Learn all about the benefits of using hand portions, how to do it, and why it works!
When it comes to weight loss, many individuals favour the method of tracking what they eat. This is a great way to build awareness of the caloric and nutritional content of one's food, and allows for a better inventory of energy expenditure versus intake.
Weight Loss 101
In its most basic form, weight loss occurs when we burn more calories than we eat, creating a calorie deficit. This means that throughout the day, various processes and activities that our body undergoes account for burning more energy than we intake (through food). When this happens, our body taps into stored energy sources (fat) for fuel and thus the process of weight loss begins.
Calorie Counting ... Pros & Cons
One popular method of tracking this process for a lot of people is through calorie counting. Calorie counting involves taking inventory of one's daily food intake, and calculating the total caloric intake to ensure it targets a specific number. This is often done through the use of a food scale, measuring cups, and a food tracking application such as MyFitnessPal.
The process of calorie counting is an efficient way to see quality results, but it is also one that is tedious and not the most sustainable. Tracking your meals is time consuming, and weighing and tracking foods sometimes isn't always feasible. If you go out for dinner with friends, are you going to bring measuring cups to track how much you ate? Or would you bring a food scale to Grandma's house to weigh out her cooking?
In some cases, calorie counting can also lead to a less than ideal relationship with food where one can become overly concerned with calories, nutrition, and weight loss. For those prone to eating disorders or with history of eating disorders, this method of tracking nutrition may not be ideal, and can even be quite triggering.
A Nutrition Coach's Perspective
From a personal and professional perspective, I have attempted calorie counting using apps like MyFitnessPal in the past, only to get fed up with measuring cups and teaspoons after breakfast. Quite honestly, I don't have the time or patience for calorie counting and meticulously tracking every bite of food. And for my clients, that is the LAST thing I want them to feel: fed up and incapable of creating the quality results that they desire. Furthermore, as someone who has experienced an unhealthy relationship with food in the past, I believe hand portions to be a much healthier and more holistic approach to tracking energy intake.
Now enter the concept of Portion Tracking!
When I first became serious about nutrition, I decided to pursue further education through Precision Nutrition (PN). PN is a world renowned nutrition coaching certification program that provides education to health professionals around the globe.
As I began to dive into their methods of coaching clients, I encountered their method of Hand Portions and was impressed! PN has created a method of nutrition tracking that is universally customizable, portable, and easy to use.
Similar to the way in which a calorie counting application is able to use some data about you (height, age, weight, goals, etc ...) to compute how many calories you need to eat to reach your goals, PN's nutrition calculator is able to do the same ... and more. The PN Nutrition Calculator provides the same data, along with how that breaks down into different nutrient portions!
Why Portion Tracking?
Tracking portions as opposed to specifically tracking calories offers a lot of benefits!
Hands are portable and go with you everywhere! This provides a method of documenting your food intake that is easy and convenient. One no longer needs to bring a food scale or measuring cups along to determine how much chicken they are eating!
Hand are personalized! Everyone has different shaped hands, which is a great way to account for personal differences in size and nutrient needs.
Hands are consistent! Their is very little room for error with our hands, and PN even reports that they can be up to 95% as reliable as weighing and measuring food ... with less hassle!
How Many Portions Do I Need?
Great question! This is where Precision Nutrition comes in with their handy portion calculator. Use the link below to visit Precision Nutrition's website and input your information to receive your own personalized portion guide.
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