Building Recipes Question...... Also, check out my diary

You weigh each item individually before cooking in order to get the overall nutritional value for the recipe.

After cooking, you do exactly what you described in order to get the number of servings: "I weight the empty container......then weigh it again AFTER being cooked.....Minus the empty from the full, this is my servings" That way, you can just weigh out your portion and put the weight in as the number of servings. You don't want to weigh the container full before cooking because the weight changes during cooking due to water evaporation and/or absorption by the ingredients.

As for losing, check out this flowchart to see if any of the advice helps:

dargytaylor wrote: »

So I'm not sure if I am building my recipes wrong....as I THINK I eat pretty good, but seem to not really be loosing

I weigh the empty container......then weigh it again AFTER being cooked.....Minus the empty from the full, this is my servings

When I build the recipe, I am putting in the RAW meat, veggie, etc......

Should I be weighing full BEFORE cooking?!?

Also, please check out my diary....I am not perfect by any means, but I think I eat pretty good....observations??? Please be nice

Well first, it's fun to see another Laconia native. I'm not there now, but I grew up there.

Weigh raw ingredients. Make sure that you're getting the raw ingredient nutrition from the MFP database by verifying with some other source what it should be. I'll do something like Google "raw chicken breast nutrition" and then choose the MFP database entry that matches that.

When all that's done, you know the nutrition information for what you've cooked. If you're portioning out several meals, the really correct way to do it is to make sure that equal parts of everything are in each container, but I think that's a little silly. If you eyeball it, then they won't be identical, but that's OK because you know the total. If one container is a little more, than another will be a little less, and a few extra calories here and there doesn't make a difference. The average smooths it out. So, if your containers look and feel like they're about the same, they're close enough.

In your diary, don't worry about logging spices. As you can see, they have no calories so that's a time waster. Overall, it's certainly not the worst diary I've seen by a long shot. It looks like you're well on your way to great habits. In general, make it a goal to reduce prepared foods. I said reduce, not eliminate or even minimize. The idea here is to try to get most of your calories from lean protein you cook yourself, and fruits and vegetables you prepare yourself. Feel free to use some canned ingredients here and there, but with prepared foods like that you have to start considering sodium. When I use canned ingredients like chickpeas or black beans, I rinse them off first to get rid of all the salty fluids they were packed in.

Sodium itself isn't bad. We need it, in fact, but we don't need as much as what's readily available. With more sodium, we hold more water. More water in the body means there's more water in the blood, so your blood pressure increases. Chronically high blood pressure is significantly correlated with adverse health effects over time. If you prepare most of your food yourself from fresh produce and meat, then this won't be something you even have to consider. Just go easy on how much salt you add to your food.

itsthehumidity wrote: »

If you're portioning out several meals, the really correct way to do it is to make sure that equal parts of everything are in each container, but I think that's a little silly. If you eyeball it, then they won't be identical, but that's OK because you know the total. If one container is a little more, than another will be a little less, and a few extra calories here and there doesn't make a difference. The average smooths it out. So, if your containers look and feel like they're about the same, they're close enough.

Actually, the way the OP described is not only more accurate but easier. You don't need to eyeball, you'll get the accurate nutritional info for any portion size that you eat.

Let's say that the final cooked amount weighs 798 grams. You put that in the recipe as 798 servings. Now all you need to do is weigh out your serving (for instance, 128 grams) and enter that into your diary as 128 servings of the recipe. If you get 148 grams the next time, that's 148 servings.

seska422 wrote: »

itsthehumidity wrote: »

If you're portioning out several meals, the really correct way to do it is to make sure that equal parts of everything are in each container, but I think that's a little silly. If you eyeball it, then they won't be identical, but that's OK because you know the total. If one container is a little more, than another will be a little less, and a few extra calories here and there doesn't make a difference. The average smooths it out. So, if your containers look and feel like they're about the same, they're close enough.

Actually, the way the OP described is not only more accurate but easier. You don't need to eyeball, you'll get the accurate nutritional info for any portion size that you eat.

Let's say that the final cooked amount weighs 798 grams. You put that in the recipe as 798 servings. Now all you need to do is weigh out your serving (for instance, 128 grams) and enter that into your diary as 128 servings of the recipe. If you get 148 grams the next time, that's 148 servings.

You would need to do that for every ingredient, unless your recipe is something homogeneous like tomato soup. By the time you're done weighing each thing and subtracting from the total you weighed earlier, you could just estimate, and even if a particular meal might be off, you'll equal out by the end.

I guess I don't see how doing a lot of work is easier than doing very little.

seska422 wrote: »

itsthehumidity wrote: »

seska422 wrote: »

itsthehumidity wrote: »

If you're portioning out several meals, the really correct way to do it is to make sure that equal parts of everything are in each container, but I think that's a little silly. If you eyeball it, then they won't be identical, but that's OK because you know the total. If one container is a little more, than another will be a little less, and a few extra calories here and there doesn't make a difference. The average smooths it out. So, if your containers look and feel like they're about the same, they're close enough.

Actually, the way the OP described is not only more accurate but easier. You don't need to eyeball, you'll get the accurate nutritional info for any portion size that you eat.

Let's say that the final cooked amount weighs 798 grams. You put that in the recipe as 798 servings. Now all you need to do is weigh out your serving (for instance, 128 grams) and enter that into your diary as 128 servings of the recipe. If you get 148 grams the next time, that's 148 servings.

You would need to do that for every ingredient, unless your recipe is something homogeneous like tomato soup. By the time you're done weighing each thing and subtracting from the total you weighed earlier, you could just estimate, and even if a particular meal might be off, you'll equal out by the end.

I guess I don't see how doing a lot of work is easier than doing very little.

You weigh each ingredient going in before cooking. After cooking, all you need to do is stir to get the ingredients evenly distributed, just like you would if you split things into containers as you described.

OK, so just to be clear that involves guessing too, just of a different variety. You might be weighing, but that doesn't guarantee accuracy because you're making an assumption that a heterogeneous mixture is homogeneous. Mixing it around approximates homogeneity, but differences will occur unless you put it all in a blender.

My point is that if you are going to guess either way, you might as well go with the way that involves less work. Of course, I encourage anyone to go about his or her business as they like, but I was just recommending a less labor intensive portioning method. I personally consider weighing once before cooking easier than weighing for each portion removed from the whole.