Weigh food

ayamourada92
ayamourada92 Posts: 62 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
should I weigh protein like chicken or meat before or after cooking? which one is better? and what about pasta and rice should I weigh them before or after cooking also?

Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,940 Member
    Before. The raw weight is always fairly fixed. Cooked changes the weight and calories depending on way of cooking, duration, amount of water absorbed,
  • ayamourada92
    ayamourada92 Posts: 62 Member
    up
  • ayamourada92
    ayamourada92 Posts: 62 Member
    up
  • DFW_Tom
    DFW_Tom Posts: 220 Member
    You can weigh how ever you want, but be sure to use the right way to log it (cooked or raw).

    I use the USDA's database because it is the most accurate in my opinion. It provides data for most meats with different amounts and methods of preparation, cooked, or raw. Dig around their site. It is a great resource:

    https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    What Tom said.

    I always weigh before, because like yirara said - the cooking method can change the weight significantly.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Unless otherwise stated, nutritional information is based on the raw and/or dry weight...so uncooked. So weighing it raw would be the most accurate, however. That said, if you weigh cooked, make sure you're selecting a database entry that is for "cooked" or "grilled" or whatever.

    Just as an example, if you were to cook some chicken and the cooked weight was 4 oz and that's what you log (using a raw database entry), you would be understating calories because the weight raw would probably be more like 6 oz. You don't lose calories with cooking meats...cooking meats just releases water thereby reducing the weight of the cooked chicken or whatever.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,326 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    Before. The raw weight is always fairly fixed. Cooked changes the weight and calories depending on way of cooking, duration, amount of water absorbed,

    This. Raw/Uncooked ideally. If you can't do that, make sure the entry you are using is for cooked.
  • Corina1143
    Corina1143 Posts: 3,624 Member
    I agree, but-- I also weigh after in some cases. If I cook 4 chicken breasts to have all week, chop them up for salads, tacos, stir-fry, etc. I weigh the total after, so I can weigh out which portion I eat at meals.
    I do the same with quinoa.
  • ayamourada92
    ayamourada92 Posts: 62 Member
    rileysowner wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    Before. The raw weight is always fairly fixed. Cooked changes the weight and calories depending on way of cooking, duration, amount of water absorbed,

    This. Raw/Uncooked ideally. If you can't do that, make sure the entry you are using is for cooked.

    so if I want to weigh after cooking, and I use only one tbsp if oil I can log the food as cooked and it will be accurate somehow?
  • ayamourada92
    ayamourada92 Posts: 62 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Unless otherwise stated, nutritional information is based on the raw and/or dry weight...so uncooked. So weighing it raw would be the most accurate, however. That said, if you weigh cooked, make sure you're selecting a database entry that is for "cooked" or "grilled" or whatever.

    Just as an example, if you were to cook some chicken and the cooked weight was 4 oz and that's what you log (using a raw database entry), you would be understating calories because the weight raw would probably be more like 6 oz. You don't lose calories with cooking meats...cooking meats just releases water thereby reducing the weight of the cooked chicken or whatever.

    If I want to use the calories after cooking and I only use oil spray -let's say one tbsp of oil- so I can log the food as cooked? will it be somehow accurate?
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,940 Member
    ayamourada92 wrote: »
    rileysowner wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    Before. The raw weight is always fairly fixed. Cooked changes the weight and calories depending on way of cooking, duration, amount of water absorbed,

    This. Raw/Uncooked ideally. If you can't do that, make sure the entry you are using is for cooked.

    so if I want to weigh after cooking, and I use only one tbsp if oil I can log the food as cooked and it will be accurate somehow?

    That's the problem with cooked and uncooked. Normally you'd log the tablespoon of oil. Which can be up to 130 calories btw. If you chose cooked then you need to make sure somehow that the database entry is for cooked, but with or without cooking oil. And you don't know how much oil was used.

    If you cook only for yourself and for several days you can simply create a meal with everything in it, and then add the meal to your diary on the day you it from it. If it's 4 days you log 0.25 or 1/4 (depending on settings). Yeah, you might eat a bit more on one day and less on the next, but it will even out over the whole meal,
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited November 2023
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Unless otherwise stated, nutritional information is based on the raw and/or dry weight...so uncooked. So weighing it raw would be the most accurate, however. That said, if you weigh cooked, make sure you're selecting a database entry that is for "cooked" or "grilled" or whatever.

    Just as an example, if you were to cook some chicken and the cooked weight was 4 oz and that's what you log (using a raw database entry), you would be understating calories because the weight raw would probably be more like 6 oz. You don't lose calories with cooking meats...cooking meats just releases water thereby reducing the weight of the cooked chicken or whatever.
    ayamourada92 wrote: »
    If I want to use the calories after cooking and I only use oil spray -let's say one tbsp of oil- so I can log the food as cooked? will it be somehow accurate?

    I'm confused because you mention both spray oil and one tbsp oil. A 1/4 sec spray of oil has no calories (this is shorter than common, however.) 1 T oil has @ 120-130 calories.

    The advice is not to "log the food as cooked" per se. It is "selecting a database entry that is for "cooked" or "grilled" or whatever."

    Log the oil and the other food separately.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,199 Member
    Even spray oil can be weighed. (Virtually no one uses just the "zero calorie" fractional-second spray.)

    Put the spray bottle on the scale, zero/tare the scale. Spray your pan/food with however much spray oil you want to use. Put the spray bottle back on the scale. The negative number on the display is the amount of oil you used. Log that by weight. Simple.
    ayamourada92 wrote: »
    rileysowner wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    Before. The raw weight is always fairly fixed. Cooked changes the weight and calories depending on way of cooking, duration, amount of water absorbed,

    This. Raw/Uncooked ideally. If you can't do that, make sure the entry you are using is for cooked.

    so if I want to weigh after cooking, and I use only one tbsp if oil I can log the food as cooked and it will be accurate somehow?

    Sure, in the same way Santa Claus is real. :D

    Look, it's fine to ballpark or estimate or guess at how much food you're eating, or how many calories are in it, as long as that works for you in a multi-weeks results sense.

    If you're not getting the predictable results you want, being more precise in measuring and counting will help you figure out why you're not getting the results.

    If you do what you suggest, it would be more accurate than not logging, but it will be inaccurate by an unknown amount. (Even carefully-weighed things will be a tiny bit off because home scales aren't exactly precise.) The closer you can get without stressing out, the more predictable your weight loss process becomes. It's a tradeoff.

    If you've already cooked the thing, so can't weigh raw, it's fine to estimate in some way, and just plan to do it differently next time for better accuracy.

    If you want to weigh cooked in general for some reason, log the oil, and used a specifically designated "cooked" entry from the database to log the weighed food portion. Sometimes you can even find ones that specify the cooking method, since that also makes a difference. (For example, cooking in broth adds weight; roasting dry subtracts weight.)

    I'm on team "weigh before cooking" because for me it's easy and more accurate for most foods. If you don't want to do that, use a method you prefer for a month or so. If your results on the scale are satisfying for you, you're all set.

    Best wishes!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    ayamourada92 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Unless otherwise stated, nutritional information is based on the raw and/or dry weight...so uncooked. So weighing it raw would be the most accurate, however. That said, if you weigh cooked, make sure you're selecting a database entry that is for "cooked" or "grilled" or whatever.

    Just as an example, if you were to cook some chicken and the cooked weight was 4 oz and that's what you log (using a raw database entry), you would be understating calories because the weight raw would probably be more like 6 oz. You don't lose calories with cooking meats...cooking meats just releases water thereby reducing the weight of the cooked chicken or whatever.

    If I want to use the calories after cooking and I only use oil spray -let's say one tbsp of oil- so I can log the food as cooked? will it be somehow accurate?

    No...a "cooked" entry is just going to be for the weight of the chicken after cooking it...ie the weight will be less than raw because it's lost water in the cooking process. You'd want to log the cooking oil separately. Also, this isn't an exact science...trying to make everything 100% perfectly accurate is an exercise in futility. Also, this is a process and IMO, has a relatively substantial learning curve...there are going to be hiccups and missteps, etc along the way and it's all a part of the learning process. Ultimately you learn from missteps and monitor what's going on over time and make adjustments as necessary per your real world results.

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