Don's Healthy Community

[dangerousdon]

I went through last year's weight loss challenge and saw it through the end. I had modest gains (or losses) last year. Nothing overly impressive, but nothing to snivel at either. This year I need to be more aggressive in my diet and exercise thinking. After all, my main motivation isn't just to lose weight or to win a prize. My main motivation is to be extremely healthy and live long enough to see my daughter grow up. I am 49 right now and Danger Baby is 14 months. That means that I will be in the neighborhood of 66 years old when my daughter graduates high school. I am going to be an older dad. I joke about it...but seriously...it's likely that the kids at school will think I am her grandpa.

I am constantly reminded that I never look my age. Most people think I am 10 to 15 years younger than I am. So I have that going for me. I have had a lifetime of abuse to this body being in the military. And the last thing that I absolutely want to be is some decrepit father that can't go outside and play with his daughter. That means I NEED to take care of myself.

I have let myself go a bit this past year, specifically the past few months. I am definitely better off mentally than I was last year. So this year I need to put Mind, Body, and Soul all together and be the best person I can be. I know we tend to separate the Mental, from the Physical, from the Spiritual...but it all plays a huge part of being healthy. So, I think I will name this thread "Don's Healthy Community." It kind of encompasses all. I am on another health and fitness forum and I might share a bit of that here. Some of the stuff I learn. Anyway...for those few who read this...I hope you can glean something.

 

[dangerousdon]

I have started the 2022 Weight Loss Challenge that Matt @Luecke3262 has so graciously hosted. The challenge for me began this morning. I don't have everything figured out yet. What I do know is that I am incorporating dietary changes, movement, meditation, and other things that will be beneficial not only to the physical, but the mental and the spiritual being as well.

The beginning...I weighed myself yesterday morning and was a half of a dozen of donuts just over 290 pounds. This time last year I was about 285. And after last year's weight loss challenge, I was right at 260. 260 seems to be that magic number I can get to with a minimal amount of work. This year my goal is 250. If I can hit 250 that will be the fittest I have been since 1998. It will definitely require some hard work.

Intermittent fasting or time restricted eating...whatever you want to call it...seems to work pretty well for me. The goal is to not eat anything before noon each day. If I can go longer, great...but I am not forcing myself to go on multiple day fasts. it just stresses me out. Ideally, I would like to stop eating around 6:00 PM each evening, but my night time schedule usually is dictated by Danger Baby, so it is likely that I won't finishing eating until 8:00 PM or sometimes later. We will see how that goes.

Other aspects that I am doing with the diet...

I have four emphases concerning my diet each day:

1. Hit an goal of 200 grams of protein each day
2. Eliminate to the extent possible all sugar
3. Eliminate to the extent possible all grains (especially wheat)
4. Consume enough electrolytes (this metric might change often as I need to adjust likely), ie Sodium, Potassium, and Magnesium.

The goal is to hit 200 grams of protein a day. Everything else is a low carb diet. I want to emphasis whole foods as much as possible, but that doesn't mean that I won't have a protein shake every now and then.

I have been doing some pretty deep dives on Electrolytes lately and I am learning a lot. Mostly that electrolytes (especially sodium) are often overlooked in health...especially on diets minimal in processed foods. Sodium has been vilified to an extent, but the fact of the matter is that salt is life. Some of the dietary recommendations on sodium I have seen can be sweated out in an hour's worth of exercise. I won't get into it right now...but I might post more stuff about electrolytes later.

Anyway...this is just the beginning. As I figure it all out...I will let you all know.

 

[Luecke3262]

Great to see you started this! I know I have really struggled the last quarter of 2021 due to a job Chang that has brought a lot of stress into my life…
No joke about the electrolytes!! I remember how horrid I felt last year after going clean organic(mostly) Keto. I suffered from daily Charlie Horses and mental fatigue until I figured it out. Best wishes buddy!

 

[dangerousdon]

So...day one (yesterday) in the books for the beginning of my 2022 health journey. How did I do? Eh...okay, I guess. The beginning is always about building habits. And as we all know, building healthy habits are always harder than the bad ones.

Protein - I fell woefully short of my 200 gram minimum daily protein intake. Yesterdays protein consumption was approximately 150 grams. A couple of hamburgers short of my goal. Lunch time the wife sprung on me that we were meeting her parents at a local coffee house that serves light lunches. I generally don't do any meal "light." It's either a large meal or nothing at all. That's how I roll, yo! Anyway, I grabbed a chief salad with a balsamic vinaigrette and added a grilled chicken breast. The place forgot to add the egg and the chicken breast was only about three ounces. Approximately an ounce of cheddar cheese, and ounce of ham, and an ounce of turkey were all on the plate. While the salad was really good, it still fell short of my nutritional needs. After the meeting with the in-laws, I got busy and didn't eat dinner until about 8:00 PM. I'm at work today, so I think I will be able to do better in the protein department. With what I brought with me for lunch, I will hit about half of my protein goal. I'll add in a protein snack later that will help out also.

I was really going to try to exercise yesterday, but house work got the best of me. That and Danger Baby had to go get a checkup at the Doctor. So I will try to get some in today. I have a walk planned at lunch...but anything more serious will have to wait until later tonight.

I posted elsewhere that some of you might have seen. But I participate in another online forum that is health and wellness oriented. Anyway, we are doing Seven-Day Cold Shower Challenge. I know, you are probably wondering why on earth would anyone want to take a cold shower. So, there are many health benefits to taking cold showers/baths:

Increases Endorphins
Improves Metabolism
Improves Circulation
Improved Immuno Responses

These are just some of the benefits. That being said...probably one of the best benefits to taking a cold shower is in the mind. My mantra this year is "Do Hard Things." In my life I have done some really hard things. Some things that most people only read about in books or see on TV. But these last 15 years or so of my life I have become very soft...in mind and body. I am not saying that a cold shower is the hardest thing that one can do...but it isn't the easiest thing either, especially when you have been laying on the couch and eating ice cream while binging the latest show on your favorite streaming service.

Anyway, Yesterday morning our low temp was 28 degrees. This morning it was 31. So the water is plenty cold. Yeah...I know it is colder in other places...but this is what I have to work with. A nice 10 minute shower yesterday and this morning was not as hard as I thought it would be. "Working up the courage" was definitely the worse part of it all. Once I committed to doing it...the rest was easy. Came out of the shower both days feeling really good about myself!

Well that's my entry for the day. If anyone actually reads this...I hope you gain something from it. Have a wonderful day Cadre! And Stay healthy.

 

[CVargo]

High school and college I took a lot of cold showers.


Great re-cap! I am making similar changes and excited as we all continue on this 2022 healthy path for ourselves.

 

[dangerousdon]

High school and college I took a lot of cold showers.


Great re-cap! I am making similar changes and excited as we all continue on this 2022 healthy path for ourselves.

Thank you sir! I hope you are feeling better!

 

[Spider]

I'm really curious to hear more about the cold showers. Like is it a gradual process starting with a warm shower then turning it colder as you go. Or do you just full on, as cold as it can be, for the full shower? There's a really good episode of Gweneth Paltrow's Goop Show on Netflix about the benefits of cold water but it focuses a bit more on extremes like lake swimming, and doesn't really hit on the process of showering. I'm sure I'm making more out of this than it needs to be, but I guess I'm just looking for more info about it.

 

[dangerousdon]

I'm really curious to hear more about the cold showers. Like is it a gradual process starting with a warm shower then turning it colder as you go. Or do you just full on, as cold as it can be, for the full shower? There's a really good episode of Gweneth Paltrow's Goop Show on Netflix about the benefits of cold water but it focuses a bit more on extremes like lake swimming, and doesn't really hit on the process of showering. I'm sure I'm making more out of this than it needs to be, but I guess I'm just looking for more info about it.

No problem my friend. I will try to interject as much info as I can. I'll see if I can post some stuff later that is very specific.

As far as the shower goes. Some people go all in and just jump into the cold. Others just ease into it. What I did yesterday and today was I got the shower to the point that it wasn't warm at all, but it was a temp that I could handle immediately. Something just south of tepid. I got in the shower and rinsed down. Then I turned the temp down a good bit. Maybe not all the way cold...but about a third of the way there. You need to resist the urge to do panic breathing. You know...those short choppy breaths when you feel the sting of cold. Instead...focus on slowing your breathing and taking deeper longer breaths. It actually helps out! Then turn the temp down again. Repeat. And keep going until you have reached either your limit...or you are just done showering. Guarantee you will be wide awake and ready for the day. Some people stay in the cold water for 20 minutes. Others for 30 seconds. It's all about what you can tolerate and lengthening the duration as you go.

Like I said...I will find some specific info and try to post later. Hope this helps!

 

[dangerousdon]

For @Spider ... I'll post several of these over the next several days. Little snippets about cold showers and cold soak therapy.

The practice of cold plunges extends back into antiquity and beyond.

Hippocrates, the “father of medicine” regularly used cold plunges for treatments, as did Galen, the famous Roman surgeon.

In the east, Japanese warriors and monks would practice breathing exercises beneath icy cold waterfalls since at least medieval times in a mind-body practice known as “shugyo”.

In more recent history, George Hebert, a French naval officer, was the founder of the “Natural Method”. Herbert’s "la méthode naturelle" is arguably the basis of the modern military obstacle course and the extreme sport of parkour.

As part of his Natural Method, Herbert advocated for training in minimal clothing, exposing the skin to the elements of sun and cold to develop resiliency.

Hebert was also an early proponent of women’s fitness. Far ahead of his time, Hebert wrote “Women's Physical Education: Shaping Muscle & Beauty” in 1909!

Speeding ahead to the 21st century, no discussion of cold exposure training could be complete without mentioning “The Ice Man” Wim Hof.

Hof combined his previous experiences with yoga, breathwork, and cold plunges as a way of coping with the grief of his wife’s suicide.

After he observed in himself the transformational power of breathwork combined with cold plunges, he set out on a series of publicity stunts to bring attention to his discovery including climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in nothing but shorts and running a marathon through the desert with no water.

He remained relatively unknown outside his native Netherlands until the early 2000’s when the internet drew him out of obscurity and he became a worldwide sensation.

Hof is very passionate about uncovering the hard science behind what has become “The Wim Hof Method” and has participated in multiple research projects in cooperation with researchers from Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and has given many interviews with scientists like Dr. Rhonda Patrick about his technique.

 

[dangerousdon]

@Spider

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines hormesis as “a theoretical phenomenon of dose-response relationships in which something (as a heavy metal or ionizing radiation) that produces harmful biological effects at moderate to high doses may produce beneficial effects at low doses”

Dr. Paul Saladino recently discussed the concept of hormesis on The Joe Rogan Podcast (Ep. 1551).

"Life is this elegant dance of electron movement and protons to and other functional groups in chemistry. But the movement of electrons is oxidation and reduction, with the loss of electrons being oxidation, the gain of electrons being reduction.

And so when we think about oxidative stress, we're talking about molecules pulling electrons from other molecules, creating free radicals, which broadly means that there are “unpaired electrons”.

Now, these are very reactive molecules that can then create things like lipid peroxides or, you know, free radicals within proteins which change the confirmation of the protein.

And we know these can be damaging for humans. One of the reasons that cigarette smoking is bad for us because it creates a ton of free radicals, lots of oxidative stress, but a little bit of oxidative stress or just the right amount [is beneficial].

The Goldilocks amount is necessary for life. We don't want to get rid of all of the oxidative radicals in our body. They're critical signaling molecules at the level of the mitochondria.

We need these for signaling. So a little bit of oxidative stress is good.”

Earlier in this discussion with Rogan, Dr. Saladino proposes that hormesis be categorized as either molecular or environmental. I suggest we should actually recognize four categories of hormesis:

• mechanical
• Environmental
• molecular
• psychological

Mechanical hormesis is the stress applied to our tissues from movement and external loads (i.e. lifting heavy stuff). Resistance exercise is an excellent example of hormesis: stress your body by lifting heavy stuff and you get stronger. Go too hard and you’ll hurt yourself, not hard enough and you won't see any adaptations. You need to play in the Goldilocks zone Dr. Saladino discussed.

Environmental hormesis is precisely as Dr. Saladino described in the passage above: the environmental signaling that occurs when the body is exposed to extreme variations in temperature and sunlight.

In response to extreme heat and cold, the body produces a number of heat and cold shock proteins and upregulates the immune and endocrine systems. Sunlight stimulates the production of vitamin D, beta-endorphins, and regulates our circadian biology.

Molecular hormesis is stress/signaling due to the ingestion of exogenous substances, whether plant or chemical in origin (like medical and recreational drugs).

Psychological hormesis is mentally and emotionally stressful or challenging situations resulting in changes in levels of neurotransmitters within the CNS, which in turn, lead to long term changes in our behaviors, feelings, and how we think about ourselves.

For the purposes of our Fresh Start challenge, we’ll limit the discussion to just psychological and environmental hormesis.

 

[Spider]

discussion of cold exposure training could be complete without mentioning “The Ice Man” Wim Hof.

This is who was featured in the episode of Goop that I mentioned. It's a very interesting episode.

 

[dangerousdon]

This is who was featured in the episode of Goop that I mentioned. It's a very interesting episode.

I'll have to check it out. I have more to post. Just later.

 

[dangerousdon]

KJ @Spider this is the worksheet for the cold shower challenge that we are using. Might be helpful.

 

[dangerousdon]

@Spider

Multiple studies have shown that regular cold plunges lead to an increased sense of vitality and wellbeing. It may very well be the greatest benefits of regular cold plunges are psychological, but that doesn’t make them any less real.

Neuroplasticity is the ability of our brains to modify themselves based on our experiences.

Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, head of Huberman Lab at Stanford University puts it succinctly when he says "Thoughts and feelings don't change behavior. Behavior changes thoughts and feelings."

By purposely repeating behaviors that are just difficult enough we can deliberately engineer our brains, and by extension our thoughts and feelings into those that thrive on challenges.

“Be strong to be helpful.”​

~George Hebert

Here are two separate studies that show how regular cold plunges can make you a more resilient Rebel:

In 2004, researchers in Finland set out to test the many anecdotal reports from winter swimmers that claimed it improved their health and vitality.

Spoiler alert: the study is titled “Winter Swimming Improves General Wellbeing”.

“After four months, the swimmers felt themselves to be more energetic, active, and brisk than the controls.

Tension, fatigue, memory, and mood negative state points in the swimmers significantly decreased with the duration of the swimming period”

Interestingly, the swim group had higher rates of diagnosed disease compared to the control group (~50% compared to 20%)

Similarly, in early 2015, inspired by the exploits of fellow Dutchman Wim Hof, researcher Geert Buijze, along with several others designed a randomized control trial to test the effects of finishing regular hot showers with 30, 60, or 90 seconds of cold showering on study participants.

At the end of 30 days, the cold shower participants reported a higher quality of life, engagement, and productivity and had almost 30% fewer sick days off from work compared to the control group (who simply showered as normal), regardless of whether they were in the 30, 60 or 90-second group. It’s also worth noting that the 2014/2015 flu season was particularly nasty in the Netherlands that year.

Regular cold showers apparently made the difference between feeling sick enough to call off work and just feeling “under the weather”. (There was no difference between any of the groups in actual days of self-reported illness).

Both of these examples underscore how by deliberately leaning into discomfort, we can change our brains and in turn, change how we think, act, and feel.

 

[dangerousdon]

@Spider

The human immune system can be roughly divided into two distinct branches; the innate immune system and the adaptive.

Most people will be more familiar with the adaptive immune system due to the success of many life-saving vaccines that stimulate the production of antibodies in the human body. The adaptive immune system is acquired over time as we are exposed to new viruses.

However, we are all born with an inborn ability to fight illness and infection through a diaspora of specialized cells and proteins, like NK (natural killer) cells and a variety of monocytes and lymphocytes.

Repeated cold plunges have been shown to modestly stimulate the immune system and increase levels of some of these proteins and innate immune cells like TNF-α, T helper, and T suppressor cells.

Regular winter swimming has also been shown to increase the resting activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase, our primary intrinsic antioxidant enzymes.

Glutathione is another important antioxidant. It also helps to regenerate other antioxidants, repair damaged proteins, and is involved in cell growth and differentiation.

At the end of a season of winter swimming, swimmers were shown to have a lower proportion of oxidized glutathione in their total glutathione pool, as well as significantly lowered resting plasma levels of 8-ISOP, an isoprostane that’s been shown to be a reliable proxy for overall oxidative stress.

 

[dangerousdon]

@Spider

Metabolic health is always a hot topic in the Healthy Rebellion community, and regular cold showers can be another weapon in the arsenal of every Rebel.

Body fat comes in two delicious flavors: creamy, ooey-gooey “white fat” and savory “brown fat” or brown adipose tissue (BAT).

Between the two, white fat is generally worse for us. It has a very low metabolic rate, and when the fat cells become overfull, they tend to secrete proinflammatory compounds, whereas BAT is full of mitochondria and has a relatively high metabolic rate.

When babies are first born, their muscles are underdeveloped and so they cannot shiver to help keep warm. Fortunately, mother nature is pretty smart, and we’re all born with copious amounts of rich, buttery BAT which generate lots of heat through UCP-1, a protein that allows electrons to enter back into the electron transport chain independent of ATP, and generate energy as heat rather than chemical energy.

As we grow into adulthood, our levels and activity of BAT decline as muscle mass and the insulating power of white fat become the major players in generating and preserving body heat, but we do preserve some BAT, mostly around the upper chest and neck area.

Luckily, we have several tools that are effective at increasing the activity of BAT, and even helping to “beige” white fat, including ketogenic diets and coffee.

Cold exposure is another lever we can pull to help kickstart the activity of BAT. As a metabolically active tissue, BAT improves both insulin sensitivity and whole-body glucose disposal.

 

[dangerousdon]

@Spider

Regular cold plunges may help protect the brain from the ravages of dementia by increasing “cold shock protein” RBM3.

Research by Giovanna Malluccii and colleagues, published in the journal Nature, showed that cooling mice to 16–18 °C sharply raised levels of RBM3, which then helped restore proper function to synapses that had been damaged by Alzheimer’s and prion disease.

In later work, Dr. Mallucci discovered volunteer winter swimmers at an open-air pool in London, also had highly elevated levels of RBM3 compared to a control group who practiced Tai Chi nearby, but never swam (as a side note, these results have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal).

 

[dangerousdon]

@Spider

Cold plunges may kill your gains. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research and a 2015 study in the Journal of Physiology both showed a decrease in strength and muscle growth. A touch of inflammation is the body’s signal to adapt. Avoiding cold showers or ice baths close to training is probably best if muscle growth is your goal.

Men may experience greater physiological benefits from cold plunges than women.

In the study by Buijze, at the end of 90 days, there was no significant difference between groups in days of reported illness. There was a difference however when sex was accounted for, with males showing a 14% reduction compared to females.

Additionally, in the research by Solianik, men showed a higher level of epinephrine and lower levels of TNF- after cold exposure, and relied more on increasing metabolism than women, which may lead to more benefit when it comes to improvements in metabolic health.

Lastly, it may require more time and effort really to see some of the physiological benefits of exposure work. Much of the research spanned a period of several months and immersion times of up to an hour.

 

[dangerousdon]

KJ @Spider Okay, that is the bulk of it all. I hope this helps. And if you need the citations for the research, I can provide that as well. Just let me know.

 

[dangerousdon]

Yesterday I ended up going for a brisk walk at lunch, but that was really the only exercise that I did. I am going to have to prioritize time for exercise if I really want to do that. Muscles don't build themselves!

How did I do on my protein intake yesterday? A little bit better than the previous day...but not by much. Tuesday I hit 151 grams and yesterday I hit 156 grams. If my ideal body weight was 150 to 160 pounds...this would be perfect. But it isn't. Right now I am figuring that my ideal body weight is 225 pounds (I actually think it is closer to 240...but we will go with 225). My goal is to get 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal weight. Since I am also trying to lose weight right now I can deal with .75 grams per pound of ideal body weight. Right now I am getting between .65 and .70 grams of protein per pound of ideal weight. I need to get about 170 grams of protein to get that .75 grams per pound range. 180 grams would put me at .80 grams per pound. I think if I can get there...I would be extremely happy! Right now though...it is an effort. After two days of this, I am wondering if I need to abandon my intermittent fasting. Not sure, but I have time to tinker. But if I am eating this much protein...I need to start doing some strength training.

My carb intake has been pretty good. Both days have been around 35 grams of net carbs. Actually, my net carbs was my actual carbs as well. No fiber. Most of it came from an Apple Cider Vinegar beverage that I drank that had fruit juice in it. But other than that...carbs are pretty low.

Next week I am going to start tracking blood sugar in the morning. And maybe check my ketones a couple to few days a week. I know I have some ketones going, because I add MCT powder to my coffee each morning. But how much I am registering will be interesting. Even when I do Keto, I don't typically register high ketone numbers. Around a 0.4 or 0.5 is average for me. If I workout I can get the numbers up to between 0.9 - 1.3. But I wanted to give myself a week on this diet before I start measuring much of anything. Anyway, it will be interesting.

Day three of the cold shower challenge. At this point the cold showers don't bother me that much. Sure it is a little uncomfortable at first. But with a little controlled breathing, I just settle in. Ten minutes and I come out feeling like I am ready to go. I definitely feel like it is more of a mindset than anything else. Do something uncomfortable. If you never do anything that gets you out of your comfort zone, how will you know what you will do when you are faced with adversity.

I hope this post finds you all well. Thanks for reading and I hope the Cadre has a wonderful day!