Portion size of protein question

[workerbeesc]

Today is my day 2 - first whole 30.  I am dragging physically, but hanging in there.  I have about 25 pounds to lose.

 

I was really hungry by lunch today so I browned a pound of ground turkey, mixed in a sliced bell pepper, mushrooms, onions, and garlic, along with the Chinese stir fry sauce recipe from Well Fed.

 

I ate all of it!  It was delicious.  It was a LOT of food though - I wasn't really stuffed after I ate, and I do feel like it will hold me until dinner.

 

Is it OK to eat that much at one meal?  Just trying to learn the plan - thanks in advance for any advice.

[Tom Denham]

The Whole30 meal template advises eating at least one and up to two palm-size portions of protein at each meal: http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Meal-Planning-Template.pdf

 

A pound of ground turkey is probably more than twice the size of the palm of your hand. Maybe four times? Five? And I am guessing that you ate less than a pound of veggies with that pound of meat. You probably ate too much protein and not enough veggies, but good for you filling up on basically good foods. Next time you can work on improving the portion sizes and ratios.

 

And for the record, I have certainly eaten more than a pound of steak in one sitting on more than one occasion.

[missmary]

I like your response, Tom, but I take issue with 4 or 5 times! I'm pretty small, but I am convinced my palms are no smaller than 1/3lb of ground meat. 1/5th of a pound would be a tiny little slider, and we all need more protein than that. 

 

For the OP: usually that single "palm size" portion is enough for me, but sometimes I do need more, like 1-1/2 to 2 palms. The great thing is once you have been doing this for a while you can actually read the signals your body is giving you, and respond with the food it needs.

[Tom Denham]

I like your response, Tom, but I take issue with 4 or 5 times! I'm pretty small, but I am convinced my palms are no smaller than 1/3lb of ground meat. 1/5th of a pound would be a tiny little slider, and we all need more protein than that.

I am pretty sure that I always cook closer to two palm-size portions whenever I cook, but I have never checked to see how many palm-size portions a pound of ground meat would make. I guess I should actually thaw some ground meat and see.

[amberino21]

I'm pretty sure I have more than two palms of protein too....but 1lb sounds like a lot!!

Perhaps adding some fat to your meal (turkey is very lean) would have made you feel full on less meat, and you could have added more vegies?

[workerbeesc]

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies.  I just wanted to follow up...I think my palm is probably the equivalent of 1/4-1/3 pound of raw meat, cooked, maybe less.  It certainly is not 1 pound!   That is why I asked in the "can I have" section - just wasn't sure what the rules were on quantities of meat.

 

Now for dinner.....my big lunch held me all afternoon - I didn't get the 3:00 munchies like I normally do, so that made me happy.  By dinner I was getting a bit hungry so I made a "meatza" from Well Fed along with lots of raw tomatoes and peppers on the side from my garden.  I could only eat 1 palm size serving of the meat before I was full.

 

For me, this was a successful day.  Big meal at lunch and small meal at dinner is my personal preference - helps me to sleep better I think.  I went to bed at 9:15, and slept through until 5:30.  This plan could work for me.

 

Thanks again for your help!

[Bet]

I don't think a 1/2 lb of ground meat/poultry for one meal is unreasonable for most of us. But as Tom says, did you have enough veggies or did you have enough fat? The balance of the meals is important.

 

I'm glad you were full and didn't want to snack. That is the great thing about W30. Sometimes I have to force myself to eat a whole meal. I guess years of dieting and stomach issues have taken their toll on my stomach. I would eat small meals, but then be hungry 2 hours later, not good.

 

I am almost finished with my W30. I think I have lost about 6 lbs. I too want to lose about 25lbs. The thing is, while on W30, I was never hungry, never felt deprived never had real cravings (maybe for chocolate....). And I lost about 2 lbs a week, without increasing exercise.  Most diets I have done, I was very deprived and would only lose about 1 lb a week. So the plan works. And it's something I can live with most of the time. I will mostly likely be on some version of W30 for the rest of my life.