Weighing Chicken (and other meat)

Junisahn
Junisahn Posts: 166 Member
edited September 20 in Food and Nutrition
I weigh my chicken raw, and cut it into portions, depending on what I'm making - 1 ounce pieces to grill in kebobs, 4 ounces to oven bake, etc. Then, I'll select, say, "Chicken Breast - 4 ounces" from the database for my dinner. The next day, I'll be making something else with the leftover cooked chicken - already cut in portions, and now, the weight is different for the same cut because the water weight is gone through the cooking. This may be a dumb question, but, since the portions were cut the night before, should I use those calorie counts? Sometimes I'll just eat 1/2 the portion from the night before, but I feel like I can't rely on weighing it because the weights are all different after cooking for the same piece of meat. This becomes even more complicated by the fact that I often can't tell in the database whether the meat is calculated as the raw or cooked weight (sometimes it says something like "chicken - roasted" but is the 4 ounces before or after cooking?

Thanks for your insights!
Wendy

Replies

  • RedneckWmn
    RedneckWmn Posts: 3,202 Member
    I'm curious the answer to this question as well! I usually pick the ones that say grilled or baked. I think usually it's the raw meat calculation but I could be wrong.
  • StaceG1986
    StaceG1986 Posts: 350
    If you type in 'chicken raw' there should be a result without a star next to it (meaning it is part of MFP's own database) I usually just use this one
  • MattySparky
    MattySparky Posts: 771
    the weight of the meat after cooking does not significantly change the calorie count. You weigh meat raw and count the raw weight when adding to your diary weather it's right after you cook it or the next day. Nothing happened to the chicken in your fridge overnight so why would it change anything that you enter?
  • NotLuigiTM
    NotLuigiTM Posts: 21
    I have a much simpler solution that is working for me. Just estimate roughly how much you are eating and go with that. if it is close to 4oz then count it at 1 portion but if it is close to 1/2 call it 1/2 if it is 3 oz count it at 3/4 etc. If you estimate you will be close. You do not have to nit pick on the exactness within a few calories over or under. Also, if you are running your numbers on the iphone app and then look at them on the website you will see that it is a little different between the two on how they round and count some things. Anyhow Good Luck. This method has worked for me and last week I lost 3 lbs. Total of 26 lost since November 16th, 2009. So I am living proof and this past week from Monday to Monday (I weigh in on Monday only) I ate 2 fresco beef tacos from taco bell and I had 1 suggested portion of Peppridge Farm Triple layer fudge cake and 1 serving of ice cream with it and still lost the 3 lbs. It is about eating your suggested number of calories so that you are eating enough. According to the Biggest Loser if you cut your calories too low your body will start to store food as fat. I eat about 1570 for my weight 216 and height 5 ft 6 in. Most times I am at the mark or just a few over or under. It is what my body needs to lose weight. Want to know more just ask me.
  • HealthyChanges2010
    HealthyChanges2010 Posts: 5,831 Member
    I weigh my meat of any type cooked be it turkey, chicken, deli meat etc. Far easier for me to keep track of on my food diary. Some weigh beef before it's cooked but I don't eat the fat of the cooked beef so I don't count it :tongue:
  • B4its2L8
    B4its2L8 Posts: 80 Member
    According to the person that wrote the Biggest Loser Cookbooks, you should weigh meat cooked that way you are getting more.
  • twistygirl
    twistygirl Posts: 517 Member
    I use Calorieking.com and I keep the book near me I think it's more accurate than this site bc most of the entries are done by people using this site

    roasted breast with skin which is baked 4ounces 270 without skin 215
    roasted ' ''' '' ' 31/2 195 without 3oz 140
    raw with skin 5 ounces 245 without skin 41/2 ounces 130

    hope this help
  • KarenECunningham
    KarenECunningham Posts: 419 Member
    I weigh any type of meat I eat cooked. Unless it says raw when you look it up in the database it means the calories listed are for cooked. I used Weigh Watchers for years and points were for cooked not raw. If I am using it as part of ingredients in a dish like soup or a casserole then I use the raw information.
  • IrishChik
    IrishChik Posts: 465 Member
    Every weight loss plan I have ever followed told us to weight our meat after it was cooked unless otherwise noted , such as a database that has the raw option. I use a george forman for most of my meat and it generally weighs less after cooking since it squishes out all the juicy fat.
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