Deciding how much to eat is an issue for most people in the modern world. With an abundance of food, a lack of discipline, or simply a lack of knowledge, determining the right amount of food for a meal can be difficult.
The Hand Portion Method
Portion sizes are simple when you eat with your hands. Mainly because of the Hand Jive method developed by Kazzim Waji, a Zimbabwean diabetes specialist. You may know this method as the Hand Portion method, popularized by Precision Nutrition.
Portions That Fit Your Body
Using your hands to measure your portions can simplify eating proper portions for most foods. A big part of why I like this method is that it eliminates the need to measure and weigh your food or meticulously count your calories. Keeping an eye on your caloric intake that way is fine and will work, but it can make eating healthier more difficult and stressful than it has to be.
Another reason the Hand Method is a viable option for creating adequate portion sizes is that as long as you have at least one hand, you’ll have all the tools you’ll ever need. You’ll always have your hands wherever you go, meaning you’ll always have your primary tool for plating your next meal.
Lastly, one of the best reasons this method works so well is that it’s customized to everyone’s individual body. One person’s hands may be bigger than another’s, probably because they’re a bigger person than the other. But this is okay because if that person is taller, for example, then they would need bigger portions of food to supply their caloric needs. I would think that it’s safe to say, on average, a 5-foot-2 woman wouldn’t need to eat the same amount of food as a 7-foot basketball player.
The Benefits of the Hand Method
Thankfully, the hand method has some research behind it supporting the claims that it can be a viable way to properly portion your food. Bigger companies, like Precision Nutrition, have articles showing how you can use this method to simplify tracking your nutritional intake.
They’ve found that a palm-sized portion of protein is roughly 24 grams of protein, 2 grams of carbs, and 5 grams of fat for a total of 145 calories. A fist of vegetables would be about 2 grams of protein, 5 grams of carbs, and no fat, adding up to 25 calories. The protein, carbs, fats, and total calories for 1 cupped handful of carbs would be 3 grams, 25 grams, 1 gram, and 120 calories, respectively. And finally, 1 thumb of fat would be about 2 grams of protein, 2 grams of carbs, 9 grams of fat, equaling about 100 calories. Keep in mind that these are all rough measurements.
But that’s the point, the hand method lets you make a rough estimate with your food, allowing you to make the right decisions with your diet with much less pressure. Ideally, you’d eat the best options possible, but even if you don’t, it’s still difficult to go overboard with your calories. You could technically eat fried chicken as your protein source. I wouldn’t recommend doing that a lot, but the hand method can really assist you with the proper moderation of food in your meals.
The best part about this method is that it covers the majority of all foods. Every properly made meal will contain a protein, a carb, a fat, and a fruit or vegetable. As long as you choose one source per category, you’ll largely be alright. At worst, your calories should be predictable and under control.
How You Can Start Portioning Your Food
The easiest way to understand how to use the Hand Method is to get in the kitchen and see the portion sizes for yourself. Take a meal that you normally eat and try to recreate it using these rules:
- 1 palm-sized protein source
- 1 fist-sized amount of fruit/vegetables
- 1 cupped hand of carbs
- 1 thumb of a fat source
Once you get to see what that should look like on your plate, you’ll begin to understand how much food you should probably be eating at each meal. If you’re missing things, like a protein source or vegetables, that should start to tell you that your meals need to be better balanced. If that’s the case, try to fill the gaps in your meals with what’s needed and remove any redundancies you may have.
To maximize this method, and more importantly, your health, try to eat mostly whole foods and leaner sources of protein. This means using less fatty cuts of meat and fewer foods that are highly processed. The point of all this is to eat healthier and be healthier. What sense would it make to create a decent plate and have chips as your carb source? You must be sensible with this.
One possible sticking point with the hand method is that it doesn’t fully account for vegans and vegetarians. What I would recommend is to set certain things as your protein source. This may be beans, tofu, quinoa, or any vegetable source that is packed with protein. It may take some extra time researching what foods you should use, but it may be worth it for you.
And for those with a bigger appetite, when you feel a little hungrier, I would recommend adding another serving of a fruit or vegetable. That way, you’ll fill up on a lower-calorie food. Not to mention the filling effects of the fiber you’ll get from this.
The Key Takeaway: Eat With Your Hands and Live A Little
In conclusion, portion sizes don’t have to be complicated. Thankfully, you can use the Hand Method with most foods for your meals. Occasionally, you may find it difficult to neatly use this method for certain meals. Examples like soups, casseroles, pasta, or rice-heavy dishes can all be a bit tricky to fit within this structure. I’d still argue that with some creative thinking, you’d be able to figure out how to make these portion sizes work.
Even if you can’t fit every meal into the Hand Method’s portions, the point is to give you structure for your meals. You don’t need to be 100% dialed in. Just try your best to stay mostly on track. Remember, you’re allowed to live a little. You just stay in control of yourself.
What You can Do Today
You can wait for your next meal or head to the kitchen and play around with your regular meals to put these portion sizes to the test. Compare your normal portions to the portions you’d be making while using the Hand Method. If you have enough food, make two plates. The first plate using your normal food portions and the second with the same foods using the Hand Method. You might be surprised at how different these two plates may look. Also, take a look at what food groups you usually have on your plate versus what the hand method recommends you should have (i.e., a plate full of carbs versus a balanced plate).
Start slow; however, take 1 meal at first and build it using the hand method. Make it a habit to create this 1 meal using the method, and then add a 2nd meal and make that a habit in your routine. From here, keep adding meals portioned with your hands until all or most of your meals are made using the hand method.
Remember to still live a little; cake will not fit this structure, and that’s okay. Most desserts won’t and probably shouldn’t work within this structure, as they aren’t viable meals. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy ice cream. The whole point of the Hand Method is to create balance through proper portioning and moderation. The same goes for pizza; you may never get pizza to fit the Hand Method. But if you do, then let me know immediately because I absolutely love pizza.
