations of two powerful antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin.
Oh, and if you’re afraid that the cholesterol in eggs will increase your risk of heart disease, this myth has been thoroughly debunked by both epidemiological and clinical research.
With an average price of about $0.20 per egg, or $2 per dozen, they’re hard to beat in terms of nutrition and price.
CHICKEN BREAST
There are several reasons why fitness-minded people eat so much chicken: it’s cheap, high in protein, and low in fat.
And while it’s true that poultry’s omega-6 and -3 ratios are out of whack (about 10:1, whereas beef is about 2:1), we can easily handle any fatty acid imbalances by supplementing with fish or krill oil or eating fatty fish like salmon, tuna, trout, herring, sardines, or mackerel.
A pound of chicken breast has about 100 grams of protein and will cost you about $3.50.
ALMONDS
Almonds are by far my favorite type of nut. They’re delicious and nutritious, with a handful (about 15) weighing in at 9 grams of healthy fat, 4 grams of protein, and just under 4 grams of carbs. Like eggs, they have also been associated with various health benefits, such as a reduced risk of diabetes and lower body weight.
Almonds cost about $0.50 per ounce (25 to 30 nuts), making them easy to fit into any budget. They’re great by themselves and go well in cold cereals like granola or muesli and hot cereals like oatmeal.
However, my favorite way to eat them is to buy freshly ground almond butter. It’s delicious by itself, but it shines when you combine it with fruits like bananas or apples.
LOW-FAT COTTAGE CHEESE
You can buy a ½-cup serving of low-fat cottage cheese for less than a dollar, and you get 14 grams of protein and only 1 gram of fat.
I think it tastes great with just a dash of salt and pepper, but I also like it with fruit, such as pineapple or berries.
PROTEIN POWDER
Many people are surprised to learn that protein powder can be cost efficient.
For instance, my naturally sweetened, 100 percent whey isolate protein (which you can learn more about at the end of the book) costs about $18 per pound. That’s about 400 grams of the highest-quality whey protein for $18!
AVOCADO
Avocadoes are a great source of dietary fat and of monounsaturated fat in particular (one avocado contains about 15 grams), which has been associated with better cholesterol levels, a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and improved brain function.
On top of that, avocadoes are full of cancer-fighting phytochemicals.
You can do more with them than just make guacamole, as well—they go great with eggs, soups, and salsas.
Although the prices fluctuate due to seasonal highs and lows in both demand and production, they usually range between $1 to $2 per fruit.
CHEAP SOURCES OF HEALTHY CARBS
The most popular forms of carbohydrate here in the United States are processed junk foods, which, as you know, can pose serious health risks if consumed too regularly for too long.
On the other hand, the regular intake of nutritious carbohydrates has been associated with a reduced risk of chronic disease.
Here are my favorite sources of cheap, healthy carbs:
OATS
One cup of dry steel cut oats packs just over 50 grams of carbs, 10 grams of protein, and 6 grams of fat.
You can buy it in bulk for about $1 per pound, and it’s a great source of medium-GI carbohydrate and dietary fiber. Research has also demonstrated that oats can reduce levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
“Oatmeal in a bowl” is a staple in many bodybuilders’ diets, but you can even substitute blended oats for flour when baking or use them as breadcrumbs or breading for spicing up chicken dishes.
BLACK BEANS
Black beans are an awesome source of carbohydrates as well as protein, potassium, calcium, folic acid, and fiber.
One cup of these beans contains about 40 grams of carbs, 15 grams of protein, and 1 gram of fat, and you can buy them for about $1 per can, or in bulk (dry) for even less.
Boil them up, and they make a great side to any protein dish, but they’re also perfect for making soups and dips.
BROWN RICE
Like oatmeal, brown rice is a go-to food for the fitness-minded, and for good reason.
You can pick it up dirt cheap—around $2 per pound—and one cup provides close to 45 grams of carbs, 5 grams of protein, and 2 grams of fat. Brown rice has nearly four times the fiber as white rice as well as more vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial micronutrients.
QUINOA
It might be hard to pronounce (keen-wah), but it’s easy to prepare, extremely tasty, cheap (about $4 per box), and full of healthy protein and carbs.
One cup of dry kernels has a 110 grams of carbs, 24 grams of protein, and 10 grams of fat, and it can be prepared in the same ways as brown rice.
FRUIT
You can’t go wrong with fruit. My favorite choices are grapes, apples, bananas, and oranges, which are full of a variety of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fibers, and which range between $0.60 and $1.50 per pound.
If you’re worried that the fructose in fruit might be bad for your health, though, you can rest easy. You’d have to eat an absolute ridiculous amount of fruit every day to ever have a problem.
According to a meta-analysis of clinical trials evaluating fructose intake, 25 to 40 grams of fructose per day has no negative impact on our health.12 That’s 3 to 6 bananas, 6 to 10 cups of strawberries, 10 to 15 cherries, or 2 to 3 apples per day. Or, as the old advice goes, a few servings of fruit every day.
Problems with fructose intake are only seen among those who regularly eat large amounts of refined sugars, like HFCS or sucrose.
For instance, a 20-ounce bottle of soda sweetened with HFCS contains about 35 grams of fructose. One gram of sucrose is about half glucose, half fructose, so if you eat a dessert with 50 grams of sugar, you’re getting about 25 grams of fructose. Even agave nectar, which is touted as healthy by many due to its low-glycemic properties, can be as high as 90 percent fructose. Other less processed forms can be as low as 55 percent.
The bottom line is that you can avoid all the health complications associated with fructose intake by limiting your intake of foods with added sugars like agave, sucrose, honey, maple syrup, raw sugar, molasses, brown sugar, HFCS, turbinado sugar, and on and on.
SWEET POTATO
Sweet potatoes can hit the spot when you want something sweet and nutritious. They’re extremely tasty when prepared well (salt, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and a little bit of butter is my jam), and they’re in the middle of the glycemic index and full of vitamin A and other micronutrients.
One cup of mashed sweet potato provides you with about 60 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein, and less than 1 gram of fat. And at a paltry cost of about $1 per pound, you can’t afford to not include sweet potato in your meal plans.
Read more:
Water and bodybuilding
How to eatfor maximum fat loss
Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.
— JOHN WOODEN
By getting the majority of your calories from nutritious foods, you’ll enjoy improved energy levels, immune health, cognitive performance, and a general sense of well-being. And anecdotally speaking, the guys I know with the best physiques are “clean” eaters, getting only a small portion of their daily calories from “unhealthy” indulgences.
The benefits of eating nutritious foods aren’t news to anyone, though. Willpower aside, there’s another major problem people trying to eat healthily wrestle with: cost.
According to research conducted by scientists from the University of Washington, eating healthfully can cost up to 10 times as much as living off cheap, heavily processed “junk food.”
Sure, a good argument can be made to eat mainly organic foods, but it costs an arm and a leg. Eating too many low-quality, highly processed meats poses serious health risks, but finding healthy, affordable alternatives can be tough.
Thus, it’s no surprise that many people think that eating healthfully requires that you blow half your paycheck on groceries every week.
Well, fortunately, eating well doesn’t have to be as expensive as you might think. With a little forethought, you can pack your meal plans full of nutritious foods without breaking the bank.
CHEAP SOURCES OF HEALTHY PROTEIN AND FAT
No matter what your goal is with your body, it’s going to require eating a lot of protein. And this can add up quickly.
Here are my favorite high-quality, affordable types of protein.
EGGS
Eggs are one of the best all-around sources of protein, with about 6 grams per egg, and they are also a great source of healthy fats.
Eggs also have several health benefits, such as reducing the risk of thrombosis and raising blood concentrations of two powerful antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin.
Oh, and if you’re afraid that the cholesterol in eggs will increase your risk of heart disease, this myth has been thoroughly debunked by both epidemiological and clinical research.
With an average price of about $0.20 per egg, or $2 per dozen, they’re hard to beat in terms of nutrition and price.
CHICKEN BREAST
There are several reasons why fitness-minded people eat so much chicken: it’s cheap, high in protein, and low in fat.
And while it’s true that poultry’s omega-6 and -3 ratios are out of whack (about 10:1, whereas beef is about 2:1), we can easily handle any fatty acid imbalances by supplementing with fish or krill oil or eating fatty fish like salmon, tuna, trout, herring, sardines, or mackerel.
A pound of chicken breast has about 100 grams of protein and will cost you about $3.50.
ALMONDS
Almonds are by far my favorite type of nut. They’re delicious and nutritious, with a handful (about 15) weighing in at 9 grams of healthy fat, 4 grams of protein, and just under 4 grams of carbs. Like eggs, they have also been associated with various health benefits, such as a reduced risk of diabetes and lower body weight.
Almonds cost about $0.50 per ounce (25 to 30 nuts), making them easy to fit into any budget. They’re great by themselves and go well in cold cereals like granola or muesli and hot cereals like oatmeal.
However, my favorite way to eat them is to buy freshly ground almond butter. It’s delicious by itself, but it shines when you combine it with fruits like bananas or apples.
LOW-FAT COTTAGE CHEESE
You can buy a ½-cup serving of low-fat cottage cheese for less than a dollar, and you get 14 grams of protein and only 1 gram of fat.
I think it tastes great with just a dash of salt and pepper, but I also like it with fruit, such as pineapple or berries.
PROTEIN POWDER
Many people are surprised to learn that protein powder can be cost efficient.
For instance, my naturally sweetened, 100 percent whey isolate protein (which you can learn more about at the end of the book) costs about $18 per pound. That’s about 400 grams of the highest-quality whey protein for $18!
AVOCADO
Avocadoes are a great source of dietary fat and of monounsaturated fat in particular (one avocado contains about 15 grams), which has been associated with better cholesterol levels, a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and improved brain function.
On top of that, avocadoes are full of cancer-fighting phytochemicals.
You can do more with them than just make guacamole, as well—they go great with eggs, soups, and salsas.
Although the prices fluctuate due to seasonal highs and lows in both demand and production, they usually range between $1 to $2 per fruit.
CHEAP SOURCES OF HEALTHY CARBS
The most popular forms of carbohydrate here in the United States are processed junk foods, which, as you know, can pose serious health risks if consumed too regularly for too long.
On the other hand, the regular intake of nutritious carbohydrates has been associated with a reduced risk of chronic disease.
Here are my favorite sources of cheap, healthy carbs:
OATS
One cup of dry steel cut oats packs just over 50 grams of carbs, 10 grams of protein, and 6 grams of fat.
You can buy it in bulk for about $1 per pound, and it’s a great source of medium-GI carbohydrate and dietary fiber. Research has also demonstrated that oats can reduce levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
“Oatmeal in a bowl” is a staple in many bodybuilders’ diets, but you can even substitute blended oats for flour when baking or use them as breadcrumbs or breading for spicing up chicken dishes.
BLACK BEANS
Black beans are an awesome source of carbohydrates as well as protein, potassium, calcium, folic acid, and fiber.
One cup of these beans contains about 40 grams of carbs, 15 grams of protein, and 1 gram of fat, and you can buy them for about $1 per can, or in bulk (dry) for even less.
Boil them up, and they make a great side to any protein dish, but they’re also perfect for making soups and dips.
BROWN RICE
Like oatmeal, brown rice is a go-to food for the fitness-minded, and for good reason.
You can pick it up dirt cheap—around $2 per pound—and one cup provides close to 45 grams of carbs, 5 grams of protein, and 2 grams of fat. Brown rice has nearly four times the fiber as white rice as well as more vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial micronutrients.
QUINOA
It might be hard to pronounce (keen-wah), but it’s easy to prepare, extremely tasty, cheap (about $4 per box), and full of healthy protein and carbs.
One cup of dry kernels has a 110 grams of carbs, 24 grams of protein, and 10 grams of fat, and it can be prepared in the same ways as brown rice.
FRUIT
You can’t go wrong with fruit. My favorite choices are grapes, apples, bananas, and oranges, which are full of a variety of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fibers, and which range between $0.60 and $1.50 per pound.
If you’re worried that the fructose in fruit might be bad for your health, though, you can rest easy. You’d have to eat an absolute ridiculous amount of fruit every day to ever have a problem.
According to a meta-analysis of clinical trials evaluating fructose intake, 25 to 40 grams of fructose per day has no negative impact on our health.12 That’s 3 to 6 bananas, 6 to 10 cups of strawberries, 10 to 15 cherries, or 2 to 3 apples per day. Or, as the old advice goes, a few servings of fruit every day.
Problems with fructose intake are only seen among those who regularly eat large amounts of refined sugars, like HFCS or sucrose.
For instance, a 20-ounce bottle of soda sweetened with HFCS contains about 35 grams of fructose. One gram of sucrose is about half glucose, half fructose, so if you eat a dessert with 50 grams of sugar, you’re getting about 25 grams of fructose. Even agave nectar, which is touted as healthy by many due to its low-glycemic properties, can be as high as 90 percent fructose. Other less processed forms can be as low as 55 percent.
The bottom line is that you can avoid all the health complications associated with fructose intake by limiting your intake of foods with added sugars like agave, sucrose, honey, maple syrup, raw sugar, molasses, brown sugar, HFCS, turbinado sugar, and on and on.
SWEET POTATO
Sweet potatoes can hit the spot when you want something sweet and nutritious. They’re extremely tasty when prepared well (salt, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and a little bit of butter is my jam), and they’re in the middle of the glycemic index and full of vitamin A and other micronutrients.
One cup of mashed sweet potato provides you with about 60 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein, and less than 1 gram of fat. And at a paltry cost of about $1 per pound, you can’t afford to not include sweet potato in your meal plans.
Read more:
Water and bodybuilding
How to eatfor maximum fat loss
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