Julia Cameron’s advice for writer’s block is to handwrite Morning Pages daily—three pages, first thing after waking.
Since my morning gym schedule doesn’t allow such “frivolities,” I do Morning Pages on weekends, which I’ve designated as my gym rest days. To make up for the weekdays I skip, I overcompensate on weekends by writing way beyond three pages. Potential carpal tunnel syndrome, anyone?
I did blame the right-hand discomfort on my gym workouts since they’re the most obvious target. But then I remembered my froyo era, which triggered my carbo-loading over the last few weeks. Oops—I should avoid dairy now.
It was only much later that I realized the cause could also be the weekend Morning Pages. No wonder Cameron emphasized that they should be three pages only, and that you should stop abruptly at page three even if a sentence is left hanging. I’m sure she observed from experience that three pages are all the brain and the writing hand can handle. Because I did notice that my brain would go blank once I hit page four, and that I was merely forcing myself to write more.
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But there’s also the obvious cause of the right wrist discomfort—carbs, which cause inflammation.
Here’s what I’ve learned: the more determined I am to finally follow a strict carnivore diet, the more I crave carbs. I was better off on keto when I could still eat blueberries and keto goodies. At least then I could avoid high-carb food. Lately it’s been swinging from carnivore to carbs and back, with no in-between featuring keto goodies.
Or was I really better off with keto? Hmm. If keto helped me decide to level up to carnivore, that could only mean keto wasn’t enough.
So here I am now on my fifth attempt at carnivore since October 2024. Over a year and a half of this on-and-off carnivore journey.
Or is this only the fourth attempt? I’ve already lost count, and I’m not sure if my first carnivore attempt was in October 2024 or March 2025.
Anyway, by October 2024, I’d already been living low-carb for two years and eight months.
Carb addiction is real. That’s why keto versions of high-carb foods exist. Since I’m the only one doing low-carb in my corner of the world, I see carbs around me every time I eat with other people. I should wear blinders.
Even processed meat gives me side effects now. Whew. What’s left to eat? I’m better off with grilled and clear soup for beef, pork, and bangus belly. I still have salmon in the fridge, but I’m not buying it again on my next grocery trip.
Speaking of groceries, SM City CDO Uptown’s supermarket has moved to its new location right across SM Northwing. I hope the mall’s next project is upgrading its cinemas, plus a Director’s Club. And a Uniqlo branch.
Uptown Cagayan de Oro needs a more complete mall because the area now has many residential villages, and people tend to head straight home after work to avoid traffic. If they work downtown, where traffic is worse—especially on rainy and flooded days—uptowners prefer to leave immediately after work and stop by uptown malls, stores, and restaurants for shopping and dinner.
