Portion Control; The Basics
Before we dive into how much you should be eating and really looking into the specific quantities of the macronutrients in your diet, I want to stress the importance of first being sure to focus on eating good quality food. The reason that I bring this up when talking about portions is to be sure to set you up for success. Your overall health and well-being depend on the food that you consume. You need to first be fueling your body with good quality fuel before you are looking at how much you are putting in. So if you aren’t there yet, keep working to have 95% of your fuel coming from real foods, not from a box or package with a list of ingredients. Once you get there, come back to this and you will get so much more out of it.
Okay, so you are eating predominately real foods and are ready to start dialing in your portions. I recommend that the first place you start is to figure out how much protein you should be eating and working to implement that into your plan. Be careful here as there is a lot of bad information on how much protein you should consume. A basic rule of thumb to get you started is this:
To maintain your lean body mass, consume about 0.7-1 gram of protein per kilogram of bodyweight
To add lean body mass, consume about 1.5 gram of protein per kilogram of bodyweight
If you are tracking your quantity for the first time ever, ladies be prepared to feel like this is way more protein than you are used to and guys be prepared to feel like this is way less than you are used to. Trust the process, I know how it feels starting this out but I promise you, it works.
Now depending on what your goals are, is what will determine how much fat and carbohydrates you should be eating. Again a basic rule of thumb you can use to help you figure this out is:
If you are trying to lose fat, you will eat less carbs, predominantly green veggies, and higher fat
If you are trying to build muscle and gain weight, you will eat less fat and higher amounts of carbs. Predominantly starchy veggies and fruit. You may also choose to add in some more complex carbs that you tolerate well.
What does this actually look like on your plate? For most people it will look like this: Protein should be about the size of your palm. Vegetables should roughly fill up the rest of your plate, and fat in the form of oil, avocado, or nuts and seeds is drizzled or sprinkled on top. If you want a more detailed example check out this article, “Weigh & Measure Your Way to Peak Performance”
The most important thing you need to know about figuring out how much is right for you is that it is an ever evolving process. What works this month may need to change next month depending on your lifestyle. So take the next 2-3 week to develop a baseline (the only way to know for sure is to keep a log). Once you have that baseline you can then start making small adjustments based on how you feel, your performance, and how you look. The recommendations that I have given will get you close but they will need to be adjusted based on your individual needs. By finding a balance of high quality food and proper portions you will be looking, feeling, and performing your best. Most importantly you will optimize your health.