In today’s budget-conscious economy, building muscle can become a costly endeavor. In order to effectively add lean body mass to your frame, you’re going to have to take in more calories than your body needs to maintain itself. For the average man who works out and already weighs between 160 pounds and 180 pounds, this can translate into a lot of food.
Unless you're a savvy shopper at the grocery store, the cost of all this food adds up quite quickly, leaving you eating away your budget by the time the first two days of the week are over.
If you wish to include any muscle-gaining supplements in your plan, this will further increase cost expenditure.
Luckily, you can very easily create some low-cost weight-gain shakes that will both replace the need to buy a commercial weight-gainers and help you pack in quality calories that will get that scale moving upward.
Low-cost weight-gain shake recipes don’t need to be complicated, but they do contain some key ingredients you must include. So, pay close attention and break out the blender for these healthy, muscle-building and penny-pinching concoctions.
weight-gain shake essentials
In order for a weight-gain shake to be effective, there are some essential nutrients you need to have present. The exact amount of nutrients is going to depend on when you're ingesting the shake as you’ll have changing needs throughout the day.
Immediately before or after your workout you will want to prepare a shake consisting primarily of protein and fast-digesting carbohydrates, while later on in the day you should have a better balance of protein, slow-digesting carbohydrates and healthy fats to provide nutrient-rich calories.
Here are some staple sources for your low-cost weight-gain shake recipes to always have on hand, divided by macronutrient value.
Protein
- Whey protein powder
- Pasteurized liquid egg whites (do not separate raw eggs and drink the egg white)
- Skim milk powder
Carbohydrate
- Gatorade powder
- Raw oats
- Graham cracker crumbs
- Dextrose (available in some grocery stores)
- Fresh, canned or frozen fruit
Dietary fat
- Peanut butter
- Flaxseeds
- Flaxseed oil
- Coconut oil
We have some great low-cost weight-gain shake recipes for you to try..Here are a few low-cost weight-gain shake recipe ideas to get you started:
Choco-Peanut Butter Shake
Ingredients:3 ice cubes
1 cup skim milk
1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
2 tbsps natural peanut butter
Directions:
Crush ice cubes slightly with a blender. Add in the milk and chocolate whey powder, pulsing to blend. Finally, add the peanut butter and blend until desired consistency is reached.
Crush ice cubes slightly with a blender. Add in the milk and chocolate whey powder, pulsing to blend. Finally, add the peanut butter and blend until desired consistency is reached.
Peanut Butter Banana Power Shake
Ingredients:1 cup skim milk
4 tbsps skim milk powder
¼ cup raw oats
2 bananas
3 tbsps peanut butter
Directions:
Place the milk, skim milk powder and raw oats in a blender and mix. Add in the bananas and peanut butter, continuing to blend until desired consistency has been reached.
Place the milk, skim milk powder and raw oats in a blender and mix. Add in the bananas and peanut butter, continuing to blend until desired consistency has been reached.
Pre-Workout Berry Shake
Ingredients:1 scoop of berry-flavored whey protein powder
1 cup of orange juice
½ cup of fruit-flavored low-sugar yogurt
1 cup frozen berries
2 tbsps skim milk powder
Directions:
Blend together the whey protein powder, orange juice and fruit-flavored yogurt. Add in the frozen berries and skim milk powder, blending until desired consistency has been reached.
Blend together the whey protein powder, orange juice and fruit-flavored yogurt. Add in the frozen berries and skim milk powder, blending until desired consistency has been reached.
Banana Creme Breakfast Smoothie
Ingredients:1 cup skim milk
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
2 tbsps skim milk powder
2 frozen bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsps flaxseeds or flaxseed oil
Directions:
Blend together the skim milk, vanilla whey protein powder and skim milk powder. Add in the frozen bananas and blend until smooth. Stir in vanilla extra and flaxseed oil, serving once mixed.
Blend together the skim milk, vanilla whey protein powder and skim milk powder. Add in the frozen bananas and blend until smooth. Stir in vanilla extra and flaxseed oil, serving once mixed.
Mocha Morning Wake-Up Shake
Ingredients:6 oz water
6 oz cold coffee
1 scoop chocolate protein powder
½ scoop vanilla protein powder
1 oz dextrose
4 ice cubes
Directions:
Blend together water, cold coffee, chocolate and vanilla protein powder, and dextrose. Add in ice cubes and pulse until desired consistency has been reached.
Blend together water, cold coffee, chocolate and vanilla protein powder, and dextrose. Add in ice cubes and pulse until desired consistency has been reached.
Pina Colada Smoothie
Ingredients:1 cup skim milk
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
3 tbsps skim milk powder
1 tbsp coconut milk or 1 tbsp coconut meat
1 frozen banana
½ cup pineapple
1 ice cube
Directions:
Blend together the skim milk, vanilla protein powder, skim milk powder, and coconut milk (or meat). Add in the frozen banana, pineapple and ice cube and pulse blend.
Blend together the skim milk, vanilla protein powder, skim milk powder, and coconut milk (or meat). Add in the frozen banana, pineapple and ice cube and pulse blend.
Orange Fizz Protein Shake
Ingredients:1 cup orange juice
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
3 tbsps skim milk powder
1 cup mandarin orange slices
1 tbsp flaxseed oil
1 cup diet orange soda
Directions:
Blend together orange juice, vanilla protein powder, skim milk powder, orange slices, and flaxseed oil. Once blended, stir in diet orange soda and serve.
Blend together orange juice, vanilla protein powder, skim milk powder, orange slices, and flaxseed oil. Once blended, stir in diet orange soda and serve.
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