food question

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lookingtobesmall
lookingtobesmall Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I hope this is in the right place

When get calories of meat do you weigh it before or after you.cook the meat.

Also for pasta it says 3/4 a cup do you do it dry or after you cook it
Thanks

Replies

  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    Pick the correct entry- "raw chicken" vs, "cooked chicken", etc.

    From what I've picked up on the boards, weighing raw is the way to go. Weigh the dry pasta and use the grams on the package.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    Most calorie entries are cooked weight. But boxes of pasta say dry weight.. just like oatmeal.
  • pinggolfer96
    pinggolfer96 Posts: 2,248 Member
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    Weigh everything in its raw form. And pasta is before its cooked.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    I weigh meats cooked, when I can. If they're getting all mixed up with other ingredients and cannot be weighed independently after cooking, I will weigh them raw, before I cook them. It's a personal preference thing, but whatever you choose, pick the right entry.

    I weigh pasta in it's dry state, before cooking it.
  • lookingtobesmall
    lookingtobesmall Posts: 22 Member
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    On the labels it does not say cooked or raw. Or dry vs cooked most everything I eat I scan and it comes up but it does not say cooked or raw I just don't know what to do I have been cooking meat them weighing and cutting off the extra easier then cutting meat raw.
  • lookingtobesmall
    lookingtobesmall Posts: 22 Member
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    Pasta you get more doing it before cooking then aftet
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    I weigh meats cooked, when I can. If they're getting all mixed up with other ingredients and cannot be weighed independently after cooking, I will weigh them raw, before I cook them. It's a personal preference thing, but whatever you choose, pick the right entry.

    I weigh pasta in it's dry state, before cooking it.

    I do it this way too. I rarely eat a whole piece of steak, chicken, or whatever in one sitting so it's easier to weigh it cooked then cut off my portions. As long as you're using the correct entry, it makes no difference.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    Most foods in boxes look at dry weight. Or at least the brands I typically see..
  • lookingtobesmall
    lookingtobesmall Posts: 22 Member
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    Thanks everyone dry stuff I'll do before cooking but meat I'm not sure of thanks for replying so fast
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited October 2015
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    lookingtobesmall wrote: »
    On the labels it does not say cooked or raw. Or dry vs cooked most everything I eat I scan and it comes up but it does not say cooked or raw I just don't know what to do I have been cooking meat them weighing and cutting off the extra easier then cutting meat raw.

    Meat shouldn't have labels. Don't try to scan it. If you look in the food database, you'll see entries like:

    Beef - Ground, patties, raw (hamburger)
    or
    Beef, ground, patties, frozen, cooked, broiled

    Beef - Brisket, lean only, raw
    or
    Beef - Brisket, lean only, cooked, braised

    Simply choose the one that you need.
  • Rosyone
    Rosyone Posts: 74 Member
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    I weigh meat raw if it's divided into portions raw, as with a ground beef patty. I weigh it cooked if it's cooked first, then portioned, as with a slice of roast beef. Either way, make sure you use the appropriate database entry. Search for a more clearly worded one if the wording is ambiguous.

    It's generally better to log packaged foods like pasta by dry weight rather than volume. Measuring cups and spoons are less precise because the specified amount is round off to the nearest of the relatively widely spaced standard increments (1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup...). The rounding error can be large enough on some things to blow a hole in your calorie deficit. And the problem is compounded if it's something that packs easily, like dry cereal.
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
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    I weigh all my meat raw and cut it into 8 oz portions. Pasta I weigh it dry and in grams. Double and tripple check your entries. Example I check with USDA website and other websites as to how many calories are in 8 oz of chicken thighs skinless and boneless. I make sure that I error of overestimating the amount of calories rather than underestimating them.

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