4 Ways My Eating Has Changed

Welcome to our monthly Q&A :)

Author

Lacey Baier
April 29, 2024

Hey there, Cleanish Squad!  

We’ve got lots of great questions for our Q&A! If you haven’t yet, please use this form to submit any questions for future Q&As! 🙂 

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions for the Q&A ❤️

Question: Where would you recommend someone begin strength training (who knows nothing of which sets/reps/exercises) to do?

My Answer: I’m so excited for you to get started! Strength training can be a little intimidating at first, but I think you’re gonna fall in love with the process. I go into very specific detail in my video on How I’d Lose 100 Pounds in 2024, but my recommendation would be to break your workouts into 3 different days, followed by 1-2 rest days.

  • Day 1: Press exercises that target chest, shoulders, and triceps.

  • Day 2: Pull exercises that target back and biceps.

  • Day 3: Leg exercises that target quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves.

In the beginning, the goal is consistently getting to the gym and learning the correct movements. I recommend starting with 1 exercise per muscle group listed above—learn the correct form by watching YouTube videos, then practice with light weights at first. If you can easily reach 12 reps, increase the weight for the next set. Have fun!

Question: I’m struggling to meet my protein intake. Can you help with ideas please?!!

My Answer: The single easiest way to eat more protein is to increase the existing protein you’re already eating. Here are 5 examples:

  1. Eating eggs? Add another egg or egg whites

  2. Eating meat with your meal? Have 6 ounces instead of 3 or 4.

  3. Having a smoothie? Add a scoop of protein powder.

  4. Having a yogurt? Check the protein content, and increase your serving size.

  5. Snack time? Choose a high protein snacks (these are my faves)

If you make these simple changes with each meal, you will easily increase your total protein for the day by 40-80 grams.

Question: Do you still fast? And are you still eating the same way now as you did when you first started your YouTube videos?

My Answer: I first started my YouTube videos over 10 years ago 😳 so things have changed quite a bit for me. However, I am still eating clean, using meal prep, and living a cleanish lifestyle.

The main things that have changed are:

  1. I focus more on tracking macros now than I did when I first got started. Back then, I more focused on the nutrition of the foods, and swapping clean foods into my diet. Now that I understand that fully, I use tracking my macros to reach my goals.

  2. I eat to build muscle. My goals have changed since when I got started. Back then, I was looking to lose weight and feel better. I accomplished that, and then started a new goal of building muscle, which requires eating more food.

  3. I meal prep differently. I don’t portion out my meals ahead of time much since COVID when I started working exclusively from home. Now that I can prepare my meals at home during the day, I more bulk meal prep than I do specific pre-portioned meal prep. That means I prep rice, ground beef, sweet potatoes, etc., and keep them in the fridge to grab and toss together on the stove, as needed. This allows me more flexibility at home and enables my family to grab whatever pre-cooked carbs and proteins they’d like as well.

  4. I have temporarily stopped fasting for the past few months as I test the impact on muscle growth in my workouts. I recently shared this I Quit Intermittent Fasting video on YouTube on this exact topic and what my reasons were for changing something that had worked so well for me.

Question: What kind of pasta do you eat?

My Answer: I’m currently a fan of Barilla Chickpea Rotini. It’s literally one ingredient: chickpeas. Each serving has 25g protein and 11g fiber, making it very nutritious. This is another food I bulk meal prep so it’s ready to grab from the fridge. It’s very common for me to grab some cooked pasta noodles, tomato sauce, cooked ground beef or turkey, and cooked zucchini and then stir-fry them together on the stove. It turns a normal 45-minute meal into a 10-minute meal that feels like a home-cooked, fresh meal.

Question: I know I need to drink more water, but I am struggling. Please help.

My Answer: I used to struggle with this, too. But some simple tips really changed my life, and now I easily drink about a gallon of water a day without even really trying. Here are the tips I used, and share with my clients:

  • Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to drink 10-20 ounces of water four times a day.

  • Drink 10-20 oz of water immediately upon waking. When you awake, you’re dehydrated from sleep, and it will be easier to drink and replenish your body with liquid.

  • Commit to drink a glass of water before you have any other (more preferred) drink. For example, do not have coffee until you drink your water.

  • Add fruits and herbs to liven up your water (I have a video on Infused Water Recipes here)

Hopefully, those tips will help you like they helped me 🙂 

Thanks again to those who submitted their questions. If you have any questions, submit them here for our next Q&A!

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