How to do wrist math to track your macros

Reviewed by Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD

There are many ways to track your nutritional intake.

It can seem overwhelming to choose a (correct) method that works for you.

That's why we developed the hand piece method.

It simplifies nutrition tracking in a way that anyone can—and can—afford any of your health and fitness goals.

A division: The hand portion method

Precision Nutrition's handheld portion method provides an easy solution to tracking your macros, allowing you to manage your food intake without weighing, measuring or counting calories.

The method is simple: Estimate the size of the portions with your hands.

It's not about precise measurements—rather, it's about using your hand as a reliable gauge for portion sizes.

What makes the handpiece method particularly effective is its natural alignment with the proportions of your body. Plus, the size of your adult hand remains constant, ensuring consistency in sharing.

Here is a summary:

• Protein: Your palm determines your protein portion size.
• Vegetables: Your clenched fist determines the size of your vegetable portion.
• Carbohydrates: Your cupped hand determines your carb portion size.
• Fat: The thumb determines the size of your fat portion.

Once you have an idea of ​​what each serving looks like, you can aim to meet your personalized recommended daily portion balance.

How many servings of hands to eat

Most people will meet their nutritional needs by eating:

• 1-2 palms of protein-rich foods at every meal
• 1-2 handfuls of vegetables at each meal
• 1-2 cup handfuls carbohydrates at most meals
• 1-2 thumbs of fatty foods at most meals

Depending on your goals and framework, you may need to adjust these general recommendations up or down.

Benefits of the hand part method

When it comes to tracking macros, the wristband method offers several benefits:

1. Accuracy with minimal effort: Our internal research shows that handpiece tracking is 95 percent as accurate as other tracking methods—but without the effort of precise measurement. Check out these results to see for yourself how well the hand part tracking works.
2. Can be customized according to your dietary preferences: Whether you follow a Mediterranean, paleo, vegetarian, ketogenic or completely plant-based diet, you can apply this method.
3. Easy to manage macronutrient breakdowns: With the hand portion method, you have the power to fine-tune your macronutrient breakdown. Adjust the proportions of protein, carbohydrates and fat to precisely fit your individual needs and goals.
4. Useful tool to estimate calorie intake: Each hand portion equals an approximate amount of protein, carbohydrates, fat – and therefore calories. For example: 1 palm protein ~ 130-145 kcal; 1 handful of vegetables ~ 25 kcal; 1 cup of carbohydrates ~ 110-120 kcal; and 1 thumb fat ~ 90-100 kcal.

The supposed variety of food choices

Our hand portion system assumes a mix of high-fat, moderate-fat, and low-fat protein sources; a mix of fruits, starchy tubers, beans and whole grains for carbohydrates; and a mix of fat-rich whole foods (like nuts, cheese, or avocado), mixed foods (like pesto or nut butters), and pressed oils for fats.

And, the hand portion method can be adjusted to suit individual dietary preferences.

For example, if you are following a ketogenic diet, you can simply increase your fat intake to compensate for the decrease in carbohydrates.

Examples of the hand portion method: Approximate serving sizes for each macronutrient

Here are some examples of how much you'll eat using our hand portion method.

However, these are only approximations. Actual serving sizes will depend on your individual hand size and body needs.

For men

A palm-sized portion of protein equals about 4 ounces of cooked meat/tofu, 1 cup of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, 1 scoop of protein powder, or 2 whole eggs.

A handful of vegetables equals about 1 cup of non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, cauliflower or bell peppers.

A hand full of carbs is about ⅔ cup of cooked whole grains or legumes, 1 medium-sized fruit, or 1 medium-sized tuber.

A piece of fat the size of a thumb is about 1 tablespoon of oils, nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocado/guacamole, cheese, and dark chocolate.

For women

A palm-sized portion of protein equals about 3 ounces of cooked meat/tofu, 1 cup of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, 1 scoop of protein powder, or 2 whole eggs.

A handful of vegetables equals about 1 cup of non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, carrots, cauliflower or bell peppers.

A hand full of carbs is about ½ cup of cooked whole grains or legumes, 1 medium-sized fruit, or 1 medium-sized tuber.

A piece of fat the size of a thumb is about 1 tablespoon of oils, nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocado/guacamole, cheese, and dark chocolate.

Rough math for macronutrient servings

For number-oriented users, based on the examples above, these are the rough macros that each part provides.

Macros for approximate servings for men:

• 1 protein palm ~ 24 g protein, 2 g carbs, 4.5 g fat, 145 kcal
• 1 handful of vegetables ~ 1.5 g protein, 5 g carbs, 0 g fat, 25 kcal
• 1 cup carbs ~ 3 g protein, 25 g carbs, 1 g fat, 120 kcal
• 1 fat thumb ~ 2 g protein, 2 g carbs, 9 g fat, 100 kcal

Macros for women's approximate servings:

• 1 handful of protein ~ 22 g protein, 2 g carbs, 4 g fat, 130 kcal
• 1 handful of vegetables ~ 1.5 g protein, 5 g carbs, 0 g fat, 25 kcal
• 1 cup carbs ~ 3 g protein, 22 g carbs, 1 g fat, 110 kcal
• 1 fat thumb ~ 2 g protein, 2 g carbs, 8 g fat, 90 kcal

Please remember that these are approximations.

All aspects of calorie and macronutrient calculations are based on averages with known error rates.

Hand part math accuracy testing

In the examples below, we'll demonstrate that using the portion-of-the-hand method is 95 to 100 percent as accurate as carefully weighing, measuring, and recording everything you eat.

Example 1

Our first example is a female athlete who weighs 135 pounds and has 18 percent body fat. She maintains a high level of activity, engaging in two training sessions a day. Here's what she eats in a day:

1. Before training at 6 am: 16 oz black coffee, 1 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt, 1 cup chopped pineapple, 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, 1 glass water.
2. Training at 7:15-8:30 am: Drink 16 oz of water during the training session.
3. 9 am post-workout shake: 12 oz water, 2 scoops protein powder, 1 medium apple, 1/2 cup old fashioned oats, 2 cups spinach, 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed, 1 Tbsp almond butter.
4. Lunch at 12:00: 3 oz salmon, 1 cup steamed mixed vegetables, 1 medium sweet potato, 1 tbsp coconut oil, 2 cups water.
5. Mid-afternoon snack @ 4:00 p.m.: 1 banana, 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter, 1 glass of water.
6. Training at 5:30-6 pm: Drink 16 oz of water during the training session.
7. Dinner after training at 19:00: 3 oz shredded chicken breast, 2 cups whole grain pasta, plus 2 cups sautéed vegetables with 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic, and white cooking wine, 2 cups water.

If you calculate this person's calorie and macronutrient intake using USDA Nutrient Databaseyou take:

• 2672 kcal
• 170 g of protein
• 264 g of carbohydrates
• 104 g fat

And if you translate this person's intake into hand-sized portion terms, you get:

• Protein = 5 palms (Greek yogurt, protein powder x 2, salmon, chicken)
• Vegetables = 5 handfuls (spinach x 2, mixed vegetables, stir-fried vegetables x 2)
• Carbohydrates = 10 hands stacked (pineapple x 2, apple, oats, sweet potato, banana, pasta x 4)
• Fats = 9 thumbs (walnuts x 2, flaxseeds, almond butter, coconut oil, peanut butter x 2, olive oil x 2)

Multiplying those serving numbers using the approximate hand portion math for women (refer to the section above), the estimated intake is:

• 2672 kcal (exactly the same as calculation with apps and spreadsheets)
• 166 g protein (4 g less than the app and spreadsheet calculation)
• 273g carbs (9g more than calculated with apps and spreadsheets)
• 102 g fat (2 g less than her calculation with apps and spreadsheets)

As you can see, the difference between manual tracking and using our hand part method is only a few tiny grams.

Example 2

Our second example is a moderately active male who weighs 210 pounds and has 17 percent body fat. Here's what he consumes in a day:

1. Waking up at 5:30 am: 12 oz black coffee
2. Breakfast at 07:00: 4 whole eggs with a large bunch of peppers, onions and mushrooms cooked in a large pat of butter, placed in a whole wheat wrapper, with ~1 oz of cheese, 1 handful of black beans and some pico de gallo, glass large water, 12 oz black coffee.
3. Super Shake at 10:30: ~ 10 oz water, 2 scoops chocolate protein powder, 2 cups spinach, 2 cups frozen cherries, ~ 1 tablespoon cocoa, ~ 1 scoop chia seeds.
4. Lunch at 14:00: 4 oz turkey breast, ~⅔ cup quinoa, 1 handful of mixed vegetables, 1 apple, 2 roasted almond fingers, 1-2 large glasses of water.
5. 1-2 cups of green tea @ 3-4 pm.
6. Dinner at 18:00: 8 oz tenderloin (lean), 2 handfuls of roasted red potatoes with onions, 2 cups of roasted rainbow carrots, 2 tablespoons of olive oil for frying, 1 glass of wine, 1-2 large glasses of water.

If you calculate this person's calorie and macronutrient intake using the USDA Nutrient Database, you get:

• 3130 kcal
• 212 g of protein
• 283 g of carbohydrates
• 111 g fat

And if you put this person's take in terms of the hand part, you get:

• Protein = 7 Palms (eggs x 2, protein powder x 2, turkey, tenderloin x 2)
• Vegetables = 6 handfuls (crepes/peppers/mushrooms/picos, spinach x 2, mixed vegetables, rainbow carrots x 2)
• Carbohydrates = 9 hands stacked (wrappers, beans, cherries x 3, quinoa, apples, potatoes x 2)
• Fats = 8 thumbs (butter, guacamole, cocoa, chia seeds, almonds x 2, olive oil x 2)
• Alcohol = 1 (wine)

When you multiply those portion numbers using the approximate hand portion math for men, the estimated take is:

• 3183 kcal (53 kcal more than calculating with apps and spreadsheets)
• 220g protein (8g more than the apps and spreadsheets calculate it)
• 285g carbs (2g more than calculated with apps and spreadsheets)
• 113 g fat (2 g more than her calculation with apps and spreadsheets)

Once again, the hand part method is almost as accurate as weighing and tracking parts manually – and much simpler.

We can help you achieve your goals

our The ultimate macro calculator can help you figure out the ideal macronutrient ratio for your specific nutrition and fitness goals. From there, our hands-on method can guide you along the path to success.