How to guess a portion with your hand — no scale
You do not need a kitchen scale at every meal. Your hand is a built-in ruler — a fist is close to one cup, and a thumb tip is close to one teaspoon. That is enough to log an honest portion anywhere, then let Burnie do the maths.
You are at a wedding lunch. The uncle piles rice high on your plate. There is no scale. There is no measuring cup. There is only your hand. Good news. Your hand is already a ruler. A fist is close to one cup. A thumb tip is close to one teaspoon. This short read shows how to guess any portion with just your fingers.
You need a kitchen scale to control your portions.
mostly falsemostly false
A scale is the most exact tool, that is true. But your hand works almost as well for daily eating. One tested method used finger widths to guess food amounts. About 80 percent of shaped foods came within 25 percent of the true weight. Your hand is always with you too. At a wedding. In the office canteen. On a train. A scale is not. So for real life, the hand wins.
Your hand has built-in cups and spoons
Scientists measured real hands to test the old rules. One fist holds almost exactly one cup. The tip of your thumb holds about one teaspoon. Three of those tips make about one tablespoon. So each hand carries a cup and a spoon. Fill one fist with cooked rice and you get about 205 kcal. One tablespoon of ghee is 112 kcal. The tools were in your pocket the whole time.
Same fist, very different calories
Swap a dense protein for a lighter one
Your palm is a good guide for solid protein foods like paneer, chicken or egg. Paneer is dense, about 299 kcal per 100 g. Cooked dal is much lighter, about 116 kcal per 100 g for the same weight. So swap part of a palm of paneer for a fist of dal. You keep the protein job done, but you drop about 180 kcal for every 100 g you swap.
Use your hand anywhere
The bottom line
You do not need a scale at every meal. Your hand is the ruler you never forget. A fist is about one cup. A thumb tip is about one teaspoon. The hand gives you the size, but the food decides the calories. One fist of rice is about 205 kcal. One fist of cucumber is just 15 kcal. So guess the portion with your hand, then log it in Burnie before the first bite. Burnie is FREE, and it does the maths for you.