There are numerous ways to track your nutritional intake, which can make it overwhelming to choose an accurate method that suits you.
To simplify this process, we’ve developed the hand portion method.
This method makes nutrition tracking accessible to everyone and supports any health and fitness goals you might have.
**A Breakdown: The Hand Portion Method**
Precision Nutrition’s hand portion method provides an easy way to track your macros, allowing you to manage your food intake without the need for weighing, measuring, or counting calories.
The approach is straightforward: estimate portion sizes using your hands.
It’s not about precise measurements but using your hand as a reliable guide for portion sizes.
What makes the hand portion method especially effective is its natural alignment with your body’s proportions. Additionally, the size of your adult hand remains constant, ensuring consistency in portioning.
Here’s a summary of how the hand portion method works:
– **Protein:** Use your palm to measure your protein portion.
– **Vegetables:** Use your clenched fist to determine your veggie portion.
– **Carbohydrates:** Use your cupped hand to estimate your carb portion.
– **Fats:** Use your thumb to gauge your fat portion.
Once you familiarize yourself with these portion sizes, aim to meet your personalized daily balance.
**Recommended Hand Portions per Meal:**
– **Protein:** 1-2 palms of protein-dense foods
– **Vegetables:** 1-2 fists of vegetables
– **Carbohydrates:** 1-2 cupped handfuls of carbs
– **Fats:** 1-2 thumbs of fat-dense foods
You may need to adjust these recommendations based on your goals and body type.
**Benefits of the Hand Portion Method:**
– **Accuracy with Minimal Effort:** Research shows that hand portion tracking is 95% as accurate as other tracking methods, without the need for meticulous measurements.
– **Customization:** This method can be adapted to any dietary preference, whether it’s Mediterranean, Paleo, vegetarian, ketogenic, or plant-based.
– **Macronutrient Management:** Easily adjust the proportions of protein, carbs, and fats to suit your individual needs and goals.
– **Calorie Estimation:** Each hand portion corresponds to an approximate calorie count:
– 1 palm of protein ≈ 130-145 kcal
– 1 fist of veggies ≈ 25 kcal
– 1 cupped hand of carbs ≈ 110-120 kcal
– 1 thumb of fats ≈ 90-100 kcal
**Assumed Variety of Food Choices**
Our hand portion system accommodates a variety of food types, including:
– **Protein:** A mix of high-fat, moderate-fat, and low-fat sources.
– **Carbohydrates:** A range of fruits, starchy tubers, beans, and whole grains.
– **Fats:** Fat-rich whole foods (like nuts, cheese, or avocado), blended foods (such as pesto or nut butters), and pressed oils.
The hand portion method is flexible and can be tailored to fit individual dietary preferences. For example, if you’re on a ketogenic diet, you can increase your fat portions to compensate for the reduced carbohydrates.
**Examples of Hand Portion Method: Approximate Sizes for Each Macronutrient**
Here are some general guidelines for portion sizes using the hand portion method. These are approximations and will vary based on the size of your hand and your body’s needs.
**For Men:**
– **Protein:** A palm-sized portion equals about 4 ounces of cooked meat/tofu, 1 cup of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, 1 scoop of protein powder, or 2 whole eggs.
– **Vegetables:** A fist-sized portion is equivalent to about 1 cup of non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, cauliflower, or peppers.
– **Carbohydrates:** A cupped hand equals about ⅔ cup of cooked grains or legumes, 1 medium-sized fruit, or 1 medium tuber.
– **Fats:** A thumb-sized portion is around 1 tablespoon of oils, nuts, seeds, nut butter, avocados/guacamole, cheese, and dark chocolate.
**For Women:**
– **Protein:** A palm-sized portion equals about 3 ounces of cooked meat/tofu, 1 cup of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, 1 scoop of protein powder, or 2 whole eggs.
– **Vegetables:** A fist-sized portion is equivalent to about 1 cup of non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, cauliflower, or peppers.
– **Carbohydrates:** A cupped hand equals about ½ cup of cooked grains or legumes, 1 medium-sized fruit, or 1 medium tuber.
– **Fats:** A thumb-sized portion is around 1 tablespoon of oils, nuts, seeds, nut butter, avocados/guacamole, cheese, and dark chocolate.
### Approximate Math for Macronutrient Portions
For those who prefer a numbers-based approach, here are the approximate macros each portion provides based on the examples given:
**Macros for Men’s Approximate Portions:**
– **1 palm of protein:** ~ 24 g protein, 2 g carbs, 4.5 g fat, 145 kcal
– **1 fist of veggies:** ~ 1.5 g protein, 5 g carbs, 0 g fat, 25 kcal
– **1 cupped hand of carbs:** ~ 3 g protein, 25 g carbs, 1 g fat, 120 kcal
– **1 thumb of fats:** ~ 2 g protein, 2 g carbs, 9 g fat, 100 kcal
**Macros for Women’s Approximate Portions:**
– **1 palm of protein:** ~ 22 g protein, 2 g carbs, 4 g fat, 130 kcal
– **1 fist of veggies:** ~ 1.5 g protein, 5 g carbs, 0 g fat, 25 kcal
– **1 cupped hand of carbs:** ~ 3 g protein, 22 g carbs, 1 g fat, 110 kcal
– **1 thumb of fats:** ~ 2 g protein, 2 g carbs, 8 g fat, 90 kcal
Remember, these are approximations. Calorie and macronutrient calculations are based on averages and have known error rates.
### Testing the Accuracy of Hand Portion Math
Below, we demonstrate that the hand portion method is 95 to 100 percent as accurate as meticulously weighing, measuring, and logging everything you eat.
**Example 1**
Let’s take a female athlete who weighs 135 pounds and has 18 percent body fat. She maintains a high activity level, engaging in two training sessions per day. Here’s her daily intake:
– **Pre-workout @ 6 am:** 16 oz of black coffee, 1 cup of plain low-fat Greek yogurt, 1 cup of chopped pineapple, 2 tbsp of chopped walnuts, 1 glass of water.
– **Workout @ 7:15-8:30 am:** Sips on 16 oz of water during the training session.
– **Post-workout shake @ 9 am:** 12 oz of water, 2 scoops of protein powder, 1 medium apple, 1/2 cup of old-fashioned oats, 2 cups of spinach, 1 tbsp of ground flax seed, 1 tbsp of almond butter.
– **Lunch @ 12 pm:** 3 oz of salmon, 1 cup of steamed mixed veggies, 1 medium sweet potato, 1 tbsp of coconut oil, 2 glasses of water.
– **Mid-afternoon snack @ 4 pm:** 1 banana, 2 tbsp of natural peanut butter, 1 glass of water.
– **Workout @ 5:30-6 pm:** Sips on 16 oz of water during the training session.
– **Post-workout dinner @ 7 pm:** 3 oz of chopped chicken breast, 2 cups of cooked whole grain pasta, plus 2 cups of sautéed veggies with 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic and white cooking wine, 2 glasses of water.
Using the USDA nutrient database, her intake is:
– **Calories:** 2672 kcal
– **Protein:** 170 g
– **Carbs:** 264 g
– **Fat:** 104 g
Translated into hand-size portion terms:
– **Protein:** 5 palms (Greek yogurt, protein powder x 2, salmon, chicken)
– **Veggies:** 5 fists (spinach x 2, mixed veggies, sautéed veggies x 2)
– **Carbs:** 10 cupped hands (pineapple x 2, apple, oats, sweet potato, banana, pasta x 4)
– **Fats:** 9 thumbs (walnuts x 2, flax seed, almond butter, coconut oil, peanut butter x 2, olive oil x 2)
Using the hand portion method for women, the estimated intake is:
– **Calories:** 2672 kcal (precisely the same as calculating with apps and spreadsheets)
– **Protein:** 166 g (4 g less)
– **Carbs:** 273 g (9 g more)
– **Fat:** 102 g (2 g less)
As shown, the difference between manually tracking and using the hand portion method is minimal, with only slight variations in grams.
### Example 2
For our second example, we have a moderately active male who weighs 210 pounds and has 17 percent body fat. Here’s his daily intake:
**Wake @ 5:30 am:** 12 oz of black coffee
**Breakfast @ 7 am:**
– 4 whole eggs with a large bunch of peppers, scallions, and mushrooms cooked in a large pat of butter, placed on a whole wheat wrap, with ~1 oz cheese,
– 1 cupped hand of black beans, and some pico de gallo
– Large glass of water
– 12 oz black coffee
**Super Shake @ 10:30 am:**
– ~10 oz of water
– 2 scoops of chocolate protein powder
– 2 cups of spinach
– 2 cups of frozen cherries
– ~1 tablespoon cacao nibs
– ~1 tablespoon of chia seeds
**Lunch @ 2 pm:**
– 4 oz of turkey breast
– ~⅔ cup of quinoa
– 1 fist of mixed veggies
– 1 apple
– 2 thumbs of roasted almonds
– 1-2 large glasses of water
**1-2 cups of green tea @ 3-4 pm**
**Dinner @ 6 pm:**
– 8 oz of lean sirloin
– 2 cupped hands of roasted red potatoes with onions
– 2 cups of roasted rainbow carrots
– 2 tbsp of olive oil for roasting
– 1 glass of wine
– 1-2 large glasses of water
Using the USDA nutrient database, his intake calculates to:
– **Calories:** 3130 kcal
– **Protein:** 212 g
– **Carbs:** 283 g
– **Fat:** 111 g
Translating his intake into hand portion terms:
– **Protein:** 7 palms (eggs x 2, protein powder x 2, turkey, sirloin x 2)
– **Veggies:** 6 fists (scallions/peppers/mushrooms/pico, spinach x 2, mixed veggies, rainbow carrots x 2)
– **Carbs:** 9 cupped hands (wrap, beans, cherries x 3, quinoa, apple, potato x 2)
– **Fats:** 8 thumbs (butter, cheese, cacao nibs, chia seeds, almonds x 2, olive oil x 2)
– **Alcohol:** 1 glass of wine
Using approximate hand-portion math for men, the estimated intake is:
– **Calories:** 3183 kcal (53 kcal more than using apps and spreadsheets)
– **Protein:** 220 g (8 g more)
– **Carbs:** 285 g (2 g more)
– **Fat:** 113 g (2 g more)
Once again, the hand portion method proves to be nearly as accurate as manually weighing and tracking portions, but much simpler.