Hey there.
This is my first thread ever, so excuse any retardation on my behalf.
I couldn't find a different thread similar enough to suit my needs, but if a thread like this exists, I'll happily relocate.

Long story short, I was happily training until my life fell apart (unemployment, alcohol abuse, messy breakup, etc etc), which left me out of commission for about six months. Now I'm looking to get back on the horse and get myself into exhibition match shape, like I had originally intended.

I ride my bike between two and three hours a day, I'm starting swimming again, and I've found a new BJJ studio to get involved in.

Now, I don't have a lot of money, and I'm working for free for a friend, so cost is a massive issue when it comes to what I can cram in my face hole.

I can only spend about $50 AUD a fortnight on food, which mostly goes into beans, rice, and roughage.

What would you guys recommend for a balanced diet on a very thin budget?

about that pretty much. Brown rice in bulk. I like tuna and some vegies as well.

Oats for breakfast.

Some eggs for variety.

Tuna (I love making tuna melts with avocado/tomatoes when they're on sale), lentils (for your winter soup/stew needs), black beans/rice (for all other meals).

A good site to follow/rummage through for recipes would be: earlyretirementextreme.com

Jacob's advice has helped me cut my food costs to $120*/monthly (was spending $200*/monthly), while eating twice as many calories with a much healthier variety.

A great site to follow/rummage through for recipes would be: http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/

They basically have recipes you can make in bulk, with the nutritional values and cost laid out. Just used this recipe (http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2010/06/yep-this-is-its-real-name-moors-and.html) to spice up my standard beans/rice lunch.

*USD (not that it really matters to the OP since our currencies are almost synched right now)

low carbs after lunch, raw rolled oats, egg white omelete (some yolk), tuna, brown rice, veges, some wraps (mountain bread), bbq chickens sell cheaper at the end of the day, make up a tomato based stew with cheaper meat to last a few days, um thats all I can think of this time o morning.

My suggestions are for getting cheap sources of protein that aren't high in fat. They may not be ideal or what you would choose if you have more money. Also these suggestions assume you can cook. If you can't, my only advice is learn to cook.

I have some ideas... ground beef for one. If you buy the full fat kind (cheaper) there are some tricks to cooking it so that you take out just about all the fat. One way is to boil it for a few minutes then drain it before putting it in the frying pan. Another couple ways including fry it till the fat comes out, drain, then put on a plate with a few layesr paper towel, another few layers overtop, and press the fat out. This can be used to make a chili with red kidney beans etc.

When cooking anything with ground meat, you can cut it with TVP (textured vegetable protein). This stuff I have found also has the advantage of keeping you regular, but you might want to have a beano with it to ensure good digestion. To do this follow the instructions on your TVP package to hydrate the soy. Prepare meat normally but only use half what you would otherwise use. Add hydrated TVP to your meat.

I also recommend a lot of beans and legumes. Chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), lentils, kidney beans, quinoa, and couscous. There are some recipes you can find such as chicken korma, split pea soup, chili, various salads with quinoa or couscous.

Also you can make your own energy bars with peanut butter, oatmeal, and chocolate whey protein, although I haven't tried yet and I don't know how appetizing they would be.

Of course also plenty of fruits and vegetables. Vegetables will probably be cheaper. If you burn a lot of calories, and it sounds like you do, some rice dishes such as stir fries will be good. However, don't ever make a pure rice a meal. I have a friend who did this because he was low on cash and his meals kept getting bigger and bigger as he kept getting fatter and fatter, and he also seemed to keep getting many health issues.

If you can get to an asian grocer you can pick up bulk 2 min noodles for cheap (circa 20c a pack sometimes). You can add protein/vegetables to it to suit (either coles or woolies often have tuna cans for $1 each) or have it as is if you're a bit skint.