Detachment & Logging

[Nicholas]

I finally came to a revelation that i can't get by on "intuition" anymore, so i'm going back to the books. Intuition is something you have to re-learn and renew. My diet has become so inconsistent (as in, consistent for a week and then not for 3 days and then back on and then off for 5 days, etc.) and i've developed a kind of detached position again where i don't know what is what anymore. In my previous days of logging, i only monitored really about 4 variables on paper: food frequency, macros, calories per meal/day.....and used feels and pulse/temp to monitor what was working and not. But obviously, there are many more variables - and for me, they still operate in the unknown. Here are the main ones i would like to understand more deeply and how they affect me in a *verifiable way* with the goal being that i don't have to be confused about diet as much anymore and only have to go back to the books when a new mystery comes up. I want the mysteries that can be solved to be solved and in the process leave that place of detachment:


- nutrient deficiency symptoms
- iron using/storing issues
- food sensitivities (think i may be allergic/sensitive to a few things i still regularly eat)
- resistant starch
- fiber types/combining with other foods
- amino acid deficiency/animal protein reactions
- salt deficiency/excess
- pepper/herbs
- reactions to various saturated fats
- water content of foods/balancing
- calcium sources/reactions

I kind of have a plan for how i want to isolate variables and experiment but at the same time i feel a bit lost. First, i figure i should get frequency, macros, and calories to a good baseline and consistency...and then the rest is kind of like fine-tuning (and could completely alter things dramatically). For addressing the above listed variables, i assume that the foods i eat and the ways in which i prepare them should remain constant. For example, i have my baseline way of eating and documented temps/pulses/feels....and then when i want to explore if i have abnormal issues with iron, i completely eliminate as much as possible food containing high levels of iron like clams, chocolate, beef....for 2 weeks? keep record of feels/temp/pulse/etc...? then re-introduce moderate amounts of iron back into diet to compare? Then i take whatever i have learned from that experiment and incorporate it into my baseline diet for a couple weeks? Is that too stressful or confusing for the body? my health has remained pretty good despite all the inconsistencies of my life growing up so i don't imagine it would be that much of a stress.

The thinking is that the "baseline" foundation (food frequency, macros, calories, consistency) is what is likely to stay pretty similar for seasons of my life though certainly evolve over time and as the body needs different types/quantities of fuel depending on what battle it is fighting. The fine tuning variables that i want to address seem like they would be more longterm revelations except for a few which might change as metabolism gets better (my temp and pulse are actually pretty good already though i don't feel like i have a great metabolism some days). I think it would be important during the experiments (which i expect would take about a year) to also leave break times where i can also check up on the baseline foundation to make sure it's still doing good and problems there are not causing confusion with the experiments.

Through all of this i understand that life circumstances and lifestyle variables also have a huge (if not the same) impact as nutrition on your healing....so my plan is to also keep the variables which you can "control" consistent and logged as well. Currently, my only temp that is not great is in the mornings (97.6) - so it would be cool to raise that temp. otherwise, my temp and pulse are pretty optimal and pretty stable through the day (when i am being consistent that is). But i've also learned that temp and pulse do not always give an accurate picture of things. that's why feels and physical manifestations of healing are equally as important in making assessments. Obviously, more healing of some of my afflictions would be a nice goal - but ultimately, i just feel it's important for me to get more studied and connected with my body than i have been lately - and able to have substance/*confidence* with my consistency. I want to be puzzled by things less and more certain of things that i can be certain of. As i said, i expect it to take about a year - and then after that i will just continue on with what i've learned and whatever my baseline is...and then do a little bit of logging whenever my body is saying it needs to change up the baseline in different seasons of my life.

Lastly, i'm not sure on how many days a week i should log during the year. I'm thinking 4 days a week when i am specifically in an experiment mode and 3 days a week when i am just in baseline "intermissions". The non-logging days seem good for being able to be more intuitive. You'd also likely go crazy with having to put everything down on paper.

Any thoughts, additions, advice? I know pboy has done something similar to this, though i think it was even more in-depth and took much longer - anyone else done something similar?

thank you. i may comment here from time to time to give updates.

 

[tara]

I've resisted taking the time to log many things that might be useful, and apparently so far unable to be consistent from day to day, so I can't speak from experience on this. But I have thought anyway.
I expect some variables to show effects quickly, and some slowly, so a standard method of assessment of symptoms over eg two weeks might work really well for some things, but things like iron might only show noticeable effects over months or years. (Being male, you don't have to take into account the monthly hormone cycle, which simplifies it a bit.)

 

[tara]

Musings on strategy that I didn't get around to posting on your other related thread.

I've read people here saying that we should change one variable at a time, so we know can identify the factor that makes a difference.
I think this idea has some merit and usefulness, but I don't think it's adequate in all situations.
There are just too many variables, and some of them are beyond personal control, and we don't have forever.

Did you play the game of mastermind as a child?
It's a simple 2 player game with at least one commercial variant, but it can also be done with just pen and paper.
Player one selects a sequence of four from a set of 6 values. Eg in each of four ordered holes, place a peg of one of 6 colours (repeats allowed).
Player 2 makes repeated guesses about what the sequence is, and gets feedback after each about how many are correct and how many others are right colour but wrong place.
When player 2 has got the sequence right, they swap roles.
The aim is to guess your opponents sequence in fewer tries.
You can systematically figure out which elements are right and wrong by changing one at a time.
But you get there much faster by always choosing a possible complete solution. Even when it is not correct, you get more data quicker this way.

 

[Nicholas]

thanks, Tara. your mentioning mastermind makes a lot of sense. i think you're right that many "experiments" can be consolidated at a time....or sort of predicting the end result of the experiment. i think the trick to that may be to have a varied pallette per week, so that there is enough variety of nutrition but still a through line of consistency. and only when you find abnormalities there, experiment further. i'm not sure on the usefulness of knowing nutrient deficiencies now....as your metabolism (and therefore digestion) would play a role in determining what a good amount of Vitamin A feels like....and if metabolism is healing/increasing then any experiment would not have future relevance. probably the more worthwhile planned experiments are just the baseline foundation variables that i describe as well as food sensitivities and items which cause a stress response for whatever reason.

 

[Nicholas]

realization/update: if i can manage to get the "baseline" variables right for this season of my life and remain consistent with it, then i should be able to start noticing patterns if there are abnormalities. i.e. more intuitive experimenting that doesn't require extended periods of logging. the only reason this would be possible is because my diet variables are very varied.....i eat all kinds of meat, all kinds of dairy, all kinds of fruit, some vegetable fibers, some sugar, etc. and i already have intuitive though specific ways of combining those items and how frequently i eat them. so if i'm consistent with those variables and the baseline variables then natural patterns (normal or abnormal) should emerge that could warrant experiments. for example, i've wondered over the past few days if orange juice is causing popping joints (something relatively minor - i.e. not a baseline issue) - because i'm sensing a pattern there. but *only if* i remain consistent with my baseline foundation will i be able to truly begin to see if it's a true pattern or not. this seems like a much more accurate way of experimenting with the body. it takes into account more the bigger picture of how the body heals itself primarily from the foundation up through oxidative metabolism...i could be doing all kinds of experiments, but the biggest factor in healing is always the baseline....the body getting what it needs to do its own specific healing. it's more a philosophy of: let the body reveal the experiments when it is time. but the biggest thing that makes all of that possible is consistency with the foundation.