Cheap Primal - Go for broke! page 5

[DarthFriendly]

Don't know if anyone else mentioned it, but grass fed beef isn't a requirement. When you're broke, and need to cut back spending you can still eat conventional meats and produce, and not be doing massive amounts of damage. That's my two cents on that. I prefer grass fed, but I wouldn't buy it if I couldn't budget it.

[fpsjosh01]

Don't know if anyone else mentioned it, but grass fed beef isn't a requirement. When you're broke, and need to cut back spending you can still eat conventional meats and produce, and not be doing massive amounts of damage. That's my two cents on that. I prefer grass fed, but I wouldn't buy it if I couldn't budget it.

Thanks for the reasurance. I got 80/20 from trader joes the other night for really cheap.

[Pooka]

Don't know if anyone else mentioned it, but grass fed beef isn't a requirement.

Yes, sometimes you have to do the best you can. I get our beef free from family as an annual gift. It's much better than CAFO, but is lot fed at the end. However, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. You do what you can. I can get organic free range eggs for $3 a dozen, and since I eat so many (about 12-15 a week), it's worth the extra expense for nutritional reasons. Otherwise, I just buy the best I can within reason...sometimes organic, sometimes not. I also make my own Greek yogurt, which is very easy, so that saves some if you eat yogurt. Also, as others have mentioned, buying frozen fruits (like berries) and vegetables can save quite a bit.

[duckmama]

Ways we save money:

Buy what's in season for fruit/veggies and buy as local as possible. I've found a year-round produce stand near my house and their prices are often 1/3 to 1/2 cheaper than grocery stores.

In the meat dept, check to see if there's a mark-down bin. I often find meat that's been marked way down because it's about to expire. As long as I cook it right away or stash it in the freezer, it's fine.

We don't run our clothes dryer all the time. We hang a lot of our clothes in our basement near our laundry area. We probably only run the dryer once for every two or three loads we put in the washer. It makes our clothes last longer too.

We use our local library for books and movies. We're book and movie fiends in our house, and our budget for these items was greatly reduced once we started using our local library.

Through a friend of a friend, we found a dinky farm nearby that will harvest a couple of grass-fed steers in a few weeks, and we're getting a 1/4. It will be about $3/lb. This will be about half of what the going rate is around here from the larger farms.

[theMarvelousMoment]

Is that for the sugar or the protein or both?

I can wait as long as there's a good reason for it.

Both. As far as I understand, both carbohydrates and protein illicit an insulin response, which will negate the natural HGH rise after exercise. Taking some BCAA beforehand will minimize muscle breakdown during this period.

[fpsjosh01]

One last honest question, does this affect my muscle gain results?

I'm not too worried about weight loss, more than I am about being healthy and strong to carry my child and do massage therapy.

Even if I only lose a pound a week for the next year I won't mind the slightly more difficult fat loss if my muscles are better for it.

Also, what is BCAA?