Raw weight vs cooked weight

mcbellnz

Okay, so I might have been doing something a bit silly. When I prep my meals, I weigh everything in its raw state.

But for example, when I enter it into myfitnesspal, I have been using "Chicken - Breast, Meat Only, Cooked, Dry Heat, 105 g " - when in fact the raw weight was 105gm.....so this morning, as I was prepping my lunch, I weighed out 129gm of raw chicken breast. Then I put my lunch box on the scales and added my salad veges, and then for fun I tared the scales and added the now cooked "129gm" of chicken breast, which only actually weighed 71gms when cooked (I guess it loses moisture).

So my thinking is that I should either use the cooked weights when I use the above kind of description, or look for a raw weight version, and then add my coconut oil for cooking (which I do anyway, when I cook with it).

I only really thought of this because yesterday it was "make your own sandwhich day" for lunch at work, and so I eyeballed my portions, and weighed them at my desk (as I am tracking my calories at the moment), and the chicken portion I thought was generous enough, but in the end it only weighed 59gm.....so that got me thinking (finally).

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

1964Lynn

Ive only ever weighed mine cooked never thought of that either good question

daniellegwilliam

I actually had to call a pasta company once, cause I wasnt sure if the nutrition info was based on the dry pasta or cooked.

But in most cases, anything packaged is the nutritional value based on the "as purchased" (ie: dry weight)

as for meats/veggies ect... I always go with the weight once it is cooked.

mcbellnz

as for meats/veggies ect... I always go with the weight once it is cooked.

Aaaaah, so that might well mean I have been under-reporting my food intake - eeeek!

JustJennie1

I go with cooked weight however I have bought some chicken breasts that on the package give the weight cooked and uncooked. Cooked was only 1 oz less but the calories were obviously the same because it's water that's cooked out.

With that said though I always go with the cooked weight because it's just easier.

With pasta I believe 1 cup cooked = the 2 oz. dry.

sofielein

No matter if the cooking processes adds or removes water from the food, that is JUST WATER.

Calorie wise it will not change anything - I will still consume all of what was there raw.

SkinnyForMinnie

With pasta I believe 1 cup cooked = the 2 oz. dry.

2 ounces of dry pasta (spaghetti) is 5 ounces of cooked pasta= 1 cup. This seems to be the consensus around the internet as well.

http://livelovelaughlearn.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/pasta-amount-uncooked-yields-amount-cooked/

My wife checked Weight Watchers and it says 140 grams (~4.75 oz) of spaghetti cooked is same as 2 oz uncooked. Hope this helps!

ShannonMpls

Okay, so I might have been doing something a bit silly. When I prep my meals, I weigh everything in its raw state.

But for example, when I enter it into myfitnesspal, I have been using "Chicken - Breast, Meat Only, Cooked, Dry Heat, 105 g " - when in fact the raw weight was 105gm.....so this morning, as I was prepping my lunch, I weighed out 129gm of raw chicken breast. Then I put my lunch box on the scales and added my salad veges, and then for fun I tared the scales and added the now cooked "129gm" of chicken breast, which only actually weighed 71gms when cooked (I guess it loses moisture).

Yes, you've been over-reporting calories a bit.

I log 120g raw chicken breast. Then I cook it and eat it. It certainly weighs less cooked, but the RAW weight is more accurate. Why? Cooked weights don't take cooking method into account typically. Perfectly cooked meat weighs more than cooked to death meat, but the calorie count remains the same.

If you do weigh your meat cooked, look in the database for COOKED chicken breast and use that. However, your current method is going to be more accurate.

Brunner26_2

I weigh and log the raw food, but I think the most important thing would be to be consistent. Don't log it as 150g raw, when it's really 150g cooked.

JustJennie1

With pasta I believe 1 cup cooked = the 2 oz. dry.

After much internet searching, I have found this to be true. 1 cup = a little under 5 ounces. I am talking about spaghetti for this example.

Oh believe me I've done a TON of internet searching to find this out LOL!