Free tool
Portions, measured with your hand
Scales are useful when you are learning and tedious forever after. Your hand is always with you and it scales with you, which makes it a better everyday guide than a number calculated for someone else.
Protein
One palm at each main meal — the size of your palm, roughly its thickness too.
About 120–150 g raw chicken, fish or lean beef, 180 g tofu, 3 eggs, or 200 g Greek yogurt.
Vegetables
One to two fists at lunch and dinner. This is the portion most of us underdo.
About 80–150 g per fist: broccoli, peppers, courgette, spinach, carrots, salad.
Smart carbs
One cupped hand of cooked carbohydrate per meal, two if you train hard that day.
About 150 g cooked rice or pasta (roughly 50–60 g dry), 200 g potatoes, 50 g oats dry.
Healthy fats
One thumb per meal is usually plenty, and fats are easy to lose count of.
About 10 g olive oil, 15 g nuts or nut butter, 50 g avocado, 20 g seeds.
What a plate looks like
- Half the plate vegetables and fruit, mostly vegetables
- A quarter protein — one palm
- A quarter smart carbs — one cupped hand
- Plus a thumb of fat and something to drink
Common portions in grams
| Food | One portion |
|---|---|
| Chicken breast, raw | 130 g |
| Salmon, raw | 120 g |
| Firm tofu | 180 g |
| Eggs | 2–3 |
| Greek yogurt or skyr | 200 g |
| Cooked lentils or beans | 150 g |
| Rice or pasta, dry | 60 g |
| Potatoes | 200–250 g |
| Rolled oats | 50 g |
| Wholegrain bread | 60 g |
| Olive oil | 10 g |
| Nuts | 20 g |
| Vegetables, per meal | 150–250 g |
| Fruit, per portion | 100–150 g |
How to use it
- Start with the smaller amount and see how full you feel two to three hours later.
- Still hungry? Add vegetables and a little more protein before anything else.
- Hands differ, and so do people. Bigger hands usually come with bigger appetites, which is rather the point.
- Nobody measures every meal. Use this for the meals you repeat most, and let the rest be.
General wellness information for healthy adults, not medical or personalised nutrition advice. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, under 18, or managing a health condition, speak to your doctor or a registered dietitian.