18 hours ago, allanjchiang said:

Have you considered writing a German journal in the Non-English Language Journals? It's kind of lonely over there 😂

Nope. But it seems like you might be interested yourself :)

7 hours ago, Yan said:

Nope. But it seems like you might be interested yourself :)

I would probably have to use AI to write it in German haha. I did AI a little for Japanese as I'm around an A2 level.

On 11/27/2025 at 5:46 PM, Yan said:

Food schedule update 27.11 - 11.12 (Not including 11.12)
Everything remains the same except for:
1. Olive oil goes back to how it was, since I didn't manage to find peanut butter without sugar. Mo/Tue 60g Thu-15 Fri-60h Sat-15g (Except for today, since today I still had some peanut butter left.
2. Avocados 2 if I eat the big ones which I bought at a "pre unit" price, 3 if i eat the smaller, which I bought in a net at a "per kg" price.
* If I am by chance to find peanut butter/brazil nuts/cranberries without sugar/black sesame I may write an adjustment to this plan to include them.
* Changes to this schedule are allowed until the end of Sunday. (In case I think of anything I forgot to mention)
P.S. Oh yeah, I omitted 2 oranges last Thursday, so I'd probably like to get up to speed with those. Probably Saturday would be a good time to eat one, and on Tuesday another one.

Food schedule update 11.12-25.12 (Not including 25.12)
Everything remains the same except for the fact that I'm allowed ot eat an additional apple and maybe 10 dates today, also the foods that I am not to consume today, may be spread throughout the week.

Additional changes are allowed until the end of Sunday.

Edit 12.12:
Forgot to mention I also bought a few small*er* cucumbers. For the big ones I may eat a third approximately, and the small ones a whole one a day. These are to be allowed to be interchanged.

Edit 13.12:
-Tomatoes are 2 instead of one and a half.
-Any food not eaten on any of the day, may be completed on the days afterwards

Edited December 14, 2025Dec 14 by Yan
Edit 13.12.

Entry 11.12(Written on 12.12)
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2748 (80th birthday) 
Day 326: No Useless Videos
Day 1161: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 12: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 17: Being in bed before 23:15

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
- 7 German Units
- Skipping most of the breakfast in order not to load too much on my stomach
- Completing a 36-ish hour fast

1 Thing I could do better
- During the exam, focus right from the start in the writing part. As I reported that the grammar correction on my computer was working, I got distracted. I could've quickly reported it and quickly gotten back to work
3 Separate meals (or less but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 0 (Got back home late and again had about 1 hour break in between meals, although I only ate lunch and dinner, as pre-planned in the food schedule post.)

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 331

Entry 12.12(Written on 13.12 night)
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2748 (80th birthday) 
Day 327: No Useless Videos
Day 1162: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 13: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 18: Being in bed before 23:15

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
- 10 German Units
- Afternoon workout
- Continuing to analyze German texts, even after discovering I didn't pass the exam once more and being thrown into an emotional fluctuation.

1 Thing I could do better
- Cook the carrots, I believe this may reduce the chewing time
3 Separate meals (or less but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 0 (More excuses - Just somehow took me longer than planned to prepare breakfast, I guess I wasn't concentrated enough, which led to a later finish of breakfast and consequently a later start of lunch and dinner. But as I still want to maintain the 19:00 deadline, that meant less than 3h 45m between lunch and dinner)

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 332

22 hours ago, Yan said:

Entry 12.12(Written on 13.12 night)
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2748 (80th birthday) 
Day 327: No Useless Videos
Day 1162: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 13: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 18: Being in bed before 23:15

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
- 10 German Units
- Afternoon workout
- Continuing to analyze German texts, even after discovering I didn't pass the exam once more and being thrown into an emotional fluctuation.

1 Thing I could do better
- Cook the carrots, I believe this may reduce the chewing time
3 Separate meals (or less but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 0 (More excuses - Just somehow took me longer than planned to prepare breakfast, I guess I wasn't concentrated enough, which led to a later finish of breakfast and consequently a later start of lunch and dinner. But as I still want to maintain the 19:00 deadline, that meant less than 3h 45m between lunch and dinner)

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 332

What are your thoughts on language learning apps like LingoDeer vs hiring a Deutsche Lehrer vs listening to German podcasts / watching German videos / movies vs having conversations with German friends? Do you use Anki at all? How do you study Deutsch? Wie studiert Deutsch?

Entry 13.12(Written on 14.12 night)
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2748 (80th birthday) 
Day 328: No Useless Videos
Day 1163: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 14: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 19: Being in bed before 23:15(Yet again dozed off at 19, and woke up at 23, then after toilet and 00 56 and went on to continue with evening routine up until now 03 00 and still counting)

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
- 14 German Units [Finishing 42 exercises of Perfect and Prateritum + 2 Photoshop mnemonic images for Prateritum and plusquamperfekt]
- Afternoon workout
- Cooked the carrots, I think it might have saved about half an hour of chewing. Fantastic!

1 Thing I could do better
- Be very critical regarding what Mother says. If I act as she suggests I will likely end up in the situation she is in life(Fine for her, but not exactly what I am aiming for). She means the best so listening is fine, as we rarely talk anyway. But, be very very critical and think twice before I do something she suggests. The problem Is I just invested 20 minutes in a potential customs return for a package on the sum of about 20 Euros, while emails that may save me 140 Euros, and possibly hundreds more on needed flights were delayed for tomorrow.
3 Separate meals (or less but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 1 tomorrow probably to be reset again...

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 333

2 hours ago, allanjchiang said:

What are your thoughts on language learning apps like LingoDeer vs hiring a Deutsche Lehrer vs listening to German podcasts / watching German videos / movies vs having conversations with German friends? Do you use Anki at all? How do you study Deutsch? Wie studiert Deutsch?

There is a boatload to say on this subject. I've used Duolingo, then songs, then some movies, youtube videos of motivation etc. books.
Basically just changed parts of my life which already existed to German. Now however It is combining with my bigger life's goals and not just a hobby, which is why I've taken on a lot of paid materials. (Earlier none) So most of the things I go through right now are not going to be relevant for you possibly. However I might be mistaken, are you willing to put money in? What is your budget? And how will it help you with your bigger goals if at all?

4 hours ago, Yan said:

There is a boatload to say on this subject. I've used Duolingo, then songs, then some movies, youtube videos of motivation etc. books.
Basically just changed parts of my life which already existed to German. Now however It is combining with my bigger life's goals and not just a hobby, which is why I've taken on a lot of paid materials. (Earlier none) So most of the things I go through right now are not going to be relevant for you possibly. However I might be mistaken, are you willing to put money in? What is your budget? And how will it help you with your bigger goals if at all?

I wanted to volunteer at a start-up organization in Germany around 10 years ago but it's probably too late now to apply since they've gotten a lot bigger. I would need a valid visa which would probably be too difficult at the moment.

20 hours ago, Yan said:

1 Thing I could do better
- Be very critical regarding what Mother says. If I act as she suggests I will likely end up in the situation she is in life(Fine for her, but not exactly what I am aiming for). She means the best so listening is fine, as we rarely talk anyway. But, be very very critical and think twice before I do something she suggests. The problem Is I just invested 20 minutes in a potential customs return for a package on the sum of about 20 Euros, while emails that may save me 140 Euros, and possibly hundreds more on needed flights were delayed for tomorrow.

Yes I sometimes have this issue: prioritising things. Definitely take a few minutes at the start of each day to list what should be done first so you don't lose time nor money.

Entry 14.12(Written on 15.12 night)
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2748 (80th birthday) 
Day 329: No Useless Videos
Day 1164: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 15: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 20: Being in bed before 23:15(Yet again dozed off at 19, and woke up at 23, then after toilet and 00 56 and went on to continue with evening routine up until now 03 00 and still counting)

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
- 9 German units [Finishing analysis of previous texts that were corrected by a German teacher]
- long morning run
- Sending two emails to Goethe representatives, regarding discount, and new exam registration

1 Thing I could do better
- Track starting and ending time of food. Also only start listening to Audiobook while preparing the meal. not cooking or preparing chlorella.
Write the starting time of each(as I usually do) to keep myself of time.
3 Separate meals (or less but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 0 (I combined a part of dinner with breakfast and lunch. Moreover the break in between was 2.5 hours, because I woke up at 06 00 and did a long run. Ended up being at home at around 11 40, apparently it took me 1hr 50 minutes to prepare breakfast on the looks of it and an hour to eat, so I finished at 15 30.

WTF?! That's what happens when you don't estimate the schedule correctly and set yourself no clear boundaries. Possibly listening to an audiobook much contributed to this... I am absolutely astonished by those numbers when looking back and realising this now....)

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 334

17 hours ago, allanjchiang said:

I wanted to volunteer at a start-up organization in Germany around 10 years ago but it's probably too late now to apply since they've gotten a lot bigger. I would need a valid visa which would probably be too difficult at the moment.

If it is your main goal, it's not important if it's difficult or not, you do whatever is necessary. The question is: Is it? Did you happen to do Stephen Coveys eulogy exercise? (Begin with the end in mind?) If not, consider doing it, it may help get you some clarity on your life's goals

2 hours ago, Pulse said:

Yes I sometimes have this issue: prioritising things. Definitely take a few minutes at the start of each day to list what should be done first so you don't lose time nor money.

Prioritizing is one thing - Estimating the correct time and sticking to it is another. For example, I have 10 minutes a day devoted to soc. media answers and checks, then I write a few things in there, but some emails take 20 minutes or so...

Just reflecting possible failure points in the system to consider, you don't have to reply.

Thanks for the insight.

1 hour ago, Yan said:

If it is your main goal, it's not important if it's difficult or not, you do whatever is necessary. The question is: Is it? Did you happen to do Stephen Coveys eulogy exercise? (Begin with the end in mind?) If not, consider doing it, it may help get you some clarity on your life's goals

Yea. Unfortunately, I have treatment resistant schizophrenia so it would be hard to get the medication I require with only a work visa. The pharmacists here in New Zealand can only prescribe three months of medications. Maybe it's an excuse though.

2 minutes ago, allanjchiang said:

Yea. Unfortunately, I have treatment resistant schizophrenia so it would be hard to get the medication I require with only a work visa. The pharmacists here in New Zealand can only prescribe three months of medications. Maybe it's an excuse though.

Good news. According to immigration embassy, olanzapine isn't a strictly controlled drug so it won't be confiscated in customs. It's also widely available in German pharmacies and can be prescribed by a local German psychiatrist. (Not sure how expensive a German psychiatrist is but money isn't really an issue I think.)

Entry 15.12 (Written partly on 15.12, partly on 16.12. Posted on 16.12)
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2747 (80th birthday) 
-Booked one more exam
-Lots of studying German, many days completely avoiding pomodoros
-have been reducing routine to just jogs instead of 75% effort runs after the injury unintentionally. I assume I attribute it to the fact that even jogging hurts, but most probably it is because of the shoes being too old and worn down, however I am to be in the current apartment 12 more days, no longer sure it's a good idea to order a ne pair, not t speak of a new insert pair that I might need that costs 700 Euros... (Anyway, I'll have to take care of this once I'm done with the exam...)
Day 330: No Useless Videos
Day 1165: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 16: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 21: Being in bed before 23:15

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
- 14 German units if we count the 2 hours no stop unit
- Afternoon workout
- Deciding to go for exam on wednesday

1 Thing I could do better
- Drink water 1 hr after lunch
3 Separate meals (or less but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 0

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 335

On 12/15/2025 at 3:30 AM, allanjchiang said:

Good news. According to immigration embassy, olanzapine isn't a strictly controlled drug so it won't be confiscated in customs. It's also widely available in German pharmacies and can be prescribed by a local German psychiatrist. (Not sure how expensive a German psychiatrist is but money isn't really an issue I think.)

If it's your main goal you'll find a way. (Or die trying :) )

Entry 16.12 (Written partly on 17.12)
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2747 (80th birthday) 
Day 331: No Useless Videos
Day 1166: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 17: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 22: Being in bed before 23:15

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
- 9 german units
- jog
- Having written a plan for tomorrow

1 Thing I could do better
- must find a way to wake up at 06 00, or perhaps jog in the afternoon. It seems i'm not hitting the 3h 45m separation goal.

Today I dozed off again at 19 35 beause of it and already feeling reflux symptoms because of going to sleep 1 hour after a heavy meal.
Moreover I left the cooked dates open and found a small cockroach or some sort of similar bug in it, had to throw it out.

All signs I must find a way to avoid stuffing food together. Although the high sugar of the dates may be more to blame for the dozing off than the food separation, I will probably not find out until I seperate the meals with a wide enough separation. Then I'll be able to exclude it as a reason if I keep dozing off.
3 Separate meals (or less but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 0

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 336

A great question by @allanjchiang that I'm going to steal 😂😂

How do you feel after 331 days of no gaming?

Entry 17.12 (Written on 19.12 night)
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2747 (80th birthday) 
Day 332: No Useless Videos
Day 1167: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 18: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 23: Being in bed before 23:15

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
- Going through yet another C1 Exam
- Asking regarding the upcoming B1 Exam, and after about 60 minutes of indecision, finally deciding.
- Finishing B1 exam simulation apart from the "Speaking" part

1 Thing I could do better
- Looking from birdisight, It might have raised my chances to take a specific exam preparation, despite the incredibly high costs. My current expense only for tests at the moment stands at 279+182+182+207 = 850 Euro. What if I would have taken the exam preparation at 400 and only had to pay 279? It would be 679. That is not to speak of the fact that It is possibly not yet a final number, and may need even more investment further down the road in accordance with the pending exam results.

Though we might not now how effective it would have been. On the surface it seemed to high of a cost, and I had rather spend this money on 40 hours with a private teacher, instead of 20 in a group.... But I should have, nonetheless, considered the option. Even though it seemed ginormous at the time and still does. If it would have saved the Euros overall, it could have been worth it.

3 Separate meals (or less but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 1 (That is probably in big part, because it was fast day though =/)

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 337

Entry 18.12 (Written on 19.12)
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2747 (80th birthday) 
Day 333: No Useless Videos
Day 1168: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 19: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 24: Being in bed before 23:15

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
- Going through a B1 exam
- Throwing out the trash, even though I came back from the exam late
- Completing the days workout, partly in between exams, partly when jogging/running home and partly when at home

1 Thing I could do better
- Even though I felt relatively overpowered, after the 3 first modules, keep myself humble, conservative and thoughtful during the 4th module of "Speaking". That is in order to weigh my words before they come out of my mouth and not throw everything thoughtless into the air without filtering.

It remains to be seen however what the result is. Maybe it was right for the word flow to get carried away with the emotions? The results will tell...

3 Separate meals (or less but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 0 (Spent time in mindfog after the exam, moving extremely slowly, looking for my passport many times, chitchatting with people, thinking "what now" Which brought me to be home later, although even the planned time was less than 3h 45m, this prolonging, aswell as the uncompleed 15 minutes of exercise and the -not written in plan- throwing out of trash, brought me to eat lunch and dinner completely together again. Which led me to crash into sleep again and, at the moment of writing 2 hours and 45 minutes of unplanned actions in nightly time (Instead of about an hour that It should have taken.) This is also the reason why, yet again I write the entry in the night after, instead of at the same day as planned. Remember every such day is harm to my health and time, and goals as a result)

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 338

On 12/17/2025 at 11:39 PM, Pulse said:

A great question by @allanjchiang that I'm going to steal 😂😂

How do you feel after 331 days of no gaming?

Every such day is a win. Every, single, one.

whether it is day 1, 5 , 60 or 1060.

I am writing what I feel about it every day in the bottom of the journal.

Every day of gaming gets myslef closer to (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease)
While the opposite gets myself closer to (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment)

That said, I do not feel any cravings in the last while, in part because I'm pretty busy with how to make my ass have a rooftop over my head.

Entry 19.12 (Written on 20.12)
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2747 (80th birthday) 
Day 334: No Useless Videos
Day 1169: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 20: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 25: Being in bed before 23:15

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
- Visiting two banks
- Overcoming sleeping urges and getting myself into bed on the planned time. Although they were strong.
- 1 German unit

1 Thing I could do better
- Stick to the time boundary I have given myself for the bank visit, it could've helped me reach the ABH before their closing time after the workout. Although I'm not quite sure about that.


3 Separate meals (or less) but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 0 (I guess the fact I woke up late was the majority reason for not succeeding- although it was planned in advance, I went to sleep at 3 45 in the morning after dozing off and waking up after 23 15, so I wasn't going to put an alarm clock for 6)

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 339

Entry 20.12 (Main 3 and 1 things written on 21 I believe in a text document, eventually Written on 23.12 night with all the ret of the data)
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2747 (80th birthday) 
Day 335: No Useless Videos
Day 1170: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 21: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 26: Being in bed before 23:15

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
-Almost finished email to irber (remains google translate check and documents
-Sent quote requests for document translation
-Washing clothes

1 Thing I could do better
-When father said he was available(Because I said that okay "we have things to do" or something of the likes in order to finish the conversation), insist we had planned 10 minutes so we should respect our time. It's not like he forced me or anything, on the contrary, he was available for me and i'm super grateful, however I must sort of fight my own trigger to keep chitchatting.


3 Separate meals (or less) but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 0 A wider gap this day, but still not enough

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 340

Entry 21.12 ( Written on 23.12 night )
Weeks until average life expectancy: 2747 (80th birthday) 
Day 336: No Useless Videos
Day 1171: Sticking to Food schedule
Day 22: Eating Only between 06:30 and 19:00 (Last bite before 19:00)
Day 27: Being in bed before 23:15

3 Things I did well, no matter how small
-4 German Units
-Done sending email to the Immigration officer
-Deciding not to send the email to the border police representative, although it was written in the morning goals. I assumed I'd better go forward as is, and if any problems shall arise as to my current staying permit, then I'll write to him too (To save a boatload of time. Also it made no sense to keep asking him, as it is already too late, what if he says that I don't have a permit now? II already have his previous emails and that's enough...)

1 Thing I could do better
-Planning the day in advance and not mid-day

3 Separate meals (or less) but without combining any of the three) and 3hrs 45 minutes in between at least Day 0 A long jog in the morning. Again resulting in insufficient spacing. If I keep going like this GERD is probably not very far.

Gaming (Death, Slavery, Regret, Disease) - 5
Yan (Life, Individuality, Freedom, Purpose, Self-Fulfillment) - 341