What I Ate: Election Day Edition - and Back to Basics

I have a love-hate relationship with Election Day. It's exhilarating, but so often it's disappointing and I'm left wondering what the heck people are thinking. It's fitting that I would rededicate myself to my love-hate relationship with careful food and nutritional tracking today.

In late July, I somehow got myself down to 169.8 pounds. It was just one morning, and I never saw the 160s again, but I was holding steady in the 170s for a while. Yesterday, I went to my knew (very bariatric-friendly!) primary care doctor, and there the scale said 187.8. Yup. That's eighteen pounds above my lowest weight. Yikes! My clothes all still fit, but I can look at my body and see that it's a little bigger in certain places.

The doctor said we should treat this like an emergency, and I completely agree with her. Part 1 of fixing this is going back to planning my meals carefully and tracking my nutritional intake.

• Vanilla strawberry protein frosty: 1/2 scoop Matrix strawberry cream protein powder (55 kcals, 11.5g protein, 1g carbs, 0.8g fat), 1T. FF/SF vanilla pudding mix (15 kcals, 3g carbs), 1/2 scoop 1% cottage cheese (81 kcals, 14g protein, 3g carbs, 1g fat), 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 tsp. flax meal (10 kcals, 0.5g protein, 0g NET carbs, 0.7g fat), about 1/4 cup Splenda granular (24 kcals, 6g carbs). Total - (185 kcals, 26g protein, 13g net carbs, 2.5g fat).
• Starbucks decaf coffee with about 3T half and half (60 kcals, 1.4g protein, 2g net carbs, 5.2g fat) and 15 packets of Splenda (about 45 kcals, 10g carbs). Total - (105 kcals, 1.4g protein, 12g carbs, 5.2g fat). Yikes! Splenda sux.
• 1 salad with about 1.5 cups mustard lettuce (15 kcals, 1g protein, 1g net carbs, 0g fat), 41 grams French breakfast radishes (7 kcals, 0.2g protein, 0.7g net carbs, 0g fat), 2 strips turkey bacon (80 kcals, 10g protein, 2g carbs, 2g fat), and 1 slice fat-free cheese (30 kcals, 4g protein, 2g carbs, 0g fat) with a little mustard, Liquid Smoke, worcestershire vinaigrette (about 5 kcals, 0g net carbs). Total - (138 kcals, 15.2g protein, 5.7g net carbs, 2g fat).
• 1 serving (120 grams) homemade chili con carne (149 kcals, 16g protein, 6g net carbs, 5.5g fat), 1 small hardboiled egg (54 kcals, 4.7g protein, 0.3g carbs, 3.7g fat), 5 pickle chips (about 5 kcals). Total - (208 kcals, 20.7g protein, 6.3g net carbs, 9.2g fat). Gosh this was heavenly. I've recently improved my egg boiling technique thanks to an old blog post on Serious Eats, the first installment of The Food Lab by Kenji Lopez-Alt. The yolk was like buttah and complemented the chili amazingly well.
• 4 oz. whole chicken salad (about 136 kcals, 14g protein, 2g carbs, 8g fat) and 1.5 oz. homemade reduced-fat higher protein smoky pecan pimento cheese (about 90 kcals, 7g protein, 1g carbs, 6g fat). Total - (226 kcals, 21g protein, 3g carbs, 14g fat).
• Well - I was supposed to have miso-glazed surf and turf (lamb kidneys and scallops) with a tiny bit of Granny Smith apple, mustard lettuce, and orange:

But I overcooked the kidneys a bit, and they tasted too livery for me. So I wound up just eating the 3 large sea scallops (39 kcals, 7.5g protein, 1.5g carbs, 0g fat) with about 1 tsp.-worth of miso (14 kcals, 1g protein, 1g carbs, 0g fat), about 10 grams of apple (7 kcals, 2g carbs), and a squeeze of orange juice. Total - (60 kcals, 8.5g protein, 4.5g carbs, 0g fat).

• Neapolitan protein frosty: 1/2 scoop Matrix strawberry cream protein powder (55 kcals, 11.5g protein, 1g carbs, 0.8g fat), 2 tsp. FF/SF chocolate pudding mix (10 kcals, 2g carbs), 1/2 scoop 1% cottage cheese (81 kcals, 14g protein, 3g carbs, 1g fat), 1.5 T Hershey's cocoa (15 kcals, 3g net carbs), 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 tsp. flax meal (10 kcals, 0.5g protein, 0g NET carbs, 0.7g fat), about 1/4 cup Splenda granular (24 kcals, 6g carbs). Total - (195 kcals, 26g protein, 15g carbs, 2.5g fat).
• 6 Bariatric Advantage calcium chews (90 kcals, 9g net carbs)
• 10 Tums (yeah - I know. It's a battle . . . ) (50 kcals, 10g net carbs)

Total:
1,257 calories
118.8g protein
78.5g net carbohydrate
35.4g fat