College Student In Need of Advice!!!

[Tunadave89]

I am a student at Arizona State and I am trying to increase muscle while cutting fat, but like most college students I dont have a lot of money, therefore I am unable to feed myself the right stuff day to day, like lean meats, and complex carbs. I will sometimes treat help myself out with a protein powder purchase but I cant afford one every time I finish off one. I usually stick to a breakfast, try and get a lunch, dinner regime. I workout a different muscle each week and finish off with a cardio day. Can someone help me out some advice on a nutrition plan that I could do to maximize my muscle gains and fat loss, even with my small wallet? Thank you!

[ohmagadbecky]

idk im doin fine at my school. Sure there's a ton of crap but there's also sandwhiches that could be made with lean meats, oatmeal and eggs for breakfast, salad bars, ect...I dont use any protein powders, never have and never will

[rand18m]

I am a student at Arizona State and I am trying to increase muscle while cutting fat, but like most college students I dont have a lot of money, therefore I am unable to feed myself the right stuff day to day, like lean meats, and complex carbs. I will sometimes treat help myself out with a protein powder purchase but I cant afford one every time I finish off one. I usually stick to a breakfast, try and get a lunch, dinner regime. I workout a different muscle each week and finish off with a cardio day. Can someone help me out some advice on a nutrition plan that I could do to maximize my muscle gains and fat loss, even with my small wallet? Thank you!

Start off reading the stickies at the top of the forum and learn to calculate your energy needs and compose a proper diet. Once you know your macro minimums you can fill in the remaining energy needs with a mix of pr/fat/carbs of your choice. That's the simple version but in reality it doesn't get much more complicated than that, so go study up and figure out what you actually need first, then come back and let's talk about the names of the foods you enjoy! Good luck!

[RugbyTank]

I feel you bro,

Whey blends are our cheapest solution next is tuna , then whey isolate = chicken breasts and eggs are easy
but not a good source for a high protein, they are just a good quality complete protein.
Cottage cheese is cheap

oatmeal & popcorn for cheap carbs
Olive Oil and heavy cream for fats

grounded Flax seeds are cheap fiber and omega's

[rand18m]

I feel you bro,

Whey blends are our cheapest solution next is tuna , then whey isolate = chicken breasts and eggs are easy
but not a good source for a high protein, they are just a good quality complete protein.
Cottage cheese is cheap

oatmeal & popcorn for cheap carbs
Olive Oil and heavy cream for fats

grounded Flax seeds are cheap fiber and omega's

Until he knows how much he needs of what, it's impossible to suggest the best low cost solution to his problem. So if he will do a small amount of study/research, most or all of which can be done right on this forum, then possibly we can help him, and maybe you too!! Let us know!!

[RugbyTank]

Until he knows how much he needs of what, it's impossible to suggest the best low cost solution to his problem. So if he will do a small amount of study/research, most or all of which can be done right on this forum, then possibly we can help him, and maybe you too!! Let us know!!

sure,
but i dont need help thanks for offer I was just listing foods that are cheap & easy/non-mess to prepare

[allprocro]

I am a student at Arizona State and I am trying to increase muscle while cutting fat, but like most college students I dont have a lot of money, therefore I am unable to feed myself the right stuff day to day, like lean meats, and complex carbs. I will sometimes treat help myself out with a protein powder purchase but I cant afford one every time I finish off one. I usually stick to a breakfast, try and get a lunch, dinner regime. I workout a different muscle each week and finish off with a cardio day. Can someone help me out some advice on a nutrition plan that I could do to maximize my muscle gains and fat loss, even with my small wallet? Thank you!

I am a college student and I can tell you the MOST important thing you can do is figure out your MACROS and build a meal plan around that. I have done it for a year and I actually just re-did my macros of continued gains. It helps you save money and get the most out of every calorie. This is true for if you are trying to cut or gain muscle.

Visit the stickys the "Critique my mealplan" will explain how to set up your macros. I won't explain it here but I will show you what it will look like after you do it
Age: 21
Weight: 188
BF: 15ish %
Goal: Gain Size, Muscle, Strength
Calories 3034
Protein 228g (35%)
Carbs 387g (58%)
Fat 45g (7%)

Then you go back and just fill those needs with your foods the "micro" aspect of it. How many meals, what to eat, when to eat, ect, ect. Use the Macro as a guideline, most people will tell you that eating more than 3 meals is better. So instead of 3 1,000+ calorie meals I would try to break them down to 400-600 calorie meals and eat around 6 meals a day.

[blyon1990]

homemade protein bar.

now adjust based on your caloric and macro needs

mix oatmeal, peanut butter, and whey with water. now with the water add little by little until u have a paste like pancake batter then microwave until it puffs up. about 1 min 30 or 2 min. this does require some playing around with.

[rand18m]

I am a college student and I can tell you the MOST important thing you can do is figure out your MACROS and build a meal plan around that. I have done it for a year and I actually just re-did my macros of continued gains. It helps you save money and get the most out of every calorie. This is true for if you are trying to cut or gain muscle.

Visit the stickys the "Critique my mealplan" will explain how to set up your macros. I won't explain it here but I will show you what it will look like after you do it
Age: 21
Weight: 188
BF: 15ish %
Goal: Gain Size, Muscle, Strength
Calories 3034
Protein 228g (35%)
Carbs 387g (58%)
Fat 45g (7%)

Then you go back and just fill those needs with your foods the "micro" aspect of it. How many meals, what to eat, when to eat, ect, ect. Use the Macro as a guideline, most people will tell you that eating more than 3 meals is better. So instead of 3 1,000+ calorie meals I would try to break them down to 400-600 calorie meals and eat around 6 meals a day.

This is pretty close^^^. The last statement about meal frequency is the only tweak needed here. OP, you can eat 6 meals a day if you like, but don't think it's necessary. Meal frequency is purely and simply a personal preference, will have no affect on your body composition.

Read the stickies and use Google to it's fullest!!

[wagarb]

I am in same boat. However, this is how you do it cheaply

Buy:
Carbs:

Oats, Whole Wheat Bread, Whole Wheat Pasta,Brown Rice, Potatoes

Protein:
Eggs, Frozen Chicken, Peanut Butter, Tuna, Lean ground beef

Fats:
Olive Oil, Avocado, Peanuts/Almonds

Other:
Frozen vegetables, other vegetables (on sale), tomatoes, onion, broccoli, Cabbage,
Apples, Bananas, Whatever other fruit you want
Cottage Cheese, Greek Yogurt,Milk

Whatever else you want on sale. Buy as much in bulk as you can (for storage and how long it will last)

[RugbyTank]

...
Avocado

MMM, just had an avocado 1.5 hours ago

[Patriot1783]

ASU!! HELL YEAH BUDDY SRC ALL DAYYY!!! Um... Fry's has chicken breast on sale this week starting tomorrow 1.88/lbs gonna get stacks tomorrow. Just get a big 4-5lbs tub of protein powder on here or Amazon, I'd suggest ON it's like $40 for 70 Servings I think (5lbs). NEVER EVER get a smoothie from that joke of a smoothie bar at the SRC or Jamba Juice. It's like $5-6 for one serving when you could save that and just get a big tub. I mean unless you're craving a smoothie but I hate that little bar, it's a ripoff

[heaa21]

get whole oatmeal in a can from walmart and a jar of peanut butter.

if you get offbrands for both its like 15 dollars and they can give you an entire meal of 500 healthy calories a day for only like 15-20 dollars a month.

I am in college and this is usually what I eat for bed..cheap, easy to make, and very healthy.

also, I would recommend putting half a packet in truvia in it for some flavor. It isn't the worst taste plain but if you are very picky this can help.