How to Weigh Food

Should I be weighing my food raw or cooked. For example, I cooked a boneless pork chop last night, should I have weighed it before I put it in the pan or after it was done? Thanks.

Thu. Jun 7, 4:14pm

I'm dying to know the answer to this exact question. I've Googled a little but didn't get much back. Here's an interesting URL though:

Link

Thursday, June 07, 2007, 4:40 PM

I dont feel this is really necessary.. the rule of thumb is open the palm of your hand and that should be a portion or serving of protein., if u clench your fist thats a serving of carbs.

Friday, June 08, 2007, 5:27 AM

That may work for your purposes, but not for others. Please be considerate.

Friday, June 08, 2007, 10:55 AM

Weighing Food

I've been a Weight Watchers member for nearly 30 years. They were perhaps the first weight loss plan that emphasized weighing your food, and it became a habit for me.

When you see references to weight when looking at portion sizes, it means cooked weight - not raw. But how do you know how much to buy/cook in order to have the desired portion size? Four ounces of raw meat/fish/poultry will yield approximately three ounces, when cooked. Eight ounces raw will yield approximately six ounces, and so forth. It's a good idea to weigh again after cooking, but I don't always. If I buy an eight-ounces fish fillet for example, I call it two three-ounce portions.

The experts used to tell us to weigh everything, because our eyeball estimates tend to become less accurate and we'll add in extra calories. Most of the nutrition experts now encourage the use of several good rules of thumb that people who don't like to weigh or don't have their scales with them can apply. For instance, three ounces of cooked meat will be about the size of a deck of cards.

I've added a link to a very good site that gives eyeball estimates of portion sizes for all kinds of foods.

I do both. I have a professional-grade food scale in my kitchen that will weigh in grams or ounces, from as little as one gram to as much as 11 pounds. I use it when I need to be very precise for some recipes, or when I'm testing new recipes I've created. It also serves to recalibrate my own eyeball estimates and helps keep me on track and accurate.

I like to lay a piece of clear plastic wrap over the scale when I weigh raw meat products. That lets me see the display, and I don't have to wipe/sanitize the surface afterwards to avoid cross contamination. Saves a lot of time and keeps my kitchen safe and sanitary.

Link

Thursday, July 12, 2007, 6:05 PM

You 've been on Weight Watchers for 30 years and you are still there? Wooah time to try something new...

Thursday, July 12, 2007, 6:45 PM

Weight Watchers for 30 years

Why try something else if it works?

They taught me to make permanent changes, I followed the program as written, I lost the weight, and became a lifetime member. It is intended to be a program (or rather, a lifestyle) that you follow for a lifetime. I am 30 years older now and have to work hard at maintaining the weight, and this is another means of supporting that effort.

I'm surprised that you would suggest to someone that they should abandon a healthy lifestyle that actually works.

Thursday, July 12, 2007, 7:16 PM

Thank you so much for your valuable response, this is EXACTLY what I was looking for. And a hearty congradulations on your 30 years of success! You are an inspiration.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 3:26 PM

how to weigh food

when it comes to lean meats you can have a bigger serving i would not bother weghing the food have a good size portion of meat and veggies.

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 3:39 PM

Wow! I applaud your 30 year success. I'm newly started on WW and I find that it's a lot easier than I expected.

I've been using a food scale and measuring before and after cooking and doing and average because I wasn't sure which to use. I guess it makes sense to weigh after cooking because that's what you're really eating.

Thank you for the tips!

Thursday, August 02, 2007, 3:44 PM

I am not sure if you want calorie info or not but I have googled a lot of places to find cal info. That is how I found Peertrainer in the first place.
The only one I know off the top of my head is chicken. Raw chicken is 30 cal an ounce and cooked is 40 cal an ounce.
But try the calorie wiki that peertrainer has it gives both raw and cooked calorie amounts in a lot of different foods.

Friday, August 03, 2007, 5:49 PM

Food Weighing

I was wondering the same also and how to wiegh out frozen veg. in onces

Link

Sunday, April 06, 2008, 11:09 AM

7:45 I'm not sure if you were referencing a specific post , but I imagine an open hand measurement just means the palm is flat - so whatever you're measuring is the size of the palm vs. a cupped palm, which would be a slightly smaller measurement.

Sunday, April 06, 2008, 8:24 PM

Yes, the poster is absolutely correct. Obviously if the steak is larger than you're palm, you cut a portion to match that. This is why we American's are so overweight, these portions are the right ones, we've been mised into believing portions should be much bigger, when in fact, that is not at all the case.! Therefore, now its' so hard for us to deal with the correct portion sizes and it's hard to swallow (I apologize for the pun) that the true portion sizes appear so small! However, the good news is that if we could ingrain in our brains those larger portions we too can come to terms with these smaller portions in time through habitual and learned behaviors.
I've read the Extreme Fat Smash diet and in that book they also reference the way to eyeball portions, the poster stating palm size, 3 oz of protein is size of deck of cards etc is spot on.

Monday, April 07, 2008, 10:03 AM

8:33 - you don't find it helpful or you don't like what you're hearing ;)

Agree, pp. And, ideally, meat is but a small portion of the plate, with larger servings of vegetables and/or grains.

Just put those smaller portions on a smaller plate and all will seem well again - haha.

Monday, April 07, 2008, 12:14 PM

I use a scale every day to weigh my food. I want to count calories not just have only so much of one thing on my plate. What works for one may not be what you want to do. But don't feel funny OP that you want to understand weighing your food. It can be hard to find specifics about raw vs cooked.

I also found peertrainer trying to find a calorie amount of a food. I also like calorieking.com for checking the calorie amounts of foods.

Someone asked about frozen food and weighing it. I wouldn't have a clue how to do that. And even after it is thawed it tends to hold onto more fluid than a raw veggie. But frozen foods have calorie amounts listed and I think it is even by the cup a lot of times and if all else fails then go to the number of servings. Divide it up and you will know then how many calories you have.

Thanks for the good info people.
And congratulations to the 30 year achiever. That is excellent. Gives me hope. You can truly change you LIFE for the better.

Monday, April 07, 2008, 9:13 PM

if you eat the right foods, you won't need to weigh as much....

The PEERtrainer Cheat System is a new, (free) and simple to follow system for eating. The objective is to help guide you towards a way of eating that will make it easier to lose weight, give you more energy and help you feel better.

We have created a short blog post that explains a bit more, as well as instructions on how to download it:

Link To PEERtrainer Cheat System

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