Question about tracking calories

[Ben Cohen]

Hey Jordan,

I've been tracking my calories for a while and I weigh all of my food in order to track it, though there are a couple of things that i'm not sure how to track:

1. Do you count cooking oil (for example when cooking chicken breast on a pan)? If so, how would you track it, since most of the oil stays in the pan (I usually use 1 table spoon).

2. Should I weigh meat while it's raw or cooked? And if you were in a situation where you could only weigh the meat after it was cooked, how would you track it in order to stay consistant?

3. Is it necessary to track things like added seasoning to meat for example?

I'd assume that this level of accuracy is not essential while tracking calories (since i'm not a professional bodybuilder), though I still find that it helps me stay on track with eating healthy and achieving my goals which is why I try to do it as accurately as I can.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Hey Ben,

Thanks for the post. To your questions:

1) Yep, I track all of it even though some amount remains in the pan, gets oxidized, or otherwise doesn't get consumed depending on the heat, method of cooking, type of oil used, and what's being prepared.

2) Raw, as most of the details regarding energy content are based on raw meat.

3) For sodium purposes if you're near the upper limit of the guidelines (e.g. 2300mg) and/or are trying to reduce intake, sure. I don't track mine that closely FWIW

-Jordan

[Ben Cohen]

Thanks Jordan.

As for weighing meat raw, what would be best to do if for example there was left over chicken breast that someone in my family has cooked and I decided to have it as part of a meal?

Since I wouldn't be able to weigh the meat while it was raw, is there a general conversion ratio between cooked meat (let's say on a normal pan) and what I should be tracking it as in order to stay consistant with the rest of my meat being tracked raw?

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

The shrinkage of meat depends on the meat, cooking method and temp, degree of doneness, etc. For baked or broiled chicken breast, most food science resources approximate 72% yield, e.g. for every 1 ounce of raw meat, you'd get 0.72 ounces of cooked meat.