Stupid food scale questions

samchez0

So I finally succumbed and bought a food scale. I just have a few questions so that I'm using it properly and so it can be most beneficial towards my diet.

Do you weigh things like bananas peeled or unpeeled?

If I weigh my meat raw but don't eat all of it once it's cooked, how will I know how much I've ate? Like my husband is going to make steaks today and I know I won't eat my whole steak.

Do you weigh veggies cooked or raw?

I'm sure I have more but I don't want you guys to think I'm a total idiot.

diannethegeek

Weigh just the part you eat, so unpeeled (assuming you don't eat the peel). You could also weigh it whole and subtract the weight of the peel after you eat it.

You could weigh the steak after cooking and then weigh the leftovers. Either log the cooked weight of the meat you consumed (using an accurate and appropriate database entry that specifies how it was cooked) or you can do a little math to figure out the percentage of the meat you ate and then compare that to the raw weight to log.

I weigh and log my veggies raw.

csedano87

If I'm making a recipe I weigh everything before I cook it and create a recipe on my app. Let's say I'm making beef and broccoli and its 4 servings per recipe. After I'm done cooking I divide it up into 4 servings and take one for myself so I know I'm tracking accurately. If I'm just making steak or chicken and veggies, I weigh after its done cooking so I know how much I'm eating. So cut up about how much steak you think you'll eat and weigh it then eat it (same with the veggies). If you weigh it before you eat it you'll know how many calories you're consuming too.

RoxieDawn

My rule is I always weigh my food raw including all meat (chicken, beef, pork, bacon etc..). Apples are cored, bananas out of the peeling, potatoes can be with skin on or off (depends on how I cook them), etc.. If I eat only a portion of my steak, it is a best guess for me however, if I know ahead of time that the steak is going to be too large, I will half it (weigh it raw and log it).

The grams and ounces of water, or fat that cooks out of meats or veggies is too cumbersome to bother with. So I weight it all raw, then cook and enjoy.

I think answers here will be similar in nature either raw or cooked, but I am an all raw person. And I use the tare button often on my scale when weighing peanut butter, jams, butter, oils, etc.

Cortelli

I weigh the banana unpeeled, then weigh the peel and subtract that from the unpeeled weight. Same for apple and core, etc.

Nowadays I just weigh the meat cooked. You could weigh the cooked steak, then weigh what you didn't eat, and do the same subtraction as above to determine amount consumed.

If you really want to stick to raw weights (and I did a while back) then you can do what I used to do: (1) weigh raw; (2) weigh cooked; determine the percentage difference between raw and cooked; (3) use subtraction method on cooked meat to determine amount consumed; (4) apply percentage difference to you cooked portion consumed to "back out" the raw amount consumed.

An example: (1) raw steak is 200 grams; (2) cooked steak is 180g; (3) cooked / raw is 90% or 0.9; (3) leftover steak weighs 50g, so you consumed 130g cooked steak (180g cooked - 50g leftovers); (4) then 130g cooked equals 144g raw (130g/0.9).

Lots of process there, and eventually I just started using cooked database entries, or using rough estimates on the raw amount consumed, based on my consistent preferences for "doneness" and reasonably consistent preference for the cut of meat (i.e., I figured my own cooked / raw averaged around 0.93 - 0.9).

trjjoy

Not everyone cook meat to the same degree of doneness and that will affect the meat's weight. Best to weigh raw and subtract the weight of the bones, if any.

KateTii

I like my fruit cut up in bite size pieces (like a 2 year old, I know) - so I just weigh the pieces. Raw is usually best but things like vegetables don't change too much after cooking (and are very low calorie anyway so it's not a huge deal). Steak is a tricky one - people have already explained better than I could, but I have learnt how much steak is enough for me. I can look at a raw steak and know how much i'll eat, cut off that bit and weigh, cook and eat that bit.

callsitlikeiseeit

weigh raw and only what you are eating

cbihatt

I think it's all a matter of personal preference and how much accuracy vs convenience is important to you. Personally, I weigh meat cooked because it is easier for me. I don't feel it is necessary to be that strict with my logging, and things tend to balance out over time. I weigh bananas without the peels, and I cut apples up and weigh the pieces. For veggies, I weigh them raw if I am eating them raw, and cooked if I am eating them cooked. I think it is more important to be consistent, no matter what you decide to do.