Calorie Maths Question.... HELP!!!

clarehaines
clarehaines Posts: 49
edited September 28 in Food and Nutrition
Hi,

I cooked some spaghetti yesterday and was appalled at the amount of calories in what I thought was a relatively small portion....

Problem is I weighed it cooked LOL!!

So today I weighed it dry.... My question is.....

I weighed 225grams cooked yesterday which per 75g uncooked = 265 Calories

Today I weighed the same amount 225grams dry then cooked it and it came to 500grams weighed cooked

I need to know the answer to how many 75 gram portions I had dry? So I can work out the Calories....

Just im a bit thick lol!!

Thanks!

Replies

  • cheryl3660
    cheryl3660 Posts: 182 Member
    Are there no nutritional facts on the package? Or is it homemade? If there are nutritional facts on the package, then I would use that as a baseline. Usually they indicate if the measurement is based on cooked or uncooked. I think that most of them are based on uncooked weight, though.
  • sarahsmom1
    sarahsmom1 Posts: 1,501 Member
    Sorry I only got a C in math
  • sarahsmom1
    sarahsmom1 Posts: 1,501 Member
    Mine is 2 oz dry 200 calories
  • thebigwindmill
    thebigwindmill Posts: 98 Member
    If I did it right, you ate 101.25 grams dry
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    100g of dried pasta makes about 240g of cooked pasta.

    Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_dried_pasta_makes_100g_of_cooked_pasta#ixzz1NxA45BM6

    If this is correct, then 225g of cooked pasta equals 93.75g dry pasta. If 75g dry pasta equals 265 calories, then 93.75g equals 331.25 calories.
  • Xaspar
    Xaspar Posts: 726 Member
    The calorie counts for spaghetti and other dried pastas are based on the uncooked or dry weight. This is because different cooking times, etc, will effect the weight by how much water the noodles have absorbed. If you like the noodles softer, more water is absorbed. Al dente and less water is absorbed. My guess is, you probably had less than a portion (maybe .05 a portion) yesterday if the cooked weight was that much less than the second day's outcome provided the noodles were cooked to approximately the same consistency both times.
  • mommacarrie423
    mommacarrie423 Posts: 38
    I think i could figure this out, it might take me a few minutes though.
    Let me get the facts:
    a serving is 75 g?
    you made 225 g of cooked weight yesterday?
    225 g of dry weight is 500 cooked?
  • mathsgirl
    mathsgirl Posts: 13
    I would reckon on 358 cals...based on info you have given. Best to weigh before cooking, it's easier :)
  • katjohn83
    katjohn83 Posts: 119 Member
    OK maybe I am making a bit simple. Or maybe I do not understand the question, but 225g divided by 75 g = 3 portions.
  • cawood2
    cawood2 Posts: 177 Member
    If I did it right, you ate 101.25 grams dry

    that's what I got. So, your 225 g of cooked pasta works out to 101.25 g dry, which is 1.35 servings of 75g dry pasta. so... 357.75 cal in the 225g of cooked pasta. Let me know if i missed on that one.
  • clarehaines
    clarehaines Posts: 49
    I think i could figure this out, it might take me a few minutes though.
    Let me get the facts:
    a serving is 75 g?
    you made 225 g of cooked weight yesterday?
    225 g of dry weight is 500 cooked?

    Hi there, a DRY serving is 75g = 265 Calories
    Yeah, 225g weighed cooked yesterday
    And experiment to work out calories today, weighed 225g dry and cooked to 12 mins same as yesterday was 500g in weight cooked!!!

    Thanks so much,

    Its hurting my pea sized brain lol!!
  • bethrs
    bethrs Posts: 664 Member
    I love a good challenge, let's go.

    I weighed 225grams cooked yesterday which per 75g uncooked = 265 Calories

    Today I weighed the same amount 225grams dry then cooked it and it came to 500grams weighed cooked

    I need to know the answer to how many 75 gram portions I had dry? So I can work out the Calories....

    So 225 dry turns into 500 grams cooked. and x grams dry turns into 225 cooked. so 225/500 = x/225 ( A proportion math equation)....

    0.45 = x/225

    0.45 * 225= x so 101.25 grams is what you had the first day which is 1.35 portions of a 75 gram serving.

    So you can add 1 and 1/3 to the food diary or know that you ate 357.75 calories of this pasta on the first day if 75 grams (uncooked) = 265 calories.

    Anyone care to let me know if that is anywheres close?
  • adhillman01
    adhillman01 Posts: 206
    If I did it right, you ate 101.25 grams dry

    that's what I got. So, your 225 g of cooked pasta works out to 101.25 g dry, which is 1.35 servings of 75g dry pasta. so... 357.75 cal in the 225g of cooked pasta. Let me know if i missed on that one.

    I also got this.
  • evenidomhnaill
    evenidomhnaill Posts: 50
    You ate approx 100g which by the cal content in 75g is around 350 cals in the portion
  • teelt13
    teelt13 Posts: 100 Member
    Oh my...my answer is just give up spaghetti all together..it's obviously too much trouble to eat :-P! Good luck!
  • clarehaines
    clarehaines Posts: 49
    Oh my...my answer is just give up spaghetti all together..it's obviously too much trouble to eat :-P! Good luck!

    LOL, ah, thats funny!! I totally agree!! Think after this palarva im defo going to weigh BEFORE I cook or just not eat it since the calories are so high anyway!!!
  • LizC26
    LizC26 Posts: 319 Member
    Ok....I got you ate 101g. dry. Each gram has 3.41 calories.....So That means approx 345 calories.......
  • clarehaines
    clarehaines Posts: 49
    THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH YOU CLEVER CLEVER PEOPLE!!! IVE AMMENDED MY FOOD DIARY BY LESS THAN HALF THE CALORIES I THOUGH I HAD EATEN.... WHAT FANTASTIC NEWS!!!
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
    Oh my...my answer is just give up spaghetti all together..it's obviously too much trouble to eat :-P!
    If you can't figure things like this out, look at the packet before you cook it, you'll find life a lot simpler AND you still get to eat spaghetti. :bigsmile:
    So you can add 1 and 1/3 to the food diary or know that you ate 357.75 calories of this pasta on the first day if 75 grams (uncooked) = 265 calories.

    Anyone care to let me know if that is anywheres close?
    Yes that's spot on.

    Here is my reckoning explained for those who find it hard to see where the figures come from.

    a) We know that 225g of pasta soaks up enough water to make it 500g when it's cooked. We need to know how much water it soaks up during cooking.

    b) 225g uncooked pasta divided by 500g cooked pasta = 0.45.
    That means that in every gram of cooked pasta (pasta + water) there is only 0.45g of "actual" raw pasta.

    c) So if you ate 225g of cooked pasta, it only actually contained 225g x 0.45 of raw pasta.
    Therefore you ate the equivalent of 101.25g of raw pasta.

    d) We know that a 75g serving uncooked = 265 calories.
    If you divide those 265 calories by the amount of pasta in one serving (75g) you get 3.5333 calories.
    So we now know there are 3.5333 calories in every gram of RAW pasta.

    e) If you ate 101.25g of raw pasta at 3.5333 calories per gram, you had 358 calories of pasta.

    That's quite a bit, but not as much as you thought! :smile:

    I hope that explanation makes things a bit clearer.
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