Easy Measuring for Healthy Portion Sizes

You’ve received your test results and recommendations, and it’s a new day!

How do I know how much to eat?

One aspect of eating healthy is not only the types of foods you eat but how much of them you eat. Should you eat more protein than fruit? What is a healthy single serving size of each food on my recommended lists?

A good general rule of sustainability when gauging how much food you should eat during a meal is to eat to the point where you are about 80% full. Comfortably satiated, but not so full you feel stuffed and uncomfortable.

Your Superfoods list may include high-fat items like almonds, cashews, or pumpkin seeds. But how much do you need to eat to get the benefits, yet not consume too many calories? One cup (8 ounces) of nuts can have around 56 grams of fat or more! And if you’ve ever stood in close proximity to a bowl of nuts while you’re hungry, you probably know how easy it is to consume a cup or more very quickly.

Taking a few cues from your Viome App

In the “Nutrition” tab of your Viome app, you’ll see your full food list. You can filter them according to the different groups: Superfoods, Enjoy foods, Avoid and Minimize foods. The first goal to accomplish is to eat as many Superfoods and Enjoy foods as possible, while steering clear of those Avoid and Minimize foods. But your next thought might be, “How much of these Superfoods and Enjoy foods should I eat each day?”

In your Viome app, navigate to the “More” tab, then select “Guide to Your Viome Recommendations.” Here you will see a list of mini-articles designed to help give you a basic understanding of your new test results. You'll find information on your personalized food lists, adding more diversity to your diet, advice on when to retest and more.

Tap on “How Much to Eat: Your Food Groups & Daily Servings.” This mini-article gives you a suggestion of daily servings to eat for the main food groups.

Your recommended daily servings are a guideline–not a rulebook. Just remember to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains and lean proteins into your diet. These daily serving suggestions should help.

Each of the foods in your list (with the exception of Avoids) has an individual serving size recommendation. Just click or tap on a food to view the information. But, how do you know what 1 cup of pineapple looks like?

The most accurate way to get the correct healthy portion sizes of different foods is to measure them. A small digital kitchen scale, measuring cups, and measuring spoons are all helpful for measuring your food.

If you food prep your lunches for the week, you can also find portion control containers that come in specific sizes. These provide an easy way to measure portions of different foods. Simply fill them up, seal the lid, and place them in your lunch carrier.

Things are a little different if you’re eating out, in a hurry, or simply don’t want to get so complicated. There are other easy ways to measure food, and there are no additional tools necessary.

Measuring food with your eyes

High Protein Foods:

Usually, a portion size of protein (meat, poultry, tofu) is around 3-4 ounces. Use the area of the palm of your hand to visualize how large your piece of protein should be.

Vegetables and Fruit:

Fresh vegetables and fruit portions are traditionally larger than proteins, usually 1 cup. Use your whole fist to measure out your fruits, vegetables, and salads.

High Carb Foods:

Grains like rice, bulgur, and quinoa should be kept at around a ½ cup. When looking at your portion, this should look like a rounded amount that would fit in your hand. Another gauge could be to visualize your grain filling a cupcake tin liner which can hold about a rounded handful.

High-Fat Foods:

Nut butters, salad dressing, hard cheese, oil, butter and sour cream are highly concentrated sources of fat and calories. 1-2 Tablespoons should be enough to satisfy a portion amount. Using your thumb as a gauge to measure out these foods should give you the correct amount for your meals.

When using smaller amounts of healthy fats, such as a little ghee for your toast, you can use your fingertip as a measuring size, which should give you about 1 teaspoon.

Let your hands be your guide

Using this method of visually measuring should help keep you on track with not only the foods, but the portion sizes your body and microbiome need.

Additional Getting Started “Toolbelt” Articles:
Meal Prep 101: Easy Meal Prepping for Success
Tips for Eating Healthy While Traveling
Exercise in Just 10 Minutes with HIIT