[ses1984]

Isn’t that a bit of a special case because you know your cereal and you know your bowls? What about some cooked foods like meats which can vary in density and shape when raw, and also vary even further due to inconsistency in cooking, with more or less moisture cooked off?

It’s possible to calibrate your estimates, but if you haven’t done that, it’s probably safe to assume you’re not particularly accurate.

[wnorris510]

There is definitely a lot of variation in density, moisture content, fat percentage between regions, cuts, cooking amounts and methods. IMO using an average number here is probably best because to some extent it's hopeless to account for all of these things.

Most people don't stay consistent in tracking long enough for any of this to matter, so really it's about what is the most accurate approach to achieve your goal and sustain longer term.

[LPisGood]

Oh I would only weigh things raw - if we’re talking about guessing the portion sizes at a restaurant for example, you might say I’m cooked.

I wonder how good an ML model might be at that task. Maybe given a photograph of the plate and the menu description.