Let’s Build the Ultimate Gym Bro Shopping List 🛒 (Share Yours!)

[I_Gym_Daily]

Hey everyone,

New to the forum and figured this could be a fun and actually useful thread — a spot to share what ends up in your trolley each week.

Everyone’s diet is a bit different (cutting, bulking, lazy-maintenance-mode), but seeing what other people buy can be gold for new ideas. The goal: build the ultimate shopping list that covers quality, convenience, and a bit of variety — not just chicken, rice, and regret.

I’ll start with mine(I’m sure there’s more but this is the general gist):
Protein: chicken, sausages, lean mince, turkey, eggs, canned tuna, salmon, Greek yoghurt, WPI.
Carbs: rice, oats, potatoes, wraps, couscous, sourdough bread.
Fats: olive oil, avocado, peanut butter, mixed nuts.
Veg: spinach, broccoli or broccollini, frozen mixed veg, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicum.
Extras: cottage cheese, frozen berries and fruits, coffee (non-negotiable), dark chocolate square or two for sanity.

I try to keep it simple — mostly whole foods, a few quick options for busy days, and Aussie-grown stuff where possible.

My rule of thumb: if it helps me hit macros without tasting like cardboard, it earns a spot on the list.

We get our veggies and fruit from a farmers market and the rest from Woolies and our local butcher.

Keen to see what everyone else’s staples are — especially budget hacks, quick meals, or brands you swear by.

Bonus points for “underrated” items people might not think of.

Let’s build the community’s go-to list together — whether you’re chasing PRs or just trying not to live off protein bars and instant noodles.

[shaneinga]

I’d be curious to see people’s hacks or got to have items. Salad dressings, coffee creamers, etc.

I’ll throw this in.

A single tablespoon is enough for a 12 ounce coffee to give it enough flavor to be enjoyable. It’s not going to be creamy for those of you who add creamer to your coffee but will add a nice cinnamon flavor.

[OTay]

Protein, carbs, and fats that you enjoy and digest well.

[TrainForPain]

I don’t know if it’s appropriately in the spirit of the thread, but my “hack” is find a farm! We buy a cow, a pig or two, all our eggs, and most our fruits from a local farm. Post-inflationary world, it’s actually cheaper than the grocery store, better tasting, certainly better for us, and definitely an opportunity at self-righteous morality. Highly recommend!

[SkyzykS]

My must haves- lean beef, chicken, salmon.

I’m a recent convert to almond butter. Regular butter, olive oil.

Broccoli, shredded cabbage, shrooms of some kind (no, not those!).

Tomatoes.

All carbs are negotiable. Might go back on to a barley kick soon. Rice, breads, all the usual stuff.

I like those mung bean based noodles that somehow don’t seem to contain anything. They’re like a latticework of magic that fill you up then turn into poop.

[T3hPwnisher]

Protein: Ruminant animals whenever possible, prefer lamb, but plenty of beef and occasional bison. Pastured eggs (4-5 dozen a week) and egg whites from Costco. We’ve been consuming a fair bit of pork as well recently, as the kiddo likes it, so pork shoulder/butt (stupidly cheap) cooked in a pressure cooker, tenderloin and pork loin cut into chops. Pretty much never any chicken.
Carbs: Nah
Fats: Ghee (very high smoke point), beef tallow, grassfed butter
Veg: Nah
Extras: A good salt

For some hacks, I save money on steaks by buying roasts and cutting them to size. Leg of lamb tends to be cheaper per pound than any beef steak, so I’ll slice that into steaks and air fry them for the week. I’ll then gather up the rendered fat left behind and use that as tallow for cooking, which saves on costs.

Big tough cuts of meat are also delicious when slow/pressure cooked, yet lower cost compared to more tender cuts. I’m also not afraid to slum with some ground beef/meat. The frozen section is a find too: I scored like 60lbs of frozen corned beefs over the course of a few weeks. I’d soak them overnight, to get rid of the brine, and then slice them and air fry them.

Big cuts like pork butt/shoulder or beef brisket are also great for meal prepping. They tend to be lower cost, they’ll render a lot of fat, and they’ll make a lot of food. Get a vacuum sealer and have meals made in advance.

EDIT: Hey, actually, shout out to canned fish too. Super overlooked, and one of my favorite meal shortcuts whenever I need to add some protein and Omega 3s to a meal. I’m notorious for doing a “cheap surf and turf” by throwing some sardines alongside whatever my meat of choice is.

[mechinos]

Hack: Beef chuck pot roast in a crock pot before heading out the door for work.

[Cretin78]

Bananas, bananas, more bananas (I eat several a day).

Daily meals- Beef (ground and or roast) pork roast (chops too). Eggs.

Drink - Whole milk (recovery)

Black Tea (not a coffee guy at all, in fact never had it before).

Grapes (very important Intra/recovery lifting food, replenish electrolytes plus gives great bro pumps).

Snacks - real natty PB (made from peanuts only), and I eat shelled roasted unsalted peanuts. These are nutrient dense high calorie and actually good for suppressing appetite. Add celery to this for my ONLY veggie.

Carbs - baby small potatoes for flavor only. Good compromise here, no need to eat a full potato.

Treats- Cliff bars (my weakness, I’ll only eat them Intra lifting) along with a Dave’s bagel here and there.

Health food supp and jacked stack - RAW garlic and honey.

[DJoftheJungle1]

My afternoon snack at work recently:
1 x mini cottage cheese

4 x turkey sticks:

31G protein, 250 calories

[Brant_Drake]

This is what I keep on hand when I don’t really feel like putting much effort into cooking. Eggs for breakfast, bagged broccoli slaw salad, red beans and rice, and steak for the next two meals, then yogurt and fruit for dessert.

@TrainForPain

find a farm

One near me sells this, and it’s pretty good.

[Cretin78]

I forgot to mention i keep some type of canned fish on hand like Mackerel, sardines, smoked oysters or tuna. Tuna is nasty though but I’ll mix that with hummus.

That’s just for when I’m in a bind and need protein. In oil too.

[Njord]

eggs, lots of beef and cut can vary, chicken and occasionally fish or pork.

Berry varieties, oranges, kiwis, mangoes and bananas.

Vegetables can be random but staples tend to be broccoli, onions, mushrooms, mixed greens, an assortment of peppers and squash.

Grain based items are typically whole grains or mixed grain of some sort and rice.

Fats generally come from the meat but we use olive oil and tallow. I smoke briskets and beef spare ribs frequently so I collect a lot of tallow.

Pro tip, for a cheat meal day or if you can fit within your cals, tallow and especially smoked tallow in place of lard in recipes that call for it can be amazing. I make tortillas this way and they’re an improvement over standard.

[TrainForPain]

@Brant_Drake

This is what I keep on hand when I don’t really feel like putting much effort into cooking

That’s a fantastic “easy button” picture and it looks like a magazine spread.

[BlackSheep00]

Weekly Haul ;

Protein - Eggs, 93/7 Ground beef, Greek yogurt, some type of white fish either Cod or tilapia, shrimp, premier protein shakes.

Carbs - Microwavable bags of mixed veggies, Microwavable bags of sweet potatoes, minute rice, honey

Fats - Avocados, butter, beef tallow

Extras - Coffee, Kinders Spices, Diet Dr Pepper,

Boring but effective.

[I_Gym_Daily]

Lots of good stuff.

I also like the idea of finding a farm for meat, it’s definitely much better quality I find as well, and majority of our fruit and veg comes from farmers markets.

I forgot to mention, which someone has already, Ghee! Love this stuff, we use it in cooking and I also add it to my Coffee sometimes.

[simo74]

@I_Gym_Daily

Protein: chicken, sausages, lean mince, turkey, eggs, canned tuna, salmon, Greek yoghurt, WPI.

No steak and no lamb and no kangaroo ? Are you sure you are an Aussie ?

[antiquity]

I always go shopping myself to supplement what my wife buys. She takes care of the meat and veggies and fruits, but I always make sure I have:

• Kefir. I eat/drink it daily.
• Vital Farms eggs. I like this brand the best.
• Cosmic Crisp Apples. These are my favorite variety by far.
• Honey. I like the fancy local stuff, usually getting it at a Farmer’s Market.
• Oats. I like Bob Mills’ thick oats. I add it to my kefir along with honey and whey.
• Kimchi. I few spoonfuls a day of this stuff.
• Frozen blueberries. I can’t live without them.

[I_Gym_Daily]

We do steak every now and then and lamb too, I’m the only one in the family who likes Kangaroo, so it’s not often I eat it. I do like it though!

[Brant_Drake]

@I_Gym_Daily

likes Kangaroo

Last time I was in Australia the only good meal I had was a Kangaroo Taco with marmite-chipoltle salsa.

Actually, the fairy bread lamington sushi was a pretty good pwo carb source.

Other than that it was all weird shit like funnel web beetroot meat pies served in a thong.

[TrainForPain]

@Brant_Drake

served in a thong.

Budgie smuggler