Portion control simplified

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Many people get stuck on how much food to eat in a single meal or over the course of a day. In this post I will explain how to measure portions without the hassle of counting calories or taking measuring cups and spoons with you everywhere you go. A good quality meal will both satisfy and provide enough macro and micronutrients to support your bodily functions. This type of meal generally will contain: lean protein, colourful vegetables, smart carbohydrates (which include raw fruit) and healthy fats. The smart folks at Precision Nutrition created the hand measure system to determine suitable portions for each of these food types.

  1. Lean Proteins: for adult men in general shoot for two palm (your own palm) sized pieces of protein and for adult women aim for one palm sized piece of protein per meal. For those interested in numbers, this will equate to 20-30gm of protein per palm size. Lean protein ideally contains all essential amino acids; next time I will delve into some examples of these from animal and plant sources.

  2. Colourful vegetables: adult men and women in general aim for 1-2 fist sized (your own fist) serve per meal. Raw or lightly steamed/roasted are optional.

  3. Smart carbohydrates: smart carbs are close to their natural, whole state and contain fibre, minerals and slow-burning fuel for your workouts and general activity. Some examples include dark coloured rice, sweet potato, white potato, pumpkin, fruit, millet, quinoa. Dark breads also fit the category. If you eat pasta, bread and white rice the portion size remains the same, however, these foods are more processed and contain less fibre etc. For this macronutrient use your own hand scoop as measure. For women aim for 1-2 hand scoops per meal and for men go with 2-3 hand scoops per meal.

  4. Healthy fats: fats are the most calorie dense macronutrient relative to protein and carbs but are absolutely necessary for hormonal and joint health amongst other things. For fat portioning use your own thumb as measure and for men in general shoot for 2-3 thumbs of fat per meal and women 1-2 thumbs per meal.

The portions specified here are all general tips based on a three-meal per day lifestyle and could be a baseline for an individual interested in either fat loss or muscle gain.