Finding Your Perfect Balance: A Simple Guide to Healthy Eating and Portion Control

I don’t like the word diet—it sounds like a fad, something you do for a while and then drop. Instead, I prefer to call healthy eating a lifestyle, because let’s be real—it’s hard, and it takes a true lifestyle change to make it stick!

Let me share how my healthy food journey started. I’ve always loved working out, but I had no idea how to eat properly. Honestly, I worked out just so I could eat junk food—😆 But in 2008, my friend started her career in personal training, and naturally, I became her client. She introduced me to Beachbody and their nutrition plan, the 21 Day Fix. It’s all about balanced, whole foods and portion control—no calorie counting or tracking macros. And let me tell you, that’s when healthy eating really started to make sense for me.

Growing up, diets were always about strict rules and counting calories, but none of them ever made me feel great or gave lasting results. It was always about how you look, not how you feel. Thankfully, we’ve moved on from those fad diets. I believe the focus should be on whole-body wellness, not just popping pills or, at this point, injections, for a quick fix. The real solution? Nutrient-rich food. Those three words are the golden key. Imagine it like a video game: you score a coin for finding nutrient-rich food, another for exercising, and before you know it—boom, you’ve unlocked the key to better health!

(Can you tell I live with teenage boys?😂)

I know I spend a lot of time talking about what not to eat, but let’s also talk about what you can eat! My goal is to help you feel healthier, not to make you feel bad about your food choices—nothing but love here!

So, back to the 21 Day Fix: this is hands down one of the easiest ways to get started with healthy eating. With Pinterest, blogs, and the internet at your fingertips, all the info you need is right there. And if you’re sick and tired of dealing with chronic pain and sickness, you’ve got to dig in and educate yourself—no one can do it for you. It’s not easy! Just because I’m small and thin doesn’t mean I’ve got it all figured out—I work on my eating habits every single day. A healthy gut is everything when it comes to staying healthy. Mine was wrecked by toxins, so I totally get what an unhealthy gut can do to you. But I’ve learned (and continue to learn) how to heal it.

Healthy eating should be more about feeling good rather than just looking a certain way.

Here’s how the 21 Day Fix works: each day, you’re assigned a set number of color-coded containers based on your calorie needs, which are calculated by your weight. The plan focuses on portion control and balanced nutrition, making it easier to reach your goals without feeling deprived or counting every single calorie. The containers break down into:

- Green: Vegetables

- Purple: Fruits

- Red: Protein

- Yellow: Carbohydrates

- Blue: Healthy fats (like cheese and nuts)

- Orange: Seeds and dressings

- Teaspoons: Oils and nut butters

You can grab these containers on Amazon and follow the guidelines—there are lists of foods to choose from, so really, no excuses! Once you start using the containers to build your meals, you’ll be surprised at how full and satisfied you feel. I know they look small and deceiving at first, but it’s all about creating a balanced meal with the right portions of nutrients. And hey, look at it like a fun challenge: try it for 21 days and honestly, what’s the worst that could happen? Oh no, you might feel better? How awful! 😆

And here's why it’s called the 21 Day Fix—because it takes 21 days to build a habit! Once you learn how to eat right, you’ll find you don’t even need the containers anymore—they’re like training wheels. Before you know it, eating healthy will be second nature, and just like that, you’ve changed your habits!

Let me tell you from experience—when I followed the 21 Day Fix, it was the best I’ve ever felt. But, as life happens, things change. We get busy, and sometimes those healthy eating habits slip. And that’s okay! Don’t beat yourself up. Stick with the 21 Day Fix for a solid three months and then start easing up (if you want!), but here’s the thing—you now know how to eat right. So even if you indulge or go off track, you can always fall back on those healthy habits you’ve built!

And if you’ve got kids? Trust me, they’ll pick up on these habits too. It’s a win for everyone!

Instead of spending hours searching the internet to kickstart your health journey, I’m laying it all out for you—step by step!

Step 1: Calculate Your Calorie Target

You start by figuring out how many calories you should eat per day based on your weight. Here’s the formula:

Example:

If you weigh 150 pounds:

- 150 x 11 = 1,650 (baseline calorie burn)

- 1,650 + 400 = 2,050 (calorie needs with exercise)

- 2,050 - 750 = 1,300 calories (daily intake for weight loss)

Once you have your daily calorie target, you use that number to determine how many of each color-coded container you get per day.

Step 2: Match Your Calorie Range to Containers

Here’s a quick breakdown of the container count based on your daily calorie intake:

That’s it! Once you’ve figured out your calorie intake, follow your container count for the day, focusing on whole, nutritious foods that fit into each category.

Let’s break it down a little more. Here are some examples on how to use the containers.

You can choose the foods you want and you can mix it up how you want! As long as you follow the container count for the day! And you’re definitely going to want to meal prep and pre-make meals for each week! Pick one day and make all your meals, try to be consistent! It will be easier to eat healthy if you have your meals ready to go! I use these to-go containers.

During the first week of switching to clean eating, it’s totally normal to experience some gas and bloating. When you start eating more whole, fiber-rich foods like fruits, veggies, and whole grains, your digestive system needs time to adjust. The increased fiber can cause gas as your gut bacteria work to break down the new foods. It’s just your body getting used to the healthier stuff, so don’t stress—it should pass in a little while! Be sure to drink plenty of water to help your system adjust and ease any discomfort. And of course, I feel obligated to say, consult your doctor. By that, I mean keep them in the loop—let them know what you're doing and get your bloodwork done beforehand so they can monitor your progress. Show them how real food can be the best medicine to heal your body!

Alright, now get your butt moving… literally! The rest is up to you! You’ve got to add in some exercise, but don’t worry—I’m not saying you need to join a gym or dive into hardcore workouts right off the bat. Just keep it simple! In the Army, we stuck to the basics—push-ups and sit-ups. It’s effective, easy to do anywhere, and a great way to get started. So, go for a walk every day, then knock out 10 push-ups and 10 sit-ups. Do that for a week. The next week, challenge yourself to bump it up to 15 or 20. Keep building on what you start—small steps lead to big progress! You’ve got this!

And hey, if you need accountability, I’m here for it! Just reach out. I’m only an email or text away. I may have left the military, but the military hasn’t left me!