The FastDay Forum

Started the 30 day cold shower challenge this morning. I have read that the cold showering can help with peripheral circulation and increase warmth in the extremities. I wondered if this might counter the side effect of coldness that I've been getting since starting IF.
Sorry to say that I couldn't bring myself to get in the cold shower so had half and half, with washing in warm water then a cold rinse. Probably managed about 4 mins. Wasn't quite as bad as I thought. Surely this will be awful in winter!

Sorry to say that I couldn't bring myself to get in the cold shower so had half and half, with washing in warm water then a cold rinse.

I actually suspect you're torturing yourself more than you have to if you just take a short splash of cold water and then change between hot and cold, from what I've noticed it took about a minute for the cold water to start feeling warm the first time, then it really wasn't any discomfort. Now the duration initial discomfort seems to be shorter for every time, it quickly gets easier, so I don't think you'll have to worry about winter.

Indeed, over-washing has the opposite effect. Why? Because the body tries to balance the skin's Ph and produces more oil.
Dermatologists advise people with oily hair to not wash it all the time because it gets even more oily.

I try to wash me hair twice a week in wintertime but it is very difficult to do that in the summer. Try coming back from the supermarket in 38C. After a shower in sweat, I need two in the shower, LOL! On the other hand, they are always cold ones!

Another interesting blog post on the subject, with many references. I know it's linked to on the Getting Stronger website, but I reckon it deserves its own link here:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/cold-water-therapy/#axzz2cnGbJGSb

Meant to say I finally got to grips with shower this morning, and turned everything down.

I have to say the water was cold!! I managed 60 seconds, but that was sluicing a shoulder at a time, or my head for a short while, constantly turning around and jigging about a bit (a lot!).

So, we'll see how we go from here.

I.m with the wash less lot! Probably has something to do with growing up in a tenement in Glasgow, no washing machine and no bathroom, not even an indoor toilet! Bath once a week every Friday at the local "steamie" which was an amazing sensory experience, noises of hot steaming water filling up huge baths, doors clanging, smells of soap like lifebuoy and coaltar for the men and kids, and bathsalts for the women. As far as I know no deodarants were used then, we probably all smelled but just didn't notice (or cancelled each other out!?) Actually it may have had something to do with just about everybody smoking then too, eau de nicotine everywhere! In between times, top and tail method, plus local baths (swimming pool) where you had to run through a hot shower to get to the pool. OMG imagine if we had to all go back to living like that! Mumsnet would explode! This obsession with washing our hair,bodies and clothes is quite new really and I think that having lived in a lot of 3rd world countries where water is a precious resource I have first hand experience of keeping clean (clean enough!) with little water to waste, and usually cold, and it is not too difficult or unpleasant. We are incredibly wasteful with resources such as water, but hey I live in Scotland now, so no water shortages here! old habits die hard though, and I still use it very economically - although it is a pleasure to know that I can turn the tap on and water will come out of it, which was hardly ever the case in the Yemen, Sudan or Somalia. I love the idea of cold showers, saves on water as I presume the ablutions will be shorter and electricity bills would be a lot less! And if it helps change some of our white fat to brown, what's not to like? Btw I am quite clean, don't smell bad, and not too grubby!

[janeg]

And you scrub up awfully well, Dhana

ha! ha! janeg....for anyone newish to the forum, me,janeg and Nessie met up , in the flesh, a while ago and did ladies who lunch!

OK, don't take this the wrong way but I think many of our suggestions show our age a bit.
When I was growing up, although we had NO hot water -or electricity or a phone- in our country house (it wasn't even a house back then but anyway) people who bathed less than daily were mocked and pointed with our fingers. I still remember the son of a friend of my grandmother who showered twice a week and it was one of the most interesting story of my childhood that I still tell people.
I also remember that one of the pieces of advice that my mum gave me was to always wear deodorant and always use a condom (she brain-washed me with both and I am eternally grateful).
On the other hand, one of the synonyms of "whore" in Greek is a word that means "very clean woman" because when my grandmother was growing up only "those" women took daily showers. Things and times change a lot.

Err...don't take this the wrong way - I think age is just a number, and one of the best indicators of a youthful outlook is an ability to be open to new ideas and fresh ways of thinking.

Dhana, I didn't mean it that way. Depending on our age we all have different experiences.
My grandmother had no hot electricity in her house when she was growing up, I had no electricity in my country house, now all kids have electricity.
I liked Madonna, my cousins liked Britney, kids now like Rihanna.
When we grow up in different decades, we all have different memories from our childhoods because we all had different habits and experiences.

Yes, age is a number when it comes to how we behave and act and think but when it comes to what was going on or what was the normal when we were growing up it is pretty much a solid indicator. Unless of course we are talking about very rich people who had luxuries 20 years before the rest of the world. Where I come from though, rich kids had very boring and uneventful lives and I'm glad I grew up in a middle-class family where mud on the trousers was a given and not a problem.

See, another difference. Kids nowadays don't play with mud...

I have been having cold showers for years - I can't remember exactly how long but it would be nearly ten years now. My method: I use warm water to suds up and cold water for the final rinse. If you stick to it you get used to it, even in winter (it's winter now in Australia) and I can't imagine not rinsing off in cold water.

I started doing this because I heard it is good for your circulation (my circulation is terrible) at my worst times my toes would turn blue. I now don't suffer so badly, I still feel the cold but I no longer turn blue.

After I rinse off with cold water I get out the shower and briskly rub myself dry (on getting out of the shower I feel cold). Within about 2-5 mins or about the time it takes me to dry myself, get dressed and brush my teeth I feel warm. If I don't finish my showers in cold water I find that I get out of the shower I feel warm but shortly after I feel cold again and I then feel cold all day.

If you are curious about it just try it out give it 4-6 weeks and then stop the cold water for a few days and see how you go, see if it works for you.

Ah TML don't teach your granny to suck eggs! If you think I am suggesting that we go back to the "good old days" of no indoor bathrooms or washing machines then you've got another think coming! Just wanted to point out how far we've gone to the other extreme in our pursuit of cleanliness. I grew up in the 50 - 60's (LUCKY ME!)so although, ahem, mature not quite yet in my dotage! My point remains that thinking there is only one suitable option, in this particular case, hot showers as opposed to cold, is surely a more rigid and for lack of a better word "old fashioned" way of looking at things than the opposite camp, who are willing to challenge the conventional norm, plunge into cold water and reap the documented benefits. Brown fat is becoming all the rage you know!

He he, my grandma loves to suck eggs but we don't let her anymore since eggs aren't what they used to be.

I am a fan of warm showers (not hot) and cold rinsing. I don't know if you remember this but I'm the one who suggested rinsing with cold water and cold compresses for skin firming. The way I see it, one can wash and clean themselves properly with warm water and then rinse with cold for as long as they fancy. This is good for hair, skin and circulation.

Very Important Note: people with arthritis or similar joint problems should avoid cold showers and/or cold rinsing unless their doctor advises them otherwise.

Very Important Note: people with arthritis or similar joint problems should avoid cold showers and/or cold rinsing unless their doctor advises them otherwise.

On what basis?