Weighing and counting wings

Anon2018

So, I've recently bought a food scale and am getting used to weighing everything.

I'm making wings tonight - they're one of my fav foods and I figured making it homemade can help me control it.

Anyway, problem is the logging. I logged my portion of 6 wings (raw with the bone in) and it was 665 grams, which would be 675 calories. However, that weight includes the bone, which - yknow, isn't food. I just feel like 675 calories isn't right. I would have thought it was more like 400, but IDK.

I plan to bake them until crispy and then toss into wing sauce with some carrots and celery on the side. I know the weight will change after I cook them, but the entry I was looking at was based on "raw" (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/calories/generic-chicken-wing-raw-with-skin-meat-and-bone-371672125). I was thinking of just using this entry and estimating I eat about 75% of the grams in it.

I have about 700 calories to "spend" on dinner, so to speak, so was looking forward to something a little decadent but still fitting in my cals.

Any ideas?

Meghanebk

Estimating like that is bad for me, I come up with all kinds of reasons why something isn't "really" that many calories. You can do it either way, but if you do it often and your weight creeps up I'd quit trimming calorie values and see if it helps your results. Don't forget to add in the wing sauce, too

collectingblues

Honestly, that sounds about right to me. Wings are calorie dense, even when you eat them plain. I usually plan on about 100 calories per wing, so that 675 sounds on the accurate side.

GlassAngyl

An uncooked wing has about 72 calories per wing. Add breading and sauces, it can quickly add up. To drop it to about 50 calories per wing, remove the skin. Lessen the calories by choosing your sauces wisely.

garber6th

Why don't you weigh them before you eat them then weigh the bones after and just log the difference?

Meghanebk

Edit- don't stress too much about going over calories if logging is new. If it puts you over, maybe next time eat 4, stick a couple in the fridge and see if you're still hungry in ten or so minutes. Or go for a walk after dinner to offset one wing. Enjoy your dinner!

Anon2018

collectingblues wrote: »

Honestly, that sounds about right to me. Wings are calorie dense, even when you eat them plain. I usually plan on about 100 calories per wing, so that 675 sounds on the accurate side.

I understand what you're saying, but I disagree. From a restaurant, maybe, but these are not breaded nor fried. Like it is pretty much be definition less than 675 because I weighed them and each wing has a significant piece I won't be eating (the bone). The question is how much less. I'm tossing them in homemade wing sauce - mostly hot sauce and a little butter. I weighed and measured. Logging isn't new to me, but weighing my food is so I'm trying to do it right. Since weighing I found out I was overestimating almost all of my portions, which probably explains why I was so hungry when I tried to cut calories.

I plan to weigh the bones after I eat to help me estimating, though I did a little more research and ~70 calories per wing seems to be about right.

Anon2018

hi everyone - brief update. I ate the wings (lol).

I weighed them once they were done baking after a bunch of fat rendered off - 600 grams. I weighed my bones after I was done eating (there might have been some residual sauce on them, but whatever) - 165 grams. Total: 435 grams. The calorie counts I found were about 1 cal per gram, so 435 cals.

72 cals / wing * 6 wings = 432 cals.

So, I'm going with around 435 and calling it a day. For the future I will know that 72 cals / wing is fairly accurate (in case I'm not in a place to weigh). They were very yummy and I am going on an after dinner walk.