A personal trainer says his £49 M&S shop proves you can hit protein goals without blowing your food budget

Personal trainer Sergio Alcover challenged the idea that shopping at Marks & Spencer has to be expensive, sharing a full week of groceries for just under £50. As reported by Ladbible, the online fitness coach, who regularly shares meal prep routines and client transformations on Instagram, said he was pleasantly surprised to find his total bill came in only about £9 more than a typical Aldi shop.

The full shop came to £49. Sergio said he keeps costs down by watching for reduced items, noting that protein and carbohydrate staples are frequently discounted, and pairing those deals with staples like avocados, Greek yoghurt, and dark chocolate helps balance the overall cost.

His haul included three bananas for 54p, chicken reduced from £9 to £6.48, and 5 percent British Aberdeen Angus mince marked down from £7.50 to £5.47. He also picked up mixed peppers for £2.80, an avocado for £2, 0 percent fat Greek yoghurt for £2.50, organic sourdough for £1.89, pasta for £1.35, smooth peanut butter for £2.35, tuna for £2.80, black beans for 55p, dark chocolate for £3, and lightly salted rice cakes for £1.65.

Sergio breaks down exactly how he stretches his protein budget

For his meal plan, Sergio said the Greek yoghurt would go toward yoghurt bowls, though he was unable to add frozen blueberries on this trip because the store’s freezers were not working. His lunches and dinners generally follow a protein, carbohydrate, and vegetable structure, built around ingredients like chicken, rice, and vegetables prepared in different ways. He noted that the shop did not include everything he used that week, since he already had jasmine rice, oil, and seasonings at home.

One of his regular meals is a Mexican-inspired bowl, made by seasoning chicken with garlic, smoked paprika, all-purpose seasoning, and black pepper before air frying it. He pairs the chicken with peppers, onions, black beans, and jasmine rice, finishing the bowl with avocado and lime. Similar budget-conscious grocery stories have circulated recently, including one where a family’s $6,200 worth of library books turned into a separate consumer dispute after they tried reselling them at a used bookstore.

The Aberdeen Angus mince gets portioned into servings of roughly 160 to 170 grams and frozen for use later in the week. Sergio said the shop could reasonably stretch across a full week while still meeting his protein goals, adding, “I could 100% eat just this for a week.”

Protein is an essential macronutrient the body needs for energy, growth, and repair, and it’s made up of amino acids that must be consumed through food since some cannot be produced by the body, according to M&S Senior Nutritionist Sophia Thistlethwaite. Protein also plays a role in muscle recovery after exercise, and while meat, fish, and poultry are common sources, eggs, dairy, beans, lentils, and other legumes count as well.

M&S points shoppers toward its Eat Well flower label, a health seal developed with the British Nutrition Foundation, as a way to find protein-rich options in store. Other viral consumer stories have surfaced this week as well, including a Texas storage unit dispute over a payment processing glitch.

Sergio’s shop suggests that sticking to a strict, planned list can make even higher-end grocery stores workable on a tighter budget.