Measuring by weight or volume?

[artymama 170]

Should I measure my food intake by weight or volume?

[DeniseM 238]

I measure by volume because all foods have different weights. 1/4 cup of one thing will weigh different then 1/4 cup of another food. Everything I eat goes in a measuring cup which makes it easy to track my calories and Protein.< /p>

[MIJourney 490]

I use both. I have a food scale when measuring my Boars Head (deli) 2 oz of chicken but 1/2 cup when measuring refried Beans.< /p>

Just depends so I can keep track in MFP.

[cynthia4722 74]

I was weighing by weight, but I realized if I did that with things like chicken it was too much food ,so I measure by volume.

[artymama 170]

Thanks, that's what I thought !

[Nuchnuch 120]

If you are suppose to be having 3 ounces at a meal, 3 ounces is 3 ounces, regardless of the mass...right?

[RickM 1,753]

I measure almost exclusively by weight. Most of our solid foods are approximately the same density as Water, so an ounce of volume is an ounce of weight. Those things that are less dense soon get compacted to about that same Water density once in the stomach, so again, weighing gets you to about the same place. It also avoids the problem of measuring low density foods - just how much is a half cup of spinach? How finely chopped or compacted? Does that half cup weigh 5 grams, or 10 or 20?

To me, particularly with some multi-ingredient dishes, it's a whole lot easier to use a digital scale than multiple measuring cups and spoons (start with 10g chopped spinach, add 20g grape Tomato, 15g avo, 10g scallions, 10g shredded carrot, 10g dressing and a couple ounces leftover meat.... I would go insane trying to measure all that volumetrically!)

Another point to consider as you move along on this journey is that different foods behave differently for us, going through the stomach at different rates (some things are "sliders" that slide right through while others stick around in the stomach for some time being processed before going on to the intestines.) You may comfortably be able to eat two or three ounces of meat, but six of yogurt, so it starts getting to be a matter of experience no matter how you measure.

[lsereno 2,525]

I've heard many say we should never eat over a cup of food at a time. And we need to know how many ounces of Protein we have eaten to know if we are on track for Protein for the day, so I use a combination approach.

Artymama, I believe you are just a few weeks out? So the most important thing now is to get enough protein. Measuring non-liquids by ounce or gram allows you to track exactly how much protein you are eating. Also measuring by weight gives the most accurate calorie count if you are tracking calories. Consider 1 cup of ice cream spooned into the cup vs. 1 cup of ice cream tightly packed. Or one cup of large chunks of chicken vs. one cup of finely diced chicken.

For liquid foods, such as milk, a measuring cup should be as accurate as weight.

Later, when you can eat more, you can measure other foods by volume to help maintain restriction.

I'm two years out and I measure my protein by weight still and often measure other foods, such as vegetables and fruits by volume. For example, for lunch yesterday I had 2 oz. lean ground beef, 1/3 c. mixed veggies, and 1/3 c. brown rice.

Lynda

[RickM 1,753]

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[Ima Loser 197]

I was always told to measure by volume not weight... For example, our stomach can hold let's say a 1/2 cup. 1/2 cup is 4 oz... Think of it like this: There is a HUGE difference between 4oz of feather and 4 oz of marbles... That is why my nutritionist and Dr told me to always measure the quantity of food by volume not by weight!