do you weigh or measure your food?

[Takingmylifeback 4]

I have a few friends who are also banded yet we have different doctors. My doctor tells us we need to weigh our food to no more than 4 ounces (5 ounces if you're over 6' tall) . The other doctor has them weigh their food with measuring cups. My thought is weight is more accurate than volume because the stoma should only be holding approximately 4 ounces. a cup of macaroni and cheese versus a cup of lettuce are going to be completely different. I've done amazingly well the first year (101 lbs gone) yet lately (the past 4 months) I've plateau'd. I need to find a way and motivation to break this streak as I've come this far and I'm not ready for this part of the journey to be over. Any advice/ideas?

[Melissannde 41]

And then there's my doc who advises a combo of weight & measure. 3oz of Protein and 1/2 cup of veggies.

I use a digital scale to weigh my meat at home and at the beginning a measuring cup for veg. I now know that my big serving spoon can hold about 1/2 cup.. I know what 1/2 cup looks like in my various bowls.. so I don't always measure veg at home now.

I don't carry my scale or cups with me when we eat out. On those occasions I visual my meat the size of a deck of cards or the palm of my hand. Veg about the size of a tennis ball.

Very common to hit plateau's .. or we perceive them as plateaus, but when we look back, we really were losing, just not as fast as we thought we should be.

Change up your exercise. Do something different or increase intensity or start doing intervals. Hire a trainer once a week.

Look at what you're eating calorie wise. Can you shave off a 100 or so for a week.. does that bust the plateau? If not, try adding that 100 back plus another 100. Give that a few days and see what that does.

I felt like I was stuck back in May.. so to encourage myself I started taking my measurements. I recorded them monthly and it was helpful to see that although the scale movement had slowed way down.. the inches were coming off.

Sometimes I think when they put the band in us, they remove the patience gland. ::grin:: I've been losing around a lb a week, but I want it to be faster like in the beginning of my journey. It's a long long journey.

Today I was able to comfortably wear a pair of jeans that a month ago was painfully tight. So, I know things are changing.. and they will for you too. Hang in there. Keep the faith.

[isaviolinist 11]

I weigh my food and measure it. I got a scale that was inexpensive at target awhile back and I love it. It comes with a bowl that fits over it if you're measuring something like cheese (or other solid foods). The bowl protects the unit from getting dirty. But then you can flip the bowl right side up and use it to measure things like rice or quinoa or flour. Its great. I use it all the time to measure my food.

[BetsyB 9]

Both. Solid Protein, I weigh, and eat between 2-4 oz. Veggies, I measure by volume.