I’m looking for inexpensive ways to add calories to my diet, so if you have any recommendations, please post them. Anything, “healthy” or not.
I play basketball, practice is 4 to 5 times a week, 90 minutes at a time, I lift 3 times a week, and we got 1 or 2 games a week.
I’ve noticed that what I eat doesn’t have much effect on my body comp, though I like to eat clean.
The thing is, It’s hard to maintain/add muscle during the season, and I don’t have a lot of money, that’s why I’m asking this question.
Like I said, I can basically get away with anything, because of my high metabolism and high energy expenditure.
Any stats you need, I’m willing to provide. I’m about 6’4", 202 pounds, 20 years old.
Weight gain powders are usually fairly cheap. Consider mostly junk, they have some protein, a few nutrients, and a lot of sugar and filler. Still, if you are concerned about quantity over quality, look at some of these.
Whole milk is dense in calories. Powdered milk is cheap, high in protien, and can be added to milk. Peanut butter is high in fat and protien, and you can get a bucket for about $5. Hell, eat it with a spoon.
And here are some can’t go wrong bulking snacks:
Peanutbutter sandwich, banana, glass of milk
Oatmeal made with milk (whole milk if you’d like), peanut butter, protien powder or powdered milk, brown sugar and cinnamon.
I drink chocolate milk from a local dairy, I’m sure there are some in your area. Whole milk I believe and it tastes great. Sometimes if I don’t want the full calories I will mix it with skim or 2% milk. And its cheap too.
I definitely second the olive oil… mix it in your shakes. Start with 1 tablespoon (120 calories)work your way up to 3. Make sure to work your way up, otherwise you wont be feeling too good. You can get a lot of quality, clean calories this way. Otherwise just get some bulk oatmeal and bulk protein powder.
I mix 2-3 table spoons of olive oil, some parmesean cheese and then eat dribble that over some 100% whole wheat bread that has been toasted. Always seems to work with me. I guess it goes agaisnt the P+C and F+P meal ideals though but whatever works.
L-Dizzle… That name throws me, It’s my nickname around work!
A couple of cheap ways to add cals have already been stated, here are the big 5 in my book
1 - Whole Milk
2 - Olive Oil
3 - Walnuts, Cashjews, Peanuts
4 - Juices
5 - Protein Powders (I’ve heard stories of people filling up a milk jug with milk/protein and drinking that throughout the day. It equals about 2000 cals for under 5 or 6 bucks)
-canned salmon/tuna: excellent quality protein, very cheap. I would eat it 7 times a day if not for the mercury scare.
-corn bread: not the highest quality carbs, but I make mine from scratch with wheat flour and corn meal, so it is not terrible. It is really easy to eat a whole lot of this stuff too, which is a plus.
-Potatoes: I eat a couple of them post workout. Aboslutely dirt cheap calories.
the mixed nut idea is solid, i always have a tin of walnut/almond/peanut/etc goodness right by my desk, and grab handfuls often…take a look at the calorie count on a serving of something like that, you can easily add the equivalent of another meal (5-600 calories) by grabbing a random handful here and there throughout a day, and never even notice it…
Get a blender and make a big shake to drink between meals, you can made in on 500ml to 1 litres of milk, add olive oil, skim milk powder, fruit (particularly bananas) and anything you fancy. You can also add a little pack of gelatine to thicken it up. Done well it tastes great and really can help with bulking or what have you.
Ramen noodles. Right under 400cals per package. I make what I call “jailhouse chanko.” One can tuna, one pack ramen and 1/2 can mixed veggies. Around 650 cals with 42g total pro [32 from tuna]75-80g carbs and 15g fat. When I’m on a budget [which is gonna be the next 4yrs with school]I’ll eat this at least once a day when bulking. Tastier than it probably sounds.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Ramen noodles. Right under 400cals per package. I make what I call “jailhouse chanko.” One can tuna, one pack ramen and 1/2 can mixed veggies. Around 650 cals with 42g total pro [32 from tuna]75-80g carbs and 15g fat. When I’m on a budget [which is gonna be the next 4yrs with school]I’ll eat this at least once a day when bulking. Tastier than it probably sounds.[/quote]
I’d watch out for sodium in them ramen noodles…Its a salt fest
Dump that mix seasoning they give you-its pure salt. Instead, try your own mix. Use some garlic, oregano, black pepper, etc.
