My friend Shawn wrote this little tidbit for the site because he thought it was interesting. I agree and it’s a good look at daily cost of eating well when training hard.
Money Wasted Looking Great
by The Law Dragon
Last night I was doing some budgeting — because my life isn’t a fucking game — and I broke down what it cost me to be a Greek statute incarnate. What I discovered nearly rocked my face off.
Several months ago, I stumbled on a website selling naturally produced, organic meats to bodybuilders (www.eattogrow.com). I immediately mocked the site and wannabe bodybuilders who bought into this shit solely because some slack-jawed faggot like Jay Cutler endorsed it. But then I realized the benefits – namely the cost efficiency and quality of the products – and ultimately decided I would spring for ordering a months supply of chicken breast*. After ordering the chicken, I ordered my protein powder for the month. After shopping around – I spent as little as I could – and here is what I spent:
$2.08/chicken breast ~ 30g
$1.03/whey shake ~ 50g
$0.10/egg ~ 6g
When I first started working out (not training) with Justin, I ate 6 whole eggs every morning for breakfast. I did this for an entire school year. Now, I fucking hate eggs. You couldn’t pay me to eat 6 in a sitting, but if I did – I would spend about .60 total on protein for that meal – and that would yield 36g of protein.
Assuming that I drink three shakes a day, I would be spending $3.09 on the powder alone – assuming it was with water – and it would yield 150g of protein (note: I bought the 10lb bag). Assuming I eat two chicken breasts in a day, I would spend $4.16 and it would yield about 70g of protein.
In order to ingest 256g of protein in a day (Shawn weighs around 230), I would need to spend around $7.85 a day. This is before any other costs. This is as basic as it comes. This is fucking no frills protein. This doesn’t factor in milk for a shake, cooking costs, or any delicious sauce for your chicken breast for those of you who can’t handle eating unseasoned meat (Shawn regularly eats meat plain because he’s stupid).
For a month’s supply of this most basic protein, you’re going to spend about $235. For your convenience, that’s $2,820 in protein per year. That is of course, not including eating out – no steaks at Outback (Tom), no smoothies at the gym, and no fucking double-meat burritos at Chipotle (which cost $10/burrito).
Now, I know none of you will follow this. Most guys eat out every once in a while. And we all eat at restaurants occasionally too (see what I did there). The point is you’re either (a) not paying for your daily protein consumption, (b) you’re paying a significant amount more than I just outlined above – because you’re eating something more expensive – i.e. steak, fish, lamb, or (c) you aren’t getting enough protein.
Swanson knows protein.
In the event you spend less and manage to get higher quality protein, maybe its time to stock being Scrooge with your protein source and share that shit with the rest of us. My point in all of this is that it is one thing to say – ‘I need more than a gram of protein per pound of body weight each day’ and think ‘I can do that y’all!’ But it is something entirely different to say ‘I will spend about $3,000 per year doing this.’ It isn’t that $3,000 is a lot to me, its just that it isn’t being spent on rent, utilities, a cell phone bill, gas, or saved or invested – it’s being spent on something I’m likely not even going to enjoy ingesting unless I spend more. If you’re financially conscious then use this to think twice next time some chick asks you to go out for ice cream or to get a cup of coffee at Starbucks – you can afford it, but do you really want to waste your hard earned money?
*Although you pay less up front in the store for Perdue/Tyson – you actually get less product. The Perdue I use to purchase was 12-20% broth/stock. Thus, if I bought chicken (normally for $5 on average) I am paying $1 on shit that cooks out. If I get 3 breasts per pack – that’s .33/per breast that is wasted. As I’ve stated, this isn’t a fucking joke – next time you sit down to a chicken breast imagine throwing $0.33 across the room and shouting out, ‘I don’t need it!’ because that’s basically what you’re doing. If you want to be a tough guy and shop at Costco/Sam’s – congratulations, you typically get chicken with more than 20% broth/stock.
The protein choices here are pretty lean (especially cause he doesn’t eat a lot of eggs), which may or may not be good for you. Typically more red meat is necessary when you’re trying to gain mass. Let’s ignore his particular choices and instead share what your protein sources are each day. If you know the cost, especially the cost per serving/meal/day/month/year, then share that as well. I’m sure we’ll see some interesting tidbits.
Have not yet added it up, but being a full time student and also getting more than 250g protein a day adds up for sure. In Australia we are looking at more than 20c per egg, and a lot more for chicken/ red meat and protein powder. It does mean making sacrifices in other areas of life but then the times you can indulge seem to be more worthwhile.
You need to normalize the protein prices. Here:
Egg – $1.67 per 100g plus ~84g fat
Whey – $2.06 per 100g
Chicken Breast – $6.93 per 100g
Chuck Roast: $2.75 per 100g, plus 100g fat
Cheese: $2.74 per 100g, plus ~100g fat (assumes 8g protein per ounce)
Milk: $2.43 per 100g plus ~100g fat, ~167g sugar.
Chuck Roast: $2.49 a lb, 91g protein and 91g fat per lb.
Havarti Cheese from Costco: $3.50 a lb
Whole milk: $3 per gallon.
This is good, but I can’t think in terms of food measured in grams.
–Justin
The 70s big accountants (LOL) out there will need to make an allowance for the fact that you will probably need to eat even if your hobby wasn’t ‘working out’.
Perhaps though your alternative hobby would be 100lb vegan with an interest in wild foraging? If so you should be able to live very frugally indeed.
Of course if your job was 80 hours per week of manual labour the food cost might be a bit more dramatic.
When all is said and done you guys can enjoy the taste sensations all you like of your fancy protein powder and exciting chicken breats, but personally I would advise you to marry a good woman who will cook you good, nutritious varied meals.
Ha, a compelling point, sir.
–Justin
This post is awesome.
Ok here’s an Aussie version so it’s probably gonna be expensive.
Breakfast (PWO) – 200g ground beef $1 = 50g protein
Lunch – 400g diced beef $4 = 90g protein
Afternoon snack – 125g tuna $3 = 35g protein
Dinner – assorted carcass x 300g $6 = 40g protein
DAILY TOTAL – 215g protein @ $14
ANNUAL COST – $5 110
Whey Protein Isolate (emergency PWO supply) – $1.50 per serve. 50g protein.
If anyone gives a shit, bodyweight = 168lb and not putting on weight, yet. Only just started this meal plan.
Europe…
– Canned tuna is cheap. (a few euros/kg)
– Canned salmon isn’t much more expensive.
– Eggs are cheap and bacon is cheap –> eggs&bacon. Or cook your eggs and add them to your salad with canned tuna
– Pork is cheap.
– Quark/cottage cheese is very common in Europe and contains quite a bit of protein (+10g/100g) for little money.
– I’m pretty lactose intolerant, but milk should be awesome
– I pay €54 for 10lbs (4.5kg) of quality whey. That’s $76 for about 4000g of protein. That’s at least four times cheaper than chicken or steak.
I’m pretty satisfied with that. After all, what’s being big and strong worth to you? Money should be spent and not be worried about. Live, enjoy, be awesome.
“Many a forenoon have I stolen away, preferring to spend thus the most valued part of the day; for I was rich, if not in money, in sunny hours and summer days, and spent them lavishly; nor do I regret that I did not waste more of them in the workshop or the teacher’s desk.” ~ Thoreau
Okay, not the best suited quote for this post, but seriously: if you don’t HAVE to worry about money, then DON’T! Be economic, be smart about spending, but stop worrying.
My 2 cents (:-P)
Not gonna calculate yearly expenses since I’m not consistent enough but this last trip to the grocery I got 4 pounds of chicken thigh flllets because it gave me more bang-for-buck than chicken breasts.
Then got 6 big cans of tuna. This is more expensive than cooking your own meat but the convenience of having a meat protein source that’s ready to eat at any moment and keeps fresh for a long time makes canned tuna seem like a good move to me.
10lb bag of Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein from Bodybuilding.com will also hold me for the month at a rate of 3 shakes a day. Getting 150g of protein a day from a sack like this ordered online for 90$ is about the same price wise as getting 128g of protein from drinking a gallon of milk a day.
For carbs got 2 boxes of instant cook rice and a tub of instant oats at home. Again, almost twice as expensive as normal rice but that’s like saying it’s twice as expensive as dirt. The convenience of being able to cook any amount of rice in 10 minutes is worth it to me. The instant oats go into the shakes. I did the math and instant oats are clearly cheaper than Waxy Maize.
For fat I got olive oil and sunflower oil. Olive oil goes into the rice after it’s cooked. Sunflower oil goes into the shakes. Got the idea for sunflower oil since olive oil tastes nasty in shakes and sunflower oil is what goes into muscle milk that makes it taste like yummy cake batter.
This week got some asparagus spears in a microwave bag. Turned out to cost me as much as broccoli was costing me but the prep of heating up water and cleaning more pots & pans is now reduced.
Rice and veggies get cooked all at once. Chicken gets baked all at once. 9 ziplock tupperwear containers get filled with 9 balanced meals. So with a n hour in the kitchen I don’t have to cook for 3 days or go back to the store. Saves time and gas.
Shake wise drinking the shakes I do of 50g carbs from oats, 50g protein from whey, and 15g fat from a Tbsp of Sunflower oil adds in just as many calories to your diet as drinking 1 gallon of 1% milk a day. But I think the carbs and fats are of a higher quality. Sometimes I will add another Tbsp of sunflower oil. This makes it about the same calorie wise as drinking a mix of 2% and Whole (Whole milk is 4% – Butter is 100%)
Drinking a gallon of milk a day is something that is only relevant to small percentage of the population for a short amount of time anyway. Interesting tidbit on the sunflower oil — I’ve never had it.
–Justin
OK you had me at “because my life isn’t a fucking game.” I won’t go into all the details but if any you live close enough to a Costco and you don’t take advantage of it you might as well throw a dollar across the room every time you eat your chicken rather than investing that dollar in a date with a hot chick at Starbucks.
Costco whole chickens are $.99/pound. I usually buy these because I like to use the organ meat and bones to make stock to flavor all my other foods. I think eating the whole animal and bone marrow etc provides extra vitamins too, but I may just be kidding myself. If you just buy the boneless breats, it’s $1.90/pound. The breasts usually weigh about a half pound, so we’re talking $.85/breast. And that’s just for chicken. Everything else in the store is cheaper too. Cheese is regularly half the price compared to Giant/Safeway. I got a bigass block of cheddar the other day for $3.50/pound. Fruits and vegetables are also considerably cheaper. During the winter you can get apples for less than $.50/each. In the summer, you can get a two quart container of strawberries for $5. That amount would be north of $10 at another store. Eggs are typically $7.50 for 90 eggs. So that’s the same as the price cited up there, which is cheaper than I’ve ever seen them at traditional grocery stores. Of course you have to factor in the cost of the Membership. It’s $50/year for the basic membership. This year I went for the Premium membership, which costs $100 but you get a check at the end of the year for 2% of all of your purchases. Last year I spetn $8,000 at Costco. I buy all of my food there and sometimes clothing too (you can get Levis for the squatter’s hips for $22). So if I spend the same amount there this year I’ll get a check for $160 in December, so it’s more than worth it as long as I make sure to always go there.
The drawback is I end up eating the same foods all the time (I won’t be eating any cheese other than cheddar for a month), and your choices are a little more limited, but with the money saved on the basic commodities I’ve got something to spare for extra spices, sauces, and an herb garden.
I don’t work for Costco or anything, they just save me a shit ton of money, and when searching for apartments last year I might have been pushed over the edge when I found one that has a view of the nearest Costco from the balcony. I’m a fan.
EAS protein is cheaper at Sam’s (although it’s not Costco). What about beef prices there? I usually get Eggland eggs and they weren’t that less expensive at Sam’s. I prefer a good grocery store over a bulk-like store, but “good grocery stores” are hard to come by. There are some newer Kroger stores in the southeast that are really nice and the prices have historically been much better than Publix.
–Justin
The boneless hams are often on sale for $2/lb, (although they are also puffed up with water) I cut them into 1″ thick slices and freeze some, thawing as needed. Works well eaten as-is, browned in a pan, mixed with eggs or chopped up for breadless pizza (cubed ham, pepperoni, mushrooms and broccoli in a boal of pizza sauce in the microwave)
Roadkill deer is also very cheap. Local cops keep a list in most areas, or have a few cop buds (never a bad idea).. one or two a year comes pretty easily and a few bucks worth of freezer/butcher paper is pretty cheap.
Mucius:
Where do you get your whey protein?
-solid 8/10 with fat tits suggests you should go get some ice cream and a coffee
-“sorry, that’s money I’d rather be budgeting to improve my protein quality”
-moonwalk away
-be alpha as fuck
I have sacrificed a bit of money in the name of taste.
Beef Top Round Steaks – 3.99/lb at Costco, about 4-5 pounds of it a week
B/S Chicken Breast at Costco – already discussed, about 4-5 pounds a week
Skim Milk – 2.50/gallon Yeah, Skim, deal with it
Eggs – Costco 4$/3 Dozen
Ground Beef – 2.50/lb
ordered some whey protein “ion exchange” isolate from trueprotein.com last week, supposed to arrive today. Its about $10 a pound, which is pretty fucking cheap for 100% isolate (comparably, isopure protein is about $42 for 3 lbs)
Supposedly true protein’s flavors are outstanding, I will find out soon enough.
also, I like to buy large cuts of meat when they go on sale: yesterday I bought a 3lb top round for something like $7. I got a 7lb pork shoulder for about $9 last week thats currently sitting in the freezer waiting to be smoked since its been raining too often.
Obviously hunting is the way to go if it’s possible for you. I killed and ate 12 geese and 8 ducks last winter. License and stamps was like $35, factoring a couple missed shots every now and then, you can assume two shells/bird, so like $.75. That worked out to like…I don’t know practically free for a good outdoor experience and fantastically “organic” meat and tastey renderable fat per bird. Particularly early in the year the tail fat on ducks and geese is in abundance and it is the absolute best thing on toast, frying eggs in, etc. once it’s rendered. It’s like super butter.
This year I hope to kill a couple deer with a bow and one or two with a shotgun. Obviously that’s a crucial yield for nearly free as long as you’re capable of processing the game yourself.
wait why the fuck would you buy the frozen chick breast in a bag? I get fresh deboned chicken breast from Harris teeter for 1.99 a lb. Usually buy 6 lbs a week and then toss in a pork shoulder roast 2 to 3 packets of 90/10 ground hamburger (2.99 lb for both) and I am good. I also get 16 lbs of Trueprotein Whey Concentrate every 2 months for about 120.00.
“moonwalk away”
F’in hilarious!
pzilla, you live in a magical land of reasonably priced meat.
Costco here as well. However, I splurge for the Chrysler chicken breasts over the Kia. Only 3% stock/water. I go for 300g protein a day and about 4000 kcal.
$120 a week pretty much covers that and gets me:
– 9+ Lbs of chicken (I added the plus sign because I always buy slightly over to compensate for the broth/water)
– 4 lbs of Prime Sirloin
– 3 lbs of Grass-fed chuck
– 4 dozen eggs
– Broccoli
– Spinach
– Lettuce
– Clementines
– Whole Milk
I buy supplements and peanut butter once every month or 2 months. I have no friends or gf and therefore don’t spend any $ outside of training. I also live in a van down by the river.
Who the fuck eats chicken breast?
This comment was good, especially with the username. I really don’t eat chicken a whole lot (although I eat at least 6 eggs every day). Chickens are smelly assholes.
–Justin
@dairyfarmer
i can’t marry a good woman, because i have no money left after buying all the damn food i need to take a woman out on a date
Found a new favorite site: http://www.thebeardly.com/
Might be good to look back on in Novembeard.
I’m married and my wife does pretty much all the shopping/meal planning so I have no clue. I eat well though, and she always has a solid protein source, veggie, and carb in each meal (chicken burritos last night, steaks w/broccoli and rice tonight, etc.).
All this to say I am lucky and spoiled.
Who the fuck shoots a deer with a shotgun?
Also, I only eat tenderloin, and no USDA Choice shit. Prime or die, mofos.
@jacob people who live in Maryland (and I assume other populated states) where rifles aren’t permitted except in the two western most rural counties. We have to just use rifled slugs.
WTF, is Maryland not in America? What a PITA to clean the deer afterwards. Seems idiotic – it’s much easier to maim (rather than instantly kill) a large mammal with a shotgun instead of a rifle. Glad I live in Texas.
@Jacob Plenty of states are slugs only for deer hunting. Illinois has some of the best deer hunting in the country and they’re muzzleloader and slugs for the firearm season. Slugs kill deer just as dead as any rifle, you just don’t have the range. Also, I’m pretty sure buckshot is illegal for deer in almost every state if not all of them.
Does anyone else buy their protein from Amazon? With their subscription service I can get 5 lbs of Optimum Nutrition Whey for between $32 and $38 every month.
I buy my protein from BodyBuilding.com. SciVation Whey, 10 lb for $69.99 (+~$6 shipping), and it’s basically an isolate (22g protein, 1g carb, and 1-2 g fat depending on flavor). Usually 10 lbs Vanilla and 5 lbs Chocolate per order. Never tried the strawberry…
The 5 lb orders come in tubs, which are much more convenient than the 10 lb boxes…might even be worth the $0.80/lb to order them in 5 lb tubs instead of 10 lb boxes…
Thinking about how much protein costs is as useful as thinking how many people your wife slept with before you.
As a master of analogies, I feel compelled to point out that your analogy is terrible. You don’t regularly have to put up with your wife’s previous sexual partners, but you have to regularly consume protein.
In any case, haven’t heard from you in a while — how ya been brah?
–Justin
grew up in New Jersey:
deer hunting done predominantly with shotguns, buckshot or slugs last I checked. My father hunts with a .50 muzzleloader because the season is longer, and he likes the stopping power I guess. Bowhunting is the month of Oct or Nov I think, Shotgun is like one week in Dec (regs may have changed)
Costco here has 10lb. bags of frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts from Foster Farms, so I usually get one of those at time, and I’ll usually pick up a rotisserie chicken as well. They also sell their Kirkland Signature albacore tuna cans, which are good size (I think the serving in the can = 50g protein). Plenty of fruit and veggies to choose from, and I also get my multivitamin and fish oil from them. They sell Muscle Milk bags of whey, but I haven’t tried it. Costco is basically a one-stop shop for growing.
I agree with Shawn that getting enough varied and high quality protein is tough when living on a tight budget.
However when he writes that “It isn’t that $3,000 is a lot to me, its just that it isn’t being spent on rent, utilities, a cell phone bill, gas, or saved or invested – it’s being spent on something I’m likely not even going to enjoy ingesting unless I spend more.” I seriously question if he got his head screwed on the right way.
Because the fact is that you need to eat in order to survive, and to get big and strong you need to eat a lot. Given that you don’t have a choice, why not enjoy it?
I spend a shitload of money on food although I buy it from a variety of sources in order to save a little money, but I’d never choose protein sources according to their cost.
Why should I eat a bunch of bland tasting cheap burger patties as my postworkout meal when I could instead enjoy a big juicy steak?
I went to university abroad in France, and although the French are quite strange in some aspects, they sure as hell got the savoir-vivre. Who gives a shit about utilities, gas, or a stupid cell phone? Your stomach surely doesn’t.
Food is meant to be high quality, prepared with attention to detail and enjoyed with friends, families or your love.
Focusing on the quality of what you eat and how you eat it is going to improve your life in a way that no other material possession can.
Finally, someone calls Shawn out on his bland as fuck choices. In his defense, he’s working full time while in law school (which he uses an excuse to not play StarCraft), so often quick and easy choices are preferred by him. But I don’t really care for chicken breasts and wouldn’t recommend them as the staple of someone’s diet unless they were aiming to lose body fat. Even when maintaining weight or body fat levels, I like to eat red meat.
–Justin
Go talk to a bakery. I buy 4 gallons of frozen egg whites for $20. This is pure egg whites. You will need to thaw them and portion them out into useable sizes, but it is very good protein for cheap.
Additionally, if you hunt, vennison is excellent for very small cost.
Sams Club has chicken for 1.66 a lb in MN (even with the up to 15% solution this becomes $1.95 per lb) which is cheaper than the quoted price above.
Sams also has EAS protein at $36 for 5 lbs which breaks out to 1.26 per 50g shake without shipping.
Go catch some fish for a hobby. Walleye, Northern Pike, Crappies, Sunnies… virtually free other than your time.
Justin, I used the “per 100g” portion just to compare the price of protein across food products.
Besides, if you’re eating whole foods with lots of fat, as most here are, you’ll want, and get, plenty of fat as well.
American cheese: $2-$2.50 per 100g protein, plus 142g fat. (I forget the exact price at Costco)
Among the stuff I buy, eggs are best, followed by pork shoulder, chuck roast, frozen burgers and bulk cheese, all roughly the same price. Whole chickens look good too, but I don’t know their prices or buy it.
If you want to get really creative, you could get tallow or lard from the butcher for cheap, and cook everything in it. Add in about 2 lbs of dairy/meat a day, and you’ve got enough calories and protein for bulking. Limit whey to post-workout and shakes.
Chicken breasts look like a terrible buy.
I just discovered Sizzler has a $3.99 a lb salad bar, $7.99 all you can eat. Includes bacon, guacamole, cottage cheese, eggs, meatballs, taco meat, and cheese. Compare that with $5.99 at a local supermarket, $7.99 at Whole Foods. F*** having lots of small meals, make every lunch a glutton bowl…
My fiance and I both lift and eat huge and are both pretty gluten intolerant. We spend $1000/month on food alone.
Grassfed beef
ground- $5lb 6lbs a week
Steak $9lb 5lbs a week
Organic free range chicken $6lb 10lbs a week
Milk $6 gallon 4 gallons a week(just me)
Eggs $2.30 dozen 6 dozen a week
Sardines $1.15 can 3 cans a week. Great source of protein and omg 3’s and wicked cheap.
She eats dinner at her parents once a week and it saves us about $10 bucks when she does, cause she takes leftovers
I do the odd shake. No GMO, No antibiotics New Zealand Whey. $60/5lbs. One every 5 6 weeks.
We drive 30min to a local farm and buy $125 of meat every week. It’s grassfed and worth the trip and price, cause it tastes amazing and doesn’t make us feel like shit.
Our dog is also a strict raw meat eater. We get his food from a local supplier of meaty bones and organ meat.
Stop buying chicken breast and learn to cut up a chicken yourself.
@track
We don’t keep a list here. We get dispatched to an injured deer, put it down, drag it to the side of the road and leave a message with the Humane Society. Twice I’ve had people ask to take the deer and twice I’ve said do what you wish when I’m gone. The local homeless shelter used to come pick them up but someone somewhere said that wasn’t humane…whatever.
@Justin
I appreciate this post. I get tired of food quick so I can’t eat the same stuff everyday. Hell, I sometimes start to gag cause I’m tired of the taste of something before I’m done being hungry. Fortunately I’m not putting up the numbers yet that I have to have my diet dialed, but that day is coming so I appreciate picking things up here and there and tweaking as I learn.
@Justin Beef at Costco is also cheaper than elsewhere. Your standard ground round is usually $2-3/pound. Chuck roasts and other pot roast type meats like round eyes are also about that price. So you can end up with a bigass pot roast feast that will last you several meals for about $10.
You can get two full pork shoulders for $18, or about $1/pound. Just an incredible deal. But man you better like pork if you’re a solo person like me buying those.
Even steaks can be cheap. You can get New York Strips for $6/pound. I once got five kickass thick, one pound filet mignons for $25/pound. Usually those are more like $8/pound though.
Another thing that’s great is you can get entire untrimmed beef tenderloins and simply remove the trimmings to make a stock and then slice the meat up into steaks. You can get an entire tenderloin for like $60. That bad boy can be wrapped in bacon and cooked for a group feast, or cut into steaks and frozen.
They’ve also got delicious rotisserie chickens that are always about $5/each. I typically will buy one of those to have the same day.
They also have cheap beer and coffee. You can get Sierra Nevada Pale Ale cases for $22. A two pound bag of Myorga (local really kickass strong coffee) is $13.
Yeah I’m sure Sam’s has a similar deal. I just use Costco because it’s the closest. This stuff may be even cheaper in other parts of the country. I go to the Pentagon City (Arlington, VA) store. Northern Virginia is a very expensive area. OK I can’t talk about this any more. I’m getting a little too excited. Costco has become a passion. My fiance and I have a standing date at Costco every other week.
You guys got it all wrong! I just read an article on Yahoo called “The truth about protein.” We actually only need 65g of it a day, as an average male. I figured that since I weigh more, and am more active than the average guy, 90g should be more than enough to make me look like Flex Wheeler. Save your hard earned bucks, folks.
Also it said that women only need 55g.
55g? What a bunch of sexist fucks.
I can’t believe you would even say that Kitten. Actually I can. You’re all the same. Fuck you Patriarch!
Maybe somebody already mentioned it but this is awesome
http://www.eatwild.com/
If you are able to buy a large enough supply it really pushes the cost down. If you don’t need as much meat you can always go in with a group to get the best deal.
I also want to point the difference in what comes up in Google Images when you search “protein” and “meat“. You tell me which is more manly.
@justin
The answer is clear. And this is the best: http://www.eatmedaily.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/meat-tea-cup3.jpg
I always stock up when I find sales. To that end I always have about 30lbs of protein in my fridge/freezer at a time.
Chicken $1.99/lb
Turkey $1/lb
Beef $3.50/lb (I a make a ton of roasts)
Cottage cheese (the generic stuff is always the best for some odd reason) $1.99/24oz.
Eggs
Whey
My girlfriend’s dad buys whole cows and she always ends up with about 50-75lbs of butchered beef in her freezer. I usually help myself when I’m hungry, which also keeps costs down.
I’m a college student and don’t have a problem keeping the costs down. I estimate my grocery bill to be around $2,500/yr, conservatively.
@Boris: does non-organic meat really make you feel like shit?
Justin,
should I have my safe search on if I google
“meat” ??
Maslow,
How dare you call me Kitten! I smash kittens. Fuck kittens.
Did I miss the point? Money wasted looking great?! I know I waste money on a lot dumber things than being healthy and strong! How bout alcohol? How bout speeding tickets? Movie tickets? This is absurd! We live in the fattest and laziest society in human history, and you’re saying feeding yourself good food cuz you workout like a beast is a waste?
How old are you? If you’re still in school, pay attention to the “satire” lesson in your English/literature classes.
–Justin
One of things I like about eating Paleo is that protein is your main source of food regardless of whether you are lifting or not.
If you make your shakes a treat, don’t just throw it in some water, I find you don’t worry so much about “all this shit I have I have to buy”.
I just moved to London from Los Angeles and the cheapest place I’ve been able to find so far is bulkpowders.co.uk where whey isolate is 60 bucks for 5.5lbs (Isolate because I’m pretty lactose intolerant). However, its unflavored and therefore tastes like ass. Any UK lifters wanna hook a brother up and let me know where I can buy some cheap chocolate whey isolate?
Pingback: The Cost of Protein – Money Wasted Looking Great « The Strength Disciple
fongholio, cheapest flavoured whey isolate is NutriSport (5 kg tub for £53.95 or £12.7/kg for 100% protein). Available from http://www.dolphinfitness.co.uk/en/nutrisport-whey-protein-isolate-5000g/5341). It’s also high biological value (and as a consequence doesn’t taste too nice).
Your second option is Peak Body Whey Protein Isolate 100 (2.3 kg tub for £37.99 or £16/kg for 100% protein). I heard it contains Aspartame though.
HTH.
I think beanmachine brings up a good point about when we need to have our diet “dialed”. What numbers do you need to be putting up before diet really becomes an issue? It’s probably a topic for another day, but it’s been on my mind a bit lately since I’ve only been lifting for ~6 months.
On topic…my wife and I have taken to buying our meat in bulk from local farms. I bought a pig from a coworker at $2/lb and plan on buying half a cow this fall. Might need a second deep freezer if we keep this up.
Oh yeah, and first post for me, yay.