Portion Control Calculator Expanded

For the majority of people, the nutritional aspect of living a healthy and fit lifestyle is often times the most difficult part. As most of you are aware, every fitness program that Beachbody creates is accompanied with a quality nutrition program that is designed to get you optimal results and teach you how to eat healthy along the way.

With the introduction of 21 Day Fix, the portion control system was created, making nutrition a lot easier to manage. Since that initial release of the container system, Beachbody has begun to use (or at least have it as an option) it every new fitness program that is created. They have even gone back and created plans for popular programs where it previously wasn’t available.

To help make your life a bit easier, I have included a portion control container calculator for some of the most popular fitness programs in the Beachbody library. This container calculator provides you with the same information you would find within each of the nutrition guides that are included with their respective fitness program.

21 Day Fix Container Calculator

The 21 Day Fix Container Calculator was the first and it was pretty simple. Enter your weight and multiply that number by 11, add in your daily workout calorie burn (400 calorie estimate), and finally create a caloric deficit (750 calories). This provide you with a number, find which eating plan your number is within range and that’s your eating plan for the duration of the program.

There are only 4 eating plans with 21 Day Fix; Plan A (1,200-1,499), Plan B (1,500-1,799), Plan C (1,800-2,099), or Plan D (2,100-2,299). If your caloric goal was below the Plan A range, you would simply use Plan A, conversely if your caloric goal was above the Plan D range, you would simply drop down to Plan D.

Calculate a 21 Day Fix Plan

21 Day Fix Extreme Container Calculator

The 21 Day Fix Extreme Container Calculator is pretty much the same as the original 21 Day Fix container calculator, but it adds in one additional factor to determine your total caloric goals; activity level. This activity level (Sedentary, Moderate, or Active) affects your caloric baseline; weight multiplied by 11, 12, or 13 respectively. Since the 21 Day Fix Extreme workouts are more intense, it also ups the estimated calorie burn for the workouts to 450 calories, the same 750 calorie deficit is used.

Additional eating plans are also available with the 21 Day Fix Extreme program; Plan E (2,300–2,499) and Plan F (2,500–2,800). These new plans are likely to account for men who wanted to go through the program.

Calculate a 21 Day Fix Extreme Plan

22 Minute Hard Corps Container Calculator

The portion control system for the 22 Minute Hard Corps program uses a slightly different formula to come up with your “ration plan”. One factor that you won’t find in the previous two calculators that is included with the 22 Minute Hard Corps Container Calculator is gender. It is understandable that in many cases men tend to require additional intake to meet caloric needs.

Based on gender, weight range and activity level, a “score” is calculated; 1 through 5. Your score determines which ration plan you will use throughout the 22 Minute Hard Corps program.

Calculate a 22 Minute Hard Corps Plan

Body Beast Container Calculator

The Body Beast Container Calculator has 2 additional factors to determine your nutrition plan; body fat % and primary goal (Gain Muscle Mass, Lean Out, Weight Loss).

Calculating your body fat can be a bit tricky if you have never done this in the past. Here are a couple of resources to help you calculate your body fat.

Of course, most people immediately assume that Body Beast is only for adding muscle mass and this just simply isn’t the case. Body Beast is a strength training program at its core and while that does promote muscle growth, your nutrition is always going to be the determining factor in how your body composition changes throughout the course of the program.

This program does include several more nutrition plans (19 in total, up to 5200 calories!!) to follow as your calorie requirements increase. Also worth noting here is that depending on your goals, your nutrition plan will likely change as your transition into phase 3 of the 12-week program.

Calculate a Body Beast Plan

Core de Force Container Calculator

The Core de Force Container Calculator is essentially the same what you find with 21 Day Fix. The only exception being that Plan D is slightly expanded up to 2400.

Calculate a Core De Force Plan

Hammer and Chisel Calculator

The Hammer and Chisel Container Calculator is comparable to the Body Beast formula, but it removes the body fat percentage factor from the equation and only uses a weight range instead of exact weight.

There are a total of 8 nutrition plans with Hammer and Chisel, but unlike a shift in phase 3 found in Body Beast, you will stay on the same nutrition plan throughout the 60-day program.

Calculate a Hammer and Chisel Plan

Free Beachbody Food Container Resources

Want some additional resources to help keep you on track with your food containers and portion control?

Enter your name and email address below and you’ll get instant access to the following PDF resources:

Container Tally Sheets
Container Food List
Grocery List
Meal Planner
Sample Menus – Body Beast, Core de Force

What is Portion Control?

Portion control is knowing what a healthy serving of food looks like. Unfortunately, most Americans struggle with understanding portion control, and simply eat too much. Reliance on food scales or constant calorie-tracking to lose weight can be just too much for a lot of people. And even the healthiest eaters struggle with portion control by overeating healthy foods. Knowing just how much to eat is often confusing and frustrating—but it doesn’t have to be!

With Portion Fix, you can master portion control, reach your fitness goals, and ultimately live a healthier life. It’s simple. You’ll never have to “diet,” count your calories, or “eyeball” your portions. Just follow the eating plan and eat according to the portion-controlled, color-coded containers. If your food fits in the container, you can eat it—and you’ll finally lose the weight!

What are the Portion Control Eating Plan Details?

The Portion Control Eating Plan is not a recipe-based plan like other Beachbody nutrition plans. Here’s how it works: Start by calculating a calorie level based on starting weight. Next, find the calorie chart that corresponds with the calorie level. This will indicate the daily allotment of color-coded containers. From there, the Eating Plan shows a list of foods that can be eaten with each color-coded container. Then, just fill the containers with the foods from the list, up to the daily allotment of the containers. No required recipes. No required number of meals. No required foods or ingredients. If it fits in the container, it can be eaten!

What Food Goes In Which Container Color?

Green Containers – These are for vegetables. It doesn’t matter if you are using chopped, raw, cooked, or sliced veggies, simply fill this container with veggies as many times as you are instructed to. Don’t feel bad about squishing in things like lettuce or squash. Squish away!
Red Containers – These are for protein. Think of foods like eggs, shellfish, and turkey breast, lean cuts of ham or beef, and chicken. For a complete list, see your food list guide.
Purple Containers – This container is for fruit. Think of how many berries or grapes you could fit in these! For fruits with pits, such as peaches, you should cut them and remove the pits. That means more great food for you!
Yellow Containers – Use these for carbs and starches. This is where you put beans, rice, whole grain pasta, brown rice, and sweet potatoes. Some foods won’t fit here easily (like waffles or toast) so proper portions can be found in the guide.
Orange Containers – This is for dressing and seeds. This is the smallest container, but you can actually put quite a bit in there if you think about it. Salad dressings, Chia seeds, coconut oil, and olive oil. Check with your guide if you aren’t sure about what is allowed.
Blue Containers – These are for all those tasty, healthy fats such as nuts, cheese, and avocados, and hummus.
There is also a teaspoon measurement and this is for oils and butters, such as olive oil and peanut butter. A teaspoon is not provided with the containers, so you’ll need to use your own. (And who doesn’t have a teaspoon in their kitchen?)

How To Use Them

Now that you know what goes in the containers, it’s time to use them. Although you don’t have to count your calories each day, you should use page 4 of your guide to figure out approximately how many calories you need in a day. Once you do, take a look at the 21 chart on page 19 that will let you how many containers of each color you should eat each day for your calorie range. If you’re paying attention to macronutrient percentages, you’ll notice that the plan is roughly 40% carbohydrates, 30%protein, and 30% fat.

Although the guide contains recommendations for how much of one type of food can fit into a container, you can mix and match foods of the same category to fill a single container. For example, if you don’t want to use a whole green container for spinach, then you can fill one half full of spinach and the other half full of carrots, and it will still equal one green container.

As convenient and transportable as the containers are, you don’t have to eat out of them. You can measure out the portions in the containers and then empty the container out onto a plate or into a bowl.

Why the Container System (Portion Control) Works

You don’t have to count calories. You only count containers. And it’s a lot easier to keep track of three green containers than x number of calories.

It’s definitely enough food. Often when people begin this program, they find that they’re full even before they’ve finished all their container portions for the day. That’s because healthy food has more volume than junk food. If you find you find this is the case for you, only eat what you can, but make sure to eat a little from all the containers instead of just filling up on your favorite kind and avoiding what you like the least.

It’s practical. Portion control is about moderation and being aware of what you’re eating. The containers help you do this. After you’ve completed your first few weeks, you’ll have a good idea of how many fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats you should be eating every day.

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