Hey, Muscle & Fitness: I’m no Donald Trump. How can I slash my grocery bill but still eat all the protein and calories I need to build muscle? – Mike D., Buffalo, NY
Trust us, we also feel like our grocery budgets are under assault in this era of rising food prices. But you don’t need to take out a second mortgage to get your fill of healthy foods from the supermarket to support muscle growth.
Beyond clipping coupons, embracing these cost-saving strategies means you won’t have to smash the piggy bank to still eat like a champion.
>>GET CRACKING: Consider dropping an extra carton of the white orbs into your cart. Not just for breakfast, eating more eggs is an economical way to get your fill of exceptionally high-quality protein.
>>CHOOSE NEGLECTED CUTS: When you do buy meats, branch out from chicken breast and salmon by turning more often to cheaper items that get overlooked, such as chicken thighs, mussels, turkey drumsticks, pork tenderloin, and skirt steak. These are almost always cheaper by the pound than more popular meats but still deliver all the protein you can stomach.
>>RAID THE BULK BINS: Without the added cost of packaging and advertising, the bulk bins are a way to save big on whole grains like oats, rice, quinoa, nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.
>>POWDER POWER: Milk for your protein shakes can be one of the more expensive items in the grocery cart. So consider purchasing inexpensive milk powder instead of premade jugs of milk. The powder just needs to be blitzed with water.
>>BRAND POWER: Store brands of everything from pasta sauce to frozen vegetables to canned fish are often cheaper than well-marketed national brands. Are they inferior? Often not!
OLD “EXPENSIVE” DIET
CALORIES: 2,624
PROTEIN: 185G
CARBS: 219G
FAT: 118G
BREAKFAST
2 hard-boiled eggs
OATMEAL
-1 cup packaged oats
-1⁄4 cup packaged walnuts
-1⁄2 cup fresh blueberries
SNACK
1⁄2 cup baby carrots
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
LUNCH
6 oz salmon fillet
2 cups fresh broccoli
1 cup quinoa
PRE-WORKOUT SNACK
1 cup apple slices with 2 tbsp almond butter
POST-WORKOUT SNACK
PROTEIN SHAKE
-1 cup milk (from a carton)
-2 scoops whey protein powder
-1 cup fresh strawberries
DINNER
6 oz steak
1 cup steamed fresh asparagus WITH 2 TSP OLIVE OIL
1 SWEET POTATO
COST PER DAY: $35.67
NEW “BUDGET” DIET
CALORIES: 2,668
PROTEIN: 202G
CARBS: 268G
FAT: 97G
BREAKFAST
2 hard-boiled eggs
OATMEAL
-1 cup bulk oats
-1⁄4 cup bulk walnuts
-1⁄2 cup frozen blueberries
SNACK
1 carrot, chopped
1 cup plain traditional yogurt
LUNCH
1 lb steamed mussels
2 cups steamed frozen broccoli
1 cup bulk brown rice
PRE-WORKOUT SNACK
1 cup apple slices with 2 tbsp peanut butter
POST-WORKOUT SNACK
PROTEIN SHAKE
-1 cup milk (made with milk powder)
-2 scoops whey protein powder
-1 cup frozen mixed berries
DINNER
1 cup cooked beans
1 cup steamed frozen asparagus with 2 tsp olive oil
SCRAMBLED EGGS
4 large eggs
1 cup steamed frozen spinach
1 cup sliced mushrooms
COST PER DAY: $14.65
*Estimated based on shopping at stopandshop.com