Food weighing question

ritzbits190

I always have doubts when I weigh two things: frozen vegetables and canned beans (like black beans). This is because the weighed value seems so different from the volume measurement. For example a 1/2 cup (85g) of frozen corn is 70 calories. 85g comes out to more than 1/2 cup and also the fact that I'm weighing frozen food makes me feel like it's overstated. How would you all handle it? Just take the 85grams frozen to equate to 70 calories?

Also a can of black beans is 1/2cup (130g) for 120 calories and there is about 3.5 servings in a can. The thing with black beans is that they are in water so is the 130g including some water? Or should I weigh after its all drained and rinsed ? A whole can with liquid weighs about 438 grams which is about 3.5x 130g. So that leads me to believe that I need to include some of that water when I weigh out my 130g serving. So then how would I portion out a serving that represents the right amount of calories? Hope this makes sense. My goal is 1270 calories a day so something small like this makes a difference.

perkymommy

I would measure the beans by the cup not on a scale and I drain the water from mine before eating it. I wouldn't weigh frozen stuff but weigh it after it's cooked. Veggies can be lighter when frozen and heavier once cooked. I steamed some broccoli the other day that was 1.5 ounces raw and I put it in the microwave and it was 2.0 ounces when I weighed it again after it came back out. Either way, I wouldn't put too much thought in it. Just track it the closest you can.

WA_mama2

Always count frozen and raw weights. The only thing you're losing is water through the cooking process, which doesn't take calories with it.

I would go by the grams indicated as a serving on packaged foods, and measure that amount using the scale.

MichelleLea122

I think there are entries on here for things like drained black beans, so you can use those. As for the vegetables, it probably makes about a 10-20 calorie difference so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

itsbasschick

i drain the can and then i weigh all the beans and then divide by the number of servings - can't remember if it's 3 or3.5.

btw, i weigh my frozen foods frozen and my cooked foods raw, too.

WrenTheCoffeeAddict

I weigh all my foods at raw weight, unless, on the packaging, is specifies that the nutritional information is for cooked, in which case they normally provide the weight conversion on the packaging.
Usually t's rice and pasta that throw people, as the calorie information is normally for the cooked weight, and they sometimes don't provide information on what the dry weight is for that.