Chicken calories

Hi..l still confused about calories of chicken..... There is so many listings for chicken and I'm thinking its quite high in calories... I boil the chicken or steam or put it in a bag in the oven. 100g of boiled chicken breast I just don't know what to enter ... I got weighed this week and gained a pound... I've stuck to the diet religiously.... I've ate a lot of chicken.. I'm thinking I'm measuring things wrong or entering things wrong... Can anyone advise ?

Replies

  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    Search for Chicken - Breast, meat only
    Choose the non-asterisk entry for stewed; "boiled" is basically "stewed in water"
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  • ajnb88
    ajnb88 Posts: 339 Member
    It's stupid, but chicken nutrition (like everything else) varies from brand to brand. For example, tonight I have fresh chicken breast from Tesco rather than frozen from ASDA, and the levels of protein/fat/water/salt are all slightly different. How they're raised, how the meat is prepared etc all play a part.

    If there's one brand you use, just enter the barcode and manually enter their nutrition guide if it's not already there.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2015
    The non-asterisked entries are the best, as CyberTone indicated (this is a general rule for whole foods that you eat). There are tons of inaccurate chicken entries in the database that are user-created.

    The other key to logging chicken (and meat in general) accurately is (1) pick raw or cooked based on when you weigh the chicken, and (2) if you weigh cooked, pick the correct cooking method. Although it may seem counter-intuitive (since you eat it cooked), it's easier often to weigh raw and tends to be more accurate, as cooked weigh varies based on how you cook it, how done you like it, etc. That said, I think the difference is likely minimal with chicken and I personally weigh my chicken cooked quite often, since I tend to cook it with the bones in. (The entries should be for chicken alone, no bones. They will say whether they are for breast or thigh, with skin or not.) What is important is that whenever you choose to weigh it you should NOT use a raw entry for chicken (or anything, especially meat) weighed cooked, as you will undercount the calories--it shrinks. This is particularly important if you decide to use a package for your information, as typically the information on the package is for raw (unless it says otherwise).
  • vanyabriggs
    vanyabriggs Posts: 15 Member
    Hi ...okay thank you everyone ....I get the. Chicken fresh from the butchers . The chicken entries are ridiculous ! I'll try just breast meat only and raw ! See how I get on !
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    ajnb88 wrote: »
    It's stupid, but chicken nutrition (like everything else) varies from brand to brand. For example, tonight I have fresh chicken breast from Tesco rather than frozen from ASDA, and the levels of protein/fat/water/salt are all slightly different. How they're raised, how the meat is prepared etc all play a part.

    If there's one brand you use, just enter the barcode and manually enter their nutrition guide if it's not already there.

    Watch out though, this one nearly caught me out...

    "Asda Smart Price - Frozen Chicken Breast Fillets - Cooked, 300 g" = 336cal

    "Chicken Breast, without skin, raw, 300g, = 330cal" (from another site)

    "Chicken - Breast, meat only, raw, 300g = 330cal" (36 confirmations)

    "Chicken - Breast, meat only, cooked, roasted, 300g" = "495cal" (38 confirmations)

    The Asda one is actually for raw weight, not cooked.

    I go through a mass of chicken breast so just log the generic entry, in whichever state I remember to weigh the chicken in.
  • Elsie_Brownraisin
    Elsie_Brownraisin Posts: 786 Member
    I also use the generic entries and weigh most things raw.

    Some of the entries are marked USDA and I tend to go for those, they may still be a bit off though?
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    I also use the generic entries and weigh most things raw.

    Some of the entries are marked USDA and I tend to go for those, they may still be a bit off though?

    All of the entries that have USDA in the name that I have seen also have an asterisk, which means they are user entered and may, but not necessarily, be inaccurate. If in doubt, you can compare those entries with the corresponding entries in the actual USDA Foods List database.
  • Elsie_Brownraisin
    Elsie_Brownraisin Posts: 786 Member
    CyberTone wrote: »
    I also use the generic entries and weigh most things raw.

    Some of the entries are marked USDA and I tend to go for those, they may still be a bit off though?

    All of the entries that have USDA in the name that I have seen also have an asterisk, which means they are user entered and may, but not necessarily, be inaccurate. If in doubt, you can compare those entries with the corresponding entries in the actual USDA Foods List database.

    Thank you :smile: