Weighing an orange

I prefer to cut my oranges into eights and then eat the flesh out of the peel (rather than peel and eat the sections). For folks who do this, how do you weigh the orange? Before and after and subtract peel? Just count the peel? Does the USDA calorie count omit the peel?

I am sick and craving oranges even though I haven’t had one since being on MFP.
«1

Replies

  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    I do before and after for a lot of things.. This would be one of those.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    I hate the white pith. I cut the peel off and section it. Weigh the flesh that I eat.
    In your case, weigh whole orange first, then the peel, after you finish it.
    Hope you feel better.
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,449 Member
    I weigh the whole orange.
    I also like orange smiles.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,881 Member
    amtyrell wrote: »
    I weigh the whole orange.
    I also like orange smiles.

    Am I missing something - you're including the weight of the inedible portion?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,881 Member
    I prefer to cut my oranges into eights and then eat the flesh out of the peel (rather than peel and eat the sections). For folks who do this, how do you weigh the orange? Before and after and subtract peel? Just count the peel? Does the USDA calorie count omit the peel?

    I am sick and craving oranges even though I haven’t had one since being on MFP.

    USDA counts are for edible portions only.
  • amtyrell
    amtyrell Posts: 1,449 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    amtyrell wrote: »
    I weigh the whole orange.
    I also like orange smiles.

    Am I missing something - you're including the weight of the inedible portion?

    Yes . It is easier. I usually bring oranges to work in my lunchbox measuring the ring separately is a hassle and the small amount of variation is not something I worry about.
    Also I am not convinced that the measurements are all for peeled oranges.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    I weighed the peel alone a few times to get a general sense of the weight, and now I just weigh the whole orange including peel and subtract a rounded guesstimate for the peel weight.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,935 Member
    I hate the white pith. I cut the peel off and section it. Weigh the flesh that I eat.
    In your case, weigh whole orange first, then the peel, after you finish it.
    Hope you feel better.

    Heh. I like the pith, so I peel the orange, gnaw much of the the pith off the peel, and eat the orange segments.

    But weighing the whole orange before, then weighing the waste after, still works. ;)
  • CupcakeCrusoe
    CupcakeCrusoe Posts: 1,355 Member
    For all my fruits, I weigh them whole, even if I don't eat the peel/core/seeds/etc, just because for most things, the weight is not a huge deal, and I consider it a convenience fee for the fruit being portable.

    If it's something like pomegranates, where I'm going to break them down before I leave the house anyway, I'll weigh the arils.
  • icemom011
    icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
    I eat the peel sometimes too with the flesh. Weird, ah? I like the taste, also slice a little in my salads on occasion. OP, as others said, for precision weigh before and after.
  • jwoolman5
    jwoolman5 Posts: 191 Member
    Definitely you can find nutritional info that includes the peel. When I looked for info on clementines, it specified "with peel".

    Sometimes I just do as has been suggested above, just experiment with before and after weights until you get a way to adjust the weight of the whole thing to enter the average edible parts in your tracker. I've done this with nuts and peanuts in the shell, for example.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Presumably logging "with peel" would be misleading too, unless you were eating the peels (orange peels I would imagine have a good bit of fiber).

    I'm not too strict about it, though. If eating it at home I prefer to peel my clementine or orange first and to chop up apples or pears, so I weigh it without. If eating it at work I use an educated guess based on past experience and realize the difference won't be that great anyway.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Presumably logging "with peel" would be misleading too, unless you were eating the peels (orange peels I would imagine have a good bit of fiber).

    I'm not too strict about it, though. If eating it at home I prefer to peel my clementine or orange first and to chop up apples or pears, so I weigh it without. If eating it at work I use an educated guess based on past experience and realize the difference won't be that great anyway.

    For all foods, the only relevant portion is what you're eating -- so even if the nutritional information includes the peel you wouldn't log that weight unless you were eating it. At least that's how I've always thought of it.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Presumably logging "with peel" would be misleading too, unless you were eating the peels (orange peels I would imagine have a good bit of fiber).

    I'm not too strict about it, though. If eating it at home I prefer to peel my clementine or orange first and to chop up apples or pears, so I weigh it without. If eating it at work I use an educated guess based on past experience and realize the difference won't be that great anyway.

    For all foods, the only relevant portion is what you're eating -- so even if the nutritional information includes the peel you wouldn't log that weight unless you were eating it. At least that's how I've always thought of it.

    Hmm. My point is not about calories, but nutrition -- an entry for orange with peel, 100 g, will have more fiber than that orange once you peel it (and presumably you will also eat a few less cals, but I doubt orange peel is that caloric).

    That's because I think if the nutritional information says "with peel" it means it's including the peel in the nutrition. That's the case with foods where the peel is eaten (like potatoes, raw, with skin). For example, if you eat the potato peeled but choose an entry with the skin, you are okay with cals, but are not getting all the nutrition the entry claims.

    There seems to be a separate entry for orange peel only, so that suggests it's considered edible (and that one could figure it out).

    I think it would be a minor difference anyway (and irrelevant if cals are the only concern). I'm just curious now.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Presumably logging "with peel" would be misleading too, unless you were eating the peels (orange peels I would imagine have a good bit of fiber).

    I'm not too strict about it, though. If eating it at home I prefer to peel my clementine or orange first and to chop up apples or pears, so I weigh it without. If eating it at work I use an educated guess based on past experience and realize the difference won't be that great anyway.

    For all foods, the only relevant portion is what you're eating -- so even if the nutritional information includes the peel you wouldn't log that weight unless you were eating it. At least that's how I've always thought of it.

    Hmm. My point is not about calories, but nutrition -- an entry for orange with peel, 100 g, will have more fiber than that orange once you peel it (and presumably you will also eat a few less cals, but I doubt orange peel is that caloric).

    That's because I think if the nutritional information says "with peel" it means it's including the peel in the nutrition. That's the case with foods where the peel is eaten (like potatoes, raw, with skin). For example, if you eat the potato peeled but choose an entry with the skin, you are okay with cals, but are not getting all the nutrition the entry claims.

    There seems to be a separate entry for orange peel only, so that suggests it's considered edible (and that one could figure it out).

    I think it would be a minor difference anyway (and irrelevant if cals are the only concern). I'm just curious now.

    Oops, I missed that. Yes, I agree.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,525 Member
    Orange peel is delicious (in chocolate, of course) and has quite a bit of fiber.
  • karahm78
    karahm78 Posts: 505 Member
    I weigh them whole and then log 80% of the weight.... seems close enough!