Hi All, I have a portion question for IP experts
 

I am on my first week of Ip and feeling a but fatigued and nausea shut getting through it.

My question is about veggies, I don't have a food weight so I use the steamers and count by bag size, ie 12 oz is about a cup and a half. Am I right in figuring this out, or should I get a weight?

Thanks for your help.

Measuring vegetables should be by the cup, not the weight. A portion is two cups of vegetables - if they're too big to fit in measuring cup, chop them the first time so you can get a sense of how much (i.e. cucumber).

Also, remember to measure your vegetables raw, not cooked.

I was wondering why you can't measure vegetables by grams. I've been doing both...uh oh! I have my first WI tomorrow morning...I was already nervous, now I am worried!

Thanks,
Pauline

You can measure veggies by grams on a food scale.

I often do for veggies I don't want to chop such as asparagus.

It's so important to measure in grams vs. ounces though because 8 oz of spinach does not equal 2 cups.

I like this website:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/

Thank you! I use grams already. Thank goodness! I seriously thought I somehow messed this up and I've been sticking to IP 100%.

But measuring grams is a weight measure, too. Grams will not equate to cups either, i.e. the spinach example.

However, as the nutritional link posted shows, 1c raw spinach = 30 g

So for those who would rather weigh (and research weight each time), it IS possible to weigh instead of measure in a cup. Cups are just so much less time consuming!

Just know each raw veggie will have a different weight for 1c.

I made the mistake of measuring 2 cups of frozen, cooked spinach one time - that was a LOT of spinach!

Hit "post" too soon! I weigh out some veggies like asparagus because I like to keep the stalks longer and it's hard to measure two cups. I have to look it up each time though because I can never remember the actual weight.

Thanks Lisa. I was going to post the same thing you said.

I looked up the weight, in grams, of each veggies I eat (asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, turnips, kale, spinach, zucchini, etc.) and typed it all out on a sheet which is taped to the inside of my kitchen cabinet. Super convenient!

That is an awesome idea!!!

Well, that just makes too much sense and is too easy! Never thought of that. :dizzy:

I have never measured my veggies.... just ate how much I wanted... I'm going for my third WI tonight, will see how I'm doing.... lol

Although, I will measure today, see if I'm doing it right...

Without measuring veggies, it's just as easy to under serve yourself as to over serve, and either one of those can adversely affect losses. It's really helpful to measure now and eventually you will get a strong sense of size/amount.

You might be surprised after you start measuring for a few weeks and eating precisely the four cups, your losses may improve!!

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking as well JLUS, I'll make the effort, if not just to see how much I eat... :)