January 2024

This was a pedicure week. I’m so exciting and full of drama it’s ridiculous. For those not picking it up, that was sarcasm.

My feet feel recovered from the most damaging aspects of the frostbite, which feels harsh, so frost-nibble may be better. Skin is lightly discolored still, but there’s no residual pain or anything.

For those who don’t know and don’t want to go reading through the archives, both big toe toenails on both feet were severely impacted. I mean to the point of the toenail on the outside edge of the toenail curled under to the point of being a circle. (When weird shit happens to my body, I always think I should take pictures, but rarely do.) This realization came after experiencing some other severe pain related to the feet, but that will stay in the archives.

I went to a podiatrist who did what podiatrists do, which is to numb the hell out of the big toe and proceed to remove the toenail down to the quick. This leads to bleeding and bandaging and other pain and suffering.

I’m not big on pain and suffering.

So, I started looking at my feet. Like really looking at my feet. Then, I found a nail technician online who seemed to know what she was doing. I learned all sorts of things and decided to take matters into my own hands (and feet).

Anyway, instead of asking the podiatrist to remove the impacted/ingrown toenail on my left big toe, I spent my first pedicure removing as much built-up material as I could from under the toenail. Then, I removed as much of the no longer attached nail as possible. Over the past year or so, I’ve been coaxing the nail to flatten out as it grows back in. It seems to be working.

No need for bleeding or bandages. Just patience and care. Humane and straightforward works too.

The podiatrist (doctor) told me the nail would never flatten back out. However, the nail technician (non-doctor) seems to have been correct. Because the nail’s quick is flat, as long as I can keep it from curling under as it grows, it is flattening back out. No disrespect to doctors, but they sometimes need more patience and fewer patients.

Moving on!

The right big toenail is also flattening back out, which is great to see. Unfortunately, this toenail also had a fungal infection. I legit had no idea how discolored it was until now. I started by using a nail mycosis solution, which did wonders. Then I went to a dermatologist who gave me an anti-fungal lacquer to apply. This was cool for two reasons:

1. the anti-fungal bit; and
2. I could gently pry both big toenails flat, apply the lacquer, and let it dry, in theory helping to keep them from curling again.

I removed all the parts of the nail that became detached from the nail bed. The nail needs to grow more (man toenails grow so slowly), but only a little fungal discoloration remains, and the new growth seems firmly attached. I’m hoping there will be enough growth by my next pedicure to remove all the discolored parts of the toenail.

All this brings us to the problem child, the second digit on my right foot.

That toenail became thin, brittle, and bubbly for a while. This was the first sign of concern for me. The nail mycosis solution didn’t seem to affect that toenail.

To be fair, topical solutions are criticized as useless because they don’t penetrate the toenail. This would be true, but when I first started applying the solution, I’d run a buffer block across the top of the nails. In theory, this would remove some of the layers of the nail and should improve with the penetration problem. The response from the big toenail on the right foot proves this hypothesis as at least plausible.

Back to the second digit, though. Seriously, no impact. Then, I switched to using the anti-fungal lacquer. That caused a severe response. Just like what happened with the big toenail, all of a sudden, the layers of the toenail seem to have separated. Only, unlike the big toe, the layers have separated pretty much the entire length of the nail. Further, the nail that’s growing back in isn’t getting thinner.

I don’t know if this points to a more serious fungal infection in that second digit or something else. But there’s no pain or discomfort. The nail doesn’t seem to be doing anything completely crazy. And it isn’t getting worse, so I continue monitoring and performing what’s become my foot routine.

I never thought I’d be a person who wrote hundreds of words about my feet in general, much less three toenails, but here we are. And I’ll leave you with that.

(I did publish Part 5 of Time: Mastering the Mundane which is now available for purchase on Leanpub.)

Winter is upon us, and my toes aren’t happy about it.

A few days ago, my feet got wet. Over the next couple of days, I started getting a burning sensation at the tips of my big toe and the second digit on my right foot. I believe yesterday it went into dactylitis territory. The pain got to the point that I took a Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drug. It seemed to help.

Still hurts a little today.

I don’t think we can classify it as inflammatory arthritis because I didn’t experience any stiffness or pain in the joints—just the swelling and surface burning sensation.

I also had my phone worked on, which reset the MacroFactor app. It’s still recalibrating, and I’m not changing my diet. I changed the check-in day to Sunday, as that’s usually my full fasting day. That means any shifts to the plan shouldn’t cause any mild-to-severe dietary shifts.

Regarding the system integrity check I do in the morning, winter has made taking showers long enough to do the full version more difficult. That said, I think the bare-bones variation I’m coming to is the seated series up to and including the hand releases.

Beyond that, I think the body is doing okay, and I’m settling in on some decent workflows for all things beyond the physical.

I’m trying to do writing only on the weekdays in the hopes of making time for more laid-back weekends. I still have things slated for those days, but it’s more about maintenance, infrastructure, and laid-back things.

I don’t like the idea of adding ads (and especially not trackers) to this site. In part because it will degrade the performance and user experience, but mainly because I don’t want to participate in the ad-based revenue model of the Internet.

As such, I am considering adding calls to action for the things I’m making. I’m also looking at increasing the prominence of the crowdfunding links. Lastly, I already somewhat participate in affiliate marketing (the WHOOP article, which is a referral link).

The problem with affiliate or referral linking is that I don’t own or buy many products or services and would only want to link to those I actively use.

Anyway, even though I didn’t make it to my first Coast-FI number in 2023, it was a few months behind, and I’m currently not making enough revenue to continue contributing. But this isn’t that series.

My phone was having battery issues. So, I took it to Apple for service. Went off without a hitch, thanks to AppleCare. I don’t usually recommend device insurance, but for Apple products, I’m pretty much all in.

The WHOOP needed to be reconnected. That went relatively smoothly. The MacroFactor app on the other hand, not as much; effectively starting over there. It’s not that big of a deal; more annoying than anything else.

All right, health stuff, right?

The right big toenail is growing out whatever funkiness was all up in there. The top part of the nail is a distinctly different color than the lower part. It looks like about a quarter of the nail still needs to grow out and be cut off. But that bottom portion is a nice color and texture similar to its brethren.

The right second-digit nail is still funky, like hella funky. I think it was actually the progenitor of whatever fungus overtook the big toe.

The left big toenail is liking no longer being curled as much and it seems to coming well-attached to the toe itself.

I haven’t been doing much in the way of physical activity. I’m trying to see what gives me the most bang for the buck. So far, the seated portion of the system integrity check seems like a keeper.

I’m also focusing on setting up a more sustainable rhythm with all the other things.

My left arm hurts a bit. I think that’s from not doing the wall presses. My right leg has also been giving me problems.

I experimented with not doing anything for about a week, and my hips did not appreciate that. When I started doing the seated activities for the morning system integrity check, it improved, leading me to believe it was the cause.

Beyond that, doing okay and the hypotheses are proving accurate and fruitful.

I think I’ll shift to publishing these on or near Friday instead of Sunday.

The MacroFactor app is settling in. MacroFactor uses body weight and trends to calculate caloric expenditure. Since December 25th, I’ve had 9 weigh-ins; 8 of them have been at 220 pounds. Further, in that time, the target caloric intake stayed at around 3,500 calories.

It’s winter, I’m unemployed, and I’m working on a fair number of side projects.

Winter means I’m walking less and feeling a bit disappointed that I’m not using the treadmill I purchased. Unemployed means I’m looking for (or at least for) a steady stream of income, taking opportunities when they present themselves while taking advantage of the somewhat privileged position I’ve set up for myself. I’m pumping a lot of time and energy into the side projects, specifically the long-tail ones.

Beyond that, I’m starting to dial in a sustainable pace. Further, the activities I’m choosing and that cadence are such that I still have space for full-time employment when that becomes an option.

From a health and wellness perspective, this dialing in includes finding the activities that deliver the most bang for the time taken (return on investment).

Oh, and the great toenail uncurling is still a work in progress but seems to be going well.

Today is “book day,” according to Becca. (I love her a great deal.) I released the free sample chapter for Time: Mastering the Mundane. The plan is to publish a Part every week. I’m thinking the free download will have Parts 1 & 2. Then, in exchange for the reader’s email address, they can get the “Community Edition,” including Part 3. I’ll open it to purchasing once I get Part 4 published in the full version. And that will keep going until I run out of Parts to publish. Then, I’ll open it up to mass distribution.

But that’s more mental and financial health; let’s get to physical health.

I’m doing pretty good physically and still experimenting with things.

From a nutrition perspective, I’ve found food combinations and types that maximize flexibility to reach nutritional goals.

The first two digits of my right foot aren’t happy. The big toe doesn’t like the toenail establishing the groove, and I’m experiencing pressure pains as it’s coming back in; at least, I hope it’s only pressure pains. The second digit is experiencing something similar but is a smaller nail. The nail layers are still separated, making it look thicker than its relatives, and still using the anti-fungal lacquer. I hope some of the pain I’m experiencing is just any fungus working itself out.

It’s cold, and I’m not walking as much or as often. I also have the treadmill, but I’m not prioritizing physical movement right now because I’m a productivity super-freak with a new toy: writing and publishing books. I’m also recalibrating the morning system integrity check to see how I can get it below 2 hours, or maybe only do some of it every other day while not sliding back.

Beyond that, the non-vegetarian experiments indicate my body doesn’t do well with animal products. As near as I can tell, from most to least negative impact:

1. dairy,
2. processed grains and greasy foods, and
3. meat.

The WHOOP doesn’t look at dairy or grains as part of its integration with the food tracking app, so there is no confirmation. However, the data do indicate fruits and vegetables contribute to an 8 percent increase in my recovery score. Meanwhile, meat has a negative 3 percent impact.

I also updated the manual journaling points for dairy, vegetarian, and gluten-free diets.