Odd idea, but I hope someone has tried it too.

Interesting strategy, if it works, go with it. I'd suggest that you plan out your next day's worth of eating the night before, if you don't already, so you know that you're hitting your goal, and stick to what you've entered in your diary militantly. I think the container idea is kind of cool, and if it works, that's awesome. Good luck

Ouch stop the negative self talk right now!! Would you tell a close friend that she gained weight because she is an idiot? I hope not. You need to talk to yourself like you are your closest, dearest friend. Take care of yourself- no more beating yourself up!

That said, I sometimes pre-log my foods so it's more of a cyber-box . You can devote yourself to a better you, better health, and a better future. Write down what you want for yourself. Remember those goals and aspirations when you are ready to go "f' it" mode.

In the mean time, make little changes to your lifestyle that you can stick with. It may start as a 5-minute walk every day. It may be choosing water instead of soda. One change at a time will add up. You can do this.

I did something similar but opposite to meet my water needs.

I set out 4 16.9 ounce bottles of water which would total the 8 glasses you need for the day on my counter. I'd use them for coffee/tea or drinking straight. when those bottles were gone I knew I'd reached my water goals. say I drank juice....I'd remove one of the bottles to represent the juice I drank.

of course i logged the cals too, this was just to keep track to make sure i drank enough fluids when i first started and was not used to it. by now I just wing it. i'm certain i get enough by now.

I cook ahead so that I have a portion of something waiting for me and I'm not scrambling around looking for food, and then overeating. I'm way too lazy to cook at night, plus I go to the gym several times a week, so it helps me stay in control. I've also started drinking a lot more water, upping protein and having small snacks throughout the day.

It is a learning process. I take snack sized baggies and measure out my snacks according to the per serving on the nutrition label, then mark each one with the calories per serving so I can log it accurately. I store them in a plastic grocery bag in the cupboard and this reminds me no matter what snacks ate in the house for dh and dd that that bag of already measured snacks are for me only. I permit myself to have one of "my snacks" per day and is usually in the evening after dinner. It is my treat for keeping in track. You have to try different things in order to find out what works best for you. Sending you a friends request as we can help and support each other

I hope this works for you, but your container will not be there when you go out to eat, or go to a family gathering. Using MFP to log all your food in the morning might be a little easier. Do you weigh/measure your food? That was a big eye opener for me. What I thought was 3 ounces was almost always more. One serving means nothing in the big scheme of things.

Weighing and measuring (and logging everything) is what finally helped me get my eating under control. It has even stopped me from binging. I do not want to have to give up my dinner because I ate a box of cookies. The most important thing I have learned is moderation. I'm not going to lie, that took a lot of months. But, unlike your container, my moderation skills go with me EVERYWHERE.

Best of luck.

ETA: After seeing the last post, remember that ALL foods have calories. It's about staying in a deficit, not the foods you eat. I eat all foods - just have learned to stay within my calorie goals for the week.

ditto on what others have said regarding ditching the negative self-talk. Also not so sure I am keen on the concept of "allowing" oneself only certain foods. I eat what I want! I just am working on changing what I want, and taking into consideration more than just what might taste good at the moment. Different things work for different people, but I don't think *anyone* gets to treating themselves healthy by beating up on themselves.

There are also like a gazillion foods I like that are better choices than some others I like. I've also been working on being more self-aware about those choices. If figuring out those choices before hand and putting them in your box so you don't have to remember the yummy things you picked out to eat works for you- then great! Just don't call yourself stupid if it doesn't (at least not in a way where you are anything more than 100% joking. I call myself an idiot all the time, I am very much aware I am highly intelligent, I just act stupid sometimes!)

oh and I will repeat what others have (and will) say about weighing all solids and measuring out all liquids. At least while you are learning what a serving size of various foods actually looks like. Educate yourself, practice, try different methods to see what works for you, pay attention, be self-aware (even if being self aware is just recording everything you eat as you eat-all-the-foods). You don't even have to not mindlessly eat every day, slip-ups won't define your success if you don't let them become your routine instead of the anomaly.

I've done something somewhat similar. For me, planning is key. I need to have a plan of what I'm eating the next day. If I wing it, I'm going to go astray. Plan the work, work the plan. I didn't use a plastic container, but I did prep everything the day before. I typically left myself a little leeway, allowing myself a snack on the fly.

I didn't do it all the time, mostly if I had a full day with a lot of running around. To do that on a daily basis would require too much focus and planning for me.

I did this for my husband for a while and it worked well for him - There is something about looking at a bunch of food and knowing that that is all there is...especially when it came to things like sweet treats - he would look in the box and see that there was just one, and he had to consider whether he really wanted it after lunch, or whether he would rather save it for after dinner…However, it is time consuming, and I am sorry to say I was not willing to keep it up for more than a month. But maybe that will be enough to break the habit or re-educate yourself - and then you can transition to the pre-logging that others have suggested.

I do something very similar, but my main reason is because I am gone all day and need to take the entire days worth of food with me. I work from 630-3, and I go to school in the evenings until about 7 PM. I eat breakfast at home before I leave the house, but when I leave, I have lunch, dinner and 2-3 snacks with me. I don't bring more food than I will need for the day, and the snacks help me stay away from the tempting vending machines or going out to eat. I think it is a wonderful idea! I also like the suggestion someone above me made, remove all of the bad and unhealthy foods from your house period. If they are not in the kitchen, you will not be able to eat them=]