I don't have money for shakes, powders, ect..

[lonewolf17]

..so what is a good alternative for post work out meals? Right now I just eat a good portion of streight up tuna from the can because I know it has a lot of protein, but is there anything else I should be taking, or something cheap I should buy for post work out or even a sort of pre workout meal? I just don't want all my hard work to be wasted because I'm not able to put into my body what it needs.

 

[Throttle]

it's not wasted, lots of guys with nothing build huge bodies on scraps.

tuna is good. eggs are another very good place to start PWO. compare the protein per $ between the two (depends on your local prices).

 

[lonewolf17]

Ahhh good to hear, because I'm a scraps sort of guy trying to save for school hah. Eggs, that's a good one. I don't eat eggs normally, but I do like them so I'll look into that for sure. I'll have a better look at what it costs for the actual powder and what not, but I'm fairly sure tuna and eggs (or anything else like that that's natural from a grocery store) is going to be cheaper in the long run. I was just afraid that I was doing myself a disservice. Any other suggestions for what I should eat??

 

[BMX]

I was thinking if not powder, you might be able to find BCAA's or Liver Tabs(loaded w/bcaa's, vitamins) cheap. I'm actually gonna be in your position when I leave for school in the summer, saving up kinda, no more protein powder. That leaves me with things like:skim milk, peanut butter, tuna, eggs, poultry, veggies..can't think of others right now. A multivitamin wouldn't be a bad investment either.

 

[ecilop]

Definitely get a multi vitamin and have it EVERY morning. i almost never get sick and when i do i recover so fast because my body always has everything it needs to be in top notch

Maybe check out trueprotein, their powder is usually cheaper (and better) than most other companies.

 

[Omen]

What you need to do is break down the cost per serving and go that route. I always remind people you cant look at just the TOTAL cost.

Take tuna, eggs, cottage cheese, protein powder, lean beef, chicken, turkey, and what ever and figure out what it is per serving.

For instance if you buy a protein powder for $45 and its 50 serv, what is that per serving? 90 cents per serving. BUT also look at the protein content per serving.

While eggs are one of the best sources, are they the cheapest? Is that tuna the cheapest? You will have to look at all of this.

Now for the above I was being high.

You can get a tub of Optimum Nutrition's 5lb Whey Protein for about $39+ shipping which is about $5. So $44 and 77 servings.

That's 57 cents for 24g protein/serving.

A WHOLE egg has 6g protein and eggs on sale here are now about $1.50 for 12 That's 12.5 cents per egg. BUT remember there is only 6g protein per egg and a little less if you take out the yolk, because there is some in the yolk. Roughly 2.7g

So if you just do the white, then lets just go with 4g for kicks. You'd have to eat 6 egg whites to get 1 scoop of whey protein.

12.5 cents x 6 is 75 cents per 24g protein.

So as you can see, the whey is cheaper. Again eggs have gone up tons in price.

Now the best thing to do is get a VARIETY of protein in the diet and not to settle on just one. They all have their places. I just had 5g that came from my Oatmeal. Am I going to count it? Sure as heck I am, because it is another form of protein. Now I dont get all of my protein from Oatmeal obviously, but if I end up eating a combination of say 15g from Oats and rice, its still protein and has its place. But I make sure whey, casein, and egg are also in there.

I know it may take some extra time, but you need to do the math to find what you can afford. Tuna is good, because usually you can get it for 50 cents and it will give you about 32g out of a 6oz can.

Also look at Peanut butter as well. I can get a jar of Natural Skippy PB for about $1.97 That's 7g per 2Tbsp and about 13 serv per container. You are also getting healthy fat as well.

Though the protein in some items are not what we call complete protein sources, it doesn't matter if they are used with others. For instance PB is high in glutamic acid at about 1.6g per 2Tbsp