Weight Frozen Foods - Before or After!?

CaliGirlx92
CaliGirlx92 Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I had a frozen meal for dinner - I forgot to weigh it before so I weighed the meal after and it was 100 grams less then the serving stated on the box. Is it okay to use the after weight? Do you weigh your frozen food before or after cooking?

Thanks!

Replies

  • mr_mitch
    mr_mitch Posts: 176 Member
    +1

    I sometimes have quorn fillets, which come frozen.

    it says on the the bag 54g per fillet.........

    but I cooked 2 and then weighed then and it only came to 45g!

    so I just entered 108g, as I guess you're supposed to weigh them when frozen!
  • futureformermrsfisher
    futureformermrsfisher Posts: 2 Member
    What do you mean by "frozen foods?" If you mean those pre-packaged dinner things, the calories/nutritional information should be on the back of the box (and if not, it should be easy to find online).

    If you mean "frozen foods" as in "I took a chicken breast out of the freezer," you should weigh it after thawing, but before cooking. Things like shrimp are particularly hard to weigh while frozen - I learned that when I measured out 3 ounces of frozen shrimp, cooked it, then weighed it again and discovered it was only 1.2 ounces. The ice added to the weight, so it was impossible to weigh correctly.

    You can't really weigh/measure cooked meat, because it "shrinks" after cooking and will weigh less. Almost all calorie/nutritional counts are for pre-cooked/raw food, so weighing or measuring after cooking will royally mess up your results. Anything else (like frozen vegetables), the calorie count should be directly on the package, and it should explicitly say whether it's the pre-cooked or cooked volume/weight, so that's what you should follow.
  • CaliGirlx92
    CaliGirlx92 Posts: 5 Member
    It was a frozen meal - Udi's Broccoli & Kale Lasagna :)
  • njitaliana
    njitaliana Posts: 814 Member
    It has 370 calories. It's right on the box. I looked it up online. You don't need to weigh frozen meals, as they have the calorie count. Just enter the name of the product--Udi's Broccoli & Kale Lasagna--right into MFP and it will add the calories for you.
  • CaliGirlx92
    CaliGirlx92 Posts: 5 Member
    I know the nutrition facts are on the box but some foods are more calories then stated on the label so I like to weigh for accuracy.
  • GreatDepression
    GreatDepression Posts: 347 Member
    Weight of frozen food does NOT change when it's thawed out unless there is significant draining of liquid. The few grams from chicken blood melting away doesn't really affect calories too much if you weigh it before or after. However, COOKED food will weigh very differently from its raw form so you need to make sure you pick the correct option when you are logging your calories.
  • uconnwinsnc
    uconnwinsnc Posts: 1,054 Member
    The only thing that would evaporate from a frozen meal is perhaps some water. That shouldn't change calorie count.
  • Lizajayne23
    Lizajayne23 Posts: 123 Member
    I weigh mine before cooking as the weight is much less after cooking. For instance, my hubby loves these frozen battered green beans and I have to weigh my portion ahead of time OR divide the cooked weight by the number of servings because the cooked weight is 1/3 less. If I measure after, I'm going to have much more than one serving.

    For meals like yours, I would enter it as the full amount this time. I find most things to be fairly accurate or even a smidgen less.
  • mr_mitch
    mr_mitch Posts: 176 Member
    oops I've been weighing my meat after I've cooked it....

    In fact even things liked baked potatoes I've been weighing after cooking, using an entry like "potatoes - baked" or something


    I may have to pay more attention to this.
  • CaliGirlx92
    CaliGirlx92 Posts: 5 Member
    Thank you so much! I am now going to weigh the meal before, but you are right - most of the frozen meals are surprisingly accurate!
  • CaliGirlx92
    CaliGirlx92 Posts: 5 Member
    For baked potatoes I used the cooked weight since MFP has an option for that. The great thing about this database is it specifies cooked or dry weight. Frozen meals are just so iffy but I appreciate everyone's advice!
  • tonito1989
    tonito1989 Posts: 10 Member
    This is my pain in the *kitten*. I am buying a lot of frozen minced meat and frozen meat or veggies in general. When the manufacturer has a label is it for frozen or unfrozen. I have frozen chicken drumsticks... do I need to weigh them every time after they get defrosted? When I aam to do a soup I just pop them in the water...
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,585 Member
    edited July 2020
    futureformermrsfisher wrote: »
    What do you mean by "frozen foods?" If you mean those pre-packaged dinner things, the calories/nutritional information should be on the back of the box (and if not, it should be easy to find online).

    If you mean "frozen foods" as in "I took a chicken breast out of the freezer," you should weigh it after thawing, but before cooking. Things like shrimp are particularly hard to weigh while frozen - I learned that when I measured out 3 ounces of frozen shrimp, cooked it, then weighed it again and discovered it was only 1.2 ounces. The ice added to the weight, so it was impossible to weigh correctly.

    You can't really weigh/measure cooked meat, because it "shrinks" after cooking and will weigh less. Almost all calorie/nutritional counts are for pre-cooked/raw food, so weighing or measuring after cooking will royally mess up your results. Anything else (like frozen vegetables), the calorie count should be directly on the package, and it should explicitly say whether it's the pre-cooked or cooked volume/weight, so that's what you should follow.

    Given that shrimp are relatively speaking low calorie for the weight, this may matter less, but I wouldn't be so sure that the nutritional information on the package is referring to thawed product.

    A lot of frozen fish/shellfish in the frozen food section is packed with huge amounts of sodium/sodium like substances that suck water into the food solely, I am sure, to enhance the frozen food experience and preserve quality as per manufacturer claims, and not at all to enhance weight.

    Thawed product may lose some of that water weight.

    I am not sure that the nutritional information on the package has not taken this extra water (somewhat) into account.

    If using thawed raw product, I would be tempted to check with the USDA entries and apply the one that is closer to appropriate. Again, for shrimp we're talking relatively few calories. A relatively more calorie dense fish might be a bit more.

    85 Cal / 100g
    https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/175179/nutrients

    71Cal / 100g -- may contain additives to retain moisture
    https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/174210/nutrients
  • globalc00
    globalc00 Posts: 103 Member
    My experience with weighing foods is that it is far too complex and all just an approximation. I still do it though just to be clear. Just googling some of the basic foods will net you all kinds of different values, so how do you know which one is right? Even all the TDEE numbers an calories burned are all estimates. So what has worked for me, which may not be for everyone is to have the exact same exerciser routine/meals week after week. This doesn't mean that you have to eat the same thing every day, but it means every week, you eat the same set of food you choose. After a couple of weeks or preferably month, you will know if your eating maintenance calories or surplus or deficit. From there, you can choose to burn more calories or eat less calories. My recommendation is just adjust by a little a time. The 500 calories deficit a day just seems too extreme for me.

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