weigh your oils and fats!

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  • Hollywood_Porky
    Hollywood_Porky Posts: 491 Member
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    Yeah the one thing about oils - it's liquid - liquid absorbs faster than a solid, even... errrmm... sugar, so with liquid, you do have to be careful if you are monitoring intake and you are trying to cut. I was steaming a lot when I was losing the bulk of the fat I took off over the past year.
  • mynameisnotemily
    mynameisnotemily Posts: 42 Member
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    christinev297 wrote: »
    1Tbs extra light olive oil comes up at 120 cals

    You may already know this, but just in case: 'light' olive oil refers to a lighter taste, not caloric content. So you can use the really good stuff (extra virgin olive oil) if you like, or the cheapest stuff, or whatever--as far as kcals go, they're essentially the same.
  • Codilee87
    Codilee87 Posts: 509 Member
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    Yeah oil is a tricky one - especially when I am cooking up a big batch of something because it becomes even harder to judge how many calories from oil will actually end up in your food. For example, I sauteed 1lb of ground moose in 1 tbsp of coconut oil and the meat ended up being enough for about 10 servings - so do I divide the oil calories by 10 and hope its relatively accurate or do I just not count it at all? (I usually end up logging it as 1tsp of oil, which is probably a lot higher than the reality)
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    ALL oils are pure fat, so they have 1 gram of fat per gram. Since there are 9 calories in a gram of fat, then a teaspoon (4.5g) has about 40 calories. That's true for all oil varieties: olive, canola, sesame, vegetable, whatever. "Light" olive oil isn't lower calorie; it's just lighter in flavour.

  • ahoier
    ahoier Posts: 312 Member
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    this isn't to say oils are bad......some of you are making it sound like oil is bad.......they are not. oil adds flavor, makes the food taste better......also fills you up. but yes, definitely weigh your oils.......especially coconut oil.....lol. it is delicious.....but yes, 1 tablespoon is like 100+ calories.....
  • dougpconnell219
    dougpconnell219 Posts: 566 Member
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    I shudder to think how many calories the "butter flavored kaola gold" we cook with at work has.

    I keep a can of cooking spray to grease the pans when I cook for my own consumption there, but for example, and omelette has three or four small ladles of oil in it!
  • jenglish712
    jenglish712 Posts: 497 Member
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    ahoier wrote: »
    this isn't to say oils are bad......some of you are making it sound like oil is bad.......they are not. oil adds flavor, makes the food taste better......also fills you up. but yes, definitely weigh your oils.......especially coconut oil.....lol. it is delicious.....but yes, 1 tablespoon is like 100+ calories.....

    ^ This, as well as fats are needed by your body for several functions. From a flavor perspective, the was a lipid melts on your tongue helps it to deliver the flavors of other ingredients to taste buds. And fat soluble vitamins... require fat for absorption. So be mindful of the calories, but don't avoid fat all together.
  • Sydking
    Sydking Posts: 317 Member
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    christinev297 wrote: »
    I've never logged the oil I add when cooking. Today I discovered just 1 Tbs of oil is 120 calories :o I sometimes use up 3tbs in cooking, so that'd be 360 extra calories a day not accounted for! :'(

    haha yer i got easy on the stuff - Hard being Italian we cover everything with a splash of Olive oil

    also use you scales on liquid setting or use a proper liquid measuring spoon, and dinner table spoon is very different in measuring. same with teaspoon ect
  • Sydking
    Sydking Posts: 317 Member
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    dougpconnell219 wrote: »
    I shudder to think how many calories the "butter flavored kaola gold" we cook with at work has.

    I keep a can of cooking spray to grease the pans when I cook for my own consumption there, but for example, and omelette has three or four small ladles of oil in it!

    Dam no wonder they taste so good when i get an omelette in a restaurant or cafe, lucky its only once a year if that. probably 600cal just in oil
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
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    I never understood what part of "Weigh All The Things" was that hard to figure out ...
  • belimawr
    belimawr Posts: 1,155 Member
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    Yep, I realized this a year ago as well. Well, I knew oils were full of fats, but I never paid much attention to how much I was using, and when I did, like you OP, it was a lot more than one tbsp like suggested.

    I bought myself a good nonstick pan, even for eggs I never have a problem with sticking.

    I still carefully use oils in dishes that need it (like a previous poster, it's hard to avoid completely being Italian).

    I saw a mention of sprays... if you have a non-stick pan be careful with the cooking sprays, they can mess up a non stick pan.
  • jvt63
    jvt63 Posts: 89 Member
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    Keep your measuring spoons on the counter. It becomes a habit. :)
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    As calorie-dense as they are, oils also take the longest for the body to metabolise, giving you satiety and long-term energy. Oil is wonderful, in small doses. Kind of like chocolate.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I guess because the butter and oil has usually disappeared by the end of cooking it was easier to ignore. Like it just poofed up in the air lol
  • itsclobberintime
    itsclobberintime Posts: 164 Member
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    The best policy is to weigh and measure everything so that you get a clear picture of how much you are consuming.
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
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    Camo_xxx wrote: »
    Yup, Discovery is definitely part of the process.

    For sure. :)

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    itsclobberintime wrote: »
    The best policy is to weigh and measure everything so that you get a clear picture of how much you are consuming.

    Yep true. No use in ignoring this or not logging that because it will send you over that day..
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    I've been logging the oil I cook with all along, but have a tip to cut down on amount used.

    I was used to cooking vegetables with tablespoons of oil, but now rarely use more than a teaspoon (40 calories) for a big pan. Divided over a recipe of 4 or so servings, that's not much oil. If you add water, it will distribute that oil around and all the veggies that you're sauteing will get a little bit of the oil. Let the water cook out, lower the heat, let the veggies get a little brown, stir around, repeat.

    For my frozen spinach in the morning, I just plain steam saute with water and then dump my scrambled eggs in. No oil at all. Good nonstick pans help.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Good tip mamapeach. Thankyou xx
  • Qskim
    Qskim Posts: 1,145 Member
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    I spray first with cooking spray to stop sticking and then I add a tbsp of olive oil.

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