{"id":14111,"date":"2026-08-22T09:41:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T07:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/twindo-sportvoedingsadvies.nl\/?p=14111"},"modified":"2026-08-23T14:41:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T12:41:18","slug":"calculating-portion-sizes-without-scales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twindo-sportvoedingsadvies.nl\/en\/portiegrootte-berekenen-zonder-weegschaal\/","title":{"rendered":"How much should you eat at each meal? Here\u2019s how to work it out without weighing everything"},"content":{"rendered":"
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How much should you eat at each meal? Here\u2019s how to work it out without weighing everything<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Published: 22 August 2026
Last updated: 22 August 2026
Reading time: 7-8 minutes
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As a sports nutrition coach, there\u2019s one question I get asked more often than any other: \u201cI know I need 285 grams of carbohydrates, 142 grams of protein and 76 grams of fat a day, but what does that actually look like on my plate?\u201d It\u2019s a fair question. An app can tell you what you need, but translating that into what\u2019s on your plate \u2013 spread across four or five meals \u2013 is something you, as an athlete, have to learn to get a feel for yourself.<\/p>

Keeping a food diary is, and always will be, the most accurate way to gain that insight, especially if the app makes it easy to log your meals (in the TWINDO One app<\/a><\/span> I\u2019ve made that as easy as possible with just a few clicks; The app is still in beta; you can find out more about it at the bottom of this article<\/em>). But not every moment is suitable for recording: when you\u2019re out and about, sitting round the table with friends, whilst cooking, or simply on days when you want to know quickly whether your plate is just right without having to reach for your phone. For those moments, I help athletes develop their own sense of portion sizes.<\/p>

How do you do that? Using the \u2018hand-measure\u2019 method: use your own hand as a measuring tape. No scales needed.<\/p>

Why \u201cper day\u201d alone isn\u2019t enough<\/h3>

A daily total of macros is a good starting point, but it says nothing about how they\u2019re distributed. An athlete who eats just a slice of bread in the morning and crams all their protein and carbohydrates into a single meal in the evening may well reach their daily total, but they\u2019re missing the point. For recovery, energy during training and muscle building, what really matters is how much protein and carbohydrates are consumed at any given time, not just the total at the end of the day.<\/p>

That\u2019s why \u201chow much per meal\u201d is a realistic, practical question, and why the answer to it is just as important as the daily total your app gives you.<\/p>

Think in terms of food, not macros<\/h3>

This is where most explanations of the \u201chand-sized portion\u201d method go wrong: people are told that a \u201cfistful of protein\u201d or a \u2018palmful of carbohydrates\u2019 constitutes a portion. Just try to picture that. Protein and carbohydrates are abstract building blocks, not things you can see or pick up, so what exactly are you supposed to picture when you think of a fist or a palm?<\/p>

That\u2019s why I turn it on its head, and that\u2019s how I teach my clients too: you don\u2019t measure the macronutrient, you measure the food itself. Don\u2019t think \u201ca palmful of protein\u201d, but \u201ca palmful of chicken breast\u201d. Not \u201ca fistful of carbohydrates\u201d, but \u201ca portion of rice the size of your fist\u201d; I\u2019ll refer to this briefly as a \u2018fist-sized portion\u2019 later on: an amount the size of your fist. You can certainly picture that, because it\u2019s right there on your plate.<\/p>

The four benchmarks I use:<\/p>