Tracking with Food Portions
There are a number of ways to track food. I've used a scale and FitDay back in the day to lose weight, but ultimately, that ended up not being sustainable long term if I wanted to have a life.
For the last couple of years, I haven't been tracking my food beyond just being a bit mindful of my food intake and the choices that I make, but I need to start tracking because my weight has increased more than I would like, and my body fat is higher than I want it to be.
So to make my life more sustainable, my tracking is going to break down into 4 categories of tracking to make sure I'm eating, but not too much, and the right ratio of things.
- Protein
- Vegetables
- Carbs
- Fats
But wait, you might say, don't vegetables fall into the other categories. Yup, sure enough, but I don't need or want exact accuracy because it's all estimates anyway.
What are portions though?
Protein
About the size of my palm. It's about 4oz of cooked meat, give or take a bit.
Vegetables
About the size of my fist. This is about a cup of cooked or raw vegetables.
Carbs
About as much as I can hold in my cupped hand. For me, this is about half a cup of cooked rice.
Fats
About the size of my thumb. I'm very flexible here, but it's about a teaspoon of most fats.
But how many portions?
That's a big question, isn't it? I don't know. I need to try, monitor, and adjust over time, so to start with, I'm going to do:
- 7 Proteins
- 6-8 Veggies
- 3 Carbs
- 3 Fat
My current plan is to try this for a couple of weeks and adjust over time.