I have a spreadsheet with 14 years of meals in it.
Every breakfast. Every lunch. Every dinner. Every snack. What I ate. How much Creon I took. How I felt afterward.
5,110 days of data. Over 15,000 meals logged. Symptoms tracked. Patterns identified. Everything documented.
It’s obsessive. I know. But it’s also the reason I’m still alive and functional 14 years post-Whipple.
Because I didn’t figure out what works by guessing. I figured it out by tracking. By writing down every single thing I ate and correlating it with how my body responded.
Without that data, I’d still be eating foods that destroy me. Still taking the wrong amount of Creon. Still wondering why some days I feel great and other days I feel like garbage.
The tracking told me everything. And it’ll tell you everything too if you’re willing to do the work.
Day One: The Hospital Gave Me a Food Journal
When I left the hospital after my Whipple surgery, the nutritionist gave me a food journal. A little notebook with spaces to write down what you eat and how you feel.
She said to track my meals for a few weeks. Just to see what worked and what didn’t.
I thought it was busy work. Something to make patients feel productive during recovery.
But I started tracking anyway. Mostly because I had nothing else to do. I was stuck at home recovering. Might as well write down what I ate.
Day one: Scrambled eggs, 2 Creon pills, felt bloated. Day two: Scrambled eggs, 3 Creon pills, still bloated. Day three: Scrambled eggs, 4 Creon pills, less bloated.
That’s when I realized the tracking was showing me something. My Creon dosing was wrong. I needed more pills than the hospital recommended.
The food journal wasn’t busy work. It was essential.
Week One: I Needed More Detail
After a week of basic tracking, I realized I needed more information.
The hospital’s journal just had spaces for “breakfast,” “lunch,” “dinner.” No detail. No quantities. No timing.
I needed to know exactly what I was eating. How much butter was on those scrambled eggs. What time I ate them. How long until symptoms appeared.
So I switched to a spreadsheet. Google Sheets. Because I could add as many columns as I needed.
Date. Time. Food. Quantity. Creon pills. Symptoms. Notes.
Every meal got a row. Every symptom got documented. Every pattern became visible.
Month One: The Patterns Emerged
After a month of detailed tracking, I could see clear patterns.
Fried foods always caused cramping within two hours. Always. No exceptions.
Raw vegetables caused bloating and undigested food in my stool. Every time.
Fatty meats required significantly more Creon than lean proteins. If I underdosed, I’d be nauseous for hours.
These weren’t theories. These were facts. Backed by data. Repeated observations across dozens of meals.
Without the tracking, I would have just thought some days my digestion worked and some days it didn’t. Random luck.
But it wasn’t random. It was cause and effect. Specific foods caused specific problems. And the tracking showed me exactly which foods were the culprits.
Month Three: The Creon Formula
By month three, I’d figured out my Creon dosing formula based entirely on tracking data.
Scrambled eggs with butter: 6 pills, every time. Grilled chicken breast: 8 pills. Salmon: 10 pills. Peanut butter sandwich: 4 pills.
I knew exactly how many pills I needed for each food. Not because a doctor told me. But because I’d tracked dozens of meals and identified the optimal dosing.
When I took 6 pills with scrambled eggs, no symptoms. When I took 4 pills, bloating. When I took 8 pills, stomach irritation from too many enzymes.
Six pills was the sweet spot. The tracking told me that. Trial and error backed by data.
Year One: The Safe Food List
By the end of year one, I had a complete safe food list. Twenty foods I could eat without problems. Foods my body consistently tolerated.
I knew exactly how to prepare them. How much Creon to take. What time of day worked best.
That list came entirely from tracking. I’d tested dozens of foods. Tracked the results. Eliminated the ones that caused problems. Kept the ones that worked.
Without tracking, I would have just kept eating random things and hoping for the best. Instead, I had a data-driven system.
Year Two: Identifying Trigger Combinations
Year two, the tracking revealed something more subtle. Some foods were fine individually but caused problems when combined.
Chicken and rice: fine. Chicken and potatoes: fine. Rice and potatoes together: bloating and cramping.
I never would have caught that without detailed tracking. It wasn’t the individual foods. It was the combination. Too many carbs in one meal. My system couldn’t handle it.
The tracking showed me these hidden patterns. Combinations that seemed fine but consistently caused issues.
Year Five: Seasonal Variations
Around year five, I noticed seasonal patterns in my data.
Summer months: needed slightly less Creon per meal. Better digestion overall. Winter months: needed more Creon. Digestion was slower.
I wouldn’t have noticed this without years of tracking. But the data was clear. My digestive system worked better in warm weather. Worse in cold weather.
So I adjusted my Creon dosing seasonally. More pills in winter. Fewer in summer. Based entirely on historical data.
Year Ten: Stress Correlation
By year ten, I had enough data to correlate stress with digestive symptoms.
High-stress weeks: more bloating, more cramping, needed 20% more Creon. Low-stress weeks: smooth digestion, optimal Creon dosing worked perfectly.
Stress affected my digestive system. The tracking proved it. And once I knew that, I could prepare. Stock up on extra Creon during stressful periods. Eat simpler foods. Adjust my expectations.
Fourteen Years: The Complete Picture
I’m 14 years post-Whipple now. I still track every meal. Every day. Without exception.
People ask why I still do it. I’ve figured out what works. Why not just follow the system and stop tracking?
Because my body changes. Medications change. Stress levels change. Seasons change. And all of those affect my digestion.
The tracking keeps me ahead of problems. I can see trends developing before they become major issues. I can adjust before symptoms get bad.
It’s preventive. Proactive. Data-driven health management.
What the Tracking Actually Shows
After 14 years and 15,000+ meals logged, here’s what the data has taught me:
Creon dosing isn’t one-size-fits-all. It varies by food, by meal size, by stress level, by season. The tracking shows me exactly how much I need in each situation.
Some foods are consistently problematic. Fried foods. Raw vegetables. High-fat meats. The data is clear. These never work. Avoid them.
Timing matters. Eating too close to bedtime causes overnight bloating. The tracking showed me I need at least three hours between dinner and sleep.
Hydration affects digestion. Days when I drink less water correlate with worse digestion. The data doesn’t lie.
Small portions work better than large portions. Even with proper Creon dosing, large meals consistently cause more symptoms than smaller, frequent meals.
None of this is based on feelings or guesses. It’s all based on data. Patterns repeated across thousands of meals.
The Tracking Tools I Use
I started with a paper journal. Moved to a spreadsheet. Now I use a combination.
Google Sheets for detailed tracking. Date, time, food, Creon, symptoms, notes. One row per meal. Filterable. Searchable. Perfect for identifying patterns.
iPhone Notes app for quick logging when I’m out. I transfer the data to the spreadsheet later.
Photos of meals occasionally. Especially when eating out. So I can remember exactly what I ordered and how it affected me.
The tools don’t matter. The consistency does. Track every meal. Every day. No exceptions.
Why Most People Don’t Track
I’ve talked to hundreds of Whipple patients over the years. Most of them don’t track their food.
They say it’s too tedious. Too time-consuming. Too much work.
And they’re right. It is tedious. It is work.
But you know what else is tedious? Spending four hours in the bathroom because you ate something that destroyed your digestive system.
You know what else is work? Trying random foods and random Creon doses and hoping something eventually works.
Tracking is work upfront. But it saves you exponentially more work and suffering in the long run.
What You Should Track
If you’re starting food tracking post-Whipple, here’s the minimum you need to log:
Date and time – patterns change throughout the day Food eaten – be specific, include preparation method Portion size – “small,” “medium,” “large” is fine to start Creon pills taken – exact number Symptoms – bloating, cramping, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, energy levels Time symptoms appeared – helps identify slow vs. fast reactions
That’s it. Seven data points per meal. Takes 30 seconds to log. Gives you everything you need to identify patterns.
The First Month Is Critical
The first month post-surgery is when tracking matters most.
Your body is learning how to digest again. You’re figuring out Creon dosing. You’re identifying problem foods.
This is when you need data. Not guesses. Data.
Track everything. Even if a meal seems fine. Even if you think you know what happened. Track it.
Because patterns aren’t visible after one meal. They’re visible after thirty meals. After ninety meals. After six months of consistent data.
When to Review Your Data
I review my tracking data weekly. Every Sunday, I look at the past week’s meals. Identify any patterns. Make adjustments for the upcoming week.
Monthly reviews show longer-term trends. Are my symptoms improving overall? Getting worse? Staying stable?
Yearly reviews show the big picture. How has my digestion changed over the past year? Do I need to adjust my baseline approach?
The tracking is only useful if you actually review it and use it to make decisions.
Fourteen Years of Obsessive Tracking
I’ve been called obsessive. Anal-retentive. Too detail-oriented.
All true. I am obsessive about tracking. Because it works.
I know exactly what my body can handle. I know exactly how much Creon I need. I know which foods to avoid and which foods to embrace.
That knowledge came from 14 years of writing down every meal. Every symptom. Every data point.
It’s tedious. It’s work. But it’s also the reason I’m thriving 14 years post-Whipple instead of just surviving.
What This Means for You
If you’re newly post-Whipple, start tracking today. Not tomorrow. Today.
Get a notebook. Get a spreadsheet. Get a notes app. Whatever works for you.
And write down everything you eat. How much Creon you take. How you feel afterward.
Do it for a month. Then look at the data. You’ll see patterns. Guaranteed.
Those patterns will tell you what works and what doesn’t. They’ll show you how to optimize your Creon dosing. They’ll identify trigger foods you didn’t know were problems.
The tracking gives you answers. Real answers. Based on your specific body and your specific situation.
Stop guessing. Start tracking. Your future self will thank you.
The Spreadsheet I’ll Never Stop Using
I’ll be tracking meals for the rest of my life. I’m sure of it.
Because every time I think about stopping, I remember what it was like before I had data. The uncertainty. The randomness. The constant wondering why some days were good and some days were terrible.
The tracking eliminated that uncertainty. It gave me control. It gave me a system that works.
Fourteen years. Over 15,000 meals logged. And I’m not stopping anytime soon.
Because the data never lies. And neither does my digestive system.
When you’re ready to make tracking easier, the Complete Whipple Survival Guide has my complete tracking templates, what to log, and how to analyze your data. $49 PDF.