Cooking with oil and calorie input?

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blaine5000
blaine5000 Posts: 5 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey, I'm fairly new to MFP but it's been invaluable for me to determine true portion size. However, I've been hesitant to cook full recipes, subsisting on turkey burgers, chicken sandwiches, and fish. First world single guy problems!

I'd like to start on some recipes, as I am a decent cook, but I'm not sure how to input the cooking oil- do people generally add the full caloric amount of the oil (So olive oil 120 calories a tablespoon for example), or do y'all account for the fact that not all the oil is absorbed?

Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • Superchikanthem
    Superchikanthem Posts: 362 Member
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    I account for the whole TBSP
  • kingofcrunk
    kingofcrunk Posts: 372 Member
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    What I'd like to know is how people log it when food has been cooked with other food. For example, last night we used a small amount of oil to fry up 3 seabass fillets for the family. Would I log a third of the amount of oil used or the whole amount of oil used?!
  • majope
    majope Posts: 1,325 Member
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    What I'd like to know is how people log it when food has been cooked with other food. For example, last night we used a small amount of oil to fry up 3 seabass fillets for the family. Would I log a third of the amount of oil used or the whole amount of oil used?!
    Yes. If you used a tablespoon of oil and fried 3 fillets, assume a 1/3 of a tablespoon per fillet.
  • ehmadore
    ehmadore Posts: 72 Member
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    I, personally, divide it into servings. If I cooked 3 sea bass then I'd divide the tablespoon of oil in threes and just count a 1/3 of it in my log.
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    I always include the full amount of oil. I rarely use so much at any point that there is still some swimming in the pan. Many times I can skip the oil called for in a recipe and use maybe a spritz of cooking spray instead. It makes a big caloric difference in some cases!
    What I'd like to know is how people log it when food has been cooked with other food. For example, last night we used a small amount of oil to fry up 3 seabass fillets for the family. Would I log a third of the amount of oil used or the whole amount of oil used?!

    When I make recipes like that, I calculate the cals/fats etc. for the ENTIRE thing (i.e. all three fillets in your case) and then divide by the number of portions, and weigh out each one so they're equal. So, yeah, you'd have a third of the oil in that case.
  • lovemykids58
    lovemykids58 Posts: 195 Member
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    I, personally, divide it into servings. If I cooked 3 sea bass then I'd divide the tablespoon of oil in threes and just count a 1/3 of it in my log.

    This- I will usually use the recipe builder and it breaks it down for you that way to by serving :)
  • ChaseAlder
    ChaseAlder Posts: 804 Member
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    I use no-calorie cooking spray whenever possible. If I use oil for just myself, I count all the calories. If I make multiple servings, I divide the amount I used by the serving amount.
  • DiannaMoorer
    DiannaMoorer Posts: 783 Member
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    I just add the full amount amount to my diary and not worry about it. If you haven't bought one yet get a food scale so you can get your portion sizes to the ounce.
  • knowwhentoshutup
    knowwhentoshutup Posts: 318 Member
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    MFP has a great 'Recipe Box' tool, where you can enter in all of the ingredients to account for any recipe you make.

    You can also save all of these recipes in MFP, and never have to add them again (great for those meals you have in rotation on a regular basis).

    To find this tool, go to your 'Food' tab. Recipes will be a secondary navigation button on the right. After you click on 'Recipes', click the green button on the right that says 'Enter New Recipe'.

    (If you aren't sure how many portions it has, you can either measure out (I usually use my measuring cups or my ladle which fits 1/2 a cup - for soups, etc.) or just divide by how many equal servings it has. For example, when I make a meal for my family, I portion out some for each of us, then portion out the rest for left-overs for lunch, etc., which tells me how many servings it has.)
  • dahkneeka
    dahkneeka Posts: 163 Member
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    I never used to count oils/fats I used for cooking. Was just trying to cature the big picture and know, there would be some +/- along the way.

    I guess it depends how accurate you are with all your other logging. Are you weighing/measuring portions?

    Are you focusing on calories or marcos or both??

    I would suggest figuring out what goals you want to reach - if they are very specific, then track everything to the dime. If not, and your looking for a general guideline, then pick and choose your battles.

    Personally - I get way to hooked to MFP when I get to detail oritented- so backing off a bit and looking at the bigger picture works more in my favor!

    Best of luck! =)
  • blu_meanie_ca
    blu_meanie_ca Posts: 352 Member
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    Much of what is left in the pan after cooking isn't oil, but moisture/fat from whatever it is you cooked. Your food has absorbed far more oil than you think it has (hence why it's a good idea to count for it all... and also to use less oil, better cookware).
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
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    I never used to count oils/fats I used for cooking.

    I didn't either until I realized that a couple of tablespoons of oil has over 200 calories. That adds up fast if you use a little to cook eggs in the morning, put some on a salad and then sauté/fry dinner in the evening! Now I measure oils pretty carefully; I'd rather eat more of other things, lol.
  • blaine5000
    blaine5000 Posts: 5 Member
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    This is awesome advice so far- I did know about the recipe box, and the thing I'll be cooking will definitely be in there (loose turkey sausage from the farmers market with garlic, peppers, onions, and cannelloni beans in whole wheat pasta. I know the pasta will be the biggest calorie hog).

    I am a stickler with MFP and my Fitbit one and Aria, because biofeedback works well for me. That's why I wanted to truly account for what I'm making. I will account for the oil accordingly. I have kitchen scales and measuring bowls/cups and I've been adhering to that well.
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,843 Member
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    Honestly if I'm cooking something and I add a TBSP of olive oil I'll log the tablespoon regardless of whether or not the entire thing is in the portion that I'm eating.
  • justal313
    justal313 Posts: 1,375 Member
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    Account for all the Oil, any you didn't ingest will make up for any measuring/estimation errors elsewhere in the day.
  • blaine5000
    blaine5000 Posts: 5 Member
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    Thanks everyone!
  • hilldiggity
    hilldiggity Posts: 166 Member
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    So my 1200 calories a day have been more than I thought they were! (Sometimes it's better to do a search than start a new thread! lol) At least my exercise calories have been sopping up the extra oil for the most part.
  • boroko
    boroko Posts: 358 Member
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    Measure and count the oil. Invest in good non-stick pans so you can reduce the amount of oil you need.
  • kaseybill
    kaseybill Posts: 28
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    What about guessing how much oil is used when you spray into a pan using an oil mister? I'm guessing less than a tsp for the dish, spraying just to coat the pan. I use olive oil for some lower temp dishes and grapeseed oil for searing/ stir fry or grilling. How would you count this?

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