The hand portion guide: eating well without counting

The four portions

• Protein: your palm. The size and thickness of your palm, not including fingers. Chicken, fish, lean meat, eggs, tofu, Greek style yoghurt, cottage cheese. One palm is very roughly 20 to 30 g of protein.
• Vegetables: your fist. Salad, broccoli, peppers, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, mushrooms. Most are low in calories and high in fibre and water.
• Carbohydrates: your cupped hand. Rice, pasta, potatoes, oats, bread, fruit, beans and lentils. One cupped hand is very roughly 20 to 30 g of carbohydrate.
• Fats: your thumb. The whole length of your thumb. Oil, butter, nut butter, cheese, nuts, seeds and avocado. One thumb is very roughly 7 to 12 g of fat.

These figures vary with the food and the hand, and that is fine. The point is consistency, not precision. Protein is the anchor of every meal, for the reasons explained in protein for fat loss.

A starting point per meal

Eating three or four meals a day, a common starting point for moderately active adults is:

• Most men: 2 palms of protein, 2 fists of vegetables, 2 cupped hands of carbs, 2 thumbs of fats.
• Most women: 1 palm of protein, 1 fist of vegetables, 1 cupped hand of carbs, 1 thumb of fats, with an extra half or whole palm of protein often helpful.

Larger or very active people may need more, and smaller or less active people less. Treat these as a first guess. For fat loss, most people start here and remove a portion or two if progress stalls, rather than cutting hard from day one.

What it looks like on a plate

Here are single-portion examples. Double the relevant parts if your starting point is two of each.

• Breakfast: a palm of Greek style yoghurt, a cupped hand of oats, a cupped hand of berries and a thumb of nut butter.
• Lunch: a palm of chicken, two fists of salad, a cupped hand of new potatoes and a thumb of olive oil dressing.
• Dinner: a palm of salmon, a fist each of broccoli and green beans, a cupped hand of rice and a thumb of butter on the vegetables.
• Chilli or curry: a palm of lean mince or chicken, onions, peppers and tomatoes as your vegetables, a cupped hand of rice, and the oil used in cooking as your thumb.
• Takeaway night: a palm or two of tandoori chicken, a cupped hand of rice rather than the whole carton, and a vegetable side or salad for your fists.

Mixed dishes are harder to judge. Estimate the main ingredients as best you can and aim for roughly the right balance rather than perfect portions. Most people underestimate the vegetables they need and overestimate the oil they use, so lean the opposite way.

How to adjust

Follow your starting portions for two to three weeks while keeping an eye on your weekly average weight and waist. Then adjust:

• Losing 0.5 to 1% of body weight a week: keep going.
• Not losing after three weeks: remove one cupped hand of carbs or one thumb of fats from one or two meals a day.
• Losing faster than 1% a week and feeling drained: add a cupped hand of carbs, ideally around training.
• Hungry all the time: add a fist of vegetables or a little more protein before changing anything else.

Training days can carry an extra cupped hand of carbs, especially around harder sessions, with slightly less on rest days. That is optional, but many people find it helps their energy and their training.

Small changes, then wait. The same logic applies to tracked calories, as covered in calorie deficit explained.

Where it falls short

Hand portions are less precise than weighing. Calorie-dense foods are the weak spot: a thumb of peanut butter easily turns into two, and a cupped hand of granola carries far more energy than a cupped hand of potatoes. Oil and sauces used in cooking are easily forgotten.

Drinks, snacks and alcohol also sit outside the system, so account for them separately. Milky coffees and smoothies are especially easy to miss. If progress stalls, a week or two of tracking can show whether your portions have drifted. Our guide to tracking calories without obsessing covers how to do that without it taking over.

Making it work for the whole family

One of the best things about hand portions is that everyone can eat the same meal. Each person serves themselves according to their own hands and needs, and nobody needs a separate diet dinner. Our guide to family meals that support your goals has ideas, and eating more vegetables helps with the fist portion most people fall short on.

If you want a coach's help setting portions around your training, Lycan Strength offers nutrition and accountability coaching alongside its classes.