Fitness 101 September Digital Magazine

We tell you how
[TRAINING]
Building muscle can be an
extremely expensive process.
Besides all the supplements,
which don’t come cheap, eating
clean and in large quantity can
be rather pricy. Yes, most of
us don’t mind sacrificing here
and there to achieve our dream
physique, but why not get more
bang for your buck and keep
your grocery bill down at the
same time.
1 Stick to a set menu
Variety is great, but it can
become very expensive. Rather
try and stick to a menu which
is the same every day. In order
to prevent this from becoming
boring, try to set a new meal
plan every 4 weeks (every
month). By doing this, you will
be able to take advantage of a
number of benefits which I will
be listing in my next 2 points.
2 Buy in bulk
If you are smart in your grocery
shopping, you will be able to
save up to about 40% on your
grocery bill by shopping in bulk.
Rather than shopping at your
local supermarket, try shopping
at wholesalers. For example,
I buy my chicken breasts for
almost half the price from a
wholesaler as opposed to my
local supermarket. If you are
looking for fruit and veg, rather
try shopping at your nearest
fresh produce market.
3 Prepare in bulk
If you are going to buy in bulk,
it is best to prepare your food
in bulk as well. This will prevent
foods going off the refrigerator,
you can store them in the
freezer for ages and because
you always have food on hand
and ready-to-go, it will help you
to stop shopping at convenient
food stores which are awfully
overpriced.
4 Try cheaper alternatives
Trying cheaper alternatives
does not mean that you need
to compromise on quality. Here
are a few examples of how you
can mix things up to make your
money go further.
Swop steak for mince
We all love having a juicy, tender
fillet steak, but swopping out
steak for mince will give you
more bang for your buck and will
also add more variety to your
food. Mince can be made in
hamburger patties, mince balls
or you can have it just the way
it is. Cook it with some peeled
tomatoes, onion and garlic and
add it to your rice and veg for a
tasty lunchtime meal. Make sure
you buy topside mince as it is
far less fatty.
Swop expensive meats for
eggs
Eggs are a great source of
protein and often work out
cheaper than most meats when
comparing protein per gram.
Example, 3 large eggs will give
you 33g of protein and 100g
chicken breast will give you
roughly 30g. However, 3 eggs
work out way cheaper than 100g
chicken breast. They are also
extremely versatile as they can
be poached, fried, scrambled or
made into an omelette.
5 Stop being brand conscious
This can be a tricky one
because, yes, some brands
are clearly better than others.
However, certain brands
demand a premium price as
they have built a name around
their products. Paying more
doesn’t necessarily mean you
are getting a superior product.
Rather check out the ingredient
labels to compare and try some
of the ‘house’ brands from
grocery outlets; you may be
pleasantly surprised at the taste
and quality of some of these
products.
September 2014 | 23