Best, cheap, protein hit for bodybuilding?

Soldato
Joined
29 Sep 2011
Posts
5,499
Location
Monkey Island
Cheapest overall would be whey protien, do a search, make sure you get just that in it, no additives or anything.

Failing that if you want real food then yes tuna is good (but too much is bad) and lean chicken, frozen if you want cheap. Oh lentils are good also.
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
1 Apr 2012
Posts
59
get down bookers or costco, you can get some really cheap packets of meat there.

also, you can get bacon offcuts (basically not perfect bacon shape bacon) in a biiiiig box/tub thing for 2.99. Easy 8 times the size of a pack of bacon from the supermarket
 
Man of Honour
Joined
5 Jun 2003
Posts
91,331
Location
Falling...
Chicken. Roast a chicken, it's great for making sandwiches, or putting into pasta, a salad etc...

Lots of people take whey, but there are so many inferior wheys out there with poor amino acid profiles that you're better off eating good wholesome lean protein.

Eggs, chicken are among the best you can get, eggs being the most bioavailable of foods. If you DO go for whey, go for isolate, as you want to avoid dairy really. Tuna is ok, but like anything you don't want lots of it. Though really fish is also fantastic, however, at the moment, so expensive - unless you happen to live by the shore and can get it cheaply.

Come and have a look at the thread in the SA: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18049226
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
23 Jan 2012
Posts
1,321
Boiled egg?

Yup - probably the cheapest!

I'm getting into my weights, so trying a farily high protein diet at the moment but on a budget - meals sort of go like this

Breakfast - 7am

Vanilla Whey Protein, tbsp peanut butter, 1 or 2 bananas, milk

Breaksfast 2 - 9.30am

2 eggs(fried or boiled), baked beans

Lunch

Chicken breast (I use frozen), cup broccoli and mixed veg + brown rice or 1 sweet potato

Dinner

turkey stir fry (no noodles) and some cottage cheese

Snacks

Nuts, seeds and may be a cheeky snickers now and again
3 protein shakes a day (incl breakfast one mentioned - other two are pre and post workout)

Normally works out about 240g protein per day
 
Soldato
Joined
16 Nov 2010
Posts
16,498
Location
Swimming in a lake
Eggs. Also I've found that turkey tends to be better £/grams of protein than chicken.

But look into the nutritional content of stuff near you and work it out. But yeah diced turkey or turkey strips is good. I used to like doing roast chicken like ff says above, but then realised I wasn't getting as much as I first thought value for money wise because of the bones....

kd
 
Man of Honour
Joined
17 Feb 2003
Posts
29,636
Location
Chelmsford
Bang for buck.. The most costs effective method would be to take a protein supplement. As FF says, go for an Isolate as this is quickly absorbed.

Diary products such as Eggs, Cottage cheese etc. contain casein which releases protein much slower than isolate. These are great for eveing snacks or to mainatin a regular ingestion of protein. I tend to mix both so i get a good supply.. I have a snack after the gym with chicken or tuna and cottage cheese, for example.

I buy my lunch at the begining of the week and take in with me. I train lunch times though... I tend to purchase 3 tubs of cottage cheese, 2 tins of tuna, 4 chicken breasts which I cook, 2 tins of mixed salad beans, toms and mixed seeds to sprinkle. It's a good balance of proteins and fibre and isn't that expensive either. I think i spend around £20 for the week. I also buy a dozen or so eggs for a morning snack. Roughly a few hours before hitting the gym. This ensures that the casein is absorbing through my workout.

Everyone is different and i'm no expert but i find this provides results. See what works for you.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
5 Jun 2003
Posts
91,331
Location
Falling...
You don't really need 240g of protein per day. Unless you're an 18st lean monster it's just excessive. 3x protein shakes a day is also unnecessary. Then again you may be a massive lean guy - I don't know. I suggest you come down and see us in the sport's arena.
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
23 Jan 2012
Posts
1,321
You don't really need 240g of protein per day. Unless you're an 18st lean monster it's just excessive.

You don't no, but I weigh over 90kg and am specifically aiming to build some more muscle.

In order to do that, I'm aiming for c.2.5 times bodyweight in protein and a calorie intake of c.3000 a day give or take.

The 240g is a max really, normally daily intake is between 210-240 a day.

Just trying to give an example of protein high meals to the op :)

edit: Never thought to pop into SA, will do cheers :D
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
Joined
5 Jun 2003
Posts
91,331
Location
Falling...
I'm around 93kg, and have around 200g max, and still hit 3-3.5k kcals a day. Lean, but strong.

You just don't need that much protein, a lot of it is down to the supplement industry boosting their sales too.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Apr 2009
Posts
7,580
Soy/edamame beans.

They are the only beans/legumes that contain all of the essential amino acids. The others are incomplete and need to be mixed with other foods (usually grains) to get the most out of them.
 

alx

alx

Soldato
Joined
10 Aug 2003
Posts
6,066
Location
Dubai, UAE
May not the cheapest but it's deffo a protein hit!

4 egg omelette, tine of tuna, diced red onion, 100g cheese. Something like 1500 calories and some significant protein! Not something you'd have everyday unless you're seriously into you training or an athlete.
 
Caporegime
Joined
22 Nov 2005
Posts
45,167
I buy a lot of ready cooked frozen chicken from iceland just because I can stick it in a pan with some olive oil and its ready in 10minutes.

I'm with freefaller aswell dont get caught up in the hype that you need ridiculous amounts of protein especially when your just starting out.

Also dont forget you need to be eatin a lot of vegatables aswell as most forms of protein are acidic
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
18 Jan 2004
Posts
9,305
Location
Sunny Scotland
I need to eat allot of protein after my gastric surgery even hitting 100grams is hard cant believe you guys manage over 200 its nuts. I usually have a cheese omlette in the morning chicken for lunch and then fish or more chicken for tee with beans and drink milk during the day.
 
Caporegime
Joined
20 Oct 2004
Posts
26,494
Location
....
I make a grilled chicken (normaly marinated in something like peri peri) with a wheat pitta bread (like 18p for 3!) and some cottage cheese on the side.

Tastes awesome, takes 5 minutes and full of protien. You can also add salad and stuff in to the mix. Normally wash it down with a plain yoghurt. Normally my late night meal, after the gym.

You can swap the chicken out with fish etc too making it a bit cheaper. But I think it worked out about 2quid for the meal. 5 for 3 chicken breasts, 18p for 3 pittas and about a quid for some cottage cheese.
 
Back
Top Bottom