100g raw is NOT 100g cooked
raw vs. cooked 👀 the tracking mistake that can make you THINK you’re eating 1600 when you’re actually eating significantly more…
if your plan doesn’t specify whether your food should be weighed raw or cooked… ASK !!!
because the weight of your food can change A LOT once you cook it 🤯
✨ rice, pasta, oats + other carbs absorb water, so they weigh MORE after cooking.
✨ chicken, beef, turkey, fish + potatoes generally lose water, so they weigh LESS after cooking.
the calories didn’t magically change… the amount of water in the food did.
so if you’re weighing your chicken cooked but logging a raw entry… or weighing your rice cooked but logging a raw entry… your tracking can be WAY off without you even realizing it !!!!!
and if you’re trying to stay in a calorie deficit, those little discrepancies can add up FAST.
the fix is actually super simple:
✨ pick raw OR cooked
✨ weigh your food in grams
✨ make sure the entry you’re logging matches how you weighed it
✨ stay consistent every time
you don’t need to make tracking more complicated. you just need to make sure you’re tracking what you actually ate 🫶🏼
when i create meal plans for my clients, i always specify whether foods are weighed raw or cooked so there’s zero guessing, second guessing, or trying to figure it out yourself !!!
📌 save this & follow @jac for realistic fat loss tips for women who are DONE with the binge/restrict cycle 🫶🏼
@gymshark code JACS10 💛
When I first started tracking my calories, I didn't realize just how much the weight of food could change after cooking. For example, I used to weigh my chicken after it was cooked but logged the calories as if it were raw. This led to me unintentionally consuming more calories than I thought because cooked chicken loses water and weighs less, so 100 grams cooked contains more calories than 100 grams raw. Carbohydrates like rice and pasta are especially tricky because they absorb water and increase in weight after cooking. So, if you log calories based on raw weights but measure cooked portions, you might think you're eating fewer calories when you're actually eating more. To make food tracking manageable yet accurate, I recommend choosing either raw or cooked measurements and sticking with that consistently. Use kitchen scales to weigh your portions in grams, and be sure your food logging entries match how you weighed your food. For me, this simple consistency made a huge difference in understanding my true calorie intake and maintaining a steady calorie deficit for fat loss. Also, keep in mind that cooking methods can affect water content differently depending on the food—for example, boiled potatoes will weigh more than baked potatoes due to water absorption. This nuance can influence calorie tracking too. Having clear guidance from meal plans specifying raw or cooked weights can save you from guesswork. Overall, tracking what you genuinely eat is less about perfect precision and more about consistency and awareness. Paying attention to raw vs. cooked weights has helped me avoid many calorie tracking pitfalls and stay on track with my nutrition goals.
