Question:
I am curious to know how come nobody uses a food scale

I mean when people say that eat 4 oz of chicken or other type of meat I have always used a weightwatchers scale pre-surgery to weight my meats but everyone keeps saying that they use measuring cups how in the world can you put a chicken breast in a measuring cup-shouldn't you just plop it on the scale to see if it weighs 3 oz, 1 oz, etc?-just makes more since to weigh your meats on a scale than in a measuring cup-don't know how you put a piece of raw fish in a measuring cup...some clarification please...Tori    — TotallyTori (posted on April 13, 2003)

April 13, 2003
Oh, the measuring scale is my best friend! lol I use both, the scale as well as cups. You're right, if its chicken or beef or fish, you can't just stick it all in a cup. Also, once you get further post-op, you can kind of eyeball things. So i know how much 2oz of chicken is, just b/c I have been eating it since the beginning. But if its small chicken pieces or ground beef, you can do that in a cup. But some people don't measure their food at all, everyone is different, so I'm sure you'll get a variety of answers.
   — Lezlie Y.

April 13, 2003
A nutritionist that spoke at our support group meeting said that one oz. of meat is the size of four stacked dice. I go by that guideline. Hope that helps!
   — Want2bslim

April 13, 2003
It could be because our new stomachs are made a specific capacity so many people measure for volume, not weight. For the first few weeks I used 2TBS measuring cups (the size of a Nyquil cup) to measure my meals, whether it was soup, applesauce, cottage cheese or refried beans. It was volume I was going for, not weight. I no longer measure by volume or weight. I stop when I'm satisfied and sometimes that means 2 oz (weight) of meat..and sometimes 3 oz, but measuring cup-wise it usually looks like about 1/4 cup meat. Hope this helps
   — Jerri A.

April 13, 2003
I use my food scale daily to measure my protein. I use a measuring cup for everything else. I want to know that I am getting my protein exactly but most other foods are by volume as opposed to weight.
   — Carol S.

April 13, 2003
I figure I can't eat to much, so why weight it? ;)
   — Danmark

April 13, 2003
Hi Tori :). This is an easy one! There's a difference between weighing with a scale (that measures WEIGHT not VOLUME) and by measuring with a cup (which measures VOLUME not WEIGHT). For example, if you are going to eat some tuna fish and you are supposed to be eating 2 oz portions, you would need to eat 1/4 cup of tuna (1 cup = 8 ounces). Now if you weighed out 2 oz of tuna, it might not be the same. Same thing goes for other food. Just imagine how much popcorn it would take to actually weight 2 oz, but it doesn't take nearly as much to fill a 1/4 cup. Not that anyone measures popcorn because it crunches into nothing, but still... Think of it as gold vs sand. If you were to use a quarter-cup measuring cup to measure them out, of course, the volume would be the same, but the weight would be totally different. Measuring after WLS isn't done the same as before (like with a Weight Watchers diet, etc). Go by the volume, not the weight. Good luck! :)
   — SuzAnne S.

April 14, 2003
I use a food scale, measuring cups and various spoons to measure what I'm eating, etc. I'm embarrassed to say, but I'm somewhat dependent upon them since It's helped me to get where I am now. Best Wishes to you!
   — yourdivaness

April 15, 2003
My pouch restricts the volume of what I eat, not the weight of what I eat! And, actually, I don't weigh or measure anything anymore - 15 months post op. I can eyeball a quantity and tell if it is "too much" or not. And if I make a mistake, my pouch tells me loud and clear! I just have to make sure that I eat slowly and chew carefully. Everything else happens automatically.
   — Kathy J.