How to Do Hand Portion Math to Track Your Macros

reviewed by Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD

There are several ways to track your nutritional intake.

Choosing the (exact) method that works for you can be overwhelming.

That’s why we’ve developed the hand portion method.

It simplifies nutrition tracking in a way that is accessible to anyone and can help Any Your health and fitness goals.

An Analysis: Hand Part Method

Precision Nutrition’s Hand Portion method provides an easy solution to tracking your macros, allowing you to manage your food intake without weighing, measuring or counting calories.

The method is simple: estimate the portion size with your hands.

It’s not about careful measurement – ​​rather, it’s about using your hand as a reliable gauge for portion size.

What makes the hand division method particularly effective is its inherent alignment with your body’s proportions. Plus, the size of your adult hand remains constant, ensuring consistency in segmentation.

Here’s an overview:

• Protein: Your palm determines your protein portion size.
• vegetables: Your closed fist determines the size of your vegetable portion.
• Carbohydrates: Your cupped hand determines your carb portion size.
• thick: Your thumb determines the size of your fat portion.

Once you have an idea of ​​what each portion looks like, you can aim to meet the balance of your personal daily recommended portions.

how many portions to eat

Most people will meet their nutritional needs by eating the following:

• 1-2 palms protein-dense foods at every meal
• 1-2 handfuls of vegetables at each meal
• 1-2 cups fist carbohydrates on maximum food
• 1-2 thumbs of fat-dense foods at most meals

Depending on your goals and framework, you may need to adjust these general recommendations up or down.

Benefits of hand portion method

When it comes to tracking macros, the hand portion method offers several benefits:

1. Accuracy with Minimum Effort: Our internal research shows that hand part tracking is 95 percent as accurate as other tracking methods – but without the effort of careful measurement. Check out these results See for yourself how well hand portion tracking works.
2. Can be customized according to your dietary preferences: Whether you follow a Mediterranean, paleo, vegan, ketogenic, or completely plant-based diet, you can apply this method.
3. Easy to manage macronutrient partitioning: With the Hand Portion Method, you have the power to fix your macronutrient splits. Adjust the proportions of proteins, carbohydrates and fats to precisely align with your individual needs and objectives.
4. Helpful tools for estimating calorie intake: Each hand portion is equivalent to the approximate amount of protein, carbohydrate, fat and therefore calories. For example: 1 palm protein ~ 130-145 kcal; 1 handful of vegetables ~ 25 kcal; 1 cup serving of carbohydrates ~ 110-120 kcal; And 1 thumb fat ~ 90-100 kcal.

Perceived variety of food choices

Our hand portion system considers a mix of high fat, moderate fat and low fat protein sources; A mix of fruits, starchy tubers, beans and whole grains for carbs; and a mixture of fat-rich whole foods (like nuts, cheese, or avocado), blended foods (like pesto or nut butters), and oils pressed for fat.

And, the portioning method can be manually adjusted to suit individual dietary preferences.

For example, if you’re following a ketogenic diet, you may simply increase your fat intake to compensate for the decrease in carbohydrates.

Examples of the Hand Portion Method: Estimated Portion Sizes for Each Macronutrient

Here are some examples of how much you would eat using our hand portioning method.

However, these are only estimates. Actual portion size will depend on your individual hand size and your body’s needs.

for men

a palm-sized portion of protein Approximately 4 ounces of cooked meat/tofu is equal to 1 cup of Greek yogurt or cheese, 1 scoop of protein powder, or 2 whole eggs.

fist sized portion of vegetables This is equivalent to about 1 cup of non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, cauliflower, or peppers.

a hand full of carbs That’s about ⅔ cups cooked grains or beans, 1 medium-sized fruit, or 1 medium tuber.

thumb fat patch There’s about 1 tablespoon of oil, nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocado/guacamole, cheese and dark chocolate.

For ladies

a palm-sized portion of protein Approximately 3 ounces cooked meat/tofu is equivalent to 1 cup Greek yogurt or cheese, 1 scoop protein powder, or 2 whole eggs.

fist sized portion of vegetables This is equivalent to about 1 cup of non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, cauliflower, or peppers.

a hand full of carbs That’s about ½ cup cooked grains or beans, 1 medium-sized fruit, or 1 medium tuber.

thumb fat patch There’s about 1 tablespoon of oil, nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocado/guacamole, cheese and dark chocolate.

Approximate math for macronutrient portions

For number-oriented users, based on the examples above, these are approximate macros provided by each part.

Macros for men’s estimated parts:

• 1 Palm of Protein ~ 24 g protein, 2 g carbs, 4.5 g fat, 145 kcal
• 1 handful of vegetables ~ 1.5 g protein, 5 g carbs, 0 g fat, 25 kcal
• 1 cup carbs ~ 3 g protein, 25 g carbs, 1 g fat, 120 kcal
• 1 thumb of fat ~ 2 g protein, 2 g carbs, 9 g fat, 100 kcal

Macros for women’s approximate parts:

• 1 Palm of Protein ~ 22 g protein, 2 g carbs, 4 g fat, 130 kcal
• 1 handful of vegetables ~ 1.5 g protein, 5 g carbs, 0 g fat, 25 kcal
• 1 cup carbs ~ 3 g protein, 22 g carbs, 1 g fat, 110 kcal
• 1 thumb of fat ~ 2 g protein, 2 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat, 90 kcal

Please remember that these are estimates.

All aspects of calorie and macronutrient calculations are based on averages with known error rates.

Hand part math accuracy test

In the examples below, we’ll demonstrate that using the hand portioning method is 95 to 100 percent as accurate as carefully weighing, measuring, and logging everything you eat.

Example 1

Our first example is a female athlete who weighs 135 pounds and has 18 percent body fat. She maintains a high activity-level, attending two training sessions per day. This is what she eats in a day:

1. 6am Pre-Workout: 16 ounces black coffee, 1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt, 1 cup chopped pineapple, 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, 1 glass water.
2. Workout @ 7:15-8:30am: Drink 16 ounces of water during a training session.
3. 9am Post-Workout Shake: 12 ounces water, 2 teaspoons protein powder, 1 medium apple, 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, 2 cups spinach, 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds, 1 tablespoon almond butter.
4. Lunch @ 12 noon: 3 ounces salmon, 1 cup steamed mixed vegetables, 1 medium sweet potato, 1 tablespoon coconut oil, 2 glasses water.
5. Mid-afternoon snack @ 4 pm: 1 banana, 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter, 1 glass of water.
6. Workout @ 5:30-6 pm: Drink 16 ounces of water during a training session.
7. Post-Workout Dinner @ 7pm: 3 ounces chopped chicken breast, 2 cups cooked whole grain pasta, plus 2 cups roasted vegetables, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic and white cooking wine, 2 glasses of water.

If you calculate this person’s intake of calories and macronutrients using USDA Nutrient Databaseyou received:

• 2672 kcal
• 170 grams protein
• 264 grams carbs
• 104 grams fat

And if you translate this person’s intake into hand-sized portions, you get:

• Protein = 5 palms (Greek yogurt, protein powder x 2, salmon, chicken)
• Vegetables = 5 handfuls (spinach x 2, mixed vegetables, fried vegetables x 2)
• Carbs = 10 cups hands (pineapple x 2, apple, oats, sweet potato, banana, pasta x 4)
• Fats = 9 thumbs (walnuts x 2, flax seeds, almond butter, coconut oil, peanut butter x 2, olive oil x 2)

By multiplying those portion numbers using approximate hand-portion math for women (see section above), the estimated intake is:

• 2672 kcal (exactly the same as calculating it with apps and spreadsheets)
• 166 grams of protein (4 grams less than calculating from apps and spreadsheets)
• 273 grams carbs (9 grams more than calculating with apps and spreadsheets)
• 102 grams fat (2 grams less than calculating from apps and spreadsheets)

As you can see, the difference between manually tracking and using our hand part method is only a matter of a few small grams.

Example 2

Our second example person is a moderately active male who weighs 210 pounds and has 17 percent body fat. He eats this much in a day:

1. Wake up at 5:30 am: 12 ounces black coffee
2. Breakfast at 7 am: 4 whole eggs with a big bunch of peppers, scallions, and mushrooms, cooked in a big pat of butter, placed on a whole-wheat wrap, ~1 ounce of cheese, 1 cup of black beans, and some pico de Gallo, large glass of water, 12 ounces black coffee.
3. Super Shake @ 10:30 am: ~10 oz water, 2 scoops chocolate protein powder, 2 cups spinach, 2 cups frozen cherries, ~1 tbsp cacao nibs, ~1 tbsp chia seeds.
4. Lunch @ 2 pm: 4 oz turkey breast, ~⅔ cup quinoa, 1 handful of mixed vegetables, 1 apple, 2 tbsp roasted almonds, 1-2 tbsp water.
5. 1-2 cups green tea @ 3-4 pm.
6. Dinner @ 6 pm: 8 ounces sirloin (lean), 2 cups roasted red potatoes with onions, 2 cups roasted rainbow carrots, 2 tablespoons olive oil for sautéing, 1 glass wine, 1-2 large glasses water.

If you calculate this person’s intake of calories and macronutrients using the USDA nutrient database, you get:

• 3130 kcal
• 212 grams protein
• 283 grams carbs
• 111 grams fat

And if you put this person’s intake in hand portion terms, you get:

• Protein = 7 palms (eggs x 2, protein powder x 2, turkey, sirloin x 2)
• Vegetables = 6 handfuls (scallions/peppers/mushrooms/pico, spinach x 2, mixed vegetables, rainbow carrots x 2)
• Carbs = 9 cups per serving (wraps, beans, cherries x 3, quinoa, apples, potatoes x 2)
• Fat = 8 thumbs (butter, guacamole, cacao nibs, chia seeds, almonds x 2, olive oil x 2)
• liquor = 1 (alcohol)

When you multiply those portion numbers using approximate hand-portion math for men, the approximate amount is:

• 3183 kcal (53 kcal more than calculated with apps and spreadsheets)
• 220 grams of protein (8 grams more than calculating from apps and spreadsheets)
• 285 grams carbs (2 grams more than calculating from apps and spreadsheets)
• 113 grams fat (2 grams more than calculated from apps and spreadsheets)

Once again, the hand portioning method is almost as accurate as manually weighing and tracking parts – and much simpler.

We can help you meet your goals

Our Ultimate Macro Calculator Can help you find the ideal macronutrient ratios for your specific nutrition and fitness goals. From there, our hand part method can guide you on the path to success.