Sick of spending so much money on food! Is rice the solution?

OccamzRazer

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I eat a higher fat version of the stereotypical Peat diet...and while it's tasty, it's also super pricey. I spend about $200/week on food for just me! (Granted, I eat at least 4000 cals/day.)

All this money going towards food is seriously slowing down the rate at which I can save. Saving money faster, in this case, will allow me to buy the farm I've been wanting to - resulting in a better living environment.

It'd be great to cut the food bill in half, down to around $100/week. Pretty sure a diet based around rice, eggs, milk, and honey could accomplish this. (Keyword being rice, lots of rice.)

Has anyone made the jump to a much cheaper diet and felt better - less stressed, happier, healthier - because of it?? Would love to hear your experiences
 

AnonE

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Also curious... based on the very simple diet you listed, would certain nutrients be missing? Would you supplement to round out bases? Though those 4 sound pretty awesome, and I suppose milk is fortified which should help some.
 

JamesGatz

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ME TOO. I just accept that I cannot put a price on my health and bite the bullet, restrictive diets REALLY stress me out - even if it seems like I'm getting all my nutrients on chronometer I have to EAT a variety of good food
 

tankasnowgod

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Just fast, bro!

Actually, that's the one thing I do miss about my IF days. Grocery Bills were sooooooo cheap! Too bad it led to the worst hypothyroid symptoms of my life.
 

Ben.

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Sounds like the Vertical diet promoted by Stan Efferding for muscle building.

Lots of rice with ground beef, eggs and bone/chicken broth for size and once a day w/e you need to get the necessary vitamins in (orange/bell pepper for vitamin c etc.)


Similar to what tankasnowgod said .... cheap grocery bill by reducing or fasting food might have been great price wise shortterm, but led to serious health issues. But i guess if you get everything in you need along the rice i guess youll be fine.
 

Nomane Euger

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I eat a higher fat version of the stereotypical Peat diet...and while it's tasty, it's also super pricey. I spend about $200/week on food for just me! (Granted, I eat at least 4000 cals/day.)

All this money going towards food is seriously slowing down the rate at which I can save. Saving money faster, in this case, will allow me to buy the farm I've been wanting to - resulting in a better living environment.

It'd be great to cut the food bill in half, down to around $100/week. Pretty sure a diet based around rice, eggs, milk, and honey could accomplish this. (Keyword being rice, lots of rice.)

Has anyone made the jump to a much cheaper diet and felt better - less stressed, happier, healthier - because of it?? Would love to hear your experiences
You can get animal fat for like 8 euros/kilos,some tasty one like grass fed grass finished lamb subcutaneous fat,depending how much fat you eat,if you go for 100 grammes around it would have a significant impact on your budget.how do you gauge that you need 4000 calories,you go by instinct and t reach at 4000 calories most of days or is that a mental estimation ?
 
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lampofred

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I think you have to just try it and see. Switch to rice instead of fruits for a week, and figure out whether you feel worse because of switching to rice or better because you are able to keep more money in your bank account.
 

rei

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potato with butter and milk, with occasional minced beef thrown in is the healthiest, cheapest food you can get. You can live using only it for months on end without any compromises in nutrition.
 

miquelangeles

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Ray Peat often recommends potatoes.
When a person has limited money for food, potatoes are a better staple than beans or oats. Starches associated with saponins, alkaloids, and other potentially pro-inflammatory things make them a less than ideal food, if you have digestion-related health problems, and if you can afford to choose. New potatoes are tastier, less starchy, and probably less likely to cause digestive irritation.
 

DrJ

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Second the potatoes my dude. Cheap, long storage, super tasty, and decent protein.
 

Sefton10

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I’ve gone back and forth with this myself and it usually comes down to rice vs potatoes vs dates as a cost effective yet calorically dense carb source, which ultimately means starch or no starch is the major question. There’s no doubt a starch like rice is cheapest, so it just depends how you feel on it.

Bulk buying helps reduce cost (and time shopping). I stock the freezer with meat once a month or so, then buy milk, cheese, OJ and eggs weekly. I’m always stocked with tinned oysters, honey and medjool dates at the moment. That’s my base then I’ll just buy stuff around the edges (fruit that’s in season as it’s cheaper etc.).

One of the reasons Ray goes for milk and OJ as staples is because they are accessible to those on the lowest incomes too.
 

Motif

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I’ve gone back and forth with this myself and it usually comes down to rice vs potatoes vs dates as a cost effective yet calorically dense carb source, which ultimately means starch or no starch is the major question. There’s no doubt a starch like rice is cheapest, so it just depends how you feel on it.

Bulk buying helps reduce cost (and time shopping). I stock the freezer with meat once a month or so, then buy milk, cheese, OJ and eggs weekly. I’m always stocked with tinned oysters, honey and medjool dates at the moment. That’s my base then I’ll just buy stuff around the edges (fruit that’s in season as it’s cheaper etc.).

One of the reasons Ray goes for milk and OJ as staples is because they are accessible to those on the lowest incomes too.
How does a day of eating look for you ?
 

Energizer

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Yeah you could go for rice, but I prefer potatoes. More nutrient dense. As others have suggested, focusing on dairy and getting the items on sale should help reduce costs. If you get a chest freezer you can buy 20 gallons of milk on sale or buy an entire cut up animal and put it in there. Apparently that's what Mark Rippletoe does: he buys the animal directly from the farm and has it cut up and put in one of his freezers. You can also make farmer's cheese which is probably one of the cheapest cheeses you can get. Meat is generally a lot more expensive unless you're getting it wholesale. I basically live on cottage cheese, 1% milk, eggs, frozen liver, carrots and mushrooms (rotating), apple juice, potatoes, occasional hard cheeses. I would like to incorporate more quesadillas into my diet, but I haven't had much luck finding block cheese that doesn't have "vegetarian enzymes."

Can use honey or jam with the cottage cheese for flavor. I wouldn't say it's the most balanced diet obviously, but I can still do dumbbell workouts and eat quite a bit of protein and calories without breaking the bank. I have jumped around on grocery spending, but I don't buy as much as I used to. I used to buy a lot of fruit, which in addition to being expensive, was often completely unripe and inedible, so I barely ever eat fruit anymore unless it's berries. I wouldn't recommend what I eat to anyone, but it works for me. Find the foods that work for you.
 
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boris

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I eat a higher fat version of the stereotypical Peat diet...and while it's tasty, it's also super pricey. I spend about $200/week on food for just me! (Granted, I eat at least 4000 cals/day.)

All this money going towards food is seriously slowing down the rate at which I can save. Saving money faster, in this case, will allow me to buy the farm I've been wanting to - resulting in a better living environment.

It'd be great to cut the food bill in half, down to around $100/week. Pretty sure a diet based around rice, eggs, milk, and honey could accomplish this. (Keyword being rice, lots of rice.)

Has anyone made the jump to a much cheaper diet and felt better - less stressed, happier, healthier - because of it?? Would love to hear your experiences

Potatoes would be very cheap and more nutritious. Peat has said that if he couldn't afford what he's eating now, his diet would be based around potatoes and milk.
 

Sefton10

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How does a day of eating look for you ?
Currently around 2L semi-skim goat milk and 2 or 3 cups OJ. 200g or so of red meat or fish, medjool dates, honey, feta cheese, 3 or 4 egg yolks/whole eggs, dark chocolate, carrot or mushrooms, bone broth. Periodic oysters/liver. Other bits of cooked fruit depending on season. Probably around 3000 cals, just eating to appetite. Magnesium carbonate in OJ and nutritional yeast in bone broth for B-vits the only daily supps and just started with some low dose T3 to see if it helps.
 

Motif

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Currently around 2L semi-skim goat milk and 2 or 3 cups OJ. 200g or so of red meat or fish, medjool dates, honey, feta cheese, 3 or 4 egg yolks/whole eggs, dark chocolate, carrot or mushrooms, bone broth. Periodic oysters/liver. Other bits of cooked fruit depending on season. Probably around 3000 cals, just eating to appetite. Magnesium carbonate in OJ and nutritional yeast in bone broth for B-vits the only daily supps and just started with some low dose T3 to see if it helps.
Thanks!
 

Apple

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ggenereux has been eating only rice, beef and some beans for many years.
i think that's a pretty healthy and cheap diet if you have to live on a tight budget
Add to this some fruits
And he doesn't have any issues with hairloss :)) unlike we cheese eaters/ milk suckers
 

Ben.

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And he doesn't have any issues with hairloss :)) unlike we cheese eaters/ milk suckers

Cheese/Milk is not the cause of hairloss ...
 

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