Lots of people love tucking into a bowl of pasta, but you could be making a simple mistake that leads to a healthy meal becoming more problematic
When people think of comfort food, they often dream about pasta.
It’s a hearty, comforting meal that hits the spot when you want something warm and tasty in a hurry. Not to mention, lots of people eat it when they’re trying to lose weight as, when packed with lots of veg and healthy protein, it can be a healthy and satisfying meal.
But you could be making a simple cooking mistake that could cause you to gain weight. It’s all been explained by personal trainer, Tom Hull, who said lots of people track pasta incorrectly. In a candid TikTok video he explained it all comes down to portion control. When you look at how much pasta is in a single portion on the packet, he said many people don’t know if it refers to dried or cooked pasta.
Showing people how to do it, Tom explained: “You’ll see on the pack here it says 75g of dry pasta typically produces 180g of cooked pasta. You’re probably not reading that part, and jumping straight to this part, where it says 180g is 286 calories.
“So you then pour out 180g, which looks like this, and is quite a lot, and you think ‘yeah that’s decent for 286 calories’, and then cook it. But instead you need to pour out 75g, because it’s not yet cooked, which then looks like this.”
In the video, he then compares the two portions size he’s weighed out, and there is a considerable difference in the amount of food that gets dished up. When you cook the pasta incorrectly, Tom said the dish boosts up to over 600 calories per portion.
If you’re wondering why there’s such a weight difference, Tom explained that when you cook pasta it absorbs water and expands. This leads to it weighing more. He admitted there was a time when he thought the calories didn’t matter if it’s just cooked in water, but they do. It’s a “confusing” topic, but Tom hopes he managed to simplify it for his followers.
After all, if you’re trying to lose weight, the last thing you want to do is scoff down too much pasta. By taking this tip on board, your food portions should get much more under control.
The video has been viewed hundreds of times since he shared it, and many thanked him for the tip. It seems it’s quite a perplexing topic for some to get their heads around.
One person said: “Wow, thanks. Had not registered that. Note to self, read the nutritional information detail properly.” Another added: “I did know this, but I know loads of people don’t and get really confused, so brilliant video.”