Counting calories as close as possible

JayZ1488
JayZ1488 Posts: 258 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I’ve been doing really well with my weight loss, and have been in my deficit for over three months now. I go to the gym and work out so I don’t think this will matter much but I’m having an issue with certain foods and the calories they have.

CHICKEN - every time I look on here, or on labels itself from places like Perdue it always Varys, why?

Chicken breast
4 oz 130
4 oz 140
4 oz 170
Which is it? Where can I get more an exact number.

Granted I’m not to concerned as I’m usually under by 50-150 calories but I don’t wanna mess up.

Any sites recommended or help is appreciated!

Replies

  • Ddsb11
    Ddsb11 Posts: 607 Member
    I would measure everything in grams and avoid those entries. Where are you buying your chicken, is it packaged in anyway with a nutrition label? Do you have a scale?
  • JayZ1488
    JayZ1488 Posts: 258 Member
    I
    Ddsb11 wrote: »
    I would measure everything in grams and avoid those entries. Where are you buying your chicken, is it packaged in anyway with a nutrition label? Do you have a scale?

    Is there a difference between grams and ounces?

    I do have a scale yes and use it always. Sometimes I get Perdue other times at the butcher.

    Even when I type in let’s say split chicken breast, there’s so many entries on this site with calories all over the palce
  • ChickenKillerPuppy
    ChickenKillerPuppy Posts: 297 Member
    I will often just google something for the usda calories in grams, and usually if I search for the item in the food database and put “usda” in the search terms I’ll find an entry that matches my research.

    You do need to be really specific through with chicken - raw or cooked, skinless? Boneless? Breast or leg? Rotisserie? They are all different.
  • Ddsb11
    Ddsb11 Posts: 607 Member
    JayZ1488 wrote: »
    I
    Ddsb11 wrote: »
    I would measure everything in grams and avoid those entries. Where are you buying your chicken, is it packaged in anyway with a nutrition label? Do you have a scale?

    Is there a difference between grams and ounces?

    I do have a scale yes and use it always. Sometimes I get Perdue other times at the butcher.

    Even when I type in let’s say split chicken breast, there’s so many entries on this site with calories all over the palce

    As the previous poster mentioned, use the usda specific options, it’s about as close as you’ll get without a label to base your measurements off of.

    oz= liquids grams=solids
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Just to clarify.
    fl oz is for liquids, oz/lbs for solids, Imperial.
    ml is for liquids, grams/kg for solids, metric.

    It is often more precise to weigh in metric.
    Ie: 120g of chicken or 4.232oz of chicken.

    I found it useful to look up my main foods in the USDA initially and find the corresponding entry in MFP or enter it myself.
    (Even MFP entries that say USDA are user sourced so can be incorrect)
    It was tedious at the start but once it was in my diary it was easy to access and adjust the serving size.

    Cheers, h.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,944 Member
    Calories for an item also really depend on where you live. In some countries a lot of meat gets 'biggered' by pumping water into it. Then you have a higher weight and a bigger piece of meat, but the calories are still those from a smaller one due to the water which doesn't have calories.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    USDA for best calorie numbers
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    JayZ1488 wrote: »
    I’ve been doing really well with my weight loss, and have been in my deficit for over three months now. I go to the gym and work out so I don’t think this will matter much but I’m having an issue with certain foods and the calories they have.

    CHICKEN - every time I look on here, or on labels itself from places like Perdue it always Varys, why?

    Chicken breast
    4 oz 130
    4 oz 140
    4 oz 170
    Which is it? Where can I get more an exact number.

    Granted I’m not to concerned as I’m usually under by 50-150 calories but I don’t wanna mess up.

    Any sites recommended or help is appreciated!

    Tag your search with USDA...but beyond that, it's going to vary because this isn't an exact science. Nothing has exactly XXX calories.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    2 things:
    1) The weight of foods vary depending on how & how much they are cooked. If cooking at home, weigh everything raw. If eating out, pick the closest entry noting cooking method.
    2) I find the item in the nutritiondata.com database then copy the item name, work for word, into the MFP search to find the identical entry in the MFP database. Sometimes they include the USDA tag and sometimes they don't.

    Chicken, for example, will have different entries for the parts of the chicken (breast, legs, etc.), whether or not it has skin, whether it is cooked and how (stewed, roasted).

    Beef similarly has separate listing for the different cuts, and also separate entries for the USDA grade and how much marginal fat was left on the cut. It is a dizzying array of listings, but if you are going for accuracy, I would spend the time picking the most accurate entry then saving it in MFP so you don't have to search next time you have it.
  • Ddsb11
    Ddsb11 Posts: 607 Member
    edited March 2021
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    Ddsb11 wrote: »
    JayZ1488 wrote: »
    I
    Ddsb11 wrote: »
    I would measure everything in grams and avoid those entries. Where are you buying your chicken, is it packaged in anyway with a nutrition label? Do you have a scale?

    Is there a difference between grams and ounces?

    I do have a scale yes and use it always. Sometimes I get Perdue other times at the butcher.

    Even when I type in let’s say split chicken breast, there’s so many entries on this site with calories all over the palce

    As the previous poster mentioned, use the usda specific options, it’s about as close as you’ll get without a label to base your measurements off of.

    oz= liquids grams=solids

    Not really! That’s mixing two systems, ounces are imperial, grams are metric.

    Imperial: Fluid Ounces (floz) for liquids. Ounces (oz) for solids.

    Metric: Millilitres (ml) for liquids. Grams (g) for solids.

    The superiority of using metric is down to accuracy and granularity.

    An ounce converts to 28.3g. Most kitchen scales don’t register down to a 28th of an ounce but they do measure in individual single grams!

    Omg you’re right 🤦🏼‍♀️ I just mentally equated it to floz. I use floz for liquids and grams for solids.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    Ddsb11 wrote: »
    JayZ1488 wrote: »
    I
    Ddsb11 wrote: »
    I would measure everything in grams and avoid those entries. Where are you buying your chicken, is it packaged in anyway with a nutrition label? Do you have a scale?

    Is there a difference between grams and ounces?

    I do have a scale yes and use it always. Sometimes I get Perdue other times at the butcher.

    Even when I type in let’s say split chicken breast, there’s so many entries on this site with calories all over the palce

    As the previous poster mentioned, use the usda specific options, it’s about as close as you’ll get without a label to base your measurements off of.

    oz= liquids grams=solids

    Not really! That’s mixing two systems, ounces are imperial, grams are metric.

    Imperial: Fluid Ounces (floz) for liquids. Ounces (oz) for solids.

    Metric: Millilitres (ml) for liquids. Grams (g) for solids.

    The superiority of using metric is down to accuracy and granularity.

    An ounce converts to 28.3g. Most kitchen scales don’t register down to a 28th of an ounce but they do measure in individual single grams!

    My scale gives me oz out to one decimal point, so IMO they are just as good as grams. I use grams anyway since being able to log, say, .72 of 100 g is way easier than messing with oz, and I now intuitively think of weights of foods in grams (although I'm stuck in the imperial system with plenty of other things!).
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,260 Member
    Is your chicken air chilled "real meat" or brining solution injected, or somewhere in between?

    Food data central should have raw chicken entries galore. USDA legacy database can be selected as your only check mark.

    Using the wording of the entry you can usually find it on MFP.

    It then tends to pop in your recents. ..
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    JayZ1488 wrote: »
    I’ve been doing really well with my weight loss, and have been in my deficit for over three months now. I go to the gym and work out so I don’t think this will matter much but I’m having an issue with certain foods and the calories they have.

    CHICKEN - every time I look on here, or on labels itself from places like Perdue it always Varys, why?

    Chicken breast
    4 oz 130
    4 oz 140
    4 oz 170
    Which is it? Where can I get more an exact number.

    Granted I’m not to concerned as I’m usually under by 50-150 calories but I don’t wanna mess up.

    Any sites recommended or help is appreciated!

    All of those entries are user-entered. Ones pulled from the USDA database will specify raw or cooked.

    Unfortunately, the green check marks in the MFP database are used for both USER-created entries and ADMIN-created entries that MFP pulled from the USDA database. A green check mark for USER-created entries just means enough people have upvoted the entry - it is not necessarily correct.

    To find ADMIN entries for whole foods, I get the syntax from the USDA database and paste that into MFP.

    https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

    The USDA changed the platform for their database in 2019 and it is unfortunately a little more difficult to use. I uncheck everything but “SR Legacy” - that seems to be what MFP used to pull in entries.

    For cooked chicken breast: "chicken, breast, cooked, roasted" gave me https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/?query=chicken, breast, cooked and from that you can see the syntax for the MFP entry to use is "Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, cooked, roasted"
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,286 Member
    MrsMellodoggerello wrote: »
    I don't think it matters much...Unless you're an athlete or really obese trying to lose weight because of health problems, I think it's okay to guesstimate and just try to eat a reasonable amount of calories most days...

    Sure - it is ok to do that if it works.

    Did it myself in fact.

    But if it isnt working, tightening up your logging and weighing things accurately is very good advice.

    and what usually happens is people start threads "Why am I not losing" and in fact their logging is full of looseness and estimates.

    Yet to see anybody start a thread "I am losing as expected with estimating, should I change? "
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    Ddsb11 wrote: »
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    Ddsb11 wrote: »
    JayZ1488 wrote: »
    I
    Ddsb11 wrote: »
    I would measure everything in grams and avoid those entries. Where are you buying your chicken, is it packaged in anyway with a nutrition label? Do you have a scale?

    Is there a difference between grams and ounces?

    I do have a scale yes and use it always. Sometimes I get Perdue other times at the butcher.

    Even when I type in let’s say split chicken breast, there’s so many entries on this site with calories all over the palce

    As the previous poster mentioned, use the usda specific options, it’s about as close as you’ll get without a label to base your measurements off of.

    oz= liquids grams=solids

    Not really! That’s mixing two systems, ounces are imperial, grams are metric.

    Imperial: Fluid Ounces (floz) for liquids. Ounces (oz) for solids.

    Metric: Millilitres (ml) for liquids. Grams (g) for solids.

    The superiority of using metric is down to accuracy and granularity.

    An ounce converts to 28.3g. Most kitchen scales don’t register down to a 28th of an ounce but they do measure in individual single grams!

    Omg you’re right 🤦🏼‍♀️ I just mentally equated it to floz. I use floz for liquids and grams for solids.

    i too use a mix of imperial and metric. its really not a big deal LOL

    I actually have a lot of liquids that I have entries for in grams, or know the gram equivalent so that when my plate is on the scale i can just tare out and know the gram amount I can add.

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