Cooked or uncooked?

[Shawn]

I read PP and I went and got PPLP, and have searched through the threads (briefly) but still haven't seen this question addressed let alone answered.
If my protein serving is 4 oz of beef/chicken/pork/fish, is that 4 oz raw or 4 oz after being cooked? And when one is also calculating calories, do they use the cooked/raw #? ie: 5 oz burger cooks down to 4 oz... big difference in calories. (I know you don't really need to worry about calories, but I found I eat WAY to much if I don't at least monitor it)

[LisaS]

well - you know your protein grams target, right?

I look everything up the USDA website at first - and there I can get both cooked and raw for most meats - and figure out how the protein falls out for each.

[realruth]

http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=12354500

Try this site for all your answers
a good reference

[mcsblues]

You might also like this site which includes more information on proteins (amino acids) and vitamins and minerals as well as good info on fat types.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/

Just remember to ignore their crazy health recommendations, OK?:nod:

[Ottawa]

Shawn,
Since you have read PP and PPLP, they both provide methods for calculating Protein requirements based on your Lean Body Mass (LBM). The 30 Day book is much simpler and gives portion sizes.

Pork, fresh, ground, raw 4.79g
Pork, fresh, ground, cooked 7.28g
Beef, flank, separable lean only, raw 5.76g
Beef, flank, separable lean only, cooked 7.94g

After a while, many of us do not weigh our protein sources and use a rule of thumb of 7 grams of protein per ounce of cooked meat and estimate it roughly. There is a difference as you note between raw and cooked. Many of us here exceed our daily protein minimum.

Something that might help you immensely until you feel comfortable is journaling your daily food intake using the links above or http://fitday.com.

I find that I can track most things easily now but use the Monitor Monday thread to keep me "honest" by reminding myself of my counts by posting them. Little things that I might have missed have come about through calculating or posting those counts, like teh fact that liver or sliced meats have carbs. The same with shellfish.
As well it helps in finding some foods that are almost "carb Free" like Zucchini, Ground Flaxseed, some types of Tofu, etc..

All the best and I hope to see you posting a daily or in Monitor Monday until you get a "feel" for your nutrition counts.

[Billie]

It's 4 ounces cooked, otherwise you are getting in (depending on the meat) 3 ounces or whatever. It is what goes into your mouth that counts, not about what is cooked.

Like Randy said after awhile it becomes second nature, so until then just to make sure you are getting in all those precious grams of protein, do weigh but soon it will become easier and that weighing piece will not be so cumbersome. It is amazing to me, how really large 4 ounces is for example, so don't undercut your portions.

As far as the calories, you are right we don't need to worry about them so much but even choosing protein sources you can control calories, obviously beef has more than fish or poultry.

[LisaS]

it is handy to also know the raw amounts so you can plan, defrost the right amount, etc. if you portion it raw you don't have to portion it on the plate.

[Viking Dan]

Oh drat. I thought this was a Steak Tar Tar discussion.

A 1/4 burger is 4 oz. is about 20 grams protein.