LIVE PUBLIC DRAFT Began Friday 5th September 11:50PM. 

So I have an idea.

I do know how it runs and “feels” in my head. But as to the “how” -  that becomes a different story.

Introducing Nutritional Humility Self-Journalling Tool 2.0 (App).

Context

So if you are new to this initiative (right in front of you, effective circa 2015), I have been providing a self-journalling template, battle-tested myself in Google sheets since its first iteration in /2020, as first public beta. This template comes into two (2) releases, first six months followed by another six months. The reason why this was split into two is due to sheer cognitive load when viewing the spreadsheet. If you are not prepared, it is a boilerplate aiming to offer more than just “Dear Diary”. You get inputs for weight readings, miscellaneous notes and a custom input; all collated together as a graph you can see at-a-glance summary.

I take self-journalling from far different light than most seeing it as obligatory “exercise”. Mine is that it is solitary space - a writing spacefor your’s truly ~ scientific logging, querying and databasing. It is not, as they say, a “proving” for families, friends, and/or colleagues. Why, because they have their own opinions.

Today’s expectation of “Journalling”

It is either loathsome exercise for many or ~ that it only favours the most hyper-exclusive “club” of the few so called among “health optimisation” crowd.  The latter - might compel another follow-up-obsession  with ultra expensive gadgetry ~ think 24/7 glucose / ketone CGM / CKM monitoring, smart watches, etc. Anything that changes is a quantified change.

So what is wrong with this present climate of journalling? One side beckons you a "good job!" pat in the back. But the other half? You will be labelled as a freak. Health & fitness snob. Tall poppy syndrome then, kicks in.

So there is, in essence, "no middle class" that exists amongst the ladder of self-improvement. This app, as an idea form back of my mind ~ aims to remove that by more facilitations and inputs. Not so detailed to impress the Quantified Self crowd.  But somehow it needs to be more elegant than just another "spreadsheet".

A reminder, I believe, is needed whenever we write something about ourselves. There needs to be forgiveness for imperfection. That is where "honesty" must be facilitated.

This might sound strange. But you can say what you want about yourself. Self-affirmation and all that. But is that "really" the case? Or is that your own ego doing the actual work?

That -  is where - “another perspective” is needed.

The inclusion / implementation of AI Agent

There is a saying that learning off from someone else’s mistakes (observation) is less painful. But learning from your own? Extremely painful.

Sometimes writing them down makes it all the more concrete and self-affirming. Good things, depending on how rare it is (let's face it, it's VERY rare) is worthwhile to write about. Bad things on the other hand, is a lot harder. It involves diagnosis, reflections, where, what, how, or more importantly - why - things go wrong. 

If there is a takeaway from all my years of self journalling ~ whenever bad things happen, they usually point to some sort of "debt". In other word, if it happens, getting into the roots  "mechanism" or the how, what or why on causality is most already and probably be - too late.

That is, it's too late - for you to find out when things could go wrong. Then it trickles down where, how and then why things end up the way they are.

But we are all human. Jobs, and other obligations get in the way. 16 hours out of 24 is already spent on just existing alone between you, your work, exercise, taking care of your home/rent, and putting food on the table. I know that taking Betaine HCL pepsin, and my non negotiable(s) - Vitamins D, K2, E, COQ10 alongside others are already and should be - a daily recurrence I already know about. And therefore I should not be writing about it on and on and on and on to eternity.

What about days, weeks (or perhaps even months) that I had to go without? And forgot / can't be bothered writing about the effects excluding these supplements? .....Ego comes in. Bias comes in. We are humanely forgetful. I know I do.

Hence that - is where “another perspective” here is needed. To help “analyse”, should any entry you feel is not up to your “usual self”.  Re-reading what you wrote a day, a week, a month or heck, even a year ago - may have hold clues to what you are experiencing (adverse, say for example) at this very present moment.

What did you do exactly? What supplement? What season? At what fasting glucose/ketone levels? At what gut setting? Was it due to FODMAPs if so, coming from what food, when, how and what?

Having an AI agent that remains at the “ready” ~ analysing (upon request) to look through past entries, assess and return with a series of hypothesis would be far, far helpful than us having to claw back, tabs upon tabs of spreadsheets hidden somewhere in that table cell.

I should stress, that I absolutely maintain a very, very cautious stance in regards to reliance on generative tools. Including text to prompt models in my daily work (especially if  mandated before bread and butter).

But having this secondary perspective on our side - helps inform and best of all - remind us potentiality of information we’ve long forgotten....before they become a debt.

For the next part

I will get to disclose the technical specifics of what I hypothesise as the surface backbone how I envision this “app” to work.

Live-It-Forward,

AW.