Healthy buget food?

Okay guys, I'm going to level with you.  I work in mcdonalds, eat almost entirely mcdonalds (because hey, it's free) and subsequently have probably about 30% body fat.

This needs to change.

So I'm looking for new food.  My criteria are as follows:

1. Cheap.  This is the most important thing.  I barely spend any money on food right now.

2. Keeps well.  I need things to eat at work, and I can't use a fridge or cook anything, so I need things I can prepare at home and store at room temperature.

3. Tastes great.  I know me well enough by now, if it's too boring or repetitive I'm just going to eat more mcdonalds.

Probably most of you don't know how awful it is to eat mcdonalds on a regular basis.  Trust me, it's disgusting beyond all measure.  The worst part is I know, really know, just how awful that stuff is.

You guys are a great community, and I know we've got a few bodybuilders around here that have seriously over analysed their nutrition, so if you can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.  Even just a decent thread on bodybuliding.com or something.  I'm desperate here.

One last note for Joshua Naterman in particular.  I've seen you mention "a crapton of veggies" several times now.  What kind of vegetables do you eat and how do you prepare them?

Ready from some tough love from the wonderful members of this great community Bipocini?

Bipocni said:

(...) My criteria are as follows:

 

1. Cheap.  This is the most important thing.  I barely spend any money on food right now. (...)

I suggest that you eat free Mc Donald's food every day... You can't beat the cost and it fits perfectly into your most important criteria.

i/e: until your priorities change, you won't change.

Bipocni said:

(...) how awful it is to eat mcdonalds on a regular basis.  Trust me, it's disgusting beyond all measure.  The worst part is I know, really know, just how awful that stuff is (...)

Find a new job!

(1) You sound like that idiot that complains about pollution, yet works for British Petroleum, or that other moron that did not like the bank bailouts, but keeps his job at Goldman Sachs! It is a very pernicious form of bribery that destroys the soul; don't fall for it for a big mac!

(2) If employers are monitoring employees online activities... this one is a good enough reason to fire you.

PS: I suspect you knew these already: Do the right thing instead of the easy one; that will stand out in today's world!

PS2: it is budget

to start me off, i just chose some basic protein sources( chicken, beef[all the cuts], pork every once in a while) a few carb sources(tortillas if im in the mood for mexicanizing something, rice, mashed potatoes or potatos in general, pasta) and just do my best to include a mixture of anti-inflammatory veggies that i include on purpose(a mixture of garlic, onions, bell peppers(green, yellow, orange, red) and a bit of green in the form of spinach or lettuce mixes.

and then i just buy it and the other day i was extremely lazy to cook, so i just made like 4-5 hamburger patties(home made with angus beef) cooked it with olive oil and onions(white onions) and just ate burgers all day..

what i need to get down is knowing how much calories each meal of mine has. little steps

Natty peanut butter is great! Also any kind of nut is great! They are very versatile and can eat them everywhere. Very nutritionally dense too. At home just stock your fridge with all sorts of berries and fruits like apples, oranges, blueberries, strawberries. Perhaps you can grow your own food if you have any left over money. I have a black rasberry bush and blackberry bushes everywhere growing WILD where i live. A lot of free food that is great for you. Just try to go as natural as possible. Small cans of tuna are also great to tale to work. As for veggies, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, kale, and any cruciferous veggie or any veggie period is great for you. Eat alot of veggies with your food, incorporate berries and fruit like apples before some meals becaise their water content and fiber will help you to eat less and healthier. Good luck my friend. I may not be the best person to listen too, but all this had worked amazingly for me. 8% bf down from 11% just by adopting these rules. 163 lbs off creatine 6'1. Add a lot of different colors to your plate at every meal. Eat the rainbow! Hope this helped!!

I live on a super budget right now, being that I pay two rents.

1) Chicken, frozen veg, potatoes, eggs, rice, beans. I don't know about your area, but that's what it's like for me.

2) Anything. You don't have to store things in a fridge if you eat it the same day. No excuses here.

3) If you think McD is tasty, it's really not very hard to reach this criteria. Cook some chicken, steam or stir fry some veggies (all colours throughout the week, about half leafy greens), use use butter or or drizzle some olive oil, also, eat egg yolks.

It's really easy. Find all Josh's posts and that's all the info you need.

Unfortunately healthy food doesn't come cheap, especially in Australia. Now the ironic thing is that processed food cost less than organic food. You would think that it would be the other way around however it's not. It cost more to maintain organic food unfortunately. My recommendations is to eat as healthy as possible and don't over analyse nutrition! Eat like this 

FredInChina said:

PS2: it is budget

Oh god that's going to bug me forever.

FredInChina said:

(2) If employers are monitoring employees online activities... this one is a good enough reason to fire you.

 

I'm only referencing things I've found in the public anyway, it's all freely available on the internet.  I doubt they can fire me over this, or will even notice.  Remember, we don't all live in china, and I doubt PRISM has got to the gymnastic bodies forum yet.....  But maybe if they fire me I can get a new job, eh?

You think I want to work here?  I don't have a choice.  Maybe in the future this will change, but for right now, I'm stuck.

PS. You keep spelling my name wrong.

Bipocni said:

 (...) PS. You keep spelling my name wrong.

Whoops, sorry!

For some reason I keep thinking that you are Italian...

I'll be careful.

FredInChina said:

Whoops, sorry!

For some reason I keep thinking that you are Italian...

I'll be careful.

It does sound Italian doesn't it?  Total accident.

Sorry to snap at you (don't know if it came across that way)  It's just that I KNOW constant fast food is making my goals much harder to reach.  It's... frustrating to say the least.

I know you're this like, total legend, opened your own gymnastics gym in china etc... but we're not all that successful yet.  I'm just a guy trying to figure out where his next meal is coming from.

Just make yourself some sandwiches buddy. Grab a lunch box and those little things that keep your stuff cool ( I don't know what they're called...). Sandwiches were my meals of choice when I needed something to eat on the go. That and a fruit.

My sandwich of choice was a 4 slices of turkey deli with mayo and mustard on whole wheat. You could also pack greek yogurt, in there.

I've actually been doing something similar where I'm planning my meals to be as cheap as possible, but as healthy as I can find. Since I'm a student, I need to keep costs at a minimum, but I'm not looking to sacrifice my health either. I've managed to get things down to around 200$/month ( down from a minimum of 400$/month ). Eating 5 times a day.

What I do is basically go online and search for recipes that only contain natural ingredients ( without wheat and dairy now since my body just doesn't tolerate these it seems...unfortunately...goodbye spaghetti...). Then I write down all the ingredients I need and how much I need. After this I go to the grocerie store and just write down how much the ingredients cost. Then when I get back home, I just tally up the totals and I know how much a certain meal will cost me for a week ( because I always plan for weekly meals ).

So for your situation, just look for recipes, that are cheap and you can take on the go. Is there not even a microwave there at least? If you have that, then you have a whole bunch of other options open up to you.

For recipe ideas, I've been looking at these sites:

www.allrecipes.com

www.elitefts.com ( there's a nutrition section with recipes )

www.bodybuilding.com ( recipe article section )

www.fastpaleo.com

www.livestrong.com

www.rippedrecipes.com

I'm sure there's a bunch of others, but just browse through these and see if you find some recipes that you might enjoy. The key is finding recipes with natural ingredients, and which require few ingredients if you're looking for cheap. Although those with spices would end up being pretty cheap since most spices can last you a hell of a long time. With time you'll have plenty of variety and be able to control how much you spend very nicely.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Protein: chicken thighs with bone in ~ 1.49 a pound

Vegetables: you can get a serving for about 70 cents if you get the frozen boxes.

Carbs: rice is about 1 dollar a pound.

Season these ingredients ind different ways each day and throw in some eggs. Include fish and beef on occasion. This will feed you for about 6-8 dollars a day.

Bipocni said:

It does sound Italian doesn't it?  Total accident.

 

Sorry to snap at you (don't know if it came across that way)  It's just that I KNOW constant fast food is making my goals much harder to reach.  It's... frustrating to say the least.

 

I know you're this like, total legend, opened your own gymnastics gym in china etc... but we're not all that successful yet.  I'm just a guy trying to figure out where his next meal is coming from.

No worries, my own post was a bit harsh first; i surely can't even begin to comprehend what it is like to "have to" eat at McDonalds every day.

What I do know though is that "environment is stronger than will", hence my - maybe inappropriate - suggestion to change environments to achieve your goals.

PS: Cu fang is the legend, not me, but that was nice to hear anyway.................

FredInChina said:

PS: Cu fang is the legend, not me, but that was nice to hear anyway.................

Oh.... That will teach me to make assumptions.  Since you're in china, have you ever been to see his gym?

Bipocni said:

Oh.... That will teach me to make assumptions.  Since you're in china, have you ever been to see his gym?

Not yet; I contacted him before going to Shanghai last May, but apparently he was away and never responded.

I'll try again next time, and I'll make sure to report here, post pics, etc...

This isn't the most helpful response but it's my honest opinion... What you're asking for is not particularly realistic and you should first focus on changing your circumstances.

Taste is largely controlled by how you prepare it. This, again, means cooking.

Bipocni said:

Okay guys, I'm going to level with you.  I work in mcdonalds, eat almost entirely mcdonalds (because hey, it's free) and subsequently have probably about 30% body fat.

 

This needs to change.

 

So I'm looking for new food.  My criteria are as follows:

 

1. Cheap.  This is the most important thing.  I barely spend any money on food right now.

As you have seen there are many great options but they will require cooking (beans etc...). Good food costs good money.

 

2. Keeps well.  I need things to eat at work, and I can't use a fridge or cook anything, so I need things I can prepare at home and store at room temperature.

 There are plenty of great foods that keep well. Favor firm veggies like carrots and broccoli as they do well without a fridge. Given request #3, however, this is of limited use.

3. Tastes great.  I know me well enough by now, if it's too boring or repetitive I'm just going to eat more mcdonalds.

 

As for point number three that is entirely beyond the control of this board. Either you will choose to persist in getting healthy, in which case you will choose not to eat McDonald's, or you won't. McDonald's spends a lot making there food very tasty and they're really good at it. If there was a magic list of healthy, cheap, cooking-free, shelf stable options McDonald's would be out of business.

Ultimately eating well takes an investment of a few dollars (it's not insanely expensive) and time (learning basic kitchen skills, preparing veggies, cooking and cleaning).

There is, quite simply, NO solution that meets all of your requirements. If there were, McDonald's would be out of business.

I really applaud you urge to get healthier and you've taken a huge first step by doing so. Congrats. Since you've asked for advice here I'm being honest with you in a way that the food and dieting industries won't: eating well takes time and initially, doing things we may not want to. It's well worth it. You're only going succeed if you choose a different set of circumstances.

Probably most of you don't know how awful it is to eat mcdonalds on a regular basis.  Trust me, it's disgusting beyond all measure.  The worst part is I know, really know, just how awful that stuff is.

 

You guys are a great community, and I know we've got a few bodybuilders around here that have seriously over analysed their nutrition, so if you can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.  Even just a decent thread on bodybuliding.com or something.  I'm desperate here.

 

One last note for Joshua Naterman in particular.  I've seen you mention "a crapton of veggies" several times now.  What kind of vegetables do you eat and how do you prepare them?

 I dunno, if you are that concerned just limit yourself to eating the salads they offer and go over the ingredient list they each have. I think I read some of them might have MSG or high sodium contents and some of their dressings can be high in calories besides using soybean oil. I'm not exactly sure what they offer fruit wise and if they modify the hell out of those apple thingies in the kids meals. Some of their premium salads don't have horrible statistics on paper. I'm not really sure what they comp you as an employee.

 Simple solution is to go the market and get some dressing of your own. I actually found this one dressing that came in a spray bottle without any soybean oil ( I think it was zero fat so it was basically balsamic vinaigrette ).

 Boil up some eggs to take to work or grilled chicken legs in a bag. 

Have you seen this info graphic from the New York Times a few years ago?

You may get employee discounts that alter the economics of your situation, but for most the alleged cost and time savings from fast food are highly questionable. I could easily prepare a healthy meal in less time it would take to go out and grab fast food.

I agree with FredInChina, if you need to quit fast food, finding a new job is probably a really good start. Just like an alcoholic probably shouldn't work in a bar.

I honestly don't think that just posting a few recipes is going to help change anything for you. I think the key for you is going to be to stop feeling guilty about what you're doing and start developing passion for cooking and really starting to understand not only that fast food is disgusting, but why whole foods are what your body needs. I wouldn't even worry about cooking healthy food, just start building a habit of cooking as a part of your life, then you can start worrying about what you're eating. Changing you habits is going to involve buying whole ingredients and spending some time in the kitchen, from there you can start finding recipes that fit your criteria.

I'd recommend checking out Cook's illustrated magazine and try picking something to cook from there. They have excellent recipes that have a lot of information that not only work but are very educational. Michael Pollan has a new book called "Cooked" which not only talks about cooking but what a lack of cooking is doing to modern society. It's a great place to start towards working building passion for the kitchen. Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" TV show might be interesting for you to see as well. It's not as informative as Pollan's work, but it might be more accessible. Look for cooking shows, blogs or classes, anything that can help you develop your passion.

Regarding eating a crapton of veggies, a good rule is generally to "eat the rainbow". Which means selecting diversely coloured fruits and veggies to have with every meal, every day. You can start out by just carrying fruit with you to work. 

Lastly, if you start cooking, don't forget the salt! The most common mistake for people to make when they start cooking is not tasting and seasoning their food properly. If you're used to eating Mcdonald's all the time, without enough salt everything you make at home is just going to taste bland. So keep tasting and adding more salt until it suits your tastes. A meal of whole foods prepared at home with a lot of salt is still going to be better than any fast food. And switching to whole foods is going to bring your potassium levels way up which is going to make eating excess salt much less of a concern.

Start with trying to:

1. Eliminate soft drink (and juices) - Drink water. Its awesome

2. Cut down fast food to a treat every now and then.

3. Avoid bad snack foods like chips, lollies etc.

4. Eat lots of veggies (like alot...pig out on veggies) and fruit

Art Vandelay said:

Start with trying to:

 

1. Eliminate soft drink (and juices) - Drink water. Its awesome

2. Cut down fast food to a treat every now and then.

3. Avoid bad snack foods like chips, lollies etc.

4. Eat lots of veggies (like alot...pig out on veggies) and fruit

See here's the thing.  I don't drink anything except water, unsweetened coffee and milk kefir.  I don't eat any form of snack food, no chips, chocolate, anything like that.  I just eat fast food as a staple because it's free.

Blairbob said:

...Boil up some eggs to take to work....

Genius.  See, all I could think of was tuna sandwiches and raw vegetables.  You just doubled my potential protein options.

Rice +beans + veggies do wonders. I was also doing top ramen + veggies which also turned in surprisingly good results. When I was eating ramen, I was definitely pulsing whey protein along with it. I cut 6 lbs with the ramen while also seeing a noticeable increase in my shoulders.

Bipocni said:

 

 

One last note for Joshua Naterman in particular.  I've seen you mention "a crapton of veggies" several times now.  What kind of vegetables do you eat and how do you prepare them?

I buy frozen veggies, especially frozen spinach, peas, colored bell pepper mixes, and the Key largo blend from Kroger. I also buy the Normandy blend from costco or wal-mart.

Some veggies are cheaper fresh. Carrots and onions are two great examples. Most of the important veggies are cheaper frozen, even when comparing to farmer market prices.

I love peas, because they are cheap, have lots of carbs, have a good amount of fairly high quality protein, and mix extremely well with other foods.

About half of my veggies are greens each day.

For all of my veggies, I steam them. It is very fast, preserves a whole lot of nutrient value, and is easy to clean up.

For taste, I either mix them with my chicken juice (left over from baking) or I put butter and spices on them. You always want to have some fat directly with your veggies, because there are fat soluble vitamins that cannot be absorbed if there isn't enough fat in the same meal. 10-ish grams of fat is plenty for this purpose, per serving of veggies.

As for portions per meal, I do 1-2 cooked cups per meal. I try to eat quite often (though this doesn't work well at my internship), so this leads to 12-16 cooked cups of veggies each day.

Yes, I poop green. I also basically never have to wipe, which I know because I am smart enough to always wipe once, just to be sure.

Daniel Burnham said:

Protein: chicken thighs with bone in ~ 1.49 a pound

Vegetables: you can get a serving for about 70 cents if you get the frozen boxes.

Carbs: rice is about 1 dollar a pound.

Season these ingredients ind different ways each day and throw in some eggs. Include fish and beef on occasion. This will feed you for about 6-8 dollars a day.

Protein: 10 lb bags of chicken leg quarters, 79 cents per pound...

Vincearoo said:

Rice +beans + veggies do wonders. I was also doing top ramen + veggies which also turned in surprisingly good results. When I was eating ramen, I was definitely pulsing whey protein along with it. I cut 6 lbs with the ramen while also seeing a noticeable increase in my shoulders.

You vegga believe it!

Josh, first off, I don't know if I should say "credits given for honesty" or "... TMI, dude"

Second, I actually thought peas had quite a high amount of fructose, no?
Third, and last (for now, at least) is broccoli considered a leafy veggie? Some say it is...

I used to work at Mcdonalds up until a few weeks ago. I'm at a better job now, but I keep to the same diet beause it's cheap and it works.

My main diet consists of rice and lentils, 1-2 meals a day. A day's worth of McDonalds salary will purchase months and months of rice and lentils. If you are concerned about costs, this is where you should be puting your money. It also creates a complete protein. You can switch up lentils with beans every so often for some variety. (yes, this is how I'm telling you to avoid boredom and repitition. You gotta do what you gotta do.)

For vegetables you are looking at carrots, cabbage, collards, mustard greens, turnip, potatoes, onions, and tomato paste. They are some of the cheapest foods around and are nutritious.

Somone mentioned peanut butter earlier. I would actually say this is a bad idea. Eggs are a better choice. They are cheap and are a complete protein with fats and vitamins. This could also satisfy your meat department. Otherwise, poor cuts #10 leg chicken quarters are cheap and you can use all the fat on them to cook your vegetables (goes good with potatoes). Otherwise, canola oil is cheap and then peanut oil can also be a bargain.

Fruits are a tough one. They will put a dent in your wallet if you're not careful. Bananas and melons run cheap. Buy local and in season. Example, if you live in America don't go and buy mangos, coconuts, and guavas.

As for what you eat during your McDonalds break, there are plenty of items that will not make your heart cry. Personally, I ate two cups of their fruit and maple oatmeal during my break. It wasn't free at my store but I got a 50% discount so it was like a buck. The carbs kept me going and my body thanked me. Otherwise, just package up some rice and lentils (your variety ) and take it to work.

As for the acutal meals, I just dump everything into one dish. Mix the rice and lentils, and dump the veggies in a pan with oil and mix everything together at the end. It's easy to pack in the morning for work. I would stomach it cold because I didn't have a choice.

WHEN you find a better job, then you can splurge every so often. Buy some spices and condiments beyond salt and pepper, like tumeric, chili powder, garlic, cumin, honey, nutmeg, etc., and buy some better cuts of meat. Just last night for dinner I had salmon stew with snow peas, carrots, spinach, and potatoes seasoned with some delicious stuff like garlic and dill. And, of course, a glass of water. Eating health and cheap is not terribly diificult. If you can stomach the lack of variety, you will make do and you will be suprised at how much money you have left over every month.

Also, it is worth mentioning that even while working at McDonalds I maintained about 7% body fat, albeit I was in the bloody freezer and storeroom for half my work day lifting boxes of heart attack and diabetes. And, my body fat actually is going even lower with some quality foundation work.