Weighing And Measuring Food: Essential For Keto Success

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that has gained popularity for its health benefits, including weight loss and reduced risk of certain diseases. While on keto, it is essential to monitor your intake of macronutrients, namely carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, to maintain the body in a metabolic state called ketosis. This involves limiting carbohydrates to 20-50 grams per day and increasing fat consumption through foods like meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and healthy oils.

To accurately track macronutrients, some individuals choose to weigh and measure their food. This practice ensures precision in macronutrient ratios and helps avoid exceeding the recommended carbohydrate intake. Weighing food also aids in identifying discrepancies between stated and actual serving sizes. However, it is not mandatory, and apps like MyFitnessPal can assist in tracking macros without the need for a scale. Ultimately, the decision to weigh food on keto depends on personal preferences and goals.

Weighing food before or after cooking

There are a few things to consider when deciding whether to weigh your food before or after cooking it. Firstly, cooking methods and temperatures alter food weight. For example, sautéing vegetables and proteins will cause the cooked weight to be less than the original weight because it strips some of their water content. On the other hand, cooking carbohydrates such as rice, oats, or quinoa will increase the cooked weight because they absorb fluid.

Secondly, the type of food also matters. The weight of meat changes with heat due to its fat and water content. Raw chicken, for instance, shrinks by about 25% during cooking. So, the cooking weight of most foods is usually lower than the raw weight.

Thirdly, seasoning and recipe ingredients can also alter food weight. Adding fresh herbs and spices boosts flavor without significantly impacting weight or calories. However, adding heavy ingredients like cream, sauces, or breading will make food heavier and often contribute extra calories and fat.

Considering these factors, it is generally recommended to weigh your food raw. This allows you to know your serving size right away and helps with portioning and more accurate calorie counting for weight loss. Weighing raw ingredients is especially important for meat since cooked food entries rarely consider the cooking method, making it challenging to account for fat loss during cooking.

However, if you are using a food tracking app, you may need to specify whether the food is raw or cooked, as some apps have different entries for the same food depending on its preparation stage. Additionally, if you are eating takeout or food prepared by someone else, you may need to weigh the cooked food and make your best estimate based on similar entries in the app or individual ingredients.

Weighing yourself

It is generally recommended to weigh yourself no more than once every 2-3 days, and ideally only once a week. Your body weight will fluctuate not just daily but hourly, based on factors such as water retention, food and salt consumption, hormones, and more. Weighing yourself more often than once a week will likely lead to frustration due to a perceived lack of progress.

To ensure the least amount of variables and the most consistent data, weigh yourself first thing in the morning, before consuming food or water, or having a bowel movement. Also, make sure to wear the same amount of clothing each time you weigh yourself.

Other Ways to Measure Progress

If the scale isn't moving, it doesn't necessarily mean that you aren't losing weight or getting healthier. Your clothes might be fitting better, indicating that you've lost inches. Taking measurements with a body tape can confirm this. You can also take progress photos to compare before and after transformations.

Should You Weigh Yourself at All?

How often you weigh yourself depends on your goals and how it affects you emotionally. If you find that you fall off the wagon because you binge every time the scale doesn't move, consider weighing yourself less often or not at all. Research suggests that regular weighing is helpful for weight loss, but some people don't handle it well. A few studies suggest that self-weighing can negatively impact self-esteem and even motivate people to over-exercise to compensate for overeating.

If you do choose to weigh yourself, it is critical to be consistent, no matter what you ate or how you feel about it. Decide how often you will weigh yourself, and then stick to it.

Tracking macros

If you want to track your macros, you can log the foods you eat on a food journal, website, or an app like MyFitnessPal or Lose It! These apps are specifically designed to help you track macros. Many apps come with a barcode scanner that allows you to scan some foods directly into your macro log.

If you want to be precise about your macronutrient intake, you can use a digital food scale to weigh your food. However, it isn't necessary. If you're using a food scale, you weigh each food item before logging it into your preferred app.

There are a few reasons why someone might choose to weigh their food. Firstly, it can be a way to ensure precision in your tracking. While it’s a little easier to log your fruit as one avocado or one small avocado, some people claim this isn’t accurate enough. If you don’t eat the pit, core, or peel, they recommend you don’t count that in the weight of the food.

Secondly, discrepancies have been found between the actual weight of food in a single-serving package and what’s listed by the food manufacturer on the label. Many dieters and foodies claim there’s sometimes less than a full serving in one package.

However, some people believe that using a food scale is unnecessary and might heighten the risk of food anxiety and orthorexia. When making large batches of food with multiple ingredients, it’s trickier to be completely accurate with food weighing. If you’re frequently cooking for other family members, the process might be a little complicated and time-consuming.

Remember, you don’t have to be a stickler when it comes to tracking your macros. You don’t need to hit your targets exactly, and you can still meet your health, weight, or fitness goals even with a few grams under or over your daily macros. It’s also not necessary to count your macros at all.

Measuring food on keto

Measuring each gram of what you eat on a keto diet is a discipline that can help you make better food choices. If you don't measure every element of a recipe, you might exceed your daily carb intake. Keto is not just about macros but also about the ratios in which you consume fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Discrepancies in these ratios can mess up your progress.

Firstly, invest in a good weighing scale. Measuring raw food is more crucial than weighing cooked food. If you are measuring chicken with bone, take 1.4 times the weight mentioned in the recipe. For mutton (with bone), you must take 1.7 times the weight, and for fish, 1.25.

For spices, refer to the recipe and adjust the taste based on your preferences. However, it is not recommended to add garam masala to pasta.

Weighing Food vs. Using a Food Journal or App

Some people use a digital food scale to weigh their food, but it isn't necessary. You can simply log the foods you eat on a food journal, website, or an app like MyFitnessPal or Lose It! These apps are specifically designed to help you track macros and perform the calculations for you.

Weighing Food Before or After Cooking?

It is generally recommended to weigh food in its raw state for the best accuracy. However, some apps, like Carb Manager, use cooked food entries for meat instead of raw. In this case, you would need to type in "chicken breast raw" and choose one of the branded options that come up.

Tips for Measuring Food on Keto

• Measure your food at the same time each day, wearing the same amount of clothes, to ensure the least amount of variables and the most consistent data.
• It is typically recommended to weigh yourself first thing in the morning, before food/water consumption or bowel movements.
• If you are cooking for other family members, using a food scale might be complicated and time-consuming.
• Modern digital food scales are usually inexpensive and measure in ounces and grams to give you specific measurements every time.
• If you are using a food scale, weigh each food item before logging it into your preferred app.

Keto diet meal plans

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat, and moderate-protein diet. The aim is to drive the body into a metabolic state called ketosis, where it uses stored fat as a source of energy instead of carbohydrates.

Keto-Friendly Foods

• Eggs
• Poultry (chicken and turkey)
• Fatty fish (salmon, herring, and mackerel)
• Meat (beef, venison, pork, organ meats, and bison)
• Full-fat dairy (yogurt, butter, and cream)
• Full-fat cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, brie, goat cheese, and cream cheese)
• Nuts and seeds (macadamia nuts, almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, and flaxseeds)
• Nut butter (no-sugar-added peanut, almond, and cashew butters)
• Oils rich in healthy fats (olive oil, avocado oil, and sesame oil)
• Avocados
• Non-starchy vegetables (greens, broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, and peppers)
• Condiments (salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice, fresh herbs, and spices)

Foods to Limit or Avoid

• Bread and baked goods (white bread, cookies, doughnuts, etc.)
• Sweets and sugary foods (sugar, ice cream, candy, honey, etc.)
• Sweetened beverages (soda, juice, sweetened tea, etc.)
• Pasta
• Grains and grain products (wheat, rice, oats, breakfast cereals, and tortillas)
• Starchy vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, etc.)
• Beans and legumes (black beans, chickpeas, lentils, and kidney beans)
• Fruit (citrus, grapes, bananas, and pineapple)
• High-carb sauces (barbecue sauce, ketchup, honey mustard, etc.)
• Alcoholic beverages (beer and sugary mixed drinks)

Sample Keto Menu for One Week

Day 1

• Breakfast: Two eggs fried in butter with sauteed greens
• Lunch: Bunless burger topped with cheese, mushrooms, and avocado on a bed of greens
• Dinner: Pork chops with green beans sauteed in olive oil

Day 2

• Breakfast: Mushroom omelet
• Lunch: Tuna salad with celery and tomato on a bed of greens
• Dinner: Roast chicken with cream sauce and sauteed broccoli

Day 3

• Breakfast: Bell pepper stuffed with cheese and eggs
• Lunch: Arugula salad with hard-boiled eggs, turkey, avocado, and blue cheese
• Dinner: Grilled salmon with spinach sauteed in sesame oil

Day 4

• Breakfast: Full-fat yogurt topped with keto granola
• Lunch: Steak bowl with cauliflower rice, cheese, herbs, avocado, and salsa
• Dinner: Bison steak with cheesy broccoli

Day 5

• Breakfast: Baked avocado egg boats
• Lunch: Caesar salad with chicken
• Dinner: Pork chops with vegetables

Day 6

• Breakfast: Cauliflower toast topped with cheese and avocado
• Lunch: Bunless salmon burgers topped with pesto
• Dinner: Meatballs served with zucchini noodles and Parmesan cheese

Day 7

• Breakfast: Coconut milk chia pudding topped with coconut and walnuts
• Lunch: Cobb salad with greens, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, cheese, and turkey
• Dinner: Coconut chicken curry

Tips for Creating a Keto Meal Plan

• Get organized: Look at the meals you’ll be cooking and take stock of the ingredients you already have. Make a grocery list for the items you need.
• Prep ahead: Maximize baking, chopping, and marinating time.
• Don’t cook everything: Include on-the-go meals and ready-to-eat entrées in your plan.
• Keto-friendly beverages: Water, sparkling water, unsweetened coffee, and unsweetened green tea are good options.

Frequently asked questions