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Tracking your nutrition, and weighing food correctly without scales is near impossible (unless you're advance with a knack for eyeballing food). This is why when you begin tracking your macros, I really recommend gathering as much knowledge as you can. You are about to put in a LOT of hard work and effort, so you should be doing it as effectively as you can.
Cooked vs Raw.
This seems to confuse so many people. Do you calculate your foods based on the cooked weight or the raw weight? Does it really affect overall numbers?
Straightforward answer: Always raw, uncooked weight where possible. While some prefer to weigh out their food once all the cooking is over, this is not necessarily the most accurate way to track your macros.
Use rice as an example. If you cook rice in 1 cup of water vs 3 cups of water, the absorption of the water would obviously create a greater weight at the end of the cooking process. (Even though the quantity of the rice hasn't changed)
Another example is chicken breast. Depending on the cooking method, a 100 gram serving of chicken breast can shrink to 70 grams or less! Another great example is pasta. Also make sure you measure pasta in raw weight before water absorption.
Remember: Carbohydrates will usually soak water up during cooking (making it heavier), and proteins will release water (getting smaller/tighter).
How to weigh it out cooked.
When cooking a meal for a larger quantity, it is essential to weigh and record each of the individual ingredients raw or uncooked first. Once you cook it, weigh the entire amount back out and divide the number by the number of servings. Work out the servings desired by the quantity of protein source you’re using and require. For example, if chicken is your protein source and you require roughly 100 grams per serve, the raw weight could be 500 grams raw, and you will need 5 servings.
Now.. when it comes to tracking meals whilst eating out… this is a whole other can of worms! If you're new to tracking, check out my book MACROS, for even more info, sample meal and exercise plans and 65 recipes with full macro breakdowns. For more information on tracking and weighing your food to hit your own unique health and fitness goals, head to www.thebod.com.au
I hope this blog was useful for you!
Sophie x
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