Many meals happen outside of your home (family members house, restaurants, etc.), which makes measuring food almost impossible. Don’t avoid these functions or feel the need to bring your food scale with you and be “that guy” or “that girl.” Simply learn how to measure food with your hands.
Here is how it works:
- Your palm determines your protein portions.
- Your fist determines your vegetable portions.
- Your cupped hand determines your carbohydrates portions.
- Your thumb determines your fat portions.
For protein-dense foods like meat, fish, eggs, dairy, or beans, use a palm-sized serving.
- For men, we recommend two palm-sized portions with each meal.
- For women, we recommend one palm-sized portion with each meal.
For vegetables like broccoli, spinach, salad, carrots, etc., use a fist-sized serving.
- For men, we recommend two fist-sized portions of vegetables with each meal.
- For women, we recommend one fist-sized portion of vegetables with each meal.
For carbohydrate-dense foods like grains, starches, or fruits, use a cupped hand to determine your serving size.
- For men, we recommend two cupped-hand sized portions of carbohydrates with most meals.
- For women, we recommend one cupped-hand sized portion of carbohydrates with most meals.
For fat-dense foods like oils, butter, nut butter, nuts/seeds, use your entire thumb to determine your serving size.
- For men, we recommend two thumb-sized portions of fats with most meals.
- For women, we recommend one thumb-sized portion of fats with most meals.
A note on body size:
If you’re a bigger person, you probably have a large hand. And if you’re a smaller person, you probably have a little hand. Your hand is a personalized (and portable) measuring device for your food intake.
Based on the guidelines above, which assumes you’ll be eating about four times a day, you now have a simple guide for meal planning on the go.
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