I think I'm logging my food wrong.

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soazrj
soazrj Posts: 23 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok so I think I may have figured out why I'm in a plateau. The past week I've made chicken thighs my staple, I've been scanning the barcode of the frozen boneless skinless thighs from Costco and using the weight AFTER cooking. Can anyone confirm whether or not the nutritional information on frozen packaged meats like this are for pre cooked, or post? Thanks

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  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Usually the information on the label is for the raw weight unless the label says otherwise.
  • soazrj
    soazrj Posts: 23 Member
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    Damn... So I bet that's the problem, I really cook a ton of juices out of them too. I like them well done. Good to know! I don't know why I didn't think of it before
  • PinkSuede
    PinkSuede Posts: 49 Member
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    I think a lot of us have been guilty of doing this lol. I used to do the same thing. Now if I cant weigh it raw I log it as the cooked weight + 25% to be on the safe side.
  • slmacl2016
    slmacl2016 Posts: 8 Member
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    I weigh it after I cook it. Isn't that the most true number?
  • PinkSuede
    PinkSuede Posts: 49 Member
    edited September 2016
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    slmacl2016 wrote: »
    I weigh it after I cook it. Isn't that the most true number?

    No. The majority of the time foods are listed in the database as calories per oz or gram of raw weight unless otherwise noted in the description. Food weighs more raw than it does cooked. You can lose a lot of moisture and weight through cooking. So if youre logging your cooked chicken under what is supposed to be raw chicken you're underestimating your calories. A 4 oz piece of raw chicken totaling 130 calories may end up cooking down to 3 oz and getting logged as only about 100 calories. This makes you 30 calories off (the water lost during cooking doesn't contain many calories). Not such a big deal if you only do it once but if you log all your food this way (incorrectly) it can add up and completely throw you off track.... especially if you're eating a diet rich in animal proteins.
  • pebble4321
    pebble4321 Posts: 1,132 Member
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    slmacl2016 wrote: »
    I weigh it after I cook it. Isn't that the most true number?

    You can weigh food cooked or raw, but you need to ensure that you are using a relevant entry in the database.
    Look for either "Chicken thigh, cooked" (or grilled or roast etc) or "chicken thigh, raw".
    If you are adding other things when you cook it (oil etc) then you would be better off using the recipe builder to take all the ingredients into account and them logging the amount you eat.

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