Out of frustration I started a keto diet last June. I wasn't frustrated enough to actually exercise, but even so I lost 30 lbs and my blood pressure's in the 120/76 range now. There are no blood sugar highs and lows so I almost never feel hungry, and I usually eat just once a day. That cut down my grocery bill, too. I try not to eat a lot of fats even though they're allowed, but it's nice to air fry some chicken and be able to leave the skin on. I still crave Maurice Lennell pinwheel icebox cookies, but since the company went out of business there's no risk of relapsing.
As for the AI, it's great that someone's putting it to constructive use, but the developers really need to work on making it useful to me personally. Otherwise, what's the point? I spent a couple of weeks working with two different design studios who showcase their AI images on Instagram and Patreon, trying to generate images of the two lead characters in my book. The tech that can find cancer can't produce an image of a specific fictional person and then reproduce him from different angles and place him in different scenes. Oh, sure, you can tell it, "Hot guy, no shirt, overalls, cornfield" and it does okay, but a picture of some rando doesn't do me any good. Apparently my dream of making my own book into my own AI movie won't be realized until after I'm dead.
Thanks for sharing your experience with Keto. It is very similar to both mine and others that I have talked to; nearly everyone manages to lose 15+ lbs, improves blood work, mental clarity, appetite/cravings, etc. While these results are hard to argue with, I still hear about how we are all going to have heart attacks in 5 years.
I agree that there still is an accessibility issue. The art that is AI generated went from cool and exciting to boring and obvious fairly quickly. I have begun attempting to experiment with some of the tools for drug design, and there is quite a learning curve. However, I am still optimistic your book will be turned into a movie if you're going to be around for a while. What type of book did you write?
Hah—keto hasn’t done anything for my brain. You know what’s been the worst for it? Retirement. I saw the same thing happen with my father, so I spend a lot of time reading and writing. I’m busier now than when I was employed, but most of that activity doesn’t take brain power like my job did. At the time it felt like any semi-conscious monkey could do it, but it must have been better for my brain than I thought.
Technically the book is detective fiction. It has some hat-tips to the Holmes/Watson template: a private investigator and a surgeon solve crimes in modern America, and a Doyle fan would recognize a few references to the Holmes canon sprinkled throughout. But I never cared for the way the Holmes/Watson friendship was depicted in the original stories or in any of the treatments since then, with such a steep authority gradient between the characters. There’s usually a kind of battered spouse vibe with Watson, too. So I focused on fixing that: Two men who couldn’t be more different in their personalities, temperaments, and careers solve a crime together and become brothers in the process. They’re guys with high standards and some trauma in their pasts, so why, on short acquaintance, are they willing to risk their lives for each other? Why does the misanthropic detective make an exception for the first time in his life and offer someone his friendship? Why does the charismatic surgeon, whose friends and co-workers deplore his barriers, finally let his guard down? That’s what the story explores. The plot, on the other hand, involves a cold case, an active case, and an unexpected twist that ties them together, while putting the heroes through their paces and through the wringer.
Interesting points. I was recently reading about how retirement is harmful to longevity. But I think it's really about what happens next, i.e., how you fill your time. I've seen this play out very differently in friends and family who had active vs sedentary retirements and it's fairly stark. Developing hobbies or second careers, particularly in things you love like reading and writing sounds like how I'd want to spend mine. Maybe more building and gardening as well.
I never quite got into Sherlock Holmes, but I certainly enjoy a good mystery. It also sounds like an interesting character dynamic to explore. You'll have to drop a link when you're ready to publish it. Are you thinking of a traditional route or fragments on Substack?
It's not retirement itself that's the problem, it's finding something that's challenging enough to keep your brain from getting all flabby. I saw it with my dad: When he retired he spent all his time in front of the big screen watching golf matches. That's got to be second only to self-inflicted GSWs as a way to make your brain stop working. Staying mentally sharp is strangely like staying physically fit and doesn't happen passively. It has to be pursued.
I tried sending query letters to relevant literary agents, but even though I got one who complimented my "hook," it was hard to get traction with women who have blue hair and bones in their noses and want "own voice" stories about pansexual goth vampires. I don't know if you've ever looked into publishing before, but the first thing they want to know is how many followers you have on social media and how you're going to market your book. How *I'm* going to market it? Bitch, that's your job. If I do it, I'm not paying you a commission.
But putting the story on Substack is a good idea. I had the impression that Substack is a source only of independent op-eds, but it's probably a better plan than self-publishing on Amazon.
Yeah, it’s hard to argue with the results. I started experimenting with keto during grad school and saw incredible results. My focus increased, reduces brain fog, and lost weight. I was initially afraid for my cholesterol levels, but all the blood work has been great.
DALL.E is such a joy - I’ve found it has a difficult time imagining scientific images but it’s getting better.
All great things to see at the beginning of the week! There is definitely a good history of using the keto diet to help control epilepsy and seizures. I’ll add the link below. I’ll be curious to see how far we can push food and different blends of diets to correct medical issues rather than relying so heavily on drugs.
Thanks for the article! I get the impression many diseases particularly neurological, are metabolically related or at least exacerbated. The use of diet as a front-line tool for managing them seems like an important shift in medicine.
I think AI needs to be pushed to the limits within the medical field as with any illness, the earlier you can stop it, the less severe it's effects will be. I can't wait to see what the future looks like in that regard.
Out of frustration I started a keto diet last June. I wasn't frustrated enough to actually exercise, but even so I lost 30 lbs and my blood pressure's in the 120/76 range now. There are no blood sugar highs and lows so I almost never feel hungry, and I usually eat just once a day. That cut down my grocery bill, too. I try not to eat a lot of fats even though they're allowed, but it's nice to air fry some chicken and be able to leave the skin on. I still crave Maurice Lennell pinwheel icebox cookies, but since the company went out of business there's no risk of relapsing.
As for the AI, it's great that someone's putting it to constructive use, but the developers really need to work on making it useful to me personally. Otherwise, what's the point? I spent a couple of weeks working with two different design studios who showcase their AI images on Instagram and Patreon, trying to generate images of the two lead characters in my book. The tech that can find cancer can't produce an image of a specific fictional person and then reproduce him from different angles and place him in different scenes. Oh, sure, you can tell it, "Hot guy, no shirt, overalls, cornfield" and it does okay, but a picture of some rando doesn't do me any good. Apparently my dream of making my own book into my own AI movie won't be realized until after I'm dead.
Thanks for sharing your experience with Keto. It is very similar to both mine and others that I have talked to; nearly everyone manages to lose 15+ lbs, improves blood work, mental clarity, appetite/cravings, etc. While these results are hard to argue with, I still hear about how we are all going to have heart attacks in 5 years.
I agree that there still is an accessibility issue. The art that is AI generated went from cool and exciting to boring and obvious fairly quickly. I have begun attempting to experiment with some of the tools for drug design, and there is quite a learning curve. However, I am still optimistic your book will be turned into a movie if you're going to be around for a while. What type of book did you write?
Hah—keto hasn’t done anything for my brain. You know what’s been the worst for it? Retirement. I saw the same thing happen with my father, so I spend a lot of time reading and writing. I’m busier now than when I was employed, but most of that activity doesn’t take brain power like my job did. At the time it felt like any semi-conscious monkey could do it, but it must have been better for my brain than I thought.
Technically the book is detective fiction. It has some hat-tips to the Holmes/Watson template: a private investigator and a surgeon solve crimes in modern America, and a Doyle fan would recognize a few references to the Holmes canon sprinkled throughout. But I never cared for the way the Holmes/Watson friendship was depicted in the original stories or in any of the treatments since then, with such a steep authority gradient between the characters. There’s usually a kind of battered spouse vibe with Watson, too. So I focused on fixing that: Two men who couldn’t be more different in their personalities, temperaments, and careers solve a crime together and become brothers in the process. They’re guys with high standards and some trauma in their pasts, so why, on short acquaintance, are they willing to risk their lives for each other? Why does the misanthropic detective make an exception for the first time in his life and offer someone his friendship? Why does the charismatic surgeon, whose friends and co-workers deplore his barriers, finally let his guard down? That’s what the story explores. The plot, on the other hand, involves a cold case, an active case, and an unexpected twist that ties them together, while putting the heroes through their paces and through the wringer.
Interesting points. I was recently reading about how retirement is harmful to longevity. But I think it's really about what happens next, i.e., how you fill your time. I've seen this play out very differently in friends and family who had active vs sedentary retirements and it's fairly stark. Developing hobbies or second careers, particularly in things you love like reading and writing sounds like how I'd want to spend mine. Maybe more building and gardening as well.
I never quite got into Sherlock Holmes, but I certainly enjoy a good mystery. It also sounds like an interesting character dynamic to explore. You'll have to drop a link when you're ready to publish it. Are you thinking of a traditional route or fragments on Substack?
It's not retirement itself that's the problem, it's finding something that's challenging enough to keep your brain from getting all flabby. I saw it with my dad: When he retired he spent all his time in front of the big screen watching golf matches. That's got to be second only to self-inflicted GSWs as a way to make your brain stop working. Staying mentally sharp is strangely like staying physically fit and doesn't happen passively. It has to be pursued.
I tried sending query letters to relevant literary agents, but even though I got one who complimented my "hook," it was hard to get traction with women who have blue hair and bones in their noses and want "own voice" stories about pansexual goth vampires. I don't know if you've ever looked into publishing before, but the first thing they want to know is how many followers you have on social media and how you're going to market your book. How *I'm* going to market it? Bitch, that's your job. If I do it, I'm not paying you a commission.
But putting the story on Substack is a good idea. I had the impression that Substack is a source only of independent op-eds, but it's probably a better plan than self-publishing on Amazon.
Great summary, David.
Always found the effects of a keto diet quite fascinating, especially its history in treating epilepsy/seizures.
Love the antibody chip artwork by DALL.E.
Thanks for providing the hyperlinks for the papers.
Thanks, Nathan. I appreciate your feedback.
Yeah, it’s hard to argue with the results. I started experimenting with keto during grad school and saw incredible results. My focus increased, reduces brain fog, and lost weight. I was initially afraid for my cholesterol levels, but all the blood work has been great.
DALL.E is such a joy - I’ve found it has a difficult time imagining scientific images but it’s getting better.
All great things to see at the beginning of the week! There is definitely a good history of using the keto diet to help control epilepsy and seizures. I’ll add the link below. I’ll be curious to see how far we can push food and different blends of diets to correct medical issues rather than relying so heavily on drugs.
https://www.epilepsy.com/treatment/dietary-therapies/ketogenic-diet
Thanks for the article! I get the impression many diseases particularly neurological, are metabolically related or at least exacerbated. The use of diet as a front-line tool for managing them seems like an important shift in medicine.
I think AI needs to be pushed to the limits within the medical field as with any illness, the earlier you can stop it, the less severe it's effects will be. I can't wait to see what the future looks like in that regard.