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Portion Sizes
Nutrition | February 03, 2015
I’m not a fan of counting calories, because quite frankly it’s a little bit of a hassle and besides, it’s not always accurate. If you rely on searching for nutrition facts in handbooks, websites or apps, you can’t be sure the data are correct. In fact, research has shown they can be off by about 25% because of measurement errors, incorrect labeling, or food quality. You have to also consider “calories out” which comes with another 25% measurement error because it’s hard to determine exactly how many calories you burn on any given day. It will vary depending on the activities, workouts, and individual differences. The good news is that calorie counting is rarely necessary. All you need is your own hands to determine your portion sizes:
- Your palm determines your protein portions.
- Your cupped hands determine your veggie portions.
- Your one cupped hand determines your carb and fruit portions.
- Your thumb determines your fat portions.
Protein Intake
For protein dense foods like meat, fish, or egg whites use one palm sized serving. Two palms for men.
Vegetable Intake
For veggies like broccoli, spinach, salad, carrots, etc. use two hands cupped together sized serving. Double the amount for men.
Fruit and Starchy Carb Intake
For carbohydrate dense foods like grains, starches or fruits use a cupped hand sized serving. Two cupped hands for men.
Fat Intake
For fat dense foods like oils, nuts, nut butters, avocado, egg yolk, etc. – use your entire thumb sized serving. Two thumbs for men.
Body Size
Our hand size correlates pretty closely with our body size including muscle, bone, the whole deal. Therefor your hand is a personalized and portable measuring device for your food intake.
Planning your meals
Based on the guidelines above, which assume you’ll be eating about 4 times a day, you now have a simple and flexible guide for meal planning. Remember that this is a starting point. You can adjust your portions or meal frequency depending on your goals and the progress you’re making. You can’t know exactly how your body will respond in advance, so stay flexible and adjust your portions based on your hunger, fullness, goals, etc.
For example if you’re trying to lose weight but don’t seem to get any results, you can try to eliminate a cupped palm of carbs at a particular meals. Or if you’re having trouble gaining weight, you can add an extra cupped palm of carbs or a palm of protein. Since this is a starting point, it will always be important to adjust your portions based on how is this working for YOU.
If you want to take this a little further and dig a little deeper, I have a really good guide to help you eat right for your body type.
Private Member |
Ok thanks for responding to my zuzka.
Adriana. 🙂 :p
Private Member |
kraków, poland
How many carbohydrates need per day (separately fruit and carb)? At what time? Can I eat fruit after dinner 3 hours later, as a snack? Or only morning? How should I eat after a workout in the morning: it’s a light snack or complex carb + easy?
P.S. Sorry for my english, it’s google translate.. 🙂
Private Member |
toronto, canada
I just have one question for Zuzka or anyone that knows 🙂
How many servings of each food group should we have per day?
Private Member |
What are the portion sizes for dairy? And where do they fall FM or WEM?
What are portion sizes for milk, pain Greek yogurt and cheese? Or is this a no-no in your diet plan?
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka,
how about diet tips that say don’t have fruits after meal or mix animal protein with carbs. Do u mix alll these at each meal?
Private Member |
Hey Zuzka .
I dont drink coffee what can i replace it befor workout ?
Nis
Private Member |
I love this! Makes counting so much easier. 🙂
Private Member |
So I’m definitely not eating enough… Should I be forcing myself to eat all this food 4 times per day? Also for the fat, if I wanted to eat half an avocado, could I eat that in one meal and not have fat at my other meals during the day?
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka
I am wondering your daily fat intake. I know that you don’t count calories but you pay attention to your portion size. So how do you understand whether you eat enough/too much fat. I am trying to follow your nutrition tips in terms of both protein and carbs but I noticed that you did not say much about the portion size of fat.
Thanks.
Private Member |
Hey Zuzka, I am 5.8 and 180 pounds. I’m muscular from doing sports all my life but there is still quite some weight I would like to lose (My goal is 160 pounds). Now I am wondering about the portion sizes. I know its just a guideline but my hands are about the same size as the hands of my friend (5.2/125 pounds) and I really am hungry all the time if I stick to those portions. Can you recommend another way to determine portions for losing weight?