Cold Showers & Coffee

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chubbachub
chubbachub Posts: 40 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
A friend of mine told me about this book "6 weeks to OMG" - which is this drastic diet she wants to do. I am not doing this but did have a quick read of a sample of it. One of the things it mentions is to avoid breakfast and to have a cold bath, have a black coffee and go to the gym and then not eat for 3 hrs after. This sounds extreme. However, some of it has intrigued me. Namely, the cold shower thing and the coffee. Both the cold bath and coffee are supposed to increase your metabolism or kick start it. Anyone have any thoughts? This morning, I couldn't face the idea of a cold bath so had a very quick cold shower - I thought hey it can't hurt. Thoughts comments?

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  • makemewannadie
    makemewannadie Posts: 401 Member
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    I always have a freezing cold shower in the morning if I need to get up early (so when uni starts back!) just because it wakes me up quickly, haha. And black coffee is part of my daily routine... don't know how much both help in terms of weight loss though, if at all.
  • kitinboots
    kitinboots Posts: 589 Member
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    I think the key to sustainable weight loss is what works for you. So if you find that a cold shower and a black coffee first thing starts your day off right, then do that. There's a lot of research regarding pre and post-workout nutrition though, which is worth reading up on.
  • xarge
    xarge Posts: 484 Member
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    Cold shower will help with the circulation, causing temporary vasoconstriction. It has no immediate and direct effect on weight loss but it helps improving blood circulation even temporarily so yes, that's a tiny improvement on your BMR.

    Caffeine is a stimulant, a psychoactive drug, but beyond daily doses most people take, a cup or two on average, it should be used under medical supervision if it's to be taken as a supplement.
  • Wonderob
    Wonderob Posts: 1,372 Member
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    Cold shower will help with the circulation, causing temporary vasoconstriction. It has no immediate and direct effect on weight loss but it helps improving blood circulation even temporarily so yes, that's a tiny improvement on your BMR.

    All that remains is working out what you will do with your extra 2 calories for the day
  • chubbachub
    chubbachub Posts: 40 Member
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    Haha yes - those 2 calls - mmm let me think
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I thought hey it can't hurt. Thoughts comments?

    I think that "it can't hurt" isn't necessarily a good justification for adding dietary restrictions.

    Perhaps a better way for me to say it would be that adding in unnecessary restrictions or techniques to your plan CAN hurt in the long run, it's just not a physiological "hurt".


    What if:
    I told you that you had to drink coffee 2 times in the AM and you don't like coffee.
    You also have to take cold showers only.
    You also have to only eat proteins by themselves, and fats by themselves, and carbs by themselves. No mixing!
    You also have to eat prunes before bed.
    You also have to drink hot lemon water 4 times per day.
    You can't eat vegetables. Those have to be blended up and you drink them instead.
    For the first 3 days of this diet, you only eat cabbage stew.
    For days 4 and 5 you eat grapefruit only.
    etc
    etc
    etc

    At some point, the collective list of things that don't really matter become a crutch. Dietary adherence goes out the window and your plan fails.


    You know what I'd do?


    Create an energy deficit (eat less than you burn). Keep it reasonable (20% under TDEE).
    Eat a lot of protein and fat. Eat at least enough carbs to train hard.
    Train hard. Probably resistance training as part of that.
    Get rest.
    Repeat
    And as far as food selection goes, just use some common sense.
    And be patient.


    I really wouldn't do anything else.
  • lmelangley
    lmelangley Posts: 1,039 Member
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    I agree with Sidesteal. The bottom line is, no matter how you take the weight off, or how quickly it comes off, you have to modify your eating habits for the long term or the weight will just come back. I've looked at it as relearning how to eat and accepting responsibility for what I put into my mouth. But, I don't believe in punishment, which cold showers/baths would be for me- no matter 2 calories or 200. But, as kitinboots says, each person has to find what works best for them.
  • xarge
    xarge Posts: 484 Member
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    What if:
    I told you that you had to drink coffee 2 times in the AM and you don't like coffee.
    You also have to take cold showers only.
    You also have to only eat proteins by themselves, and fats by themselves, and carbs by themselves. No mixing!
    You also have to eat prunes before bed.
    You also have to drink hot lemon water 4 times per day.
    You can't eat vegetables. Those have to be blended up and you drink them instead.
    For the first 3 days of this diet, you only eat cabbage stew.
    For days 4 and 5 you eat grapefruit only.
    etc
    etc
    etc

    At some point, the collective list of things that don't really matter become a crutch. Dietary adherence goes out the window and your plan fails.

    A few of those above are what most women do before every bikini season. How much they work is perfectly proven by the number of women going on bikini diets every year, again and again and again and again. It gets hopeless to look for miracle fixes while there is none.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    What if:
    I told you that you had to drink coffee 2 times in the AM and you don't like coffee.
    You also have to take cold showers only.
    You also have to only eat proteins by themselves, and fats by themselves, and carbs by themselves. No mixing!
    You also have to eat prunes before bed.
    You also have to drink hot lemon water 4 times per day.
    You can't eat vegetables. Those have to be blended up and you drink them instead.
    For the first 3 days of this diet, you only eat cabbage stew.
    For days 4 and 5 you eat grapefruit only.
    etc
    etc
    etc

    At some point, the collective list of things that don't really matter become a crutch. Dietary adherence goes out the window and your plan fails.

    A few of those above are what most women do before every bikini season. How much they work is perfectly proven by the number of women going on bikini diets every year, again and again and again and again. It gets hopeless to look for miracle fixes while there is none.

    ^ That's exactly why I chose some of those silly-a$s ideas, they're actually things people do. LOL.
  • xarge
    xarge Posts: 484 Member
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    ^ That's exactly why I chose some of those silly-a$s ideas, they're actually things people do. LOL.

    Because someone did those along with a better diet and exercise and attributed the weight loss to those silly ideas. How mind works when you see healthy habits as a chore rather than part of daily life. It's easier and lazier to drink water with lemon compared to busting your butt off in workout. Go go lemons!
  • Pepernene
    Pepernene Posts: 1
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    OMG that is to funny, thanks for the laugh! I'm definately not the cold water bath or shower person, that is insane!
  • tammylester50
    tammylester50 Posts: 4
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    I drink coffee every morning and I am still overweight lol. But I have heard the opposite to drink ice cold water and eat hot peppers etc because it helps burn more calories. But you need energy to work out and within 45 min you should eat something to keep that metabolism going. Just another crazy fad diet. Basically you have to burn more calories then you take it to loose weight period.
  • Fit_Canuck
    Fit_Canuck Posts: 788 Member
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    Cold shower will help with the circulation, causing temporary vasoconstriction. It has no immediate and direct effect on weight loss but it helps improving blood circulation even temporarily so yes, that's a tiny improvement on your BMR.

    Caffeine is a stimulant, a psychoactive drug, but beyond daily doses most people take, a cup or two on average, it should be used under medical supervision if it's to be taken as a supplement.

    That's a whole lot said to basically say nothing at all. But well done throwing out the big guns ;)
  • xarge
    xarge Posts: 484 Member
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    That's a whole lot said to basically say nothing at all. But well done throwing out the big guns ;)

    I don't see how it's nothing at all. I explained how those work on body. I never said they work for weight loss. Should I instead tell to do this or not do that?
  • lisalu2u
    lisalu2u Posts: 5 Member
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    I have read that people who have reached a plateau in their dieting have used the cold shower to kind of kick start their weight loss again. The research has been anecdotal but positive. I would maybe try it if my weight loss came to a slow crawl but on a regular basis no way, because cold showers are not my thing! Good luck.
  • CoolFatBurner
    CoolFatBurner Posts: 1
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    A few comments on this thread are incorrect.

    Even moderate cold exposure can significantly boost the metabolism.

    Enough cold to induce goosebumps should be enough to activate BAT activity. If you don't have much BAT, skeletal muscle uncoupling will pick up the slack and give similar results. Either way, even moderate cold exposure can boost calorie burning significantly, potentially adding up to pounds of fat, even in a month's time.

    If you really go hardcore into thermal loading, you can burn HUNDREDS of calories an HOUR. Basically, this is a near-shivering/shivering level of thermal loading. I'd only recommend doing that once or twice a week for the average person, then go more casual the other days of the week.

    1lb of fat = 3600 calories
    500 calories/day X 7 days week - 3500 calories

    So you need to reduce 500 calories a day to lose 1lb per week.

    If you could knock out 1-200 of those 500 calories a day with cold thermogenesis, would that be worth it? And no, ice baths and cold showers aren't the only solutions.

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