So I just bought some quinoa last night, thinking I'd try it. Today when I'm planning my meals for the day and entering things into Fitday, I hunt for quinoa, and find it. Fitday tells me that one cup of quinoa is something like 600 calories! I decide to double-check on Calorieking, because that sounds WAY too high for a cup of any kind of grain. Calorieking then says that quinoa is around 235 calories for a cup. What in ****? Where does this huge discrepancy come from? Who's right? Why would either service over/underestimate by such a massive amount?

I'm so unsure now. What do I put into Fitday? Do I need to really restrict how much quinoa I have? I just don't know what to do.

Did you buy bulk quinoa, or did it come in a box? If it has a label, then go by that. If not, then I'd go with Calorie King, as FitDay sometimes has amounts for things as uncooked.

EDIT: yup, I just checked both sites, and the calories on FitDay corresponds perfectly with the calories for "quinoa, dry" on CalorieKing (636 calories per cup).

Ahhh, that makes sense then.

Thanks so much for the help! I didn't know Calorieking had a different measurement for dry, I guess I just figured sites like that would measure the cooked calories, cause well, what do they think people do? Eat it dry? Ah, well. Again, thanks, I can relax on that now.

It is odd, isn't it? FitDay has potatoes, mashed, dehydrated, dry form. Huh?

But now that I think about it, if someone is making a recipe like a soup, and adding dry ingredients, they might need to know the calories in that form.

Jay

Hunh....I suppose that's true, Jay, although I hadn't thought of that.

Makes finding the right version of foods kind of difficult, though. Does Calorieking have the ability to keep a record of what you've eaten the way Fitday does, or is it just a database?

It can also be easier to calculate the dry weights of foods if you're making a big stew or soup or something, and the portioning will only be done after everything has been all cooked together. You can't really measure rice once it has been cooked together with a bunch of veggies or legumes.

I boycott fitday now.. I have been using a muuuuch better site, it makes Fitday look.. well... generic. I dont know if I can mention it here because it have message boards, which I have never looked at. I couldnt never leave my home! (3FC)

Ready2ShedLBS, pretty impressive weight loss!

There are a number of calorie counting sites--a web search will give a list. A few of those sites have tried to spam members here, so their names get deleted.

Use whatever works for you!

Jay