Confused about rice calories
hipari
Posts: 1,367 Member
I’m in the process of weighing in my commonly used measurements to log more accurately. I usually just eyeball stuff, but I’m trying to weigh things I cook frequently to see what my typical portion actually weighs. I’m well aware of why a food scale is important and that’s what I need to start doing if I stop seeing results, so I don’t need that lecture/advice.
My question is: how many calories can I actually expect to be in a serving of rice? I weighed my rice today before cooking and after cooking, so I have both dry and cooked weight. According to the package and an online search for calories in cooked rice (in Fineli, which is the local version of the USDA food database, pretty trustworthy), I came to two very contradicting calorie amounts.
Portion weighed dry: 125 grams, 444 calories
Portion weighed cooked: 150 grams, 183 calories
Previously I have just eyeballed things and logged 200g of cooked rice totaling 244 calories, and my weight loss has been pretty consistent with my logs. I only started a spreadsheet that shows calculated vs actual weight loss two weeks ago, but I follow trendweight and in the 2 weeks my trend weight loss is 90% of what the math says it should be. Currently I’m happy with that accuracy, but would love to take baby steps towards knowing my true portion sizes and calories better so I’m prepared for when things get harder. So, which option would be the most correct one to use in the future? Or is the option of my food scale being broken more likely? The type of rice is basmati/white, if that makes a difference.
My question is: how many calories can I actually expect to be in a serving of rice? I weighed my rice today before cooking and after cooking, so I have both dry and cooked weight. According to the package and an online search for calories in cooked rice (in Fineli, which is the local version of the USDA food database, pretty trustworthy), I came to two very contradicting calorie amounts.
Portion weighed dry: 125 grams, 444 calories
Portion weighed cooked: 150 grams, 183 calories
Previously I have just eyeballed things and logged 200g of cooked rice totaling 244 calories, and my weight loss has been pretty consistent with my logs. I only started a spreadsheet that shows calculated vs actual weight loss two weeks ago, but I follow trendweight and in the 2 weeks my trend weight loss is 90% of what the math says it should be. Currently I’m happy with that accuracy, but would love to take baby steps towards knowing my true portion sizes and calories better so I’m prepared for when things get harder. So, which option would be the most correct one to use in the future? Or is the option of my food scale being broken more likely? The type of rice is basmati/white, if that makes a difference.
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Replies
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I think if you weighed out 125 grams dry, your weight after cooking should be much more than 150 grams for the whole amount. Both of those seem accurate enough for the amount of grams each is.5
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Log the rice uncooked.1
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Dry is more accurate.
But I find it very strange that your 125 gr of dry rice only absorbed 25 grams of water, the difference between dry and cooked is usually larger? (I don't eat much rice, except risotto, so I hope a frequent rice eater can confirm)0 -
Dry is more accurate.
But I find it very strange that your 125 gr of dry rice only absorbed 25 grams of water, the difference between dry and cooked is usually larger? (I don't eat much rice, except risotto, so I hope a frequent rice rather can confirm)
Yeah, this is what lead me to consider option 4 - scale is broken. Maybe I have to do this again next time I cook rice to see what gives.
Also - damn, the 125g dry is a package-recommended serving. That is a LOT of calories.0 -
Isn't 125gr the recommended serving size for two people? Or it was on the last package of rice I bought at least.1
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OMG, I feel like an idiot. Thanks @Lietchi and @RelCanonical !!
I went to re-read the package and realized my mistake, that also lead to this confusion. The package has directions for cooking for 4 people, with 3 deciliters. I’m cooking for two, and as a smart person measured half of the 4-person serving, so 1,5 deciliters and weighed that. I also double-checked online what one deciliter usually weighs, and it matched my scale reading. Because I already did the ”half of what the box says” math in my head, I forgot to re-halve it when figuring out my own portion. While weighing the cooked rice, I already had the two plates out and divided the rice from the pot into the two plates and weighed one.
Confusion solved, scale not broken, all is well in the calorie-counting world again!8 -
Hey, since we're talking about rice......
Can anyone weigh in (wink-wink) on whether or not day old rice has less calories?
Dr. Google says that it has 1/2 the calories, I am dubious!
I really really really want it to be true, but I don't think that it is.0 -
Also, a more humorous thanks to you two, you made me get out of bed and take some extra steps to the kitchen to re-read the package to figure out where I went wrong. Every step counts
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akmamagirl wrote: »Hey, since we're talking about rice......
Can anyone weigh in (wink-wink) on whether or not day old rice has less calories?
Dr. Google says that it has 1/2 the calories, I am dubious!
I really really really want it to be true, but I don't think that it is.
Why would day old rice have half the calories? Does a day passing cause it to lose calories? Does that only work for rice, or do all my day old foods lose half their calories? By day 4 is it a zero calorie food? I've so many rice related questions.1 -
Wow!! This was very educational. The entry I've been using is for 0.75 Cup Cooked and lists 150 calories. Now of course we've been told Cups are not decent measurements but I was just too lazy to look for an entry with grams.
As to day old rice having half the calories, I just know that day old rice tastes better!!0 -
akmamagirl wrote: »Hey, since we're talking about rice......
Can anyone weigh in (wink-wink) on whether or not day old rice has less calories?
Dr. Google says that it has 1/2 the calories, I am dubious!
I really really really want it to be true, but I don't think that it is.
Why would day old rice have half the calories? Does a day passing cause it to lose calories? Does that only work for rice, or do all my day old foods lose half their calories? By day 4 is it a zero calorie food? I've so many rice related questions.
If anything it has "more" calories because some of the water has evaporated, making it more calorie-dense per gram, lol.2 -
I’m in the process of weighing in my commonly used measurements to log more accurately. I usually just eyeball stuff, but I’m trying to weigh things I cook frequently to see what my typical portion actually weighs. I’m well aware of why a food scale is important and that’s what I need to start doing if I stop seeing results, so I don’t need that lecture/advice.
My question is: how many calories can I actually expect to be in a serving of rice? I weighed my rice today before cooking and after cooking, so I have both dry and cooked weight. According to the package and an online search for calories in cooked rice (in Fineli, which is the local version of the USDA food database, pretty trustworthy), I came to two very contradicting calorie amounts.
Portion weighed dry: 125 grams, 444 calories
Portion weighed cooked: 150 grams, 183 calories
Previously I have just eyeballed things and logged 200g of cooked rice totaling 244 calories, and my weight loss has been pretty consistent with my logs. I only started a spreadsheet that shows calculated vs actual weight loss two weeks ago, but I follow trendweight and in the 2 weeks my trend weight loss is 90% of what the math says it should be. Currently I’m happy with that accuracy, but would love to take baby steps towards knowing my true portion sizes and calories better so I’m prepared for when things get harder. So, which option would be the most correct one to use in the future? Or is the option of my food scale being broken more likely? The type of rice is basmati/white, if that makes a difference.
125g as 444 cal is what my rice is. 160 cal for 45 g dry. Give or take 20ish depending on the brand and kind of rice. I usually use basmati.
Cooked weight is going to be different everytime unless you weigh and use exactly the same amount of water and cooking time. If youre a little over or under for water, the cooked weight will change. Weighing it when cooked is useful if you know you made say 3 portions... weight all of it, divide by 3 and then weight out 1/3 of total cooked weight. I dont usually bother doing that since I figure the exactness evens out when I eat the leftovers.1 -
akmamagirl wrote: »Hey, since we're talking about rice......
Can anyone weigh in (wink-wink) on whether or not day old rice has less calories?
Dr. Google says that it has 1/2 the calories, I am dubious!
I really really really want it to be true, but I don't think that it is.
so I have heard this as well. Its because when it gets cold in the fridge, something changes in its structure that make our guts less able to absorb/digest the nutrients (so like when you eat corn kernels... its corn in and corn out haha). The calories don't disappear though. However I wouldn't count on it actually working out that way. I always use the full value. If you chew more (think if you ate pureed corn, you'd absorb more nutrients including calories), more will digest... might depend on the kind of rice too... basically there is too much guess work.
And you should take what I said there with a grain of salt. Its not like my research was very scientific. I asked my brother once and he told me what he read HA.0 -
akmamagirl wrote: »Hey, since we're talking about rice......
Can anyone weigh in (wink-wink) on whether or not day old rice has less calories?
Dr. Google says that it has 1/2 the calories, I am dubious!
I really really really want it to be true, but I don't think that it is.
There was some noise for awhile about I think it was called resistant starch. That if you cooked a starch and then refrigerated it some of the carbs would change and not be digested. But if I remember correctly the possible range of the calorie/carb difference between eaten freshly cooked and eaten cooked-refrigerated went from hardly anything to unbelievably high. And I haven't seen anything to corroborate that since.
So no, I wouldn't count on it. Maybe consider it a possible mystery bonus 2 -
I’m in the process of weighing in my commonly used measurements to log more accurately. I usually just eyeball stuff, but I’m trying to weigh things I cook frequently to see what my typical portion actually weighs. I’m well aware of why a food scale is important and that’s what I need to start doing if I stop seeing results, so I don’t need that lecture/advice.
My question is: how many calories can I actually expect to be in a serving of rice? I weighed my rice today before cooking and after cooking, so I have both dry and cooked weight. According to the package and an online search for calories in cooked rice (in Fineli, which is the local version of the USDA food database, pretty trustworthy), I came to two very contradicting calorie amounts.
Portion weighed dry: 125 grams, 444 calories
Portion weighed cooked: 150 grams, 183 calories
Previously I have just eyeballed things and logged 200g of cooked rice totaling 244 calories, and my weight loss has been pretty consistent with my logs. I only started a spreadsheet that shows calculated vs actual weight loss two weeks ago, but I follow trendweight and in the 2 weeks my trend weight loss is 90% of what the math says it should be. Currently I’m happy with that accuracy, but would love to take baby steps towards knowing my true portion sizes and calories better so I’m prepared for when things get harder. So, which option would be the most correct one to use in the future? Or is the option of my food scale being broken more likely? The type of rice is basmati/white, if that makes a difference.
125g as 444 cal is what my rice is. 160 cal for 45 g dry. Give or take 20ish depending on the brand and kind of rice. I usually use basmati.
Cooked weight is going to be different everytime unless you weigh and use exactly the same amount of water and cooking time. If youre a little over or under for water, the cooked weight will change. Weighing it when cooked is useful if you know you made say 3 portions... weight all of it, divide by 3 and then weight out 1/3 of total cooked weight. I dont usually bother doing that since I figure the exactness evens out when I eat the leftovers.
Yeah, I know dry weight is what counts. I wanted to weigh the cooked portion as well to educate myself about what different portions weigh, and because I eat out in restaurants and buffets a lot and it helps to eyeball portion sizes there. At that point I had already freaked out about the 444 calories because I had messed up with portion sizes and cooking for two as explained above, so I wanted to ”confirm” and see if the cooked rice entry would result in similar calories.0
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