Cost of vlc diet for those who are doing vlc

[babetteq]

I'm planning on starting vlc on monday. I've worked out how much protein, fat, carbs etc I will need etc.

I've worked out what I'd have to eat, as cheaply as possible, in protein. I'd have to spend, if I use cheapest meats ie: ground beef, tuna & chicken it would cost me almost 200$ a month! I know you can't supplement with beans, lentils etc because they're higher carbs. I live in Canada though and will never find a turkey for .99c/lb.

Are there non-meat sources of protein that are acceptable but not meat? Meat is just so expensive here. I'm very used to supplementing my diet with beans, lentils, split peas. Nuts are very expensive here too. We usually only spend 200$ a month for the both of us! I would be hard to increase our food budget by double as we are reasonably low income. Do I have to give up on the idea of vlc?

[Ilpirata]

eggs. eggs are CHEAP.

[Looweewoo]

VLC is expensive, especially to start with. Hopefully later on you will be eating less, so the bill will come down somewhat.

I buy a lot of chicken, and I don't buy those nasty dry chicken breasts which are so expensive. I buy 10 lbs of leg quarters for 6.25 or $0.63 per lb, Fry them up in left over bacon grease... yum!

I look for whatever the "Hip" crowd is not buying. It'll be cheaper.

I was surprised to find that my butcher would cut the price of my steaks if I didn't want the fat trimmed so closely off them. Basically he is giving me the fat, with all it's flavor and vitamins, for free. Which makes sense, since he would just throw it away for anyone else. But it makes for a much nicer steak. He also thinks of me when he's cutting for the display, and holds back the more fatty slices. They are usually harder to sell, and since I would pay extra for them, I am very happy when he gives me a dollar off per pound.

[babetteq]

Eggs! of course! Why didn't I think of that! They're not super cheap, but certainly cheaper than meat here. A dozen is about 3.79$ Thank you!!

[Sight]

$3-$5 per day in cheese and steak. I splurge once in a while on filets or ribeyes, but it's usually chucks at $2.59 per pound, cooked rare to medium rare. Yummy!!!

[verbqueen]

One nice thing about VLC is that the cheaper cuts of meat work the best! You need lots of fat, so look for the fattiest possible ground beef on sale, and then package it up and freeze it. Same with chickens--legs and thighs are fattier and cheaper, and better for weight loss. Also watch for pork on sale.

I also use some canned tuna and when I see a ham steak on sale, I'll buy that and chop it up for ham salad or to go in scrambled eggs. I think watching for sales and freezing things will really help you. You don't need to eat steak all the time. Hamburger works just great for weight loss!

[Ilpirata]

WOAH! EGGS are expensive in Canada thats heinous. Do you have any discount supermarkets? I recently discovered Grocery Outlet and on some things their prices are amazing. I got 5LBS of ground beef for $10

[babetteq]

I may have to get my passport and start shopping across the line!! (I live 10 mins from the border).

[JustCallMeAmy]

i live in Canada too, and while groceries aren't AS cheap as in the U.S., where i am (Toronto) i don't find it too bad. i get regular ground beef for $.99/lb all the time and a dozen eggs are $1.97 here.

[babetteq]

I'm on the westcoast, but not in a major city so I get what I get and sometimes drive around (costs gas) to find cheaper groceries.

.99c a lb? The cheapest I've found it here is 2.47/lb in the plastic covered chub in walmart

[JustCallMeAmy]

Originally Posted by babetteq

I may have to get my passport and start shopping across the line!! (I live 10 mins from the border).

i used to live about 5mins from the detroit border and TRUST me, crossing was so worth it! even if only for gas and groceries!!!

oh and if you have a real canadian superstore anywhere near you, i get my ground beef $.99/lb there at the meat counter all the time!

[Faia]

Even feeding the kefir monster (about 1 gallon per week of grass fed, non-homogenized, VAT pasteurized milk at $9.78) and the kombucha monster (tea and organic raw cane sugar for raw materials) we are under $40/week to feed two people. We get hamburger instead of "ground beef" (save 70 cents/pound), free range pork sausage (usually chorizo and andoulle), sometimes splurge on duck eggs, the occasional free-range chicken... Bacon ends save about another $1 per pound, we go into the butcher shop and buy them out for that... (All your bacon ends are belong to us.)

[batwing]

Do you have any local butchers you can buy in bulk from?

My butcher's prices run anywhere from a few cents cheaper to a dollar or more per pound compared to the chain grocery store on regular portions. BUT, I buy a freezer pack from him every 3 months for about $70 and it includes 8 chicken breasts, 4 NY Strips, 4 ribeyes, 4 Sirloins, 2 lbs housemade bratwurst, 2 lbs housemade smoked sausage, 1 rack baby back ribs, 8 thick cut pork chops and 4 lbs ground beef. He'll substitute in comparable cuts (e.g., he once ran out of ribeyes so he gave me 8 NY strips instead, he'll do whole chickens instead of breasts, swap chorizo for bratwurst, etc.)

He'll also cut me a break if I buy more than 10 lbs of ground beef at one time (and he'll even vacuum seal it in 1 lb portions), and I've brought in my own seasonings before and had him grind and case my own sausage mixture at no additional cost.

I was intimidated to go in the first time and ask about it, but my guy rocks and is willing to bend over backwards for a bulk order.

[peanutte]

That is a LOT of meat for 70 bucks. Wow.

[Abby1983]

Originally Posted by batwing

I buy a freezer pack from him every 3 months for about $70 and it includes 8 chicken breasts, 4 NY Strips, 4 ribeyes, 4 Sirloins, 2 lbs housemade bratwurst, 2 lbs housemade smoked sausage, 1 rack baby back ribs, 8 thick cut pork chops and 4 lbs ground beef. He'll substitute in comparable cuts

holy moly!!!! i cant find anything like that here in ct. everything is SO expensive. (on sale) we bought prime rib for myself and parents...38 dollars. yikes. ground beef is around 3.79/lb on sale when you can find it, and that is stretching it

[babetteq]

holy moly!!!! i cant find anything like that here in ct. everything is SO expensive. (on sale) we bought prime rib for myself and parents...38 dollars. yikes. ground beef is around 3.79/lb on sale when you can find it, and that is stretching it

Yup, that is similar to here. I managed to find 4 chicken thighs for 2.30$ They are the 'eat quick or die" sales. I have the feeling I'll be eating a lot of tuna salad. I can get a can for 1.25.

[batwing]

Originally Posted by peanutte

That is a LOT of meat for 70 bucks. Wow.

Originally Posted by Abby1983

holy moly!!!! i cant find anything like that here in ct. everything is SO expensive. (on sale) we bought prime rib for myself and parents...38 dollars. yikes. ground beef is around 3.79/lb on sale when you can find it, and that is stretching it

Originally Posted by babetteq

Yup, that is similar to here. I managed to find 4 chicken thighs for 2.30$ They are the 'eat quick or die" sales. I have the feeling I'll be eating a lot of tuna salad. I can get a can for 1.25.

He calls it a "grill pack" and I have to call ahead at least an hour to get it. It's meant for cookouts and the like, but we fill up our deep freezer with it. The discount we get from him is amazing.

He also does half a cow or half a pig and you get to choose how it's packaged. For instance, you can have the chuck bits in roasts, steaks, ground, or any combination you can imagine all for the same price. Before he was a butcher, he worked for some association of sausage makers. There's pretty much no Scandinavian community in my area, but I can bring him in the potatoes and spices and he'll make potatiskorv for me at Christmas for the cost of the casings and pork (potatiskorv = Swedish potato/pork sausage eaten on Christmas). If I wasn't already married, I'd probably marry my butcher .

[Spider_Lily]

Originally Posted by babetteq

Eggs! of course! Why didn't I think of that! They're not super cheap, but certainly cheaper than meat here. A dozen is about 3.79$ Thank you!!

Oh my goodness egg's here are 98 cent this week never that high.

[babetteq]

A big difference in prices is because Canada and the U.S. have very different practices around farm subsidies. If I go across the line, meat and dairy/eggs are almost free but vegetables and produce are TERRIBLE prices. Whereas I find produce much cheaper on the Canadian side of the border.

Thankfully I live 10 mins from the border and can sometimes stomach the lineups to get across for some grocery shopping.

[JunkInMyTrunk]

If you are going vlc have you looked for sources of grass fed beef, pastured pork and free range chickens? Do you have a freezer? I know that you are in Canada, but I find that when I buy a 1/4 or 1/2 grass fed cow that the price drops significantly. Not only am I getting my meat cheaper, but I'm doing wonders for my health by eating grass fed meat.

This may not be the case for you, but I remember another Canadian poster, Margo and she got grass fed cheaper than grocery store. She was not in the same area of Canada that you are and I'm sure things are different from province to province, like it is in the USA from state to state. She was in Alberta I believe. She also ate vlc.

[babetteq]

That's a good idea JunkIn, the other thing is that I can get some meat in trade for processing from the side of my family that hunts regularly. That's free, just time and I really believe that wild meat is far superior nutritionally than even grass fed animals. However, that is seasonal. I will hunt around the small farms in my area - as there are many - I don't have a lot of faith that they will be cheaper - it's a bit of a niche market here - but it will certainly be better quality. I'll most likely mix it up between grocery store slop and better meats.


..Alberta is the beef capital of Canada....

[happycat]

What about protein shakes? Sometimes those big ol' jugs of protein powder are kind of expensive, but they last a longgggg time.

[La Bruja]

Originally Posted by babetteq

I have the feeling I'll be eating a lot of tuna salad. I can get a can for 1.25.

I recently had an epiphany about tuna - it's not that cheap!

The cans are now 5 ounces net weight, which works out to about 3.5 ounces of actual tuna.

Even at $1.25 a can, that's still $5.71 per pound.

[babetteq]

Thank goodness someone else can do math around here! 5.71/lb? carp. Off to the budgeting drawing board

[La Bruja]

Originally Posted by babetteq

Thank goodness someone else can do math around here! 5.71/lb? carp. Off to the budgeting drawing board

It is convenient, though, so there's that.

I actually bought 10 cans for $10 just today, so I could have something in the cupboard for when I don't have thawed and/or cooked protein ready when I'm pressed for time.

[Danceruk]

I buy eggs and butter

about 60 eggs a week thats £6 and two packs of butter £1.50 ..a grand total of....$12 a week...

not pricey at all!!

[canadianwoman]

Originally Posted by Ilpirata

WOAH! EGGS are expensive in Canada thats heinous. Do you have any discount supermarkets? I recently discovered Grocery Outlet and on some things their prices are amazing. I got 5LBS of ground beef for $10

I am in Ontario and get extra large brown eggs for $3.19 a dozen at the store next to my home. A bit cheaper if I go to a discount type supermarket but then I have to pay cab fare to get home so I make that trip my one big monthly trip.
I never knew eggs were so pricey in BC. Wow.

Edited to add: Get some canned salmon too if you can. I find it just as good as fresh and a lot cheaper.