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).

This is a concept that I am just putting it out there. Hence it pertains that this is bearing my own IP / intellectual property. Hence please be mindful of this. You can always try contacting me, if absolutely necessary, directly (through my profession ’s website).

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, entirely battle tested and created myself in Google sheets since (first iteration) was released in /2020 as first public beta. This template comes into two (2) releases, first six months followed by another six months ~ worth of entries. 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” text input.

So far nearing its ten (10) years of public sharing, releasing one template after another. Social media post one after another. Not one (1) person has come up and commented. Not one. 

Not one, yes, not one - not a single share has been found. At least from all that I’m aware of. As this initiative’s nearing soon towards ten years, I’m still somewhat find myself tangled in a strange predicament.

“Why am I still here?” “Why do I still keep slugging through even though nobody is listening?”  I am calling these strange. Because at times I had no clue why I just kept on going in this initiative even though nobody “listens”. Still re-writing the book despite so many mountains worth of back logs. Dozens of video projects and recordings left abandoned for years.  Despite many years of prior notice of such rebrand.

You can say, that I do apologise if this is already lengthy - that this is perhaps one of my “last” offering, of anything of a hobby - that hopefully beckons its own usefulness. Perhaps this may yet be the only thing I am left to do. Besides from having a “job” morning to night (and often till early hours, such are the times of constant jobs anxiety).

Rant aside ~ my real incentive of self journalling, at least in the hope after anyone have used the above template -  is to offer them “their’s own” food for thoughts that reflects nobody, but their own sake(s) ~ be it for vice, or virtues beyond than just “self insight”.

I take self-journalling from far different light than most seeing it as obligatory “exercise”. Mine is that it is solitary space, where ~ expectation-agnostic ~ a writing workspace for your’s truly - keeping track of “something” worthy to your own scientific logging, querying and databasing. It is not, as they say, a “proving” expected or raised by any “third party” per se. You know  - “Families, friends, and/or colleagues” with “opinions”.

How you de-fine yourself, journal yourself, is up to you. That - has been my goal or preaching a series of tenets that preaches . Authenticity (Das-sein, in Heiddeger's own words) ~ Free from distractions.

Today’s expectation of “Journalling”

So what is wrong with this present climate of journalling? There appears to be a duality expectation, tug-of-war so to speak. 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 or self-improvement. This app, as an idea form back of my mind ~ aims to remove that by allowing inputs not so detailed to impress yet the Quantified Self crowd.  But somehow must be much, much more elegant than a spreadsheet.

Self journalling is either loathsome exercise for many or, that it only favours the most hyper-exclusive “club” of the few, the elite or esoteric so called among “health optimisation” crowd.  One might be compelled to be become obsessed (and that we shall mean - very, very possessed) by numbers and ultra expensive gadgetry ~ 24/7 glucose and ketone monitoring, smart watches, etc - for sake of tracking anything that moves, reflect, introspect, repeat.

I have no cricitism on this. Other than a question of pragmatism. Should numbers be heralded in and of itself as “gospel”, I’d wager, that decades of trying to believe as such was in many ways, not so much . “Health pursuit” thus~ quickly becomes yet another form of snobbery.

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

“Honesty” of inputs here refer to proximity of guilt in however we feel at writing our day to day moments. There is however, one thing that is left missing. To whom should we need to refer from, to help with analyse what we have been writing, other than our own doing, discipline? This 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’s own truly!) mistakes? Extremely painful. And Draining.

If you can afford a lifetime (be it voluntary contracts) worth - of perhaps health consult(s) then you must be either extremely affluent or extremely lucky worthy of envy among billions.

That aside, “another perspective” here is where an inclusion of AI 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.

There could very well be a moment you experienced the same, but 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, where, when, how and what could possibly contribute to this (sudden, say for example) feeling of not your usual “self”?

Having an AI agent that remains at the “ready”; analysing (upon request) to look throughout past entries, assess and return to us with a series of hypothesis that explains our health insecurity at that moment; would be far, far more in depth and timely assistance than us having to dig through, claw back, pages of spreadsheets hidden somewhere in that table cell.

This I believe is one of the main propositions of this app.  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 such is mandated before exchange for bread and butter).

Nonetheless having this secondary perspective on our side - helps inform and best of all - remind us potentiality of information we’ve long forgotten about ourselves. Even though we did wrote them down months before. Thus augmenting a more constructive self-affirming ~ that what we’ve written, was not for mere exercising, after all.

With the help of this assisted analysis - allow us to self-troubleshoot that much (or little more, at least) easier for our own sake to “keep going” amidst less sane trajectory of where the world is heading.

That trajectory is, coincidentally, mirrors to one of my thematic statements back many, many years before this idea even started.

Are you living towards yourself? Or Away from yourself?

Actualization 2.0. As I wish to call it now, in 2025.

There is another problem with self journalling - closed-loop exercise.

This is where things can get, depending how "open" you are at reading this so far, or how much you can relate - can unfolds to somewhat contentious topic.

"Science" as they say is hypothesising an experiment, and reflection being instrumental part of enquiring. Combined with journaling with the very aspect of "Self" ~ is where it  is often met with selfish desire, first and foremost. Hypothesis that we hope were correct, would one day, be hopeful that it is just that - "correct". Because it is after all, something we hope to be always "right", ~

...Right?

What is a learning process? In my humble opinion, a pledge to take in personal embarrassments. Yes, guilts. Red-faces included. Shames.

A teacher to student would say "do as I say.". But we know that educating someone else is more than passing the torch. "But not as I do." - I'd dare wager, where the honesty should be an added criteria onto the table.

What does teaching has to do with self journalling? And what is this "closed-loop" bias? If I were to boil things simply, at least from what I reflect on myself (either heavily or lazily) ~ is that it is an enclosed, autonomous expectations we place among ourselves - from how we observe what we've done, and re-encode , back to within. Bear with me on this because this might "not make much sense", but ponder for a minute, as I am truthfully, at that, were being very, VERY honest if I were to reflect back to my own nutritional journalling irrespective how detailed vs how little :

1. When was the last time I actually took my own self seriously? Based from what I wrote in a specific year?
2. Was I actually able to recall what exactly took place in that event?

Number #1 might be my guilty conscience. That, so long of a time besides from cost of living and job/ money  / finances  insecurity crisis there ~ was I really hopeful to action for the next day and week? There were times I could simply NOT ~ waves of circumstances et al ~ are the continuous "odds" evenly against me.

A part of me certainly would like to say yes I would like to envision myself as being "good". To reward myself. By simply writing it down. And also yes, I am simply documenting life as it were (or is) at that moment where my mind was speaking.

Perhaps ~ that is my "ideal" ego speaking. Perhaps. Or is it?

And perhaps - that is where this "closed-loop" bias or system comes in. And ~ what I wish to address this app, once again relying through this " additional perspective" or "entity" - would help shed some light on a little at at uncovering and evaluating - whether our sensical recall(s) - sight, sound, taste, touch and gut(feels) were indeed authentic.

If this passage may seem convoluted I sincerely apologise. I still would maintain and be adamant that this "another perspective needed", through presence of AI as an conversational agent - is still primarily responsible for diagnosing, objectively, to recite what has happened or occurred to thus unfold our insight that much more better - reminded yet not forgotten - what we wrote. It might not be  a therapist of the mind so to speak because quite frankly - that - is already better catered elsewhere (more on this and "competitor analysis" in the later part of this feature write up.).

Conclusion (Part 1)

My stance at the beginning of this initiative (if anybody is listening) is that it forgives, despite not hand holding “everything” , that “health” is entirely reflective upon how well you earn yourself - interests, or not - to make changes. “Reflective” here once again requires journalling, whether we like it or not.

I am not here to dismiss, discount, or undercut any business. I am here simply trying to communicate an idea what I have in mind.And doing whatever I can - to protect it. But still to do this - I cannot remain silent, Because otherwise people will question, with partial judgments that I’m lazy.

If you are among those who suspects that this is over dramatisation. Just wait - until you have your own ulterior “calling”. Wait until you yearn to earn your life more than being dictated by what “you do” as your job title.

Besides Is your job - your “life”? Sharp tailored suits, and leather briefcases seem to think so.

And that - marks my short rationale. The very first part of this Feature write up.

In 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.

Thank you for visiting the internet’s least visited independent thoughts on wellness and decentralised nutritional experiences.

Live-It-Forward,

AW.