Hey guys, I've lurked here for quite a while as I'm planning on shedding off a bit of weight, and right now I'm hoping ya'll can settle something for me so I can adjust accordingly (haven't actually eaten them yet, sad if I can't enjoy the whole thing but oh well):
As my two chicken thighs are roasting in the air fryer right now, I'm wondering if the way I've been tracking my calories from both breasts and thighs has been accurate so far. The way I went about it last time was:
- Weighing the amount I'm planning on eating by their raw weight. This includes skin-on and bone-in with all fat intact (since it sheds a lot of fat while roasting)
- Logged in the weight and used the NCCDB entry for it (on Cronometer: Chicken Thigh, Skin Eaten, Food #462801, Data Source: NCCDB)
- After cooking and eating, I weighed the leftover bones and subtracted the grams from the previous measurement.
I also did measure the cooked weight, and predictably it was less than raw as it shed its fat and water, but I'm not really sure how to go about that.
Prior to this I've always logged my skinless breasts raw — about and average of 400 grams for ~450 calories, like damn that's a good deal, but this?? I might have to at least give up the skins entirely and / or stick with breasts in the long run, but again I'd like to make doubly sure my logs/measuring process checks out if you guys can offer some cents.
(lowkey makes me sad because thighs are affordable, and I used to chuck three of them with a large bowl of rice)
by CoolestMagicalCat
5 Comments
I get chicken thighs boneless and skinless for this exact reason. The skin adds ALOT of calories. I think it’s fair to take out the grams from the bone. But I’m the type to leave everything as is once I’ve weighed it raw.
Make sure your thighs don’t have extra water added. Many thighs have 15% to up to 30% water added. That weight should be deducted from the total weight right off
Small update:
Decided to leave the skins out — good decision I think, I was perfectly satisfied with just the dripping-flavored taters and the juicy meat — and leave them in the freezer for later whenever they’re useful (also taking suggestions for that).
[After 27 g cooked skin (pretty sure raw weighs a bit more but alas) and 33 g bones, the raw grams according to the NCCDB data on that totals out to ~720 cals](https://imgur.com/a/NUsgdum) which is a little more swallowable and leaves me with 1000/1500 for the day.
I’ll play it safe for the rest of the day though since I’d some variability from the fat to transfer from the skin to the potatoes below the chicken; no dinner, maybe a few sugar-free Jellos and some Greek Yogurt if I get the hangries later.
What app do you use to track?
Are you practicing one meal a day? 475 grams is approximately 1 full pound of chicken thighs. So you’re attempting 1 full pound of potatoes and 1 full pound of chicken and expecting a low calorie outcome?
Please please correct me if I’m wrong.
Also, 400 grams of chicken breast is most definitely not 450 calories