Using your Portion Planner Disc

Helping you portion your meals for balanced nutrition

A common mistake people make with their evening meal is not including enough low energy density foods (which are usually high in fibre and water) such as salads and vegetables; and too many more energy dense foods than we need, such as meat, rice, bread, pasta and creamy sauces.

How does the Portion Planner Disc work?

The Portion Planner Disc is divided up into segments:

Protein
e.g baked beans, chicken, eggs, fish, lean red meat, lentils, pork, seafood, tofu
Carbohydrates
e.g bread, corn, couscous, noodles, pasta, potato, quinoa, rice, sweet potato
Learn more about carbohydrates here.
Salad and vegetables
e.g artichoke, asparagus, baby spinach, beetroot, bok choy, brocoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, capsicum, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, eggplant, green beans, leek, lettuce, mushrooms, onion, peas, pumpkin, radish, rocket, shallots, snow peas, spinach, tomato, zucchini

It is designed to fit over your dinner plate and assist you with choosing the correct portions for your main meal’s ingredients, covering all the essential food groups.

How to use your Portion Planner Disc

Fill each segment of the Portion Planner Disc with items according to the specified segment (this is written on the rim of the disc). The protein and carbohydrate segments should be filled no higher than the top of the disc.

The salad and vegetable segment can be stacked as high as you would like (remembering that potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn belong in the carbohydrate segment).

If you usually eat your main meal in the middle of the day, please use the Portion Planner Disc to prepare lunch, and use the KicStart™ shake or soup to replace breakfast and dinner.

If your participating in a Healthy Weight For Life program, check out the Recipes and Ideas section of your Week-by-Week Guide Book or our collection of dinner recipes here.

General guidelines for portioning your dinners

Salad and Vegetables – up to 5 serves

1 serve equals one of the following:

1 cup of salad
½ cup cooked vegetables (except potato)

Carbohydrates – 2 serves

1 serve equals one of the following:

1 slice of bread
½ lavash bread, flat bread or wrap
½ bread roll
½ cup corn kernels or 1 medium cob
½ cup mashed potato or 1 medium potato
1 medium piece of sweet potato
½ cup cooked pasta, noodles, rice, quinoa or cous cous.

Read our information on Understanding Carbohydrates here.

Protein – 3 serves

1 serve equals one of the following:

50g of lean meat (eg. chicken, pork, red meat,fish or seafood)
2 slices of lean deli meat
1/3 cup of salmon or tuna in spring water (or brine)
1 medium egg
1 tablespoon nuts
½ cup baked beans, legumes or tofu