How to: Track Raw Foods vs. Cooked Foods

Hi all! Coach Lisa here!

You probably know this by now, but I run a few unofficial iTrackBites participants Facebook groups! We are getting a lot of questions about this lately - do I track raw/dry or cooked? The basic answer is you can do either as long as you use the right listing in the tracker - specifically using cooked or raw as you choose. Here are a few things to consider, as you're trying to track raw or cooked foods!Nutritional data is provided for products as they come. Meat values are given for raw weight, dry goods like pasta /rice are given for dry amounts, canned fruits and veggies include any liquid also in the can so 1/2 cup serving of beans is 1/2 cup WITH liquid, not drained.Personally, I weigh raw/ dry. I know that not everyone has the time and desire to do that. Furthermore, if you are making something like a lasagna, you can't really weigh that meat. While you certainly can weigh something like a chicken breast cooked on its own; not all items can be weighed afterwards if they're part of a recipe. The pasta brand, Barilla, put out a great conversion guide HERE.Most restaurant listings are calculated on the finished product as you would consume it. You have to watch how you're tracking. You can specify "raw" or "cooked" in your search of you want to be sure. Caloric density is different for each and this is accounted for in their BITE value.So what SHOULD you do? It's really up to you! The main thing, is that you're tracking- just in general! That will call so much more attention to your habits, what you should and shouldn't change, etc etc. There's really no need to stress about raw vs. cooked foods. This is one of those situations, however, where being overly detailed NEVER hurts! It will only help and fuel your weight loss journey!

I know that this is a pretty high level topic, so here are a few resources that I have found helpful:

http://teamripped.com/tracking-raw-or-cooked-meatshttps://3dmusclejourney.com/should-you-weigh-your-meat-cooked-or-uncookedhttps://www.ontheregimen.com/2013/08/28/how-to-weigh-meat-cooked-or-rawhttp://www.skinny-bits.com/2010/04/weighing-your-food-raw-vs-cooked.htmlAgain, I hope this is helpful! You can always feel free to drop your tracking questions here in the comments, or in the community page of the app! We work hard to make tracking as easy as possible for you! :)Happy Tracking!