How to estimate portion sizes without a food scale

Your hand goes everywhere with you, so it is the easiest measure to use at a stall or a restaurant. The NSW Environment Protection Authority's Love Food Hate Waste programme gives this rough guide:

The same guide says one palm of raw meat is about 85 g. HealthHub Singapore uses a palm-sized piece of meat, fish or poultry of about 90 g as one serving. Malaysia's obesity guidelines use half a palm of lean meat or fish as one small portion, the same as a matchbox-sized piece or one egg.

Malaysian kitchens already have standard sizes. Malaysia's obesity guidelines and the MOH calorie list describe them like this:

In the guidelines' food exchange list, one third of a Chinese rice bowl of cooked rice is one portion of about 75 kcal. A full bowl is about three portions, a little over 200 kcal.

The Malaysian Healthy Plate, introduced by the Ministry of Health, splits a meal into quarter, quarter, half (suku, suku, separuh): a quarter of the plate for rice or other carbs, a quarter for protein, and half for vegetables and fruit. It is based on a 10-inch plate, the standard size for most Malaysian adults.

The plate works as a measure because it fixes the space. If rice covers half your plate instead of a quarter, you have about twice the rice. If your plate is much bigger than 10 inches, the same quarters hold more food.

HealthHub Singapore uses the same idea for vegetables: a quarter of a 10-inch plate of cooked vegetables is one serving.

At a stall, start from a typical serving and adjust. Each dish page on our site states the serving its numbers are for.

Then count what is different on your plate. These common extras come from the MOH calorie list:

• One more scoop of white rice (76 g): about 100 kcal.
• A fried egg (50 g): about 100 kcal. A hard-boiled egg (50 g): 80 kcal.
• Half a cup of satay peanut sauce (86 g): about 130 kcal.
• A tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk (19 g): 65 kcal.
• A tablespoon of sugar (15 g): 60 kcal.
• A tablespoon of fried peanuts (10 g): 58 kcal.

Small amounts of dense food carry a lot of calories, and they are easy to miss. A mistake with oil, sugar or nuts matters more than a mistake with vegetables.

• Oil. It soaks into fried rice, noodles and vegetables. Each level teaspoon (5 g) is about 45 kcal.
• Sugar and condensed milk in drinks. You cannot see them, so ask how the drink is made, or order it kurang manis or kosong.
• Gravy and sauces. Curry, masak lemak and peanut sauce add calories you cannot count by the piece.
• Mixed plates. Nasi campur and nasi kandar combine many items. Count each part on its own. Our nasi campur guide shows how.

Vegetables are the forgiving part. A scoop of stir-fried kangkung (60 g) has 41 kcal in the MOH calorie list, so guessing a little high or low barely changes your day.

1. Use the same plate, bowl and cup at home, so your eye learns their size.
2. Measure a few meals once with a measuring cup or spoon, and compare them with your hand.
3. Read nutrition labels on packaged food to learn what 100 g or one serving looks like.
4. Take a photo before you eat. It helps you remember what was on the plate when you log it later.
5. Round to the nearest 10 kcal. Being consistent every day matters more than being exact once.

Take a photo of your plate with the camera or pick one from your gallery. Nibbs recognises Asian dishes, splits a mixed plate such as nasi campur into each item, and estimates each portion using local portion sizes.

Every item and portion can be edited before you save. If Nibbs guesses one scoop of rice and you had two, change it. You can also type a description such as "2 senduk rice, 1 fried egg, kangkung", scan a barcode or a nutrition label for packaged food, or save a meal you eat often and log it again with one tap.