Picture for nutritional info.
You’d become malnourished. You’re missing C, folate, iron, etc. you’d live, but you’d be sick and you’d have damaged your body.
Can I just eat a multivitamin with it
No. You’re not getting any fiber, this is a really shit idea.
Since the comments indicate this is really a food budget challenge, let’s talk about that. What is your monthly budget for food? Do you have any dietary restrictions you want to target?
My budget at the moment is CAD$250 per month. 750g of cottage cheese a month would run me $225 at $7.49 a package. As others have indicated, it’s an unhealthily low amount of calories despite it meeting my protein requirements. The only dietary restriction that I need to target is getting enough protein for maintenance of muscle mass. The reasons are twofold: firstly, as I’ve indicated elsewhere, I have had issues with ED in the past. I fear that losing muscle mass would cause a relapse and I can’t afford that at present. More importantly, however, is that my current employment is fairly physical, so I can’t afford to get weaker either.
So, to summarize: $250/month, maximizing protein per dollar.
Issues with cottage cheese idea:
- Unfulfilling psychologically
- Potential for malnutrition/health complications
- Extremely low-calorie
Ideas to remedy the situation:
- Cheap carbs (potatoes, flour, pasta/ramen)
- Making things from raw (e.g. milk -> cottage cheese, flour -> bread)
- Cheap meat
I think animal protein needs to be a part of the solution. Tried vegetarianism in the past and I couldn’t function well on it. But all animal protein in Canada is expensive, either due to supply management (eggs and dairy), price gouging, supply and demand (e.g. price of chicken breast is ludicrous), or some other unknown factor(s). So plant based protein should also be part of the solution in spite of its lower quality. Others have suggested dried beans/lentils.
It would be worthwhile to make things from raw. I can save roughly a dollar per kg of cottage cheese if I make the cottage cheese myself from milk. I can also use the byproducts in the making of bread, furthering the value and capturing all protein. There will be a significant time cost in doing this.
At the moment we’re looking at a diet of homemade cottage cheese, bread, and beans. If I can save enough doing this then I could incorporate vegetables as well, but it might be better to just take a multivitamin and eat the psychological cost. This will only be for a month, potentially two, and hopefully not more. I think I can go that long without becoming too miserable. I’d love to hear some feedback if you have any.
(Bonus solution: find a better paying job.)
I can’t tell if you’re over-thinking, under-thinking, or just plain havent invested time into grocery planning.
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an 8kg bag of basmati or jasmine rice can be found for $15 (freshco), if you have one cup (dry, 200g) of rice that will last you 40 meals. It’s about 200 calories per serving and has vitamin B as well as a handful of minerals.
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Chicken can be found for $3/lb (food basics) or less if you are patient and shop around and is ~120g protein per lb of meat
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Add in some beans $2.97 at walmart for a 900g bag of dry kidney beans, each serving gets you fiber and protein, also 25 servings.
$110 per month and you have staples and 60+g of protein per day. That leaves $35 per week to shop sales/flash food/etc for fruit, veg, and other meat.
I have neither of those stores in my area. At Walmart, chicken is $20/kg like every other store.
Do you have any Asian/Indian/other ethnic grocers? Stores with a butcher counter? Are there farms nearby? you can troll whatever grocery stores you do have near you for last day of sale meats/produce and as long as you cook or freeze them the same day or the next day, they’re perfectly fine. From some of your comments, you live out west, maybe try to find a few friends to split a pig, that can get the price per pound way down.
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That’s basically the Atkins diet (Keto) without enough nutrition. It’ll function like a very short, very uncomfortable, malnourished crash diet.
You’ll spend the first two weeks craving carbs and sugars like your life depends on it. It’s awful. After that “break in” period, the cravings mostly go away.
But that’s not all. So much as lick a piece of candy or chew on some bread, and you’ll get a large dopamine rush followed by carb-craving mode again. If sheer willpower and deferred rewards are at all a problem for you, this might feel like one of the hardest things you’ve ever tried to do.
Edit: now that I remember, my grandma tried a “cottage cheese and grapefruit” fad/crash diet back in the 80’s. Turns out that one has been doing the rounds for almost a century. IIRC, it doesn’t work since it’s easy to underestimate how insanely difficult this is to do.
Been on keto for a decade with breaks here and there. Currently two pounds below goal weight. Feel great and blood numbers are excellent. Changed my life.
That’s awesome. Glad that’s working for you! If you have any tips on building willpower for the rest of us, please share, and thank you.
I thought I posted a reply but apparently I did not. Generally, my advice is that you need to treat everything like a really long journey and let yourself take breaks for birthdays or trips as appropriate, but get right back on track Monday morning.
I have done something like this. You will feel like hell and depending how vitamin deficient you are you could end up in the hospital. When I did it I just bounced back within a few months so it was not worth it.
If you are trying to lose weight counting calories over a long period helped me lose about 50lbs. Just try to stay in weight loss range and exercise for 30 min a day to burn some calories
Nah, I’m more looking for a way to eat cheap for a month (maybe two) while still getting enough protein that I don’t start wasting. Food is expensive, and dairy here is also expensive, but a months worth of cottage cheese is cheaper than a months worth of any meat. I’ll see if I can move some things around in my budget to get a more wholesome diet, though.
Dried beans. Their cheap AF. Nutritious AF. I make up a pot of soup every couple of days. Soak you beans the night before. Boil next day.
Start a new pot off with butter. Sauteed up onion, carrot, and/or celery(all cheap AF, all optional). Add In meat if you like. Sear outsides but don’t worry about cooking all the way through. Add chicken stock (or water) and boiled beans. Simmer covered 30 min-ish. Add in frozen spinach, cook another 5. Salt and season to taste.
Congrats! You just made a pot of bomb ass soup. For like 3$! You can eat for days off that pot. Delicious AND nutritious. Your gut likes variety, give it to it.
You would be fine, you would need extra electrolytes and water.
120g of protein per day
36g of carbohydrates per day.
15g of fat per day.
You would lose weight, you’d be running at a calorie deficit. Assuming you had fat to start with everything would be fine. The protein levels are sufficient to maintain your muscle mass
You probably get bored of that food pretty quickly.
