Volume vs. Weight? Portions screwing with my head!

[Sleeve_Me_Alone 656]

I am 4.5 weeks post-op VSG. Recovery is going well and I'm progressing through my plan's stages with minimal difficulty. I'm now in "full" soft foods and getting a little more variety. Prior to today, I have been using small containers to portion out my food, eyeballing it based on the size of the container (e.g. a 4oz container, roughly 3/4 full gets logged as 3oz, and so on). I've been averaging about 3oz per meal comfortably, sometimes a bite more, sometimes a bite less. Given that my diet is a little more varied and I'm really focusing on getting as much Protein from "real" foods as possible, I decided to start weighing my portions to be more accurate. For lunch today, I weighed out 2.5oz of finely shredded rotisserie chicken and 30g of Alouette soft cheese. It *appeared* to be far more food than what I've been able to eat and I was a little shocked - lo and behold I have probably 1/4 of it left that I will not eat. I would have thought by weight the portion would have been LESS?! Doing some research, opinions on measuring by volume vs. weight are pretty varied, and my own program does not dictate one as better/more accurate than the other, just that we should measure & track. As a long time MFP user and lifelong dieter, weighing food is not new to me, and I certainly don't mind doing it. But I'm just so confused by the perceived disparity of a 2.5oz by weight portion vs. a 3oz by volume portion!

TL;DR: I don't know how to portion food. HAAAALP. Do you weigh or measure? In your experience which is more accurate? Which is more helpful in portion control/tracking?

[vikingbeast 987]

I literally just posted about my clinic's nutritionist who wants everything measured. It's SO inaccurate... do you pack the rotisserie chicken into the container or not? That could double the weight!

Everything has to be in grams for me. My scale isn't sensitive enough for the tiny fractions of an ounce, so everything is in grams. 80 grams of turkey for me for lunch; a wedge of La Vache Qui Rit is 30 g of cheese. Etc. etc.

[Queen ApisM 427]

Personally I prefer weighing and use that for the majority of items, but there are some thing that don't make sense to weigh and will be less affected by how tightly I pack the cup, like when I make Soup. When I make something like that, I measure yield (in cups), figure out the stats for per cup or whatever, and then use that for recording amounts.

Ounces by volume can be very different than by weight because food doesn't weigh the same, even if it seems like it would. I'm a beekeeper, and we have to sell honey by weight, because 8 Fluid oz (by volume) of honey weighs more than 8 oz by weight since it is so dense. It can also vary from honey to honey depending on moisture content, etc, so weight is more variable.

[Dave In Houston 199]

I weigh everything I eat. Five months after surgery, I can eat 8 ounces or so at a sitting.

[Sunnyway 344]

Weighing is usually proper unless the food is liquid or semi-liquid, in which case you should measure with a measuring cup, not by eye-balling.

Be sure to get a good digital food scale so that you can measure grams & ounces.

[ShoppGirl 4,793]

It’s interesting to hear what people say on this. My nutritionist said to go by volume which was difficult with many foods. Like how do you squish a taco or pizza down into a cup (fresco tacos and cauliflower pizza). But does the weight of it give you much either? I have recently been going by serving size. At 7 months out I can eat almost a serving it seems of most things. I said this to the NP yesterday in fact and she said that is fine. I can eat a little more than some people at my stage but she said as long as it’s nutritious food that’s okay cause most people eventually get to one serving. I am not eating past restriction nor do I have a bigger pouch, I am just chewing it to where it goes through more efficiently she says. I still think my pouch has always been bigger but what do I know. Anyways, glad to know I was not the only one confused by the weight vs volume thing.

[OutdoorsGirl 93]

Maybe the nutritionist says volume so the item being consumed will fit into the small stomach.

[Dave In Houston 199]

The reason I go by weight is that it's easier to measure than volume. (Like you can't squish a pizza slice into a measuring cup.)

The density of all foods is pretty close to the density of Water. Within 10%, I would guess. And if I chew thoroughly like I'm supposed to, that four ounces of pizza will be about half a cup.

[JDLane 140]

My team was pretty adamant about measuring by volume only, specifically telling us not to use a scale. You'll find with a lot of foods that you'll get more by weight than volume. I often eat the greek light and fit yogurts that come in a 5oz container so I like to use that container as a frame of reference. They told us around 6oz by volume for meal so I try to visualize if I could fit my meal into that container.

[Sleeve_Me_Alone 656]

Thanks, all. I appreciate the feedback. As frustrating as it is, its comforting to know that I'm not the only one trying to navigate this. I think I'll experiment for the week measuring by weight and compare to what I've experienced when measuring by volume and then decide what works best for me. Either way, I'm not eating past restricting, I'm being very mindful to let my body tell me when its had enough, regardless of how much I've portioned out. But I would like to track and log accurately so I can make sure I'm hitting my Protein goals and nutritional needs. Plus it will be valuable data for when I need to make adjustments down the line.

[elp93 26]

Start of weighing your food, learn how to tare your scale and then after a while you can just eye ball it and know how much you are getting 🙂

[Lynnlovesthebeach 626]

If it's a solid weigh it on a scale, if it's not measure it in a cup. I know I can eat about 2 oz of chicken or steak, sometimes a little more and about 1/2-3/4 cup of whatever is measured...soup, vegetables etc. You will learn your limits as time goes on. I buy a lot of "single serving" size items like the 4 oz cottage cheese, I can eat the whole thing. If I bought a large size container I would just measure out 4 oz. I buy the big size Fage yogurt and measure out (on a scale, not in a cup) individual portions at 5-6 oz. It gets easier as you figure out what you can eat.