I need your help; I have 4 months to gain weight

[nvictor]

My friends, I have lost weight, a lot; my clavicles are showing, my hips joint would now make a woman feel unconfortable during ... But before flamming me, allow me to explain.

I'm studying abroad; I came in Towson, MD, USA in January 2007, and at the beginning, I got advice, here on this very forum, on how to bulk up. At that time, I could afford to go and buy anything I wanted, or go to the dining halls with my dining card; my uncle was paying.

Last semester, things went bad; my uncle could not pay my tuition in time, and even though he did not tell me, I know how high is my life cost here in US—I still not have a job, except online freelancing, which only pays but if you get the job...a long story. So I decided to remove my registration from the dining halls, which was about 3 grands per semester, and live on my own cooking.

But it is not that easy; my everyday diet is either rice or pasta/macaroni with a sauce with chicken, or meat depending on if I go to walmart or not; and when I don't find time to cook, I only eat once a day; a big plate of course, because some of my night classes finish at 9PM, and I'm too lazy to cook by the time I get home; and I could not eat a breakfast, for the same reasons: classes at 7am, no time to cook.

I do my regular push ups and abs though, but this is not fooling my body a bit— People praise me for my slimness, my arms muscles, but they don't see the whole thing, so don't tell them — I'm fed up with losing weight. I know that, even on a very little budget, say $120/month, I can manage it. But I can't do this alone, I need your help. I need your help to choose appropriate foods, make appropriate meals schedule, and regain my old body.

Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[Throttle]

the cheapest protein around is eggs. whole chicken & ground beef are close. where do you shop? how far can you get around to shop? can you make it up to the Mars in Lutherville... do you know of any ethnic markets closer to you? how are you getting to walmart? (the only one i can think of is all the way up in hunt valley)

i strongly recommend you find a way to eat more than once a day if you want to bulk back up. can you use the Towson U. gym w/o paying extra fees?

for breakfast, eggs can be eaten raw, or if that worries you, they only take 5 minutes to scramble. likewise, oatmeal (possibly the cheapest healthy food on the planet) takes about 5 minutes once the water is boiling.

 

[nvictor]

where do you shop? how far can you get around to shop? can you make it up to the Mars in Lutherville... do you know of any ethnic markets closer to you? how are you getting to walmart?

Usually Superfresh, near the towsontown center. I usually walk to there, I walk to Walmart too , it's far I know, but usually on weekends, and when my roomies cannot drive me there—there is no bus to there, or no that I know about that takes the road to there. I don't know any ethnic markets that's close, there is one on York Road, but that's far too.

The gym is free for us student; I used it for the whole first semester, now I have made my own workout, which I do every other day, push ups—now with the rotating ones from pushups perfect—and abs. I used to run every morning, but I have stopped because it's cold outside I have chosen to train with pushups and abs, because my aim is not big muscles, just a good build and abs, plus with my perfect pushups, it's like a mini gym for myself.

I will get the eggs, and the oatsmeal. Throttle do you think about anything else? I mean, I have chosen rice and pasta and chicken mostly because of all the suggestions I have been given in the past. But to tell you the truth, I'm sometimes fed up of eating the same thing I try to avoid fast food a max, but, tell me, if I'm to consider fast food, what should I avoid?

Thanks

 

[The Bat]

Where are veggies? Don't tell me you're not eating veggies.

Try to buy some lean meat like lean turkey. Walmart has very cheap groceries. Buy groceries for 2-3 weeks so you only have to make a Walmart trip once a month.

Where are fruits? Don't tell me you're not eating fruits.

You got to make time for cooking and eating food. If your classes start early at 7, then get up earlier so you have time to cook. If your classes end late at 9, then stay up later so you have time to cook. Using "I don't have enough time" is a poor excuse, when it's clear that you can easily make some time.

With class schedules, it might be impossible to cook/eat every 3-4 hours, but do your best. Make cooking/eating your number one priority. Until you get your eating habits under control, working out will be worthless. You won't see any results because your body needs fuel to burn when it's working out.

Oh, by the way, eat some veggies and fruits. Stay away from fast food. Subway/Quiznos isn't too terrible though but don't make it a habit.

 

[nvictor]

Thanks Bat for the fruits and the veggies suggestion; what can I buy for example? anything will do?

Don't worry about the bulking, I don't even care any more, I want to regain weight, that's all.

 

[The Bat]

Yeah, you know, the usual. Apples, oranges, banana should be good enough. With veggies, look up some recipes for the meat that you have which requires some veggies. Usually lettuce, tomato, carrots are good enough.

Take baby steps with cooking. Don't go all out and buy each fruit and veggie you see. Look up couple of recipes so you get used to cooking good stuff that tastes great.

 

[Throttle]

ah... i didn't know there was a walmart over on putty hill ave. superfresh has always seemed super expensive to me, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. trader joe's over at towsontown is mostly pretty pricey but you can find deals on certain things, esp. if you avoid anything labeled "organic".

for cheap veggies, i like frozen store brand. for fruit, grab whatever's in season & on sale.

cheapest meat around is definitely ground beef / ground turkey. also, don't neglect dark meat chicken -- usually cheaper than white meat.

the only fast food i would mess with is burgers. since you sound quite skinny, subway would be okay too. any fried fast food, including french fries & chicken, is usually loaded with transfats. the occasional dollar double cheeseburger at McD's is better than skipping a meal entirely. but you can always eat cheaper cooking for yourself.

to put on any muscle you need to lift hard & heavy: deadlifts, squats, bench. see effort's "where to start" thread. don't worry, you won't get "too big" -- esp. if you're trying to eat on a budget.

 

[Throttle]

oh...and since your budget is $120/month, break that down to $4/day as a good guide. so for example, you can spend 75 cents a day on eggs (that should get you a half dozen), 25 cents on oatmeal, $2 on meat (that should get you a pound of cheap stuff) and $1 on fruit/veggies (several pieces of fruit or a bag of frozen veggies, like green beans, peas, corn, mixed veggies, etc). Very do-able!

Cook up the meat and veggies ahead of time, refrigerate separately, and you can reheat to get yourself a half pound of meat & a half pound of veggies for any meal after noon. BTW-- to maximize the nutrients from frozen veggies, try to use little or no water (the package usually calls for lots of water but then the nutrients end up down the drain!)