I am a Bodybuilder

iguanapunk

Greetings MSE members. I am a bodybuilder and I plan to start a bulking phase in mid-May. In case you are not aware of what that is, it's when you shovel a load of food down your gullet alongside a resistance training programme with the intention of building muscle mass. Not just any food mind, it has to be lean and clean.

So why am I here telling you all of this you might ask? Well because bulking is very expensive as it requires lots of food. If you would be so kind I would like it if you could use your expertise to tell me how to save money on these particular foods:

Supplements:
Vitamin D3 (5000iu)
Vitamin B5
ZMA (MyProtein £10.99 x90 caps)
Lactase (MyProtein £6.99 x60 caps)
Flaxseed (Omega 3)
Grape seed extract (MyProtein £8.69 - 100g)
Whey Isolate (MyProtein £42.99 - 2.5kg)
Instant Oats (MyProtein £9.99 - 5kg)
Whole egg powder (MyProtein £12.99 - 1kg)
BCAA’s (MyProtein £20.39 - 500g)
L-Glutamine (MyProtein £9.59 - 500g)
Fibre

Foods:
Weetabix
Chicken Breast (Stilton Butchers £25.95 - 5kg)
Beef joint (Usually Tesco when on half price)
Beef mince (Tesco frzn mince £2.79 - 500g)
Steak (Donald Russell when i'm feeling rich)
Bacon (Typically Walls when on offer)
Sausage (Anything on offer at the time)
Eggs (ideally containing omega 3, but I use Tesco Value)
White rice (Tesco broken basmati £5 - 10kg)
Wholegrain rice
Wholegrain spaghetti (Tesco organic wholewheat £0.99 - 500g)
Wholegrain pasta (Tesco wholeweat fusili £0.95p - 500g)
Microwaveable rice (Tilda £1 - 250g)
Broccoli (Tesco frozen)
Cauliflower (Tesco frozen)
Carrots (Tesco frozen)
Onions (Tesco frozen diced)
Tomatoes (Napolina 4x400g)
Garlic (fresh)
Salad leaves
Mixed seeds
Whole goat milk (St. Helens Whole £1.39 - 1l)
Rice milk (Rice dream £1.39 - 1l)

Blimey, that was an effort! So if anybody can find ways to make any of this cheaper - tips or cheaper sources, that would be fantastic.

Thank you very much for reading.

Lynsey

A lot of Tesco there, so opportunities for savings.
Lidl is an obvious choice:
Bacon (middle) is half-price in Lidl this weekend and chicken fillets half-price next weekend (need to check local meat offers).
Keep an eye on Lidl half-price weekend offers, some great meat prices and generally decent quality.
Morrisons have 4 tins of tomatoes for £1 at the minute. Always cheap in Home Bargains and B&M Stores also.

Are you going to post any pics of those muscles once "bulked up"??

Good luck.

Lynsey

iguanapunk

Lynsey wrote: »

A lot of Tesco there, so opportunities for savings.
Lidl is an obvious choice:
Bacon (middle) is half-price in Lidl this weekend and chicken fillets half-price next weekend (need to check local meat offers).
Keep an eye on Lidl half-price weekend offers, some great meat prices and generally decent quality.
Morrisons have 4 tins of tomatoes for £1 at the minute. Always cheap in Home Bargains and B&M Stores also.

Are you going to post any pics of those muscles once "bulked up"??

Good luck.

Lynsey

Thanks for the reply. I don't drive so ideally it's going to have to be online shopping and visits to Tesco. I am happy to swap out premium products for lower grade ones if they're not so disgusting they are inedible.

Is middle bacon the fattier kind of bacon? Streaky is off the table as this diet has to be reasonably healthy with not too many saturated fats.

and yes, I don't mind posting up pics if it all goes successfully.

Lynsey

I really don't find Lidl meat any lesser than Tesco most of the time, maybe different on their "Finest" range.
Middle bacon will be fattier, not lean back bacon sadly. Aldi does good lean bacon, can you get there though??
Lack of driving could be an issue, so understand your problem more.

Lynsey

DCFC79

You tried mysupermarket to see if the other 3 supermarkets are any cheaper for whats on your list.

iguanapunk

I get my fresh chicken from a local butchers, 5kg for £25.95 which is an absolute bargain. 2x breasts per meal, so about 10 meals in all. I then just freeze it.

iguanapunk

DCFC79 wrote: »

You tried mysupermarket to see if the other 3 supermarkets are any cheaper for whats on your list.

I have used that site in the past to get my costs down, but I get a 10% discount at Tesco so the other supermarkets can't compete.

twiz21

5 kg Whey Isolate £59.99 bulkpowders.co.uk - check out prices of other supplements there. My son gets this.
Could save a little on things like the instant oats by buying normal oats and grinding them yourself.

iguanapunk

twiz21 wrote: »

5 kg Whey Isolate £59.99 bulkpowders.co.uk - check out prices of other supplements there. My son gets this.

I missed this bit out in my post, I used myprotein's price beater and managed to get the price down on a 5kg bag of isolate. The only trouble is I couldn't get the flavour I wanted but hey, if it does the job then i'm happy.

twiz21

iguanapunk wrote: »

I missed this bit out in my post, I used myprotein's price beater and managed to get the price down on a 5kg bag of isolate. The only trouble is I couldn't get the flavour I wanted but hey, if it does the job then i'm happy.

Forgot to mention that my son buys this unflavoured version because nearly all the flavoured ones contain artificial sweetners such as aspartame. He adds a fresh banana and a tiny bit of organic honey to the shakes. And a drop of vanilla extract.....and a dollop of cheap peanut butter, Tesco's value. With unflavoured it is more versatile as to what you can mix it with, you can have a different shake every day.

iguanapunk

twiz21 wrote: »

Forgot to mention that my son buys this unflavoured version because nearly all the flavoured ones contain artificial sweetners such as aspartame. He adds a fresh banana and a tiny bit of organic honey to the shakes. And a drop of vanilla extract.....and a dollop of cheap peanut butter, Tesco's value. With unflavoured it is more versatile as to what you can mix it with, you can have a different shake every day.

Now here's something, MyProtein sell "flavdrops" which you add to your shake for that extra dimension of taste. Would one of those Supercook extracts down the homebaking aisle be the same thing? I have 3x a day so I have to enjoy it. I plan to take it up to 4x for my bulk.
Does he use a blender for all of that? Or just a shaker?