Best foods for student with little time

Hi guys!

I'm a full time student and have little time to prepare good, protein rich foods during the day. I'm trying to work out a basic nutrition plan for myself for the upcoming semester. Here's what I have so far considering my low budget and limited time:

Morning

Oats with a bit of honey
whey protein
green tea
creatine after workout

Mid morning

A fruit

Lunch

Can of tuna with one or two whole weat slices of toast

or

Pasta with chicken

Mid afternoon

A fruit

Evening

A cup of green beans (Can I eat it raw or should it be cooked?)

Please tell me if it seems okay and ESPECIALLY if I can eat the green beans raw or should it be cooked?

Thanks

why dont u just cook in advance on a sunday?

What are your stats? That's a really low cal diet with a lot of useless sugar.

Buy everything in bulk when there is a sale.
Cook kg's of stuff at a time on a Sunday afternoon, eg 2kg brown rice and 4kg chopped chicken boobs
Pre pack your little lunch packs and freeze down.

I do not have time to cook, and I do not have money for food, but it's no excuse not to eat!
Sometimes I can prep up to a month worth of lunches and dinners in advance, just need freezer space.

1.73m
73kg's

But I need to lose about 5kg's of fat so I do quite a lot of cardio as well!

I only go home twice a month so cooking in advance is quite difficult and I only have a small barfridge and the freezer doesn't work!

I'm trying to lose weight and build a bit of muscle, I don't wanna be big or the strongest, just look good.

But the beans worries me, I wanna eat it raw cause it's a lot less hassle but is the protein content then still the same.

I also drink a glass of skimmed milk every day!

Bud you should actually avoid dairy. You are under eating which is slowing down your metabolism making weight loss difficult

Hmm... It's interesting you found your way to this place since steroids are obviously not for you and you are nowhere near ready to take them. But I'm glad you did because the diet and training advice you will get here is top notch.
At 1.73 and 73kg I think calories is the problem. You should be eating tons more. I think with a proper diet eating even more than you are now and a solid training routine you will find you start to lose weight and put on muscle fast!
Getting a hold of DJ is a great option, but he needs to be paid and what not :whistle:
You should start by reading up about the GI of foods, and the calorie content in the food you eat. Read the sticky threads on dieting on this forum. And put together what you think would be a good diet for your body and post here for crit.

Shot, will do so!

DJ, will you be able to provide me with a decent workout plan and a basic food plan layout of something. I'm willing to pay if it doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

Go to the contact us section of the site and email admin to put you in contact with dj.

Bud u are going to have to be able to cook your meals daily or even weekly.its not easy...

Bud u are going to have to be able to cook your meals daily or even weekly.its not easy...

Ah man, so I'll always be the little guy between all my buddies!

FML!! I should just finish my f'ing degree and then I'll be able to do all this stuff...

I'm scared to eat too much becuse I HATE fat and don't want more, when I see a roll on my stomach I wanna sh*t in my pants, but I also don't want to eat too little then my body starts breaking down muscle for energy...ffs

Well I'm starting with creatine on Monday, first time ever, hopefully it will help to gain a bit of muscle

For interest sake:


I watched a powerlifting DVD the other day and ther ewas a guy who weighs 350lb and eats 12500 calories a day, becnhes 1000lb... Now that's power!

Wimmas... What benefits are you hoping to get from the Creatine??

You will always be the little guy as you not willing to make the sacrifice and put the hard work in! Thats just putting it bluntly!

You really need to decide... do you wanna put on muscle... or "be too scared to put on a little fat"!!!!

What I'm hoping for from creatine is to get a bit of shape! I've been in the gym quite a lot these last couple of months without any supplements and I can feel the muscle underneath the fat, but it doesn't wanna show, there's no tone! I'll post a pic then you'll see what I mean by fat I wann aburn off.

It seems like I'm in the gym without any results, maybe I'm too hasty or want results too quickly, maybe I have the wrong workout program I don't know hey!

But I do gym four times a week, do spinning twice a week, swim laps twice a week, I ride bicycle to the gym and back, and I jog around 3km three times a week.

I'll try and get a decent pic of myself and post soon

It is rather simple

how many calories, fat, protein and carbs do you take in daily. If you dont know, there is problem number 1.

You need FOOD to grow, supplements is just a add on, later.

anybody can gym or cycle or whatever, but without FOOD FOOD and more FOOD how can you expect any results?

Bro, I wish I knew these things. My schedule and finances unfortunately don't allow me to eat 100% correctly and pay a pro to help assess me and draw up a plan.

I have another year of studies, I'll try and eat as right as I can and go to the gym, after this year I'll be able to do all the things and afford all the things to help me grow.

But with the little knowledge I have and the things I hear you guys speaking of it's actually a very complicated story to look good!

Thanks for the words of wisdom, I'll try my best to do more research, try and eat the right foods etc cause everyone tells me that to look good and get results it's all about food!

You going to end up with water retention with Creatine bud! Which is going to make you LOOK bigger... but i cant really say get bigger.
As you do so much cardio... but yet want to add muscle... Even your body probably doesnt know what you want to do! lol

And its not just about eating... its about eating the RIGHT foods! Having a "fruit at 10am" is not going to help towards muscle. A tin of tuna and brwn rice or almonds WILL!

Tuna doesnt require preparing... And is inexpensive! I suggest you make it your best friend!
Brown rice can be cooked for a week in advance!
Almonds do not require preparing!
Oats... Have with cold water like i do...
Peanut Butter (without salt and sugar added) is cheap
Whey protein is cheap (110 per kg) from BSSA supps on the forum
Biltong (if you can afford it)

There ARE ways to do this... You are being LAZY! And expecting someone to basically MAKE you big! That will come with YOUR EFFORT AND DEDICATION!
Skip one of your jogging sessions and use that time to prepare food!!

Sounds good, I love biltong, tuna I like as well, I don't know what almonds are, brown rice I will ask my mom to cook in advance. I will try my best, thanks

Anyway, here is how I look now, after about 3 months gym without supps or eating right... Hopefully in 6 months I will look a lot better after taking this advice and eating right

Mr_SA wrote: Tuna doesnt require preparing... And is inexpensive! I suggest you make it your best friend!

Tuna is the last thing you should be buying if you're on a tight budget, its more than twice the price of chicken per kg and you get about 25% less protein too, not to mention it tastes kak :sick:

Usually the diet advice we give is centred on limiting carbs to get a quality physique but if you're on a budget just worry about getting in enough protein and calories. You're not planning to compete or do a photoshoot and you're still a newb so you can actually still put on a muscle and burn fat without worrying about diet too much anyway. Spend most of you cash on getting quality meat (not tuna), oats and sweet potato are cheap quality carb sources, you can even throw in some bread which is packed with carbs and calories (again not the usual advice but it'll get you there).

Those 1.8kg cans of tuna you buy at metro in boksburg for R65 isn't bad. Some tuna brown rice salad with olive oil makes a nice meal.

Hey man I was also on a budget until recently, was stuck without a fridge also for a while.

I think you must apply this....
Your body needs to be fed by amino acids all the time. Protein break down to aminos. That is what builds muscle. Therefore....a quick digesting protein when you wake up (whey) as you have been fasting when you sleep, a meal with a fruit is not a meal. Eat some biltong, little is better than nothing. again get a slowly digesting protein when you go to sleep to feed you through the night. (meat)

Carbs is energy, and you do a lot of cardio, so up your carbs. Take the lunch where you study, again its better than nothing. Learn what is healthy habits and use them everywhere...like dont take sauce over your food, empty calories, or sodas...thats just crap and a waste of money.

And also, google some protein bar recipes, made with oats and peanut butter and a lot of whey, they can help you as well. With raisons they good idea pre workout too.

Basics is 6 meals a day, all 6 with protein, 3 with carbs breakfast pre and post workout, other 3 with good fats (olice oil, peanut butter and nuts)

Veggies are fine raw, if you like them raw go for it, but otherwise, prepare them with some salt or aromat...you are in it for the long run dont make the food unnecessary hard to get down as then you will chicken out after a month.
Make friends with frozen veggies (with chicken breasts and some olive oil over veggies) you got a quick perfect dinner.

Some practical advice I hope will help.

Maybe cut back on cardio and go heavier with weights. do compound exercises and feed your body. Muscles just being there require a lot of energy = side effect= fat loss.

Strongs

Wimmas where you studying bud? if you from pretoria i could help you out with some stuff

Thanks man!

I study in potchefstroom, quit efar from PTA

Sounds like I'll be able to eat healthy, not always the nicest foods but it's what the body needs!

What can u offer in pta?