LA Weight Loss - quesion about food weight

This is a dumb question, but here goes. Do I weigh meat before or after it's cook?

You can do either. Cooking can change the calorie content (if fat is left in the pan, for example), but your calorie counting resource should give both raw and cooked weights/calories.

Usually one way will be more convenient, or more accurate. For a piece of meat, like a steak or chicken breast, I usually weigh after cooking, and look up the calorie count (or exchange - because I use exchanges more often than calories, but the process is the same). My calorie or exchange count book will list values for raw and cooked weights (most online calculators do the same) and also on how the food was prepared (broiled, baked, roasted....).

When using meats in a recipe, especially when the entire amount is going into the recipe (that is, there's not going to be any fat left over to drain off) such as ground beef in a spaghetti sauce, then I look up the calorie/exchange for the raw weight.

I weigh before, simply because the calorie counting website I use states that the value is for the raw item.

I use the Lose It app on my iPod touch and it lets me choose either so I don't even have to think about it!! So easy!!!

What I had learned from Weight Watchers, is using your palm of your hand to determined the portions of food.. A piece of meat/chicken is the size of a cassette tape/deck of cards... Hope this will help you..Good luck! :)

This link might help
http://www.theportionplate.com/enlargedplate.html