Last week I posted about how I’m not really counting calories to lose weight.  This week I thought I would try something out to see how it goes. I always say that portion control is key to any weight loss plan and I was looking for ways to help.

I bought these generic 21-day fix containers on Amazon for $8 and I thought I would give it a try. Sometimes you can’t always weigh out your food or sometimes you just don’t want to do all that.  I have always been curious about the containers and how they worked.  Maybe this is the perfect time for me to try them out.

Here is how it works:

Step #1: Know your food containers

2 small orange containers = Seeds and dressings – 2 TBSP

Blue = Fats – 1/3cup

Purple = Fruit – 1 cup

Yellow = Carbs 1/2 cup

Red = Protein – 3/4 cup

Green = Vegetables – 1 cup

Step #2:  Determine your calorie level

This is the thing that kind of sucks about all of it because it’s just not a portion control device. There seems to be math here that I usually just use an app for. But when you determine your calorie level then you can see how many of each container you can get a day. It’s helpful but not my favorite part of the plan. Why can’t we have fruit at every meal?

By the way, eating 1200 calories or less a day is nuts.  Don’t do that.  I promise you’re always going to be hungry and you’re going to end up binging.  That is the basic amount of calories you need to survive each day.  That means you really can’t work out and eat 1200 calories.

Step #3: Determine your daily intake

I try to eat 1500 – 1800 calories a day so that is the line I’m focused on. This is going to vary for different people based on activity level and weight.

Do you see everyone only gets one of the orange containers a day. That means you can’t go crazy with the dressing and nuts.

Step #:4 Plan your meals

And then there is this nifty list of foods that should go in your containers. It’s handy because you can just pull things from the list and put a meal together. This is good for me because I’m not fancy. I don’t make fancy food; that is why I don’t post recipies on the blog. I just throw some food together in a pan and call it a meal. If I want to eat fancy food, I’m going to go out. It’s less cleaning.

Dinner was my first meal with the containers. I was bummed that beans are indeed a carb and I could have as many baked beans as I wanted. Before I started this meal, I didn’t think it was going to be enough but when I finished I was satisfied.

Now, I’m not going to say this is the reason I felt like crap this morning teaching my class but maybe I didn’t have enough carbs in my meals yesterday. I’m just saying. My running and cycling needs might need a few more carbs than what they are offering.

This is what I’m trying this week.  I will let you know how it goes and maybe it can be something that works for you.

Are you interested in my experiment or would you just rather weigh out your food?