Figuring out food content after cooking

How do I figure out food content after cooking? An example would be Laura’s Lean Ground Beef. Nutrition facts for 4oz. are 140 calories, 26G protein and 4.5G fat. How do I figure out the calories, protein, and fat after cooking? Doesn’t protein become more dense and have more protein after cooking? What about calories and fat do they change also?

You’ll drive yourself nuts trying to figure this stuff out. Just keep a food log and go from there. The rest is minutia.

I’m going to keep this brief.


Just write down what’s on the package. The end.


d/c

I do keep a food log but I want to make sure I’m not short changing myself on calories and protein. Should I just stick to the nutrition facts on the label because they are not that much different when you cook it?

Michael, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand your confusion. My nutritional desk reference lists the macronutrients and calories for cooked and uncooked food both. Do you have a nutritional desk reference you can refer to? It’s an essential tool if you’re going to start keeping a food log. And a FOOD LOG is an essential tool if you want to change your body composition.

No, I do not have a nutritional desk reference. Where do I get one?

Yup, the nutritional desk reference will fix all of your problems. They’re not expensive at all. I got a big one, and it cost me $18. There are some “exhaustive” references that list everything under the sun, but all you need is something that lists calories, fat grams, protein grams, carb grams and fiber grams. The reason you want fiber grams is because you subtract the number from carb grams.



If you have any other questions, Michael, don’t hesitate to ask.

Oops, I’m sorry. You can get a nutritional desk reference at any Barnes & Noble, Borders or Amazon.com.

Thanks Terry, I was wondering if you could enlighten me on this carb-fiber subtraction. How do I use it in my diet?

Michael, say you eat a carbohydrate like oatmeal that has 26g of carbs and 4g of fiber. You would list your carb intake as 22g because the fiber is a subset (a part of) the total carbs. And since the fiber has NO calories and has NO affect on insulin, it’s not counted for purposes of carb intake.



What this means is that if you subtract your fiber, you can eat more carbs (if you eat a carb-limited diet, that is).



Hope that helps.

Thanks again Terry, I have one more question and I promise not to ask anymore on this subject. When I subtract the carbs does this affect calories at all?

No, Michael. These are important questions, and I don’t mind answering them. It’s a simple answer, though. No, it does not affect calories.



And please don’t feel that there’s a limit on the number of questions you can ask 'round here. Hey, I tell you what. I’ll teach you everything I know, and then you can take over for me. Fair? (grin)