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I currently eat 4 meals but I'm about to bump up to 5 because I want to see if it helps me gain some strength in the gym (and maybe a tad more padding on my cheekbones).

Here's a typical Paleo day for me:

Drink well-water.

Jog 1 mile with my BTF (Boston Terrier Forever).

Drink large cup green tea

Breakfast

*1 banana *small fist of blueberries *fistful of pecans *local honey for dipping (sometimes)

Meal 2

*3 strips of pasteurized local pork bacon *2 local eggs scrambled in bacon grease *sea salt *turmeric

Meal 3

*1/4 lb ground beef (local grass fed) *2 local eggs scrambled in beef tallow *sea salt *varied herbs/spices

Meal 4

*1/4 lb ground beef again (cooked earlier to yield grease for eggs in prior meal) *varied herbs/spices *sea salt *1 whole Hass Avocado *lemon juice

*Well-water with every meal

Here's what I'm adding:

Meal 5

*1 very large sweet potato (local), chopped into french fries and fried in coconut oil.

It seems to me I am getting globs of fat with every meal but if I could afford it, I'd probably buy more fruits to snack on between meals. If I really wanted to push my strength, I'd load up on slow-burning carbs. Overall, I figure this will be a cheap way to eat more.

My net gain for the week is is about 4400 calories (1050 calories from 7 sweet potatoes plus 3,360 calories from coconut oil). Total cost is about $14 on top of my weekly grocery bill.

What foods would you add if you were looking for a cheap and easy extra meal for your Paleo Diet?

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Wow, your BTF will jog a mile with you? I'm impressed! I think mine would poop out pretty quick and he's a healthy 1yo (little legs and all that). – hmhque Jul 18 2011 at 19:34
Mine is a machine. I've taken him for 4 miles on an 8 minute per mile pace. Then I take him home and he wants to play. I've taken him on 7 mile hikes. He is an extraordinarily fit. I'm feeding him 1 can of sardines per day and about 1 cup of grain-free dog food. He drinks well-water and sits in the sun all day for Vitamin D. He runs 1 mile in the morning and walks 1 mile every night. We play between my classes here at school. – BAMBAM Jul 18 2011 at 19:56
+1 for the BTF who I'm betting is your BFF too. :~) Love that! – MeepsIsWellfed Apr 17 2012 at 1:23

7 Answers

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Cheap calories: farm eggs or tubers.

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Would you do sweet potatoes or white potatoes? – BAMBAM Jul 16 2011 at 21:24
For myself, I go back and forth between sweet and white. I can definitely eat more white in one sitting, for some reason. – oo Jul 16 2011 at 22:47
Exactly. If you want to gain good weight, you certainly need more protein in the "meals" you already eat. I would classify each of the meals you list as snacks except for maybe Meal 2. Cut back to 3 meals but eat meals. If you need cheap protein, eggs will do it (good fat too). – Tom R. Jul 17 2011 at 3:33
Agree with Tom. Ditch the early carbs in favor of more protein. Eat less often and only when hungry, but eat well when you do eat, especially after workouts. – Stephen-Aegis Jul 17 2011 at 14:37
The pecans are $7/week, the bananas/$2 and the blueberries $2.50. I could replaced those with 2 lbs grass fed ground beef which I can get for about $10. So my breakfast would be 1/4 lb ground beef without those nuts and carbs. guess I could combine that breakfast with the beef and eggs meal (2), so I would be doing 1/2 lb beef in the morning and 2 eggs. – BAMBAM Jul 17 2011 at 20:21
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Cheapest addition is prolly tubers. Even organic sweet potatoes are pretty cheap by me in NYC. Plus it doesn't sound like you're eating much starch now.

Also, as a comment, if you give a menu it'd help to give your height, weight, etc too.

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5'7" 130 lbs. Been stuck there for 1 year. – BAMBAM Jul 17 2011 at 0:16
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 "stuck"just means you aren't enough calories, period. Eat more everything. – ben61820 Jul 17 2011 at 1:29
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I would probably eat more meat in the existing meals... a quarter pound is 4-ounces. My kid eats 4-6 ounces of meat in a meal, and he is 6.

I've been pretty happy eating a pound, minimum, of meat daily. Today's lunch was grilled peppers, spring onions, and a pound of inside skirt grilled with lime and salt/pepper... I am about to eat another pound of grassfed sirloin (with a lovely 1/2" fat cap) and roasted veggies.

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Can't afford it but trust me I'd love to. I SAID CHEAP! LOL – BAMBAM Jul 17 2011 at 1:23
It doesn't have to be an expensive cut of meat. Look at cheap cuts of quality meat and learn how to cook them the right way. – Rhi Jul 17 2011 at 10:43
Good point. You can find cuts of bottom round, etc that are as low as $1.99 per pound. For the calories that's very cheap. Low and slow cooking and it'll be fine. – ben61820 Jul 17 2011 at 16:29
The cheapest meat at my farmer's market is the ground beef. I get it for 5 lb and buy 4 lbs per week. The bacon is $10/week. I spend $30 on beef and bacon. The local eggs are $3.50/dozen so I spend about $7 there. I get my avocados for $1 apiece at Walmart. I think I'm going to ditch the pecans, bananas, blueberries and honey and buy more ground beef. – BAMBAM Jul 17 2011 at 20:27
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First off combine meal 3 and 4, maybe even 1 and 2. Add in more tubers to the last meal, specifically conventional white potatoes as these are the cheapest and best option. Bump up the bananas in the first meal to 4-5.

Do you tolerate dairy? Your protein is pretty low if your trying to gain and some milk could do you wonders. For cheapness factor I go with conventional whole foods skim milk or traders joes organic cream top. Cheese and whey protien are another option if you can't tolerate milk.

If you want to gain strength and muscle(and save cash) I would focus on carbs over fat. So use less oil and eat more spuds.

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If you tolerate it well, you could easily add some white, or basmati rice for a big, cheap source of calories. If you dont tolerate the rice, white and sweet potato are solid options. I prefer white, but mix in sweet as well. You can always find 5 - 10lb bags of potato here for 5 bucks or less. Eggs are also cheap, quick, easy.

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I've gotta say, do everything in your power to find an extra 20 bucks in your budget to spend on food a week and you've got 4 pounds of ground beef to supplement with. Which you need. I was really surprised how easy it was to find a few extra dollars just by going to the farmers market for my grub compared to shopping at grocery stores. This paleo thing is an investment in your health and it should be treated as so.

Going paleo and sticking to it got SO much easier when I found some extra funds for my new diet.

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I spend $70/week. Does that seem steep? I'm basically Paleo on a credit card because I'm in college. So far so good with the coconut oil. I'm eating 48g saturated fat with that one meal which is 4x my USDA DV%. LOL!!! – BAMBAM Jul 17 2011 at 20:24
I'm on a student budget, starting grad school this fall, although getting school loans is a breeze for grad students, I'd like to mitigate the damage for when I graduate and actually have to pay the damn things back. I'm shooting for $50-75 a week which usually gets me 5 pounds of grass fed beef, about 10 different salad veggies, 2 dozen eggs, a few avocados and I'm good to go. I'd definitely drop the fruit and nuts in favor of more meat and veggies if you're trying to lean down and build some heavy muscle. Find a local farmers market and make friends! You'll get discounts if you're friendly! – Nutritionator Jul 18 2011 at 12:18
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More protein for sure...

I would add some protein to breakfast. Even Whey powder in water. Also more protein through out the day...

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Does whey have casein? I don't do milk. 100% Paleo. – BAMBAM Jul 17 2011 at 20:24
Some Protein powders have whey and casein. However pure whey does not however it is still a milk product. You done need it. But more protein would be good. – Eric Jul 18 2011 at 0:39
Depends on how much a of a lactard you are. I'm very sose I don't touch the whey. – MeepsIsWellfed Apr 17 2012 at 1:24

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