I recently took a resume workshop and now have a much more polished resume ready for rejection, haha! You can check it out here.
I've been applying to 30+ jobs a day now, which takes time, but it hasn't been as bad as I expected.
The job application technology has greatly improved, making applying a lot smoother than before. The only exception is "Workday", which requires you to create an entire account for every individual company you apply to and parses resumes poorly. On one hand, this is very time consuming. On the other hand this becomes a filter for candidates with low patience, so my chances of being seen increase.
Vocab
I've been spending 30-60 minutes a day studying Japanese vocab/kanji using the Anki software with the Kaishi 1.5k vocab deck.
I'm almost through the deck now. It's been a joy to learn and kind of amazing to see the memorization capabilities of the brain. The thing that has surprised me the most is when I'm watching anime or listening to someone speaking Japanese and suddenly I'll pick up on new words I've learned.
It's odd how I might have heard a specific word hundreds of times before over the years but only now that I've formally memorized it in my head do my ears actually process it. It feels like I'm 'unlocking' the language, which is pretty cool!
Keto Curse
I've gone back to just meat again, and am following more of a "eat when hungry" approach. One challenge here is that this means I'll often be fasting for quite extended periods, which puts me into a state of ketosis (confirmed by blood ketones >= 0.5 mmol/L).
Every single time I've gone into ketosis in the past I've gotten this horrible itchy and painful Keto Rash technically called prurigo pigmentosa. I can usually make it go away within a week or two with carbs, but it will immediately come back if I fast for even half a day.
For me, it is mostly on my upper chest and neck. I do get 2 little tiny spots that pop up above my lower back, but mostly my back is completely clear. Weird how different patterns show up for different people!
The worst part of the rash is at night. It's that special kind of itch/pain that your brain just cannot ignore or sleep through. The other night it had gotten so bad and painful that I did not sleep for more than a couple hours. My pillow felt like itchy razor blades on my neck. I tried protect my skin with my hand but the heat of my palm made the area burn and itch even more. So my inner voice was mostly screaming "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH" throughout the night. No fun.
On the bright side, I can definitely tell that ketosis gives me this kind of calm but energized euphoric feeling that makes dealing with stressful things much easier. I wake up in the morning with that "wait, why am I in such a good mood?" feeling despite all other external conditions remaining the same.
There's a YouTube channel I enjoy, "Hospice Nurse Julie". She often explains how the body naturally stops eating and drinking and how this process usually leads to a much more peaceful death if you don't try to fight it. It makes me wonder how much ketosis plays a role in that process.
With the Mother
It's such an odd thing to be fighting something that so few dermatologists and physicians know so little about. No one knows what causes it for sure nor of exactly how to treat it. I guess I'm getting pretty good at dealing with these kinds of uncertain problems. It's quite a contrast to programming where there are usually very precise and exact answers to every problem you face.
Most people prevent the Keto Rash by just eating carbs and not fasting. That's how I've tried to deal with it in the past, but it's not perfect. I don't want to have to fear going into ketosis! A few other people who have gone through this say that you just have to deal with it and wait for it all to pass for good. Some others say to eat more protein (but large a protein intake just bumps you out of ketosis too, so not a great solution).
In my ongoing research, I came across this excellent interview with two fasting/low-carb experts Dr. Jason Fung and Megan Ramos.
Megan's hypothesis (one of many) is that the rash is primarily an overgrowth of candida yeast in the organs/skin that are starving. It sounds similar to a Herxheimer reaction. The way they treat it in Megan's clinic is to up carbs every-so-slightly (1 cup strawberries or raspberries) and drink 6 tbsp of apple cider vinegar per day and apply a diluted mix topically to the rash. Then a week later cut the berries down to 1/2 cup. Then remove entirely.
I was already using ACV after meals to help improve my acid reflux and indigestion which seems to be helping quite a bit! So I just ramped up my consumption of that. I tried applying it topically once, but it was so painful I did not want to do that again. The original selenium sulfide medicated Selsun Blue is also highly effective against candida, so I found that to be much more comfortable as a topical. It has worked quickly to tamper down some of the rashes I've had in the past, which lends itself to the idea of it being yeast related.
There are a few other remedies that have been shared by others who went through this. One of which is to eat some celery. Another is to drink dandelion root tea.
I did find a research study that shows dandelion can kill off candida quite well. It also supposedly helps stimulate bile flow which some people the keto rash to low bile. A lot of people say roasted dandelion roots are reminiscent of coffee. I bought some out of curiosity and agree it smells lovely.
I'm still in ketosis (1.5 mmol/L) right now and it's great to see that some areas on my neck are settling down and healing, but new areas are popping up at the same time. I'm going to try to keep the battle going for a while longer and see what I learn.
Song of the Week
One of my favorite songs I used to sing on guitar was "Damn These Vampires" by The Mountain Goats.
John Darnielle was the sole member of the band for a long time and would give solo shows.
He said, "This is a song, also, about being in the middle of something that you know you are going to have to finish walking through, like one of those people in the movies walking through a fire, only it's not a movie, it's your actual life, and it really feels like real fire."
Thanks for reading :)
-Jason