Cooked vs Raw: Your Guide to Accurate Macro Tracking and Meal Prep
A lot of people will argue that there's no difference when it comes to weighing COOKED and RAW ingredients. We know that both options are trackable, but which option is the accurate option?
Tracking macros or following a meal plan goes hand in hand with weighing your food. It's a no-brainer. But did you know that there is a significant difference in weighing your foods raw and cooked?
Here's why you should weigh RAW wherever possible.
Weighing your food AFTER it has been cooked can cause a lot of discrepancies for several reasons. While some prefer to weigh out their food once all cooking is over for convenience's sake, putting in the extra hard yards to pre-weigh your ingredients will ensure that what you're entering is ACCURATE.
Raw ingredients have not been affected by cooking methods or a loss or gain in the volume of liquid present. Ever notice how much mushrooms shrink when you cook them?
Imagine 100g of raw mushrooms. Now imagine cooking them for a few minutes in a frying pan. They will shrink slightly and may reduce down to around 75g.
Now cook the mushrooms for a further 10 minutes. The mushrooms are now 40g with the water evaporating and reducing even further in the pan.
This is where the discrepancies occur. You cannot prepare and cook foods the same way every time to ensure that what you enter into your food log reflects the true macronutrient breakdown of the food.
Tracking RAW takes any chance of preparation affecting the true macros out of the equation.
How do I weigh big batches of food?
A common question we get here at THE BOD is: How do I weigh my meals out once cooked ensuring that there is an equal amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats in each of my meals?
Follow these steps to help with weighing food AFTER the cooking process.
Using THE BOD Beef Curry as an example:
- Make sure all elements of your dish have been weighed raw. If possible, keep the protein separate in a different bowl.
- Weigh your cooked curry and divide the weight by the number of serves needed. E.g. 900g of cooked weight divided by 4 serves = 225g of curry per serve.
- Repeat this step for your carb source (e.g. rice).
- Measure out your calculated weights of the curry and rice into your containers.
For more information on tracking and weighing your food to hit your own unique goals, join the waitlist for custom coaching HERE.
Remember: When weighing food, always weigh raw and uncooked where possible, if something comes up unplanned and you deviate off plan once in a while its okay! You're human, enjoy life! At the end of the day it is what we do the MAJORITY of the time that will dictate your LONG TERM results, not what you do once in a blue moon. Consistency is KEY!
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