Macros and Meal Prep on a Budget
How to hit your Macros and afford it
When talking to people about getting started into improving their lifestyle and fitness the first thing they need to focus on is nutrition. Often people say that they can’t afford to eat clean and this is true if you only buy fresh chicken and beef. There are cheap ways to hit your Macro needs ( protein, fat and carbs) without pouring all your funds into food. Listed below are some cheap sources of carbs, protein and fats with the average price per serving and macros. Lists start from cheapest to the more expensive source in case you want to add some variety in the diet and pick a more costly food product.
Carb sources
| Food | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Fat | Cost Per Serving |
| Oatmeal | 150 | 27 | 5 | 3 | $0.08 |
| Apples (medium) | 72 | 18 | – | – | $0.55 |
| Banana (medium) | 105 | 27 | 1 | 0.5 | $0.14 |
| White Rice | 160 | 36 | 3 | – | $0.05 |
| Sweet potato (130g) | 112 | 26 | 2 | – | $0.37 |
| Bagels (Plain) | 230 | 47 | 8 | 1 | $0.33 |
| Honey | 60 | 17 | – | – | $0.18 |
| 100%Wheat Bread | 60 | 11 | 3 | 0.5 | $0.10 |
| Bag Of Frozen Vegetables (microwaveable) | 120 | 14 | 7 | – | $1.00 |
| Carrots (72g) | 30 | 7 | 1 | – | $0.14 |
| Pasta (thin spaghetti) | 200 | 41 | 7 | 1 | $0.13 |
| Rice Cakes | 35 | 7 | – | – | $0.16 |
Protein sources
| Food | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Fat | Cost Per Serving |
| Chicken | 150 | – | 23 | 2.5 | $0.49 |
| 97% Ground Turkey | 140 | – | 26 | 3 | $1.10 |
| 93% Ground Beef | 170 | – | 23 | 8 | $1.22 |
| Canned Tuna | 45 | – | 10 | 0.5 | $0.50 |
| Tilapia | 100 | – | 21 | 1.5 | $0.75 |
| Shrimp | 90 | – | 20 | 1 | $1.50 |
| Whey Protein Powder | 120 | 3 | 24 | 1 | $0.75 |
| Egg | 70 | – | 6 | 5 | $0.06 |
| Egg White | 25 | – | 5 | – | $0.17 |
| Fairlife Milk (Whole) | 150 | 6 | 13 | 8 | $0.50 |
| 2% Milk | 120 | 11 | 8 | 5 | $0.16 |
| Cottage Cheese | 90 | 6 | 13 | 1.5 | $0.42 |
| 0% Greek Yogurt (fage) | 100 | 7 | 18 | – | $1.37 |
| PB fit | 50 | 4 | 6 | 1.5 | $0.18 |
Fat sources
| Food | Calories | Carbs | Protein | Fat | Cost Per Serving |
| Olive Oil | 120 | – | – | 14 | $0.09 |
| Almonds | 160 | 6 | 6 | 14 | $0.47 |
| Coconut Oil | 130 | – | – | 14 | $0.09 |
| Peanut Butter | 180 | 8 | 7 | 15 | $0.11 |
| Almond Butter | 190 | 7 | 6 | 16 | $0.54 |
| Avocados | 332 | 17 | 4 | 29 | $1.28 |
| Mild Cheddar Cheese | 110 | – | 7 | 9 | $0.25 |
| Chia seeds | 60 | 5 | 3 | 3 | $0.14 |
Hitting Macros and how
Some food products on this list also have a lot of other macro sources in it such as milk is high in protein and fat or that almonds can be a good portion of fats, proteins and carbs as well. When figuring your macros it’s best to start with one Macro you need to hit first. For example let’s say the macros you need to hit are 200g protein, 65g fats, and 300g carbs. Pick foods to hit your goal for one of the macros first, then move onto the next. So if you do protein first and meet your 200g goal, the foods should have assisted in meeting the other two. Move on completing the next macro and so forth. At the end you should be close to the macros you had set for yourself or had been given by a training plan. From there you can make small adjustments cutting foods that contain 2 more macros and switching them out so you don’t go over in one. An example of this would be if you ended up with 80g fat and 190g protein you could simply switch out a source like eggs from your diet that are high in fat and protein for egg whites which have no fat and mainly protein. This will get you to your goal of 65g fat and 200g protein without being uneven.
For those of you who want to know how to prepare a weeks worth of meals in around an hour and a half check out our video here.
Interested in losing weight check out our article on the first steps to weight loss here or get a custom meal plan and workout regimen from us by clicking here.
One way to be more compliant with a strict diet is to prepare your meals ahead of time so you always have them on hand. You never have to worry about getting hungry and splurging on food that is off your diet. During prep and offseason I use the Isolator Fitness 3 meal lunchbox. It is made in the USA unlike other fitness lunchbox brands and it keeps your food cold for around 12 hours. You can check them out here. If you use the code “IRONSNACK” you will get 10% off your order.