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ryangreiner
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Mon, May 9, 2011 17:05
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Weigh food before or after cooking?
As an example: The nutritional value on my package of chicken breast states 4 oz is equal to 100 calories. Am I supposed to weigh the chicken before or after I cook it? It makes a huge difference in the amount of calories. When I weigh before the chicken breast is cooked it may weigh 9 oz, which equates to 225 calories, but if I weigh after it's cooked when the chicken breast weighs 6 oz, then I really only ate 150 calories. Which is correct?
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carlp007
Pensacola FL
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Tue, May 10, 2011 09:05
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Great question
Nutritionist have taught me that you should weigh food after it is cooked and only log the portion of food you eat. For example, if a food has a bone and weighs 7 oz after cooking, you eat all the meat and the bone is remaining and it weighs 1 oz, you should subtract it from the total. So, you actually ate 6 oz of that food.
Some foods such as pasta tell you on the package the dry weight values. Pasta is usually measured in 2 oz dry weight portions, and should be used in your log. The cooked weight of pasta will be more because it has absorbed the water that was used to cook it, however, the calories have not changed.
Reading the labels on the food items will usually help. Most items that must be boiled such as pasta, and rice are dry weight number. Packaged foods and canned food such as vegetable go by portion size. Most cans contain 3.5 servings. This is the number you use cooked or uncooked.
It can get a bit confusing. I hope this helps.
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