Also, please make your surgeon and RD clarify what they mean by "ounces." This was one of the MOST confusing things to me and it aggravated me no end!
I don't honestly even know if THEY understand the confusion they cause!
VOLUME is king in our world. Most often, when docs and RDs refer to "ounces" in the very early days post surgery, they are talking BY VOLUME and FLUID measurement. That means roughly we should aim for these volumes. People will swing either 1 step up or down on the time scale for volume. In early days when real estate is totally at a premium, we concentrate and fill that volume with protein first. As we mature, we can handle other things in addition to meeting our protein goals.
When dealing with dense, solid PROTEIN in the progressing phases, it's important to go by weight, but it still needs to fit within the VOLUME limit for the meal. And this is where it gets tricky cuz 1oz BY VOLUME does NOT equal 1 oz by weight. That's why I still weigh my protein into a measuring cup first so that I know I get my protein needs met and don't exceed my 1 cup per meal volume prescription for my forever diet:
BY VOLUME:
1-2 weeks post op:
1 oz by volume = 2 tbsp of food = 1/8 cup by volume = 1 medicine cup of volume
2 oz by volume = 4 tbsp of food = 1/4 cup by volume
3-4 weeks post op:
3 oz by volume = 6 tbsp of food = approx 1/3 cup by volume
4 oz by volume = 8 tbsp of food = 1/2 cup by volume
5-8 weeks post op:
5 oz by volume = 10 tbsp of food = approx 2/3 cup by volume
9-12 weeks post op:
6 oz by volume = 12 tbsp of food = 3/4 cup by volume
13 weeks to forever post op:
7 oz by volume = 14 tbsp of food = approx 7/8 cup by volume
8 oz by volume = 16 tbsp of food = 1 cup by volume
BY WEIGHT:
1 oz by WEIGHT = 28.35g by WEIGHT METRIC = 1/4 cup by volume (approx) = approx 7g of protein by macro/cooked
2 oz by WEIGHT = 57g by WEIGHT METRIC = 1/2 cup by volume (approx) = approx 14g of protein by macro/cooked
3 oz by WEIGHT = 85g by WEIGHT METRIC = 3/4 cup by volume (approx) = approx 21g of protein by macro/cooked
4 oz by WEIGHT = 113g by WEIGHT METRIC = 1 cup by volume (approx) = approx 28g of protein by macro/cooked
1 oz by WEIGHT = 28.35g by WEIGHT METRIC = 1/8 cup by volume (approx) for veggies cooked al dente
2 oz by WEIGHT = 57g by WEIGHT METRIC = 1/4 cup by volume (approx) for veggies cooked al dente