Portion sizes
Judge a portion with your hand, see how plates and packs change how much you eat, and learn to notice when you're full.
Serving and portion are not the same thing
Serving
A standard amount printed on the label, chosen by the maker or set by rules, so the nutrition numbers have something to refer to. "Per serving (30 g)".
Portion
What you actually put on your plate or eat from the pack. It can be half a serving or three. It's the one that decides what you get.
Check yourself
A box of biscuits says "Serving: 2 biscuits (25 g)". Arash eats five from the box with his tea. Which statement is right?
- His portion is 2 biscuits, because that's what the label says
- The serving is 2 biscuits; his portion was 5, so he got about two and a half servings
- Serving and portion mean the same, so it doesn't matter
- The label is wrong, because he ate 5
Show the answer
The serving is 2 biscuits; his portion was 5, so he got about two and a half servings
Right. The serving is fixed on the label; the portion is what Arash ate. Five biscuits is two and a half servings, so multiply the per-serving numbers by about 2.5.
The hand guide: a rough visual that scales with your body, not a measurement.
| Food | Hand | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| Protein food (chicken, fish, tofu, kebab) | Your palm, size and thickness | one portion |
| Cooked rice, pasta, potatoes | Your fist | about 150 g cooked rice |
| Vegetables and salad | Two fists or more | the bigger the better |
| Oil, butter, nut butter | Your thumb | about a tablespoon |
| Nuts, dried fruit | A cupped palm | about 30 g nuts |
FIVE A DAY
One fruit or vegetable portion is about 80 g
In WHO and UK terms, a portion of fruit or vegetables is about 80 g: a medium apple or banana, a slice of melon, a large tomato, or 3 heaped tablespoons of cooked vegetables. WHO recommends at least 400 g a day, about 5 portions. Potatoes and other starchy roots don't count towards it; on your plate they belong with the rice and bread.
A day that gets there: a banana at breakfast, a cucumber and tomato salad at lunch, 3 spoons of cooked greens at dinner, an orange and a handful of grapes as snacks.
Check yourself
Match each food to its hand-guide portion
Show the answer
- Grilled chicken breast → Your palm
- Cooked rice → Your fist
- Salad and cooked vegetables → Two fists or more
- Olive oil for the pan → Your thumb
- Walnuts and almonds → A cupped palm
Check yourself
Does it count as one of your 5 fruit and vegetable portions (about 80 g each)?
- A medium apple
- A boiled potato
- 3 heaped tablespoons of cooked carrots
- A plate of chips (fries)
- A cucumber and tomato salad, about 80 g
- A few thin slices of tomato on a sandwich, about 15 g
Show the answer
Counts: A medium apple, 3 heaped tablespoons of cooked carrots, A cucumber and tomato salad, about 80 g
Doesn't count: A boiled potato, A plate of chips (fries), A few thin slices of tomato on a sandwich, about 15 g
Cooked white rice, roughly
One fist ≈ 150 g ≈ 200 kcal
Heaped platter (2×) ≈ 300 g ≈ 400 kcal
Heaped platter (3×) ≈ 450 g ≈ 600 kcal
Rebuilt plate:
1 fist of rice
+ salad and herbs (two fists)
+ khoresh or beans (a palm of protein)Same dish, same flavour; the rice no longer takes up the whole plate.Numbers are approximate and depend on the rice and how much oil went in. The point isn't to count: it's that a restaurant or party platter is often two or three fists of rice before anything else is added.
Check yourself
Neda switches from large dinner plates to medium ones and serves from the pot at the stove instead of from a big tray on the table. What is most likely to happen?
- Nothing; people always eat exactly what they need
- She'll probably serve and eat a bit less, often without feeling hungrier
- She'll feel very hungry and eat much more later
- Plate size only matters for children
Show the answer
She'll probably serve and eat a bit less, often without feeling hungrier
Right. Smaller plates and serving from the pot are two of the easiest ways to eat a little less without effort. Going back for more is still allowed; it just becomes a choice rather than a default.
SLOW DOWN
Fullness arrives late
Signals from your stomach and gut take a while to reach the brain; it's often said to be about 20 minutes, though it varies. Eat fast and you can finish a second helping before the first has registered. A hunger scale from 1 to 10 helps: 1 is starving, 10 is stuffed. Aim to start eating around 3 or 4, moderately hungry, and stop around 6 or 7, comfortably full.
Skipping lunch and arriving at dinner at 1 on the scale is how a normal meal turns into two plates. A small snack in the afternoon often makes dinner calmer.
Four habits that do the measuring for you
- Serve onto a plate
Take a portion from the pot, the bag or the box, then put the rest away. Eating from the packet has no end point.
- Build the plate by hand
A fist of rice or bread, a palm of protein, and fill the rest with vegetables.
- Put the fork down between bites
Chewing and talking slow the meal down so fullness can catch up.
- Pause before seconds
Wait a few minutes. If you're still hungry, have more; often you'll find you're not.
Check yourself
If you're still hungry right after finishing a plate you ate in five minutes, you definitely need a second one.
Show the answer
False
False. Fullness takes a while to register, often said to be about 20 minutes. Wait a few minutes first; if you're still hungry then, having more is fine.
Lesson recap
- A serving is the label's standard amount; a portion is what you actually eat.
- Hand guide: a palm of protein, a fist of grains, two fists of vegetables, a thumb of fat, a cupped palm of nuts.
- A fruit or vegetable portion is about 80 g; WHO recommends at least 400 g a day, and potatoes don't count.
- Bigger plates, bowls and packs lead people to eat more without noticing; serve from the pot onto a plate.
- Fullness arrives late: eat slowly, start moderately hungry, and pause before seconds.