How much do you spend on food?

[Zanmato]

Weird question, but a guy I work with is mega into going to the gym, and reads Men's Fitness etc... he had an issue out at lunch so I had a flick through one of the suppliments while he read the rest. It was a six-pack building guide, and it gave nutrition advice, a weekly menu and shopping list.

The shopping list, for one person, every week, comes to £71.41 by their calculation... I added all the items to a basket on ASDA online, and it currently comes to closer to £55, but that still equates to £220... maybe around £200 if there were deals on, buying some items in bulk and stuff every month.

That just seems insane to me for one person, in one month. I was going to try the diet out, because I stray too often into eating junk (my tea tonight was a rustler burger & a big bag of plain dorritos with a salsa dip) but... £200 a month on food? That sounds insane

Here is the list, or as close as I could get to it on ASDA online:

   	
1 Kingfisher Coconut Milk
	£1.00 	  	
	   	
1 Wild West Beef Jerky
	£2.28 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Walnuts
	£1.00 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Tuna Steaks
	£2.50 	  	
	   	
0.4kg ASDA Extra... Rump steak
        £4.80 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Salmon fillets
	£2.50 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA ASDA king prawn
	£2.64 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Turkey Steaks
	£2.73 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Mince
	£3.26 	  	
	   	
1 Richmond Irish sausages (it recommended Chicken Sausage but couldn't find them)
	£1.60 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Chicken Fillets
	£3.90 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Whole cucumber
	£0.80 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Spring onions
	£0.84 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Asparagus
	£1.65 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Smart... Courgettes
	£1.18 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA salsa
	£0.81 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Smart... Apples
	£0.71 	  	
	   	
1.0 kg ASDA Red cabbage
       £0.85 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Mixed chillies
	£0.50 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Smart... SP Peppers
	£1.48 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Celery
	£0.83 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Smart... SP Broccoli
	£0.86 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Brussels Sprout
	£1.00 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Pitted olives
	£0.54 	  	
	   	
0.5 kg  ASDA Carrots loose
        £0.40 	  	
	   	
1.0 kg ASDA Butternut Sqsh
       £0.97 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Cherry tomatoes
	£1.30 	  	
	   	
0.5 kg ASDA Sweet potatoes
       £0.62 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Cauliflower
	£1.17 	  	
	   	
2 ASDA Baby avocado
	£2.00 	  	
	   	
2 ASDA Lettuce
	£2.00 	  	
	   	
2 ASDA Mushrooms
	£1.50 	  	
	   	
1 ASDA Smart... SP onions
	£1.17 	  	
	   	
2 ASDA Spinach
	£2.74

£54.13

[ross90]

I spend around 35 quid a week. I'm not sure how to read your post bro, are you outraged by the high cost of food? Or impressed by how low it is lol? I usually eat chicken. Pretty much constantly, for every evening meal. Either stir fried, or steamed/grilled with veggies.

My shopping list is fruit an veg, cereal, chicken/White fish, and nandos sauce it's the chicken that's 4 or 6 quid for 2 or 3 chicken breasts. Meat is an expensive s.o.b

[Nathan_Court]

i'm pretty shit when it comes to buying food. i'm the kind of guy who can walk in a shop for a newspaper and come out with £40 worth of scran. i'm week in the face of food when i have money in my pocket

[Zanmato]

ross I was surprised that it was so high... I probably spend about 70 a month, save for frivilous nonsense like sandwiches out of waitrose (only shop near my work for lunch) etc... to spend that on a week is mental to me. surely good nutrition doesn't need to be that expensive!?

[ross90]

It's the meat more than anything bro. I remember one week recently when i paid my young uns Christmas off, it was a tight week and my evening meal was a tin of soup lol. I spent around 24 quid that week on food I think. Plus lost a bit more weight which was a brucey.

So it can be done if needs be. Its definately meat and fish that bumps it up. And of course buying from certain shops, or buying own brand as opposed to whole earth, 3 quid a tub peanut butter.

[Zanmato]

I've edited the thread title, as maybe people think I'm just being really tedious and moaning about the price of my shopping.

Really I was looking more for nutritional advice for a healthy diet that promotes general fitness and healthiness, but... on significantly less than £70 a month lol. There must be a lot of guys on here who watch what they eat and can share some tips. Could post it in the nutrition sub-forum, but it will likely sit there unread

[Seca Sec]

you pay for what you get dude. I spend about 70 quid a week while eating clean. Good quality meat, fish ect is going to be expensive as costs a lot to farm.

stuff like crisps, ready meals and cereals are cheap because they are made from shit quality stuff.

[Zanmato]

I'm checking the list out now for replacements... does, for example, salmon have any real advantages over say.. pollock? which is half the price.. i am currently re-evaluating the shopping list... buying chicken by the fillet for example works out at £7-9 per kg, whereas buying a whole chicken is £2-4 per kg.

does offal have decent nutritional value? i don't really like prawns very much and they are pretty expensive.. i'd be happy to exchange prawns or maybe the steak sometimes with liver (i quite enjoy it anyway tbh).. though i think they're probably higher in fat

sorry for the tedious nature of this, but.. it's easy to see these sorts of diets but they don't always give you an idea of how to practically work it into your budget and lifestyle!

[UK_MMA]

If you buy the veg from the market & buy the nuts / meat / tuna in bulk you'd probably cut it by 30% or more.

I lived off mixed veg, tuna, chicken, spinach & almonds for a good while and it probably worked out cheaper than my usual diet.

[BlueRabbit]

The cost of our shopping (mine and the missus's) has doubled in the last five years for pretty much the same stuff (excluding additional stuff for our 20 month old daughter).