At one time,my actual salary did not increase,but I had a live-in job with meals included,so my disposable income doubled.
I had the same thought as you-at the time I just bought my protein shake,creatine,dextrose,and a few health supplements (vits,green tea,ginseng,ginkgo,probiotic,etc.) and I thought ‘How much difference would it make if I doubled my monthly budget for supps and bought better food?’ so I went from spending about £40/50 a month to £80/120 a month on supps (depending on cycles,etc.) and from spending £25 a month on food to about £60/70 a month.
I bought all the luxury and possibly unecessary supps (Beta-Alanine,Taurine,BCAA’s,Colostrum,Joint Complex,L-Leucine,Glutamine,etc) and two different protein shakes-one whey blend for PWO,and a low carb casein blend for bedtime.
My strength and muscle gains exploded.within weeks I was breaking personal bests,energy improved,I was adding weight to the bar/weight stack and to my frame-I gained approx. 10kg of lean mass in a few months,I had to buy new clothes,Recovery times halved.
Somebody asked if I was taking steriods!!
Seriously,if you’re big now,you’ll be bigger,stronger and healthier with a bigger budget.
They go hand in hand.
I may get the same macronutrient content from a cheap-ass shitty burger from McDonalds as I do from a fresh,organic,grass-fed,nicely marbled ribeye steak,sizzling straight off the George Foreman,with a dollop of steamed wild rice and chilli sauce
[/quote]
How do you do that? I would love to eat at McDonald’s and get the same macronutrients as your ribeye steak. Do you have to eat the burger without the buns? If that is the case, I rather not go, no point in it.
So you’re asking me to post my weight, which I could lie about, in order to assess whether my other stats are valid, which I could similarly lie about?
I’ve been 100% honest in my stats, and I have nothing to prove to you or anyone else. My motivation for bodybuilding goes a little deeper than needing you to believe whether or not my stats are real.
[/quote]
People lie about their stats? I had no idea they did this and can’t fathom a reason for it.
I think it’s fairly easy to afford good food even on a budget. I just don’t have a large variety of things. I have 4-6 essential items and it’s easy to afford that even if you have a shitty job like most college kids.
I consider myself a consummate master of getting plenty of quality calories out of very little money, but I can’t imagine 20 dollars a week being enough for any adult male especially. Meaning while you made progress on that I’d be shocked it your gains didn’t improve noticeably being able to afford more food. Several people already said as much, but though I’d throw my 2 cents in.
[quote]hawaiilifterMike wrote:
People lie about their stats? I had no idea they did this and can’t fathom a reason for it.[/quote]
Some people lie about their stats in order to feed their virtual egos, as if the opinions of other board warriors actually make a difference to their real world progress. It seems stupid to me too, but it definitely happens.
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
I think it’s fairly easy to afford good food even on a budget. I just don’t have a large variety of things. I have 4-6 essential items and it’s easy to afford that even if you have a shitty job like most college kids.[/quote]
Agreed, but it sure as hell is more enjoyable having the variety/quality of food you get on a larger budget. I don’t think I’ve had Ramen noodles since my college days.
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
I think it’s fairly easy to afford good food even on a budget. I just don’t have a large variety of things. I have 4-6 essential items and it’s easy to afford that even if you have a shitty job like most college kids.[/quote]
I live off of ground beef, cottage cheese and whey protein about 90% of the time.
[quote]Mr.Purple wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
I think it’s fairly easy to afford good food even on a budget. I just don’t have a large variety of things. I have 4-6 essential items and it’s easy to afford that even if you have a shitty job like most college kids.
I live off of ground beef, cottage cheese and whey protein about 90% of the time.[/quote]
I can identify with that.
£2/$4 for 2.5kg of ground beef in my local supermarket. It lasts about half of the week, but I’m so sick of it that once I get my first paycheck I’m never eating that stuff again.
37pence for 300g cottage cheese, 10pence for 400kcals of noodles… 26pence for 390g economy peanut butter…
It can be done cheaply but it’s extremely stressful on such a tight budget.
[quote]Dave_ wrote:
Mr.Purple wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
I think it’s fairly easy to afford good food even on a budget. I just don’t have a large variety of things. I have 4-6 essential items and it’s easy to afford that even if you have a shitty job like most college kids.
I live off of ground beef, cottage cheese and whey protein about 90% of the time.
I can identify with that.
Ã?£2/$4 for 2.5kg of ground beef in my local supermarket. It lasts about half of the week, but I’m so sick of it that once I get my first paycheck I’m never eating that stuff again.
37pence for 300g cottage cheese, 10pence for 400kcals of noodles… 26pence for 390g economy peanut butter…
It can be done cheaply but it’s extremely stressful on such a tight budget.[/quote]
300g of cottage cheese costs me 4 times what you pay. FML, this country of mine sucks for bodybuilding.
[quote]Dave_ wrote:
Mr.Purple wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
I think it’s fairly easy to afford good food even on a budget. I just don’t have a large variety of things. I have 4-6 essential items and it’s easy to afford that even if you have a shitty job like most college kids.
I live off of ground beef, cottage cheese and whey protein about 90% of the time.
I can identify with that.
Ã?£2/$4 for 2.5kg of ground beef in my local supermarket. It lasts about half of the week, but I’m so sick of it that once I get my first paycheck I’m never eating that stuff again.
37pence for 300g cottage cheese, 10pence for 400kcals of noodles… 26pence for 390g economy peanut butter…
It can be done cheaply but it’s extremely stressful on such a tight budget.[/quote]
[quote]forlife wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
I think it’s fairly easy to afford good food even on a budget. I just don’t have a large variety of things. I have 4-6 essential items and it’s easy to afford that even if you have a shitty job like most college kids.
Agreed, but it sure as hell is more enjoyable having the variety/quality of food you get on a larger budget. I don’t think I’ve had Ramen noodles since my college days.[/quote]
The thing is there aren’t a whole lot of “bodybuilding” foods. I buy eggs, milk, beef, spinach, oats, PB, salsa, cottage cheese, and then some supplements. That’s all I will ever need until I decide to lean down and then I will buy some chicken and fish.
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
I think it’s fairly easy to afford good food even on a budget. I just don’t have a large variety of things. I have 4-6 essential items and it’s easy to afford that even if you have a shitty job like most college kids.[/quote]
But see, no one said you couldn’t eat enough to make great progress just because you are broke. I made great gains in college. I just ate a shit load of junk and worked hard so it went to the right places. Most people are probably like that. I just know it is easier now that I can actually afford more than the cheapest shit in the store. That is all we are saying.
I would imagine most people who can afford to eat high quality food will find it easier to make further progress if for no other reason than not sitting around worrying about how that food will get paid for,
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
I consider myself a consummate master of getting plenty of quality calories out of very little money, but I can’t imagine 20 dollars a week being enough for any adult male especially. Meaning while you made progress on that I’d be shocked it your gains didn’t improve noticeably being able to afford more food. Several people already said as much, but though I’d throw my 2 cents in.[/quote]
Yeah, that’s what jumped out at me too. $20 a WEEK?? You’d almost literally starve to death if you tried to stretch $20 out for a week’s worth of food where I live. Cheaper in England, I suppose.
Hey Dave, here’s a quick tip for ya on your new gym’s DBs only going up to 110s: bring a roll of duct tape with you to the gym. I duct tape on 2.5s, 5’s and 10s no problem, so you can really get up to 130s with everything in between except 125s. Actually, I’ve never tried taping on more than 1 plate at as time, but I bet it could be done.
[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
forlife wrote:
waylanderxx wrote:
I think it’s fairly easy to afford good food even on a budget. I just don’t have a large variety of things. I have 4-6 essential items and it’s easy to afford that even if you have a shitty job like most college kids.
Agreed, but it sure as hell is more enjoyable having the variety/quality of food you get on a larger budget. I don’t think I’ve had Ramen noodles since my college days.
The thing is there aren’t a whole lot of “bodybuilding” foods. I buy eggs, milk, beef, spinach, oats, PB, salsa, cottage cheese, and then some supplements. That’s all I will ever need until I decide to lean down and then I will buy some chicken and fish. [/quote]
[quote]doubleh wrote:
Tiribulus wrote:
I consider myself a consummate master of getting plenty of quality calories out of very little money, but I can’t imagine 20 dollars a week being enough for any adult male especially. Meaning while you made progress on that I’d be shocked it your gains didn’t improve noticeably being able to afford more food. Several people already said as much, but though I’d throw my 2 cents in.
Yeah, that’s what jumped out at me too. $20 a WEEK?? You’d almost literally starve to death if you tried to stretch $20 out for a week’s worth of food where I live. Cheaper in England, I suppose.[/quote]
Agreed. I don’t see how anyone much over 220 is getting by on much less than 20 bucks a day (spent overall) unless they have a very slow metabolism.