You've got the basics in place: regular meals, protein at every meal, plenty of water and veg. Now it's time to get your portions right. Keep the Level 1 habits going.
Your four hand portions
Protein1 Palm
The size and thickness of your palm. About 100g cooked meat or fish, 2 eggs, or 125g Greek yoghurt.
≈ 20–30g protein
Vegetables1 Fist
About 120g green veg, 60g salad leaves, or 80g fruit. Fresh or frozen both count.
Lots of fibre, very few calories
Carbs1 Cupped hand
About 125g cooked rice, 100g cooked pasta, a medium potato, or a piece of fruit.
≈ 20–30g carbs
Fats1 Thumb
About 1 tbsp oil or butter, 15g peanut butter, ¼ avocado, a matchbox of cheese, or 2 squares of dark chocolate.
≈ 8–15g fat
How much per meal
A good starting point if you eat 3–4 meals a day:
| Protein | Vegetables | Carbs | Fats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women | 1 palm | 1 fist | 1 cupped hand | 1 thumb |
| Men | 2 palms | 2 fists | 2 cupped hands | 2 thumbs |
Protein and veg at every meal. Carbs and fats at most meals. Snack, if you need one: about a palm-sized portion.
Build a plate in 4 steps
- Start with protein. A palm of chicken, fish, lean meat, eggs or Greek yoghurt.
- Fill half the plate with veg. A fist or two. Mix the colours.
- Add a cupped hand of carbs. Rice, potatoes, pasta, bread, oats or fruit.
- Add a thumb of fat. A drizzle of oil, some cheese, avocado or nuts. If your protein is fatty (salmon, steak, chicken with skin), it already counts as your thumb.
Adjusting as you go
Eat a bit more if
- You're still hungry after meals
- You only manage 2 meals a day
- You're not getting stronger or gaining the muscle you want
Add 1 cupped hand of carbs or 1 thumb of fat to 2–3 meals a day.
Eat a bit less if
- You feel too full after meals
- You're eating 5 or more times a day
- You're trying to lose fat and your weight hasn't moved in 2 weeks
Remove 1 cupped hand of carbs or 1 thumb of fat from 2–3 meals a day.
Losing fat: start with the portions above and remove some if your weight stalls. Maintaining: stick with the starting portions and adjust only if your weight drifts. Building muscle: add a cupped hand of carbs or a thumb of fat to 2–3 meals a day, especially around training.
1 drink = a medium glass of wine, a half pint, a bottle of beer, a single spirit or a premixed can. For each drink, take away a cupped hand of carbs or a thumb of fat from that day's meals.
Listen to your hunger
Rate yourself from 0 (starving) to 10 (stuffed) before and after you eat.
| Score | How it feels | |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 | Starving, shaky, irritable, headachy. "I could eat anything." | Too hungry |
| 3–4 | Hungry and ready to eat, but not desperate. Start eating here. | Ideal |
| 5–7 | Satisfied and comfortable. Stop eating here. | Ideal |
| 8–10 | Too full, bloated, need to lie down. | Too full |
It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to register you're full. Eat slowly and wait before going back for seconds.
Food lists
You can eat any foods you like. These lists show which foods to eat often and which to keep for now and then.
Protein
Often Chicken, turkey, lean beef and pork, fish, prawns, eggs, Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, beans, lentils
Sometimes Protein powder, bacon, chicken sausages, veggie meat substitutes, jerky
Now and then Fried chicken, nuggets, battered fish, sausages, processed deli meats
Fats
Often Olive oil, avocado, nuts and nut butters, seeds, egg yolks, oily fish
Sometimes Dark chocolate, cheese, butter, cream, coconut oil
Now and then Fatty sausages, margarine, heavy creamy sauces
Carbs
Often Potatoes, sweet potatoes, oats, rice, wholegrain bread and pasta, fruit, beans
Sometimes White bread, wraps, bagels, cereal, crackers
Now and then Crisps, cakes, biscuits, pastries, sweets
Vegetables
Always Broccoli, peppers, spinach, carrots, green beans, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, courgette, cauliflower, cabbage, salad. Frozen mixed veg is just as good and saves time.
Plant-based? Protein first
Vegan and vegetarian diets work brilliantly for any goal. The one thing to watch is protein, because plant foods have less of it per bite. Aim for a palm of one of these at every meal:
| Food | Portion | Protein (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Firm tofu | 150g | 18–25g |
| Tempeh | 100g | 19g |
| Seitan | 100g | 25g |
| Edamame | 150g | 17g |
| Lentils or chickpeas (cooked) | 200g | 14–18g |
| Soya yoghurt (high protein) | 200g | 10–15g |
| Vegan protein powder | 1 scoop | 20–25g |
| Eggs (vegetarian) | 2 large | 12g |
| Greek yoghurt or cottage cheese (vegetarian) | 200g | 20g |
Mix your sources through the day: beans with grains, tofu with rice. Beans and lentils also count as carbs, so you may need a smaller cupped hand of rice or pasta alongside them. Vegan? Talk to your coach about vitamin B12 and vitamin D. Find all the plant-based recipes with the Vegan and Vegetarian filters in the cookbook.
Foods that don't fit in your hand
| Food | Counts as |
|---|---|
| 1 slice of bread, 1 crumpet, 30g cereal, 4 rice cakes | 1 cupped hand of carbs |
| 1 bagel, 2 Weetabix | 2 cupped hands of carbs |
| 1 scoop protein powder (20–25g protein) | 1 palm of protein |
| 1 salmon fillet | 1 palm of protein + 1 thumb of fat |
| 1 protein bar | 1 palm of protein + 1 cupped hand of carbs + 1 thumb of fat |
| 4 fish fingers | ½ palm of protein + 1 cupped hand of carbs + 1 thumb of fat |
| Bag of crisps (33g), snack-size chocolate bar | 1 cupped hand of carbs + 1 thumb of fat |
| 1 egg yolk | ½ thumb of fat |
1 palm ≈ 20–30g protein · 1 cupped hand ≈ 20–30g carbs · 1 thumb ≈ 8–15g fat. Use these to turn a ready meal's label into hand portions.
Example meals
Yoghurt bowl
- Greek yoghurt: 1–2 palms
- Granola: 1 cupped hand
- Strawberries: 1 fist
- Nut butter: 1 thumb
Banana smoothie
- Protein powder: 1–2 scoops
- Frozen banana: 1 cupped hand
- Spinach: 1 fist
- Milk or water: 1 cup per scoop
Chicken wraps
- Grilled chicken: 1–2 palms
- 2 wholegrain wraps
- Pesto: 1 thumb
- Carrot and cucumber sticks: 1 fist
Salmon and rice
- Salmon fillet: 1–2 palms (fat included)
- Rice: 1 cupped hand
- Tomato, onion and coriander salsa: 1 fist