There are plenty of free apps that can help you count calories and estimate how much you should eat based on your size and activity levels.
But all that monitoring and measuring is such a faff most of us give up after a few weeks.
Enter, the ‘hand’ method, as your shortcut to an accurate portion size.
We bet you’re looking at your hand right now, thinking: 'Crikey! That’s a small meal. And you’d be right.'
Most of us eat way more than this method dictates, but we like the idea of tossing aside our scales and measuring spoons for a much simpler approach to healthy eating.
Livestrong published some guidelines for men and women that are super easy to follow.
For women:
They do acknowledge that people come in all shapes and sizes but they suggest it’s all relative – so no cheating with longer nails and limp fist pumps!
If you’re happy to put a bit more work in, researchers at the University of Sydney have come up with a more scientific way of using the hand method.
It’s the first ever study that assesses the accuracy of hands and fingers to gauge the appropriate dimensions of food and drink.
They found that 80 per cent of foods measured with a ‘finger ruler’ were within 25 per cent of their true weight.
PhD candidate Alice Gibson was bestowed with an Innovation Award from the Dieticians Association of Australia for her efforts.
This video take you through Gibson’s approach using a piece of lasagne, a glass of wine and a slice of watermelon.
Or you can follow these steps when measuring your lasagne:
*An accurate result also needs to take in a person's finger measurements and the food density factor. This will be calculated for you in the future phone app.
Gibson told the Daily Mail Australia: "While more research is needed to fine-tune the technique, I think there’s real potential for this tool to be incorporated into electronic platforms such as smartphone applications so that the calculations are automated and estimating food intake on-the-go is more accurate.
"Better accuracy when estimating food and drink intake will allow dieticians to tailor nutrition advice and recommendations even further, ultimately benefiting clients."
It’s been a while since primary school maths, so we can’t wait for the app. In the meantime, we’ll stick with the mini fist pumps.
More diet tips: