Category: Journal

We woke up early our first day off, ready to eat anything our fat little hearts desired. But surprisingly, we didn’t go as crazy as we could have. It seems that eating a certain way for 30 days has, at the least, a temporarily enduring effect. Don’t get me wrong, I ate a lot of garbage this weekend, but I still refrained from eating as much as I could have. But, I wasn’t feeling too energized from the meals we ate day 1 (a scone for first breakfast, an almond strawberry croissant for second breakfast, a beer and schnitzel w/ spatzle at lunch had me with “the itis” for the first time in 30 days).

But, the Sushi we had at dinner treated me just fine. So score 1 for Japanese cuisine (Soybeans, soy sauce, rice and whiskey). Whatever the desert was, was not remarkable, not enjoyable and not necessary. Is desert every necessary? Yes. But this was really drab. Additionally, a 2nd whiskey later in the evening didn’t go down as good, but it wasn’t the top shelf I had earlier. It may be worth investigating the difference in American whiskey and Japanese whiskey, for science! After all, Whole30 is an elimination diet… I need to discover the things that treat my gut well and the things that don’t so I can make educated decisions about what I’m comfortable eating and what I’m willing to put up with.

Sunday I began to feel heartburn? I haven’t figured it out yet, but I want to blame sugar for causing it. I’ve never really felt it before though so I’m not sure if it’s heartburn or just my gut screaming at me to stop with the garbage. But all in all I’ve been making better decisions about food than before Whole30. We did go a little ham on Super Bowl Sunday, where I ate the brownest plate of food I’ve had in months. At least it was air-fried…

On Monday I went back to my new eating habits, because it’s easy. Eggs and chili for breakfast, broccoli “cheddar” soup for lunch… dinner deviated to pre-Whole30, but I feel like we’re still in a splurge mode. We’ve resolved not to go back to our old standard, but to have some flexibility now…. like bread! I got some Ezekiel bread, hoping to have a tuna sandwich with the taste of wheat again tomorrow.

I awoke feeling good. The routine? Easy. The food? Already set. Can we keep this up? The 30 day desert for my gut, that was actually a cornucopia, has now passed.

Couldn’t have timed it any better, honestly; with Friday being the last day. Had an easy morning, made some scrambled eggs & added chili on top. I feel like I’m going to be eating that Chili regularly now. Perhaps with butternut squash instead, for some alternate nutrition and a bit less starchy sugar? But can’t feel guilty about this.

Stayed at work a bit extra, but I planned for it, and brought broccoli “cheddar’ soup and chili for lunch/snack. Usually when I have repetetive tasks I get antsy… but today I was calmly going through line after line of a spreadsheet ensuring dates and references in a database were correct, editing as needed. I mention that to say, my patience is even stronger now it seems?

The remainder of the day was spent, uneventfully, shopping around for Culpeper’s Complete Herbalist Guide, and looking for a pawn shop. I’m in need of an old AC adapter for something old enough not to be found in an electronic store. Came up empty handed on both counts but I digress.

I anticipated my girlfriends almond encrusted pollock for dinner for our last Whole30 meal. Looked and thought about at all the places I could choose to eat now. Most don’t seem that interesting. But I am looking forward to the french bakery we’ll go to tomorrow, and the weigh in. Even though I cheated a bit with the doctor visit.

My girlfirned was looking forward to eating something at midnight but as the nigh went on, she passed out and thought, eh, tomorrow’s fine. I was happy to see it though until our breakfast at the French Pastry shop! It’s been real fun. And I hope that I can discover what bothers my gut tomorrow and through next month.

Less journal entries in the future, more stuff about technology :x. And recipes. One more follow up maybe just for a conclusion. Until then.

Damn that was good. I woke up today, feeling refreshed and comfortable with my newfound super power of feeling my heart beat. I saw my weight last night. What an elaborate way to get my weight in this process. Couldn’t be helped… I was reviewing my tests to confirm everything personally and there it was at the top of my overview for the visit. But I feel exceptionally good. 6lbs down WITH clothes on? Are you kidding me?! Can’t wait for the real thing tomorrow. Wow, 1 day away from complete.

Today started as usual, except I grabbed the last of the spaghetti squash and an overripe avocado. I regretted using that avo later… it tasted like ethanol *bleh*. Picked it out and ate the rest. The day went better than easy. I had a lot, but I was just feeling good with the news I guess.

Lunch was once again egg salad in a collard wrap. Played with the hip cat, and she’s finally using the warming spot my girlfriend set up for her by the window. When I got home I complimented the robot on a job well done. Coming home to a clean floor…it’s vacuuming was superb.

Since today’s Thursday, it’s game night again. And I thought, I’ll make more chili to share! So I did. I’ve never felt more winning at being an adult than tonight. The chili is easy to make, and I set everything up for success ahead of time. Took out the trash, cleaned the kitchen, and it was done in time for our guest. She ended up complimenting both of us, and wished she had joined us on our journey. We’ll help her along should she ever have the drive. The book is something we no longer need but I’ll keep around for posterity and to share with others.

We didn’t end up playing a game. Instead we watched a Disney Princess movie relevant to our upcoming vacation this year. Our guest hadn’t seen it, and I forgot a lot of it. Tomorrow is the last day! Exciting!! All this chili must be rubbing off, because my girlfriend was cold on the couch and she may be coming down with something. Hopefully not. We’ll see what tomorrow has in store.

Today, at 11:20AM I had an appointment with the Doctor. Nearly had a heart attack at the cost, but hey, this is America, jack! But I’m getting ahead of myself. For breakfast, I ate eggs and avocado – and discussed w/ a fellow Whole30 graduate at work about the joys of the incredible edible egg. I wouldn’t have made it through this thing without eggs and potatoes. She was impressed at making scrambled eggs in the microwave. It’s brilliant… but maybe it’s also why I’m feeling funny?

Anywho, the morning went smooth, and I was off to see the doctor at Caesar Strong. Heart rate got up to 96 driving…. 96! But more importantly, I can literally count the beats of my heart just sitting. Getting in was smooth, and I felt cared for. The cost was extraordinary, but this was an extraordinary circumstance for me in other ways that were more important. And this is what an HSA is for.

I had my first EKG, inconclusive, or normal. The cardiologist said it was normal, but the doc in the room with me had concerns enough to ask the cardiologist to review it. He mentioned something that started w/ a P as if I was familiar with it. Regardless, heart seems fine. He humored me with the blood test, and all of that checked out in normal baseline as well. And an X-ray showed nothing.

As expected, its all in my head? Or it’s actually happening and the machines can’t register it! Makes me feel like I’m paranoid to have that thought. So I’m instead moving on with my life. This is normal I guess…

Fast forward to being home at lunch, I played with the hip cat, I can tell she’s getting toned and slimmer. Glad this diet is working for her too. (it’s how much I’m playing with her and giving her exclusively wet food). I ate more egg salad, and returned to work by 1PM. Finished out my day after talking with my girlfriend, since I’ll be cooking it’s Chili time!

I found another home-run of a recipe for Sweet Potato Chili, and ooooh boy it’s good. I always thought I need beans in my chili like a good northerner. Turns out, I just need sweet potato. This will be my go to chili recipe at cook-offs and potlucks. It took almost all of the Chili powder we had but it’s worth it.

Later that night I was feeling good about feeling funny, and we slept kinda early for once. In bed before midnight. Wow.

Woke up feeling much the same as yesterday. Optimistic that it might go away, I told myself I’d call the Doctor at work if I was still feeling funny. I grabbed a couple of eggs, cracked them into a zip-loc, and a mini avocado. I’m going to just eat these from now on. If eggs and avo are going to cause any detriment, I guess I’m gonna have to have a heart problem.

For lunch I made egg-salad & used my girlfriends instant pot to do it. That thing makes great hard-boiled eggs with a lot less effort (not that it was much effort in the first place). Just as many eggs as you can fit in a single-layer on a truss in the instant pot, with 1 cup of water. Set for 6 minutes, and 16 minutes later… they’re ready. No, that’s not a typo. Yes I said 6 minute timer and 16 minutes later. The instant pot still has to “warm up” and that takes about 10 minutes. *shrug* The eggs are good and it freed me up to play with our cat before feeding her. Win, win.

Lunch was cut short because of a meeting… again. This is how we run things, and that’s all I’ll say about that. No time to think about my heart, but hey, if I didn’t’ think about it that means it wasn’t that bad. Or I’m getting used to it.

Fast forward to the evening, and I thought I’d make baked potato and broccoli with my own brand of “cheesy sauce” based on nutritional yeast and a nut milk. But then, I had an epiphany, why not Broccoli “Cheese” Soup! So I set home from work to pick up the missing ingredients (and in hindsight: I judged correctly what we needed, hooray!).

The soup was a small effort to make, and didn’t turn out quite as creamy as hoped. But thanks to the immersion blender it was saved. Very few chunks of potato or carrot left, but that’s just fine. Most of the B&C soup I’ve had has been viscous liquid, and now so is this B&”C”. My heart felt labored again while cooking in the kitchen, rate go up to 105, like I was walking or something… but not consistently.

After dinner, I sat to calm down a bit, and called the Advice Nurse. I was met with the type of incredulity I expected and would likely have for someone reporting what I’m feeling. I don’t blame them. But it really stinks to feel like something is amiss, and be questioned. Although, it’s really what they’re for isn’t it? I’m lucky to be able to do this in all honesty.

I went to sleep after folding my clothes, Marie Kondo style, that I could have just brushed aside. But, even in my weakened state, I thought it’d be best to show myself I can still do things and stick to my plans. That’s why I cooked dinner after all.

Today I woke up, feeling better than yesterday, but still knowing something was off. I’m scheduling an appointment with my as yet undefined Doctor with my new medical coverage for the year. What a time for something to get weird in my body…

For breakfast, I had eggs, an a baby avocado. Perhaps I’ve had too much iron with all the spinach lately? I can only guess. Anyway, it’s been a chill day at work. Had a last minute meeting (aren’t they all?) set for right after lunch, which cut my usual lunch short but at least I knew about it before lunch this time.

I went home with the idea of making a wrap, thanks to a post on Reddit this weekend, giving glory to the collard green as a versatile thing. I set water on to boil, and fed the cat. A few minutes later, I blanched a couple of large collard green leaves. Once again, I surprised myself with how tasty and simple it was. It’s not for everyone… who can take the time to freshly blanch a collard green at work? But I’ll find out tomorrow if the 2nd one I made is good the next day or not…

For Dinner we had cracklin’ chicken, purple kale & onions (should have used red onions, doh), and two-kinds of potatoes. It was tasty, but pedestrian compared to all the veggie rich foods we’ve been eating. Super satisfying though.

If I’m feeling this way tomorrow, I need to make an appointment… because as much as I want to eat more Tuna this week, I don’t know if it’s a good idea to continue on that path right now. A diagnosis from a doctor will go a long way to easing my mind.

Today, I slept in. Didn’t rouse until 1PM, but had a few moments of conciousness spent researching Dr. Google for my heart. 48 hours of this can’t be a good sign? But the weather is absolutely outstanding today, and when I was feeling decent I asked my girlfriend if she’d like to go for a walk.

She was all set to start prepping lunch, and had cleaned most of the ktichen and living room… such a sweetheart letting me sleep in. I asked her if she had eaten yet, and she hadn’t. Was planning on the lunch…but she acquiesced and nuked a compliant sausage to fuel up before the walk.

We walked down to the local hospital (unrelated, it’s just the simplest route to take) and back, and I kept an eye on my heart rate. While my resting/standing heart rate is higher than usual, my walking rate is great… 102 was the highest it hit. My watch tells me 98 was my average. How is it that cooking in the kitchen at home can push me above 102 and average of 95? Walking is assuredly more effort…

Anyway, I was planning on fasting until nightfall, to give my digestion a break but the bananas from our food delivery were ripe and ready. Potassium couldn’t hurt right? So I ate one of those, a handful of raspberries and blueberries and some almond butter. Didn’t hurt. Didn’t help.

For dinner we stumbled into a “Ramen” due to some soft-boiled eggs that were intended to be hard boiled. And it was a great accident. Simple to cook, and the base was as good as it could have been for lacking Soy. I want to try to make proper Ramen when we’re off of this diet. It wasn’t too challenging to do and tasted great. The noodles were cabbage, but we couldn’t find good napa as the recipe called for an went for savoy. A bit too soft but tasty none-the-less.

Will see how I feel tomorrow…

Writing this in hindsight: it’s hard to remember what we did unfortunately. Our plans this weekend have been set aside (more organizing, more exercise) by this feeling I’m having a difficult time describing. My heart rate is still too high, it feels almost labored to pump… but not enough to be scary right now. Seems as long as I chill out, things are fine.

I don’t even remember who cooked breakfast, or if we had it. Nor do I remember lunch. But I’m sure we ate something. I need to keep up with this daily. I was doing good, and got lazy this week because nothing much changed. Maybe my heart is really attached to this thing, and was upset I wasn’t posting daily.

Dinner, however, I can’t forget.

On top of my own ailment, my girlfriends Mom called her up on her way to the hospital (“I should go too”, I thought, but I’m a typical guy and past experience with doctors leads me to have little faith anything would be different except my wallet being lighter). She was having pains in her upper abdomen/chest…gallbladder she suspected. As a fellow sufferer of the pain, I can empathize extraordinarily.

My girlfriend said she’d cook tonight, and wanted to make encrusted white fish. So off to the store we go. I’m not feeling terrible, and it’s nice to get out of the house. We picked up some frozen pacific pollock among other needs and returned home to cook.

Her Mom came over, and we talked shop about gallstones for a bit. My Mother brought me up to believe in trying holistic care, and oddly enough two things really helped my gallstone pain. Malic acid, from apples: eat an apple or drink pressed cider, and dandelion root tea. I keep both things around just in case it ever acts up again, and after about 10 minutes of eating the apple, her pain had reduced greatly. The dandelion root tea also helped almost make it disappear.

Dinner was a homerun. And having her Mom over was a pleasant reminder that even though we’re on this diet, we can still entertain. My girlfriend suggested we watch Doctor Sleep (Director’s cut, it’s long enough already, may as well go the full mile of what the director wanted) because her Mom loved The Shining. It was an impressive movie. Right up her alley, with magic and witchcraft, and it really treated the character with respect and felt attached perfectly.

After the movie, she was feeling better and we bid her farewell in the wee hours of the morning. We sent her home with dandelion root tea… but I hope she hears from a doctor soon. It took me 5 visits, the 5th was to the E.R. while feeling unbelievable pain, to get diagnosed. 4 before that were to my useless Primary Care Physician who had given me heart burn medication each time, even though I told him it wasn’t working and asked to see a GI….I’m still bitter about it.

One more week to go! It has been a relatively easy 3 weeks, until today…

Midday, my heart started racing. This is a new feeling. We’re talking a rate of 78+ BPM sitting at my desk at work. I had eaten fried, sunny side up, eggs for breakfast 2 hours prior, over some spaghetti squash. Something I ate two days before with no issue.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do, and I was the only person in the office, but then as I was having a righteous panic attack, which certainly didn’t help my heart rate, one of the guys way down the hall came in. That set me at ease… if anything terrible happened I’d at least have another soul to depend on.

So I did what any red-blooded American would and decided to eat. Maybe it was something up with my metabolism, I thought. I had brought the last of my tuna salad, that I left out for a few hours yesterday, and it tasted just fine. This was my third time this week eating it though and I want to avoid it afterward – for the mercury.

For some reason I decided to continue working well passed my 40 hours, attempting to recover data from a co-workers computer that just wouldn’t boot into Windows anymore. After a few hours of trouble shooting, I declared the drive mostly dead and started to try to use Spinrite on it. But I’d need to decrypt it first. Let me make a long story short and say, the security decisions at work have only made my job harder and that I wasn’t able to run Spinrite today… Left it decrypting over the weekend and cleaned up my work area to be a bit less chaotic next week.

When I got home, my heart rate was feeling better, but I probably should have measured it first: I decided to work out and see if I could make it. 11 minutes in, I gave in. It felt just like it had earlier today. It was near time for my girlfriend to come home, so I sate on the couch trying to watch some Youtube to take my mind off of it. When she arrived, I couldn’t keep what I had experienced to myself and cracked a bit when speaking it into the air. This is kind of scary and it’s weird that it’s happening when I’m doing something that should be healthy for me?

She cooked dinner I had picked up and did a bang-up job of it. Sheet Pan pork-chops. I had grabbed boneless and knew I’d regret it, and I did! They were a bit dry, but that’s what apple sauce is for. Everything was delicious, but my heart was still fluttering for the wrong reasons. We chilled, talked more about my heart, and watched some TV. Each of us hoped tomorrow would be better.