Measuring Veggies
 

How do you measure your veggies? I have been using an old weight watchers scale, measuring uncooked, 16oz for 2 cups. Sometimes it is hard to believe how many veggies are on my plate at dinner.

Do you do the same? :carrot:

I measure raw, 2 cups. In a bowl measure cup. I would think the weight of 2 cups of something like broccoli would weigh more than something like 2 cups cabbage.

Originally Posted by clh99002:
How do you measure your veggies? I have been using an old weight watchers scale, measuring uncooked, 16oz for 2 cups. Sometimes it is hard to believe how many veggies are on my plate at dinner.

Do you do the same? :carrot:

No. Don't weigh them. Use a measuring cup. I pack my spinach in, but the rest I measure in a cup.

I'm a bad girl and don't measure, I'm pretty good with estimates. That being said, if I ever have an issue where my weight loss is stalling, I'll probably start measuring.

I hate measuring anything!

Originally Posted by AnnaBoBanna:
I'm a bad girl and don't measure, I'm pretty good with estimates. That being said, if I ever have an issue where my weight loss is stalling, I'll probably start measuring.

I hate measuring anything!

I hate it to, but I often do things I hate to do. It only takes 6-7 extra seconds, and then it is over. It is. It as bad as getting a flu shot, even!:)

IP is hard, but we can do hard things!

Originally Posted by Delgen:
No. Don't weigh them. Use a measuring cup. I pack my spinach in, but the rest I measure in a cup.

Interesting that this is the consensus. My coach never informed me either way and it seems as though I may be eating too many veggies.

I use my measuring cup for my 2 cups chopped - Do Not Weigh - it is volume, not weight. I actually was very meticulous in measuring my first 6 weeks, and got to a point where I would 'eyeball' it, admittedly did get a little lax in the middle of P1 and had to tighten up and start remeasuring again - but I'm back to my eyeball method. I use the following 'basic rules' for my more common veggies:
1 rib celery ~ 1/2c chopped
1 medium cauliflower ~ 4 cups chopped
1 medium zucchini ~ 2 cups chopped

Originally Posted by LizRR:
I use my measuring cup for my 2 cups chopped - Do Not Weigh - it is volume, not weight. I actually was very meticulous in measuring my first 6 weeks, and got to a point where I would 'eyeball' it, admittedly did get a little lax in the middle of P1 and had to tighten up and start remeasuring again - but I'm back to my eyeball method. I use the following 'basic rules' for my more common veggies:
1 rib celery ~ 1/2c chopped
1 medium cauliflower ~ 4 cups chopped
1 medium zucchini ~ 2 cups chopped

Thanks, LizRR, that is really helpful!

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So...if slicing veggies instead of "chopping" or dicing...
 

...what is the trick to getting a correct measurement. Also...my coach said she measures cooked ...now I know that can be as much as 2X a raw cup! Way more in the case of things like mushrooms and peppers!

Originally Posted by 65X65:
...what is the trick to getting a correct measurement. Also...my coach said she measures cooked ...now I know that can be as much as 2X a raw cup! Way more in the case of things like mushrooms and peppers!

I find that sliced veggies are a little easier to approximate when I measure them in a liquid measuring cup rather than my dry measure. I use a 2 cup pyrex and just get things as close to the 1 cup line as possible.

The thing about measuring veggies is that it is more about learning portion sizes and getting in the habit of measuring than anything else. The selected veggies are all comparably low carb and low calorie, so the difference between 1 cup of peppers and 1.25 cup peppers is negligible in terms of calories and nutrition. If you go over a teeny bit (or if you are chopping small versus large) the calories won't be much different. The important thing is learning what 1 cup of something looks like so that you have a trained eyeball once you hit maintenance, and you are in the habit of weighing and measuring your food when you are reintroducing higher calorie and higher carb foods, where a small difference CAN matter.