Losing Weight Just By Showering Properly

When I initially embarked on my weight loss journey (which consisted of finding determination and picking up the 4 Hour Body), I didn't think about how my body actually loses the fat and other bad stuff that I pick up while eating gross, yet delicious food.  I read an article about a NASA scientist who studied Michael Phelps' training and diet and figured out that something was amiss with his claim about consuming 13,000 calories to stay in top shape.  I saw a similar reading in 4HB.  The key to the body losing some extra weight, and cutting the fat, literally, was by taking a cold shower or an ice bath.

Now I know what you're thinking: there's no way in hell I'm coming from home from the gym and getting into a cold shower.  To help boost your confidence about getting into a cold shower, start slow.  Don't immediately jump into a cold shower prompting you to shriek and possibly fall down naked.  Only bad things can happen from there on.  Ease the water toward cold when your already in the shower and you'll build a little more of a tolerance.  Now Ferris recommends a 10 minute cold shower.  I usually stuck with a 5 minute shower only because I don't waste too much time.  The feeling afterwards is so refreshing.  Usually I would feel like I was sweating a little bit after a hot shower.  But with the cold shower: I feel dry, cool, and your body temperature will become elevated since it now thinks you need to regulate it from being in the cold (hence how you lose those extra pounds over time)

The ice bath, which requires a tub, is a little more time consuming and pricier if you need to get bags of ice just to take a bath.  I recommend doing an ice bath as a weekend thing.  Filling extra tupperware with water and freezing it will help with the ice part.  I stayed in my ice baths for about 10-15 minutes or whenever the ice melted.  Don't stick your head in ice cold water!  But try to keep most of your body below the water for the majority of the time.  After you're done, the same feeling of refreshment will overtake your body.

Here is a video of Tim Ferris on the View:

Aside from the ice baths and cold showers, I've found the using less shampoo has actually made my hair better.  I only shampoo my hair maybe once every 4-5 showers and sometimes less.  Now I picked up this technique after reading about how shampoo was used decades ago and how it's used now.  If you think back to the 1960's and 1950's, you can remember a time in a movie or TV show when a girl would refuse to go out with a boy she didn't like because "she had to wash her hair" (womp womp, poor Eddie Haskell).  I think I saw this on TV Land or Nick at Nite, but it got me wondering "where did this excuse come from and where is it now?".  Well lo and behold I did some research and found that people used to only use shampoo when they felt their hair was getting really out of hand and felt grimey.  I know that Loreal, Pert, Herbal Essences and whatever you put in your hair in the morning makes you feel like your hair is doing so much better than everyone else's, but that's what the marketers of these products want you to think.  Cutting back on shampoo has made my hair, thicker, fuller, and healthier.  I can't explain the science behind it, but it works.  Try cutting back on shampoo and I bet you will see healthier hair that won't end up in the drain.

Weight Loss Blog!

Okay, so I'm starting a weight loss/weight management blog.  Mainly because people have this idea that thin is happy and if you took a look around, that clearly is not the case.  Now I've usually been the kid in my family to go up to the buffet table 5-6 times and come back with a plate full of meat.  I did this feat at the ripe age or 11 by the way (ask my family).

But being fat and having this fat guy persona isn't so much of a bad thing.  What brings people down isn't their fat, it's the response from people looking at their fat and thinking they are disgusting or some other negative response.  If you take a look at some of the historically funnier and brighter people in history - most of them are fat.  They didn't care about their fat per se, but they cared about the idea of how they were perceived.  If they wanted to be perceived as powerful, they would see their fat as a strength against their puny little opponents.  I'd rather be well-fed than malnourished any day of the week.  There is such a thing as a starving artist and a fed artist.

Being fat, or obese, as many health insurance companies will put it now, isn't a bad thing.  In fact, I believe that there is this triangular based theory related to one's weight that will dictate one's sense of humor, one's sense of narcissism, and one's sense of happiness.  In fact, the same theory goes for with people who believe themselves to be ugly.  Let's not forget that the "prettier" people in society do not have to have the same set of skills that another person must attain to be a viable member of the workforce.  Much like how height affects one's earning power, I believe that the same could go for people who are overweight and/ugly, but in a negative fashion.  I don't know of any study out there for this, but it would seem interesting to look at.

In the up coming posts, I will take a look at people who are fat, happy, and in very powerful positions in life.

The William Howard Taft Memorial Weight Loss Challenge! Let’s Get It On!

So, a bunch of friends and I are putting some money up to compete each other at a weight loss challenge.  Kevin Edelson, James Bucknam and I are some of the competitors and we’ve decided to put our money where are mouths are and put that McDonald’s in the garbage. 

Hopefully we can all get on a strict regiment of healthy food in this day of working weird hours and eating shitty food.  I know I’ve lost some weight since leaving college, and surprisingly kept it off too.  I mean, I eat more dogshit-like food than anyone else I know.  Just imagine what would happen if I ate healthy food and kept at the gym.  The results could be amazing!  That’s a great thought.

I considered trying out the P90X program, but I don’t think I have the time or skillset to do the eating/dieting portion of that program.  I could try the workout exercises and just eat healthier and hope for success.  But let it be known that Mark Robert Sheehan will be entering the Williams Howard Taft Memorial Weight Loss Challenge.  If you know Kevin Edelson and are curious into the weight loss challenge, then Facebook him and find out how to enter.  $25 a head.  Starts next Monday.