Hi everyone. I have a question for some of you fellow calorie counters regarding meat/poultry/fish.

It's easy to count the calories when it's, say, a can of tuna or sardines, or a chicken breast fillet. But what about tenderloin center-cut in, out/boneless, pork, blah, blah?

I know there are plenty of sites where you can find this info, but I don't really understand much of it. For example, when it lists nutrition info for "lean only," is it referring to those cuts of meat where, prior to consuming, you cut off the visible/chunky pieces of fat? What if the meat is marbled, as most is? Is that included in "lean only" too?

...And what's all this "fat trimmed to 1/8th inch" business? I thought that sort of thing meant how thick the fillet was cut, but I'm really confused..?

I guess I'm looking for a crash course in "cuts of meat" but when I slice into my pork tenderloin, I want to know whether I'm getting the 40ish calories per ounce for "lean only" or the 70-80 calories per ounce for "lean and fat" pieces. You get what I'm saying?

Hopefully other people have had this issue. Anyway, thanks in advance! Be well!

OK, let me start by saying I'm NOT an expert by any means, but I'll give you my thoughts on the whole lean/not lean thing..

Some things are easy, like you said, chicken breast, fish..basically most meat I consider "not lean" lol but here are a few examples of things I do consider lean, besides the obvious

-Steak that has to be marinated/tenderized/cooked for awhile to be tender like outside or inside round (basically the marbling (fat) in the more tender cuts is what makes it tender. by buying a cheaper and leaner cut you are saving money and calories..and you don't really have to marinate it forever if you slam it or cut it really thin
-boneless pork sirloin chops - you know , those ones that look kinda like a kidney shape..and have no fat on the edges? Some are dark meat and some are light meat..i think center cut vs whatever cut..the darker ones are dark meat..but the light meat I consider to be a lean cut
- lowfat ground turkey or chicken - some of course is made with dark meat but some brands actually state on the label the percentage of fat in it so you can make an informed decision

ALthough I LOVE meat, I am really finicky about fatty meat, grissol, marbling etc, and i hate the feel of it in my mouth. Whenever we have meat that is not of a leaner cut my plate still has plenty of "remnants" when I'm done, while dh's is licked clean..lol He must wonder what my problem is. As a matter of fact, someitmes when we get a roast or stew meat and it turns out to be grissoly on every piece (like thru it) I won't even eat it, or I'll give up halfway through. I just cannot be bothered...sometimes you can't tell if a roast is going to be grissoly or not before buying it...anyway my point with that is that I kinda trust my tongue on it, if it's the type of meat I can enjoy the whole piece without weird remnants than it's all good. If I have to prep and scrape before and during ..then its a fattier cut.

Wondered about the 1/8 inch thing too, it must be that some people actually eat the fat beside the meat?? UGH!! Otherwise if you're discarding it what does it matter?

If you want to be more precise you could get one of those tiny purse size counters with fat/pro/carb counts and just spend a couple minutes browsing the different groupings ..or if you have any old low fat diet books kicking around or even maybe go on the heart association's site and they may have lists of meats that are heart healthy and not-so much..lol

I tend to really not worry about it and unless the item was literally dripping with fat (I think ribs and fried chicken are the only 2 uber-fatty meat products I can handle) I would get what I wanted in a restaurant ..make mostly chicken and leaner steaks and pork at home and who cares if some of your selections are a little fattier, it'll make you more satisfied anyway and it's better than over carbing it..at least you won't wake the cravie monster

http://www.kptv.com/health/9963287/detail.html

When shopping for meat, certain words indicate cuts that are lower in fat. Look for "round" or "loin" in the name when shopping for lean beef and the words "loin" or "leg" when you're seeking lean pork or lamb.

Here are some examples of lean cuts of meat:

* Beef: Eye of the round, top round steak, top round roast, sirloin steak, top loin steak, tenderloin steak and check arm pot roast.

* Veal: Cutlet, blade or arm steak, rib toast and rib or lion chop.

* Pork: Tenderloin, top loin roast, top loin chop, center loin chop, sirloin roast, loin rib chop and shoulder blade steak.

* Lamb: Leg, loin chop and arm chop.

Click here to find out more!

For me, with steaks its hard to judge. You take a rib eye versus a filet minon. Both tender cuts of meat, but drastically different in calories and fat. My weight watchers leader once told me a filet minon is the best cut out there for a dieter. I LOVE that cut, so i didnt argue. Especially if you are weighing over all flavor versus calories.

As far as the 1/8 inch fat, that is like those peices of steaks you see, like the t-bone that has that layer of fat surrounding the outside of the steak. Some butchers trim the fat down to where it is 1/8" and some cut it off to the 1/4". I end up cutting it all off. I am not a fat eater, like that anyway. But my father on the other hand would be horrified if he knew i was wasting "good flavor" that way. Most men prefer a little fat flavor in with their meat, most females dont. So if you trim the fat away, simply look for the option of "lean only" eaten. (pork chops have that 1/8" of fat on them as well usually).

Hope that helps.

Thank you Natalia and Get N Healthy! That does clear things up for me, and I'm glad that I can consider the usual pork tenderloin "lean only" despite any marbling -- I never eat that fat trimming -- eww!!

I like to be precise because I don't count many of my daily snacks, so I don't want to inadvertently be tipping the scales because I'm counting something incorrectly. I have the same kind of problem with canned beans. I like to rinse and drain them, but I think that the nutritionals apply only to the beans weighed with the "sodium broth," as I like to call it, heh. Oh dear, I've become a calorie counting monster. Such is life.

Thanks again guys!

I really struggle with this when it comes to beef (the only red meat I will eat). I have several recipes from Cooking Light that call for beef tenderloin or other "loin" cuts of beef and on every single one of them, I calculate the calories to be way higher than what Cooking Light says. Now I know that they occasionally make a mistake but for most part my calculations usually agree with their's on other recipes, so I'm really stumped on this. I always use the calories for lean only because I can't stand fat; it really grosses me out . I buy meat with the least amount of marbling and I always cut off as much fat as I can. I will sacrifice some of the meat to cut away as much fat as I can. Like you, Natalia, I've been know to give up on a stew when the meat turned out to be too fatty.

Because I can't seem to figure out the calories, we hardly ever eat beef, other than ground beef which says the calories in it right on the package. I'd love to be able to make some of the Cooking Light recipes (and my SO would love it even more), if anyone can solve this mystery for me (I suppose I should just write to Cooking Light). Is there some super lean cut of beef that my grocery store doesn't sell?

My mom loved the fat on beef. She is one of the people that would have the butcher leave a layer of fat on her steaks--at least 1/4 inch, I swear sometimes it seemed like half an inch. She would cook the steaks with that layer on it and I remember her eating it right along with her steak. Luckily for her, she was naturally thin.

Most of the meat I buy is pre-packaged and already has the nutrition label on it. I for one cannot stand fat or grissle of any kind!! I make my own hamburger from round steak. I cut every last piece of fat and possible tendon off!!{YUCK}Then I grind it up myself, for tacos mostly. I also use round steak for my stews, chili and vegetable beef soup. I would be lost if I had to buy from the meat counter.

I'm no expert on this, but if you trim the fat off your meat, I think you're ok selecting the 0" fat option. Most of the marbling fat renders off during cooking (which is why it is so tasty). If you're grilling or otherwise dispensing with the fat produced through cooking, you're eating maximally lean meat.

Haha silly people, the fat is the best part! Just chiming in for all the (apparently mostly male? I doubt it, I'd bet women are just more careful about it) fatty, delicious, drip down your chin beef lovers.