Calorie counts varying widely - what to do?

KeysKat
KeysKat Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
For example: boneless pork chops: they show up in the database as anywhere from 4oz= 160 calories to 4oz = 300.
I can only lose weight if I am very strict with my calories, so that is too big a difference to just fluff off.

I can understand just checking the label on packaged foods, but for fresh stuff, especially meat (calorically dense) - how do you ever know for sure?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,829 Member
    Checking the USDA database is a good start. They will have different entries according to the cuts of meat, with or without bone, but also raw versus different cooking methods.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Use the USDA website. The entries on MFP are user inputs and some of them are flat out wrong.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    As others said, the USDA database -- here: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/

    For whole foods, unclick everything but SR legacy.

    For meats, it matters how much fat it has (of course), and whether it is cooked or not, so you will get variation. I usually get meat from a local farm, and the pork chops have more fat than what is normally sold at the store due to different breeds, I think.

    Anyway, the basic lean only boneless pork chop, raw, is 144 cal. If you weigh it cooked, it will be more (since it shrinks when you cook it). USDA says 228 cals for separable lean and fat, broiled, at 4 oz. (You may have to do math.)

    If you explore the USDA site, you will learn to recognize the entries in MFP.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    tag your database search with USDA and then compare with the USDA website to select the correct one.

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