Cutting on a College Budget: Affordable Meal Prep for Shredding

By Ella Brooks

Spring 2025

As spring and summer roll around so do short sleeve shirts, shorts, and swim wear. Many of us are looking to feel our best and get back into a healthy routine. After a winter spent bulking, it’s common for athletes and fitness enthusiasts to begin a cut. But what is cutting? According to MedicalNewsToday, “a cutting diet or shredding aims to help someone lose fat and maintain muscle”. However, lots of us still have work, class, and a budget to stick to which can make cutting difficult. It takes not only time but also money to prepare meals and stick to a routine to reach our goals as college students. I can attest as a commuter that while I have the resources like access to a kitchen to meal prep, I often find it difficult to make the time to prepare meals for school and work in between my busy schedule. This guide is designed to help college students cut effectively without breaking the bank or their schedule.   

What is Cutting and Why Does it Matter? 

Cutting aims to reduce body fat while preserving muscle mass. Many athletes start a cut in the summer to look leaner, while others do so for sports like martial arts and bodybuilding, where hitting a specific body composition matter. According to Forbes, successful cutting demands discipline and careful tracking to ensure fat loss without sacrificing muscle. 

The key is creating a calorie deficit—eating fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its current weight. This number varies by individual, so it’s best to consult a coach or trainer to personalize your approach. 

Cutting is not about starving 

A healthy cut means being intentional with your nutrition—not extreme. Skipping meals or drastically slashing calories can backfire, affecting both your progress and well-being. 

I interviewed Dr. Yuki Igari, a physician with a background in gastroenterology, she emphasizes that safe cutting requires proper nourishment and patience. During our interview, she discussed how those that don’t get the necessary calories and vitamins into their diet can lead to dietary upset like constipation which can then lead to a buildup of bacteria in the gut and intestines. To meet your nutritional needs, Dr. Yuki suggests par boiling vegetables to get your necessary amount of Vitamin B and also getting enough fiber. Fiber is often overlooked during a cut, but it plays a critical role in digestion and appetite. According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, “fiber is a type of carbohydrate that the body can’t digest... instead, it passes through the body undigested.” It helps regulate the body’s use of sugars, keeping both hunger and blood sugar levels in check. 

An article by Stronger by Science does a fantastic job of helping build your understanding of what calories are and how to build and adjust a smart nutrition plan. A calorie is the “amount of energy required to heat 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius.” Throughout the day, we simultaneously consume and burn calories depending on how much we’re exercising and eating. This balance dictates our changes in body composition. 

During a cut, many people will opt for a cleaner diet often focusing on meals that are high in protein and low in fat and carbohydrates.

Cutting on a Budget: Is it Even Possible? 

Many of us are strapped for cash, given tuition and daily expensies, causing it can be difficult to shop for what we need while maintaining our budget. Not only that, it takes time to shop, cook, and prep meals all within the limitations of the dorms and busy class schedules. However, with the right organization and planning, it’s actually quite simple! Eating healthy is not always expensive, in fact it can often be a cheaper alternative to purchasing premade or processed foods. Stick to grocery stores such as Trader Joes, Aldi, and Walmart that provide cheaper or generic options for many of the same items high end grocery stores carry. 

Chase, a junior in college who successfully completed his first cut in 2022, said the hardest part was balancing it all. He mentions that having a busy schedule helped to combat cravings throughout the day and keep him on track. Chase also notes that the biggest challenge he faced was staying consistent given his busy schedule maintaining school, work, and the gym. However, seeing progress in his body composition and weight helped to motivate him throughout the rest of the cut. When asked what advice he would give other college students trying to cut he said, “Find a meal in the dining hall and find out the macros for it and just eat that on a consistent basis. That helped me a lot.” 

Gym Pin’s article gives simple examples of foods you should and can eat to optomize your results while also taking some of the guess work out of your shopping. Stick to foods that are familiar and choose items that are nutrient dense. For proteins, opt for lean meats, eggs, dairy, legumes, and high quality protein powders. You can often find canned options that are not only cheaper but also more convenient for a busy schedule. Also incorporate carbohydrates like fruits, veggies, and whole grains to give you energy throughout the day. The CDC emphasizes the inclusion of complex carbs like sweet potato and peas to increase blood sugar slowly and add to fiber intake. Lastly, fats like avocados, seeds, and olive oil are crucial to your diet.  

Start small and shop for every few days instead of weekly to keep it simple and monitor your spending. It can be helpful to budget for yourself by using mobile grocery shopping apps like Instacart or Trader Joes’s website to create a price accurate list before you shop. This way you not only know what you’re spending but also by creating a specific list beforehand you eliminate the possibility of picking up items that are unhealthy and misalign with your budget and your dieting plan.   

Another good resource to use is Chat GPT. You can input what foods you do and don’t like and a budget for your meals it’ll then give you some suggestions that you can tweak to your liking, or you can prompt it to do it for you.

Affordable Grocery List Essentials 

To make things even easier, the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and Healthline outline key tips for building a healthy eating routine. Below are nutrient-dense grocery staples that support a cutting diet—all affordable and accessible for college students: 

Budget-Friendly Grocery Staples for Cutting: 

  • Whole Grains – Oats (under $3), brown rice ($1.50–$2) 

  • Proteins – Eggs ($2–$3/dozen), chicken breast ($2.50–$3/lb), lentils or beans (around $1) 

  • Dairy – Low-fat yogurt ($2.50–$4), milk ($2.50/gallon) 

  • Fruits – Bananas (under $0.25 each), grapefruit ($1–$1.50) 

  • Vegetables – Sweet potatoes 

Structuring your Cut: Goal Setting and Meal Prep Tips 

Set for Set’s article The Ultimate Cutting Workout and Diet Plan gives readers a simple and easy plan to follow for their cut consisting of only four steps. Starting with setting your goal, know what your end goal is and what you want to achieve then give yourself a specific timeline in which you want to accomplish that goal say eight weeks or two months. Finally, diet and exercise. By following this simple set of rules, you can structure your meals and workouts to meet the goals you’ve set for yourself. 

Healthline’s guide to meal prepping highlights the importance of keeping your meal prepping simple and organized. They give great tips like keeping your dry goods stocked to streamline your meal prep process and simplify the menu you create. At first, try not to venture too far out of your comfort zone. Stick to foods that are familiar like chicken and beef for proteins, carrots and cucmbers for a snack, and healthy fats like avocados and olive oil. This way, you aren’t deterred from sticking to your meal plan. I can attest that I’ve been thrown off by including healthy but unfamilair and unappetizing foods into my diet that I end up not enjoying or not eating entirely.  

Make a habit of meal prepping each week—it simplifies your routine and helps you stay on track with your goals. Invest in quality containers (glass works great and fits well in mini fridges) to keep your fridge organized. Once you have a system in place, it’s just about buying the right ingredients. Here's a list of affordable meal prep ideas to keep your cut sustainable and budget-friendly. 

Sample Meal Prep Plan for a Week 

Breakfast  

  • Overnight oats with banana, chia seeds, and peanut butter 

  • Rolled oats  

  • Bananas  

  • Chia seeds  

  • Peanut butter  

Lunch  

  • Option 1: Chicken rice bowls 

  • Chicken breast  

  • Brown rice  

  • Frozen broccoli  

  • Soy sauce/sriracha (optional)  

  • Option 2: Lentil veggie soup with toast 

  • Dry lentils  

  • Carrots, onions, celery  

  • Vegetable broth  

  • Whole grain bread  

Dinner  

  • Turkey taco bowls 

  • Ground turkey  

  • Canned black beans  

  • Brown rice (from earlier) 

  • Salsa  

  • Shredded lettuce  

  • Tofu stir fry 

  • Extra firm tofu  

  • Stir fry veggie mix  

  • Soy sauce (already bought) 

  • Rice (from earlier) 

Snacks 

  • Greek yogurt  

  • Baby carrots  

  • Hard boiled eggs  

  • Protein shake (optional if already owned) 

With ingredients reused across multiple meals and some pantry staples lasting longer than a week, this plan balances nutrition and affordability while keeping prep realistic for a college schedule. 

Fuel, Focus, and Flex: Cutting Insights from a Nurse and Bodybuilder 

Keith Brown, a nurse and former bodybuilding competitor, emphasized the importance of discipline and safety when cutting while also giving insight into what his diet looked like as he prepared to compete. He said his diet usually consisted of two whole eggs in the morning and half a cup of egg whites as well as lots of broccoli, lean proteins like chicken breast and ground beef, and brown rice. When asked about some of the struggles Brown faced he mentioned his energy levels would fluctuate especially during workouts. He explained, “Some days I’d feel really sore and tired going into a workout. When I talked to the guy that was coaching me he’d say add a cup of brown rice today and that usually helped to get me through the workout”. Brown noted how helpful it was to have a coach as the advice and guidance throughout his training had a profound impact on his results when competing.  

Real Talk: Fitting This Into a Busy College Life 

Cutting isn’t easy—especially at first. But once you find meals you enjoy and get into a routine, things like grocery shopping and meal prep become second nature, and even fun—especially if you involve friends. Sometimes I’ll invite friends over to cook and catch up, which turns it into a great bonding experience. 

The hardest part for me has been the social side. It can feel like a choice between sticking to my diet or spending time with people I care about. I’ve learned to give myself grace. If I go out to eat or have a family dinner, I enjoy it without guilt—and I don’t try to “make up for it” the next day. That mindset shift has helped me stay consistent without burning out. 

At the end of the day, cutting in college is about balance. It’s not about perfection—it’s about progress. With the right mindset, some planning, and flexibility, cutting can fit into your life without taking it over. 

Ella Brooks is a business and entrepreneurship major at North Central College who’s passionate about fitness, food, and helping others make healthy habits stick without draining their bank accounts. As a full-time student, commuter, and part-time worker, she understands how tough it can be to balance everything while trying to stay on track with fitness goals. After going through her own cutting phase, she created this guide to make meal prep and clean eating feel doable for other busy college students. When she’s not lifting, cooking, or studying, you’ll probably find her scrolling through Instagram and Pinterest for new recipes.