Weighing your food.

Vivian06703188
Vivian06703188 Posts: 310 Member
edited November 2023 in Getting Started
I have been on MFP for about 75 days and in the beginning I was using measuring cups to measure my food and stay under my calorie goal. I knew it wasn't an exact method but I lost weight so it worked for me. But in an attempt to be more precise I bought a scale and have been weighing my food. I didn't realize food weighed a whole lot more before it was cooked so I was weighing it before putting it into the pan. I had a cube steak tonight and before cooking it weight 4.7 oz but after cooking it weight 3.4 oz. How do you weigh your food before or after cooking????

Replies

  • Camera_BagintheUK
    Camera_BagintheUK Posts: 707 Member
    I weigh it before. I mean, especially if you're making a sauce or stew, how would you weigh the ingredients after cooking?
  • BattleTaxi
    BattleTaxi Posts: 752 Member
    Good question! I was wondering about this too!
  • glin23
    glin23 Posts: 460 Member
    I definitely weight it before. That said if you really want to be precise I'd probably do it before and after.
  • chelle_fri
    chelle_fri Posts: 333 Member
    Anything that shrinks when I cook it, I weight before. Anything that swells, I weigh after. It's a safe bet either way.

    edit to say that I don't include veggies in this, those are allowed in gluttonous abundance.
  • lee91356
    lee91356 Posts: 330 Member
    good foods like fruits, veggies and pure proteins (aside from cheese) I wont stress out too much about when to measure and those I believe are usually based on post-cooking weight. I would focus more on exact measurements of sauces, butter, milk, peanut butter, cereal, pasta, etc.

    just my 2 cents
  • Avandel
    Avandel Posts: 283 Member
    Before
  • awebster2
    awebster2 Posts: 40 Member
    Most things I weigh before but you can combine it. From experience, I now know that 2 ounces of dry spaghetti cooks out to five ounces. By knowing that, I can cook spaghetti for both my husband and I and then just weigh out five ounces onto a plate for my portion.
  • SuffolkSally
    SuffolkSally Posts: 964 Member
    Just choose accordingly from the database e.g. rice dry weight or rice cooked weight, or in your example raw steak or cooked steak (in that case you also need to consider whether it's fatty or lean, of course,as that has a bearing on calorie content) . Other than that it's just down to what suits you best. I weigh uncooked almost all the time.
  • 9jenn9
    9jenn9 Posts: 309 Member
    Before. In recipes, the ingredients (unless otherwise specified) are listed in the precooked weights/volumes. A 4oz chicken breast in a recipe means a 4oz raw chicken breast.
  • seliinac
    seliinac Posts: 336 Member
    I have a question. When the pasta package lists the weight and calories, in that dry weight or after cooking (when it's only absorbed water)? It doesn't say on the package I have.
  • Anthonydaman
    Anthonydaman Posts: 854 Member
    Definitely before on anything that can lose water
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Cooking changes the volume and it's difficult to tell how much. For example, a raw chicken breast might weigh 6 ounces before cooking and 4 ounces after. Or it might weigh 6 ounces before and 5.5 ounces after. But both will have the same calories because all that's changed is the water content. That's why I always weigh everything raw. If you do use cooked weight just make sure you find the cooked entry in the database to use.
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
    I weigh everything before
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    BEFORE!!!! :happy:
  • Vivian06703188
    Vivian06703188 Posts: 310 Member
    Well I think weighing before I cook will be the way to go because I don't like putting hot food on the scale. I usually just put foil or plastic wrap on the scale to protect it so the heat could damage it. For the girl about weighing pasta the weights are on the wrapper are dry weights. Though I guess some things will still be cooked weight like ham deli meat for salads, and left overs :) Thanks for all the input!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Well I think weighing before I cook will be the way to go because I don't like putting hot food on the scale. I usually just put foil or plastic wrap on the scale to protect it so the heat could damage it. For the girl about weighing pasta the weights are on the wrapper are dry weights. Though I guess some things will still be cooked weight like ham deli meat for salads, and left overs :) Thanks for all the input!

    For pasta and especially rice/quinoa, always weigh dry. I've found that those box mixes that say "serving size 1 cup cooked, servings per container 3" almost never come out to 3 one cup servings. Instead it comes to 2 1/2 or 2 3/4 cups total, so I just divide those into three equal portions.

    If it comes cooked then the calories are for the cooked amount (like deli meat).

    For leftovers I have my recipe entered in the database and divided into servings, so then I just take out one serving to heat up.
  • ritchiedrama
    ritchiedrama Posts: 1,304 Member
    Pretty much all packets have (raw) food data, so before cooking..

    Always weigh before..

    on the odd occasion if I have a packet that says "cooked" i'll do it cooked, but either way,, consistency is key, if you do it the same way everytime with weight, you'll be consistent.
  • DragonSquatter
    DragonSquatter Posts: 957 Member
    I weigh before and try to find entries in the database that list information for "raw" foods not cooked.
  • Ryan__V
    Ryan__V Posts: 36
    I usually weigh everything before. I don't know if it is right or wrong, I just find it easier! I am a true believer of keeping it simple.
  • WVprankster
    WVprankster Posts: 430 Member
    It's much more convenient to weigh food before it's hot, sweating, and smelling delicious.
  • FixIngMe13
    FixIngMe13 Posts: 405 Member
    Yep... before.
  • browneyes97
    browneyes97 Posts: 98
    Honestly, I weigh my meat after cooking. I make enough for several meals and the pieces are not always the same size. How do you know which piece of meat will be your meal that time?
  • ritchiedrama
    ritchiedrama Posts: 1,304 Member
    Honestly, I weigh my meat after cooking. I make enough for several meals and the pieces are not always the same size. How do you know which piece of meat will be your meal that time?

    I weigh all food out to be 200g, 200g, 200g etc.. thats why.
  • PumpJockeyy
    PumpJockeyy Posts: 98 Member
    After cooking would be most accurate. You can find the right entry for your log. Different methods of cooking provide different weights, therefore different nutritional values. (baking,grilling,boiling, etc)

    Edit: This is for meat/fish. Anything that comes in a box/has a food label is the raw/uncooked value. (such as oatmeal. Measure it out dry then cook etc.)
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
    most entries on here and nutrition facts on meats and things that need to be cooked are for the weight raw. so i weigh it raw if I can and if I can't I try to figure out the weight it should be cooked, not do like 4 oz of chicken cooked. Some entries will say cooked or grilled so you can use those. If not, just try to guess, like 4 oz raw chicken usually yields 3 oz cooked, so if you want an 8 oz serving as written on the package but you only have it cooked weigh out like 6 oz. For things like rice 1/4 cup or Xgrams is 140 calories, but that yields 3/4 cups cooked, so if it was 40 grams raw then times 3 would be 120 grams cooked.
  • dolphin1963
    dolphin1963 Posts: 6 Member
    i weigh my before cooking then you getting the real weight, but i want to know is, im eating low gi and in 90grams of broccoli , zucchini, green beans it says they have 2sugar, should i count theses sugars in the vegies??? its puzzling me i only get 20 sugar aday doesnt leave much for my fruit ,
  • devils44
    devils44 Posts: 43 Member
    For meats, I always weigh after cooking and find the method of cooking in the database (I.e. grilling, pan seared, baked, etc.). I've been loosing weight consistently.
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