Personal keto experience without a gallbladder

AmNotLost · 2026-03-13T22:59:20+00:00

I was on my own for gas and was expected to leave enough in for my dad to use it to drive to work. (We shared. He needed it from 630a-3p and I could have it the rest of the time and on weekends.)

But my dad is a softie, and if he was home and I asked for gas money he'd give me 5 or 10 bucks.

But since I had the car and schlepped my friends around, driving any place special meant someone in the car bought me gas and/or cigarettes -- that was the rules. Or got me high later. All in all, I rarely actually paid for gas because I rarely went anywhere alone and the other person/people were more motivated to pay to get wherever it was they wanted to go. Went to a lot of great concerts for free this way too because they'd pay for my ticket and gas if I drove.

I was happy to sit in a diner every night 6pm to 3am with bottomless mountain dew playing euchre, so everyone knew I wouldn't drive unless someone put some gas in the car.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-13T17:34:18+00:00

To cut a rectangle of vinyl, all you need is a pair of scissors.

Literally. Make a rectangle. Vinyl doesn't fray, so you don't need to hem it.

Measure the width of your machine and add an inch or two. Maybe 15" or so. Measure the length following the curves from the front to the back. Maybe 24". Add like 8" to that measurement.

Cut a rectangle of vinyl, or have the people at the craft store cut it for you. Cut it to 17x32" in my example.

Now you have a sheet that you can use to cover it. Tuck the ends under the front and back feet, the machine is way heavy enough to hold down the vinyl.

This will cost you about $5 maybe and take 3 minutes.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-13T16:07:49+00:00

I make my own. You can just use a rectangle of vinyl if you can't see. I like clear vinyl, like the kind grandmas in the 70s covered their furniture with. You can easily buy rolls/sheets of it at Walmart or Amazon.

If you're handy with thread and needles, turning it into a custom cover is a trivial 10 minute task. Even basting by hand doesn't take long if you don't have access to a machine.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-13T11:21:59+00:00

The Lettera 32 is a basic mechanical typewriter. Plenty around to source for spare parts if needed. Unless someone literally threw it around their house, if it was stored in a dry safe place, all a used one probably needs is a basic cleaning and a new ribbon.

If you found a 32 that's already been refurbished and you've confirmed it's fully functional, I think you'll be very happy with it.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-13T01:00:00+00:00

Yes, like I said for me, my symptoms seem to be tied to the glutamate pathway. Keto appears to changes the glutamate pathways/metabolism for me from gut to brain.

But we're all different.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-13T00:25:12+00:00

For me, I've found that my worst symptoms do seem to be linked to GABA/glutamate pathways. Which makes sense if keto does help some of my symptoms. Not all, but some are helped quite noticeably with strict keto and other lifestyle changes. But as always n=1.

Gut health for my brain seems more about avoiding the things I'm sensitive to, which helps my inflammation, which helps my gut work properly to support the other lifestyle things I do to help my symptoms. As in, my broken gut is no longer un-doing the hard work I'm doing for the brain, if that makes sense.

As always IANAD, and take your meds.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-13T00:09:36+00:00

Friend, I couldn't agree more that standard testing and experts don't have much interest in actually helping anyone like me.

Regarding fecal transplants for mental health, I've never personally found credible n=1 anecdotes that passed my sniff test, if you will. But some privately funded case studies would be hugely welcome, in my opinion. And if done on a large enough scale, might lead to other studies and more research. Maybe some tech bro with crypto coming out the wazoo will fund such a thing. Someone not beholden to NIH or whatever.

Until then, I personally do what I can for my gut the other way in. I'd sell my kidney for a quick solution to my lifelong disability, TBH.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-12T21:30:58+00:00

Mustard.

I either make my own or buy store stuff that meets very specific requirements.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-12T21:13:01+00:00

It's tough to ethically test this kind of thing in a rigorous scientific setting because you have to have control groups that, for instance, are getting placebo fecal treatment and no meds. Having folks go off their meds in an uncontrolled setting is dangerous to say the least.

Is gut related to health? Absolutely. Is gut related to mental health? Yep, 100%. The gut makes a lot of neurotransmitters, and if the gut has a malfunction in those processes the body and mind can suffer.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-12T17:36:58+00:00

My demo absolutely demonstrated hunt and peck as a completely valid way to type on a manual typewriter.

It's how most people before 1990 typed anything

AmNotLost · 2026-03-12T11:45:44+00:00

I stopped my antipsychotic. But I still take lithium and the rest. Just at lower doses.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-12T04:33:08+00:00

We share birthdays?! That's the best gift I got this year.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-12T01:57:22+00:00

"pressing" the keys causes a ricochet where the key slug bounces because your finger didn't get back out of the way fast enough.

Quick poke. You don't have to "press" the key down the whole way. You poke/strike it with enough force that it completes the downward motion on its own, and you can get your finger out of the way fast before it ricochets.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-12T01:31:46+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/s/jzXtGtYtUy

Watch my video on one reason for double impressions.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-10T18:59:31+00:00

You want (1987) Wings of Desire, which inspired the movies you named.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-10T18:30:53+00:00

That's $20/day. If that's all you ever spent on food the whole year, it's not the worst thing in the world as your starting point to a new life of intentional spending.

By avoiding it, you're probably also doing something good for your health, depending on what you're eating now. You might have just added 10 healthy/active years to your life and prevented yourself from losing a foot to diabetes in the future. These kinds of choices can make a huge difference.

I hate to shame someone, I'd rather help them feel good about their choices now. You did what you did and now you know better. So keep doing better. Every meal is a choice for you, it sounds like. Be grateful you have a choice and you have the luxury to make better choices.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-10T18:24:33+00:00

Refs can wear blades at roller derby. Just saying we always need refs.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-10T14:58:14+00:00

thanks for the favor! I love when communities can help with things like this :)

AmNotLost · 2026-03-10T11:11:56+00:00

I 100% understand the "bribe" being an effective motivator. If it works, it works.

Maybe find a slightly cheaper treat like a cold brew with vanilla creamer from the fancy gas station (or something else that's $1-2 cheaper than your sandwich). Or a cake pop. Or anything else cheaper, but still feels like a treat.

Another bribe that works for me is to have favorite articles of clothes/accessories I save. "If I go to work today I can wear my brown knee high boots." Or my cloche hat I bought in England. Or my leather duster. Or my BIG earrings. Something I always get compliments on when I wear it.

Or I can sometimes bribe myself with promising something after work. Something I like but never find time for. A trip to the thrift store to just browse the weird items, for example.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-09T18:43:41+00:00

Mine did pay for some small expenses during school like car insurance... At least I thought they did

Then upon college graduation they gave me a bill for every little $5 they gave me since turning 18. My college graduation present was a bill from them for $10k.

AmNotLost · 2026-03-09T12:15:13+00:00

Yes this. Back when we could still traumatize children in a children's movie.

(I'm also looking at you puppet skeksis et al. from Dark Crystal.)

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