Egull1's Journal, 31 May 2020

You look amazing!! 

Looking great! 

Thank you, Ram & Silk! 46 is treating me pretty good! 

Nice and fit! And, you can do that L sit! 

You are amazing and inspiring! Thank you for continuing to share your journey with us!  

Thank you, Melissa - thank you all for being so encouraging! And, Ireland - I absolutely adore that you remember the L-sits. I'm up to 35 seconds!!! And, thank you, Chris. I'm working to increase my math skills. LOL. And yes it was me who mentioned the Wim Hof method, and I'm still doing the breathing exercises in addition to the cold water therapy (a 6-8 minute completely cold shower). I'm not going to lie, it's a damn game changer and has definitely taken workouts and capacity to a whole other level that really makes a person understand, our bodies are soooo much more capable that we even comprehend. I also integrate the Oxygen advantage technique into my workouts. It's been a game changer as well. Needless to say, increasing the Oxygen saturation in the blood can yield some phenomenal results, nothwithstanding vast improvement of muscle mass, the cardiovascular system in addition to a strong immune system and lower inflammation levels in the body. San Fran University is doing further studies on Wim Hof, because a lot of the results they are seeing in the lab with regard to his technique and auto immune issues that are blowing "big Pharma" out of the water :-) PS. My current RHR lately is 59 bpm (I think on the chart, that's athlete status). Not too shabby for a golden girl :-) 

Looking really good! 

@Equil!! How funny, I am Dutch, same age as Wim Hof. As a kid I learned to finish a shower with cold water, I still do :) Very refreshing! Also it was quite normal to learn as a 4/5 year old kid to swim in an open water pool in May's freezing cold weather. Wim Hof muse have had a similar experience as a kid :) 

Silk, that is wonderful!!! I've been doing the cold showers daily and usually after my workouts. I actually do the breathing exercises while I'm in the shower. I've started to notice by the second turn (I do about 3 turns to get my front and back) my body starts to heat up and adapt, especially in the back area around my shoulders where our brown fat stores are located and actually help to increase body temps when we're cold. Wim hof cold therapy has been known to increase brown fat percentage in the body. And, they've come to discover that brown fat can actually be a key component to helping the body burn adipose (i.e., white fat). The more brown fat we have, the better our body utilizes our white fat. And, I have to say the cold water brings the inflammation and sore muscles down very low. My post workout soreness is meager compared to what it used to be. But, the big difference was watching my t-cell count increase to 45%. The highest it's ever been since I started the immuno-modulatory drug for MS, which is known to tank T-cells. All the way around - both the breathing method and cold water therapy have given me nothing but joyful results, so I'm sticking with this dutch man's advice. So, wonderful you've reaped some of the benefits as well! 

Fantastic❣️ looking strong and confident💞💞💞 

Looking fit as can be! ❤️ 💪🏼 

Super woman!! ❤️ 

Strong and 🔥😍. I will see if I can do the cold shower. 🥶 

LOL, Chris - I would probably be crazy enough to do the ice baths. Being numb from the waist down due to the MS affords me the ability to adapt to the cold readily without gritting my teeth as much, LOL. But, if ya think about it - it's a lot of work to put an ice bath together, even if you just use the bath tub. The cold shower presents less challenges and still does the trick. Keilin - if you try the cold showers - start at it slow, sweetie. Go with your regular shower and begin with hot and about a minute before switch it to cold and just try to last a minute in the beginning, or even turn it too cold slowly. It's meant to cause the "stress" response in the body and stimulate the autonomic nervous system. The cortisol levels lower and the adrenaline increases and you will want to gasp for air, which is good...just try to take in steady deep breaths to open up your capillaries and allow for more oxygen into your blood stream. But, if you start trembling or shivering too much - stop the shower. Afterwards, you will very likely feel energetic, but weirdly calm and relaxed. It's like coffee without the jitters, because you're also releasing a whooole bunch of your own brains endorphins, LOL. And, let me tell ya - our brains have some pretty strong "feel good" endorphins that still can't be matched at the pharmacy ;-) And, thank you DP, wifey, and moo!!! You all are doing pretty dang stellar yourselves - don't forget to stop and pat your own backs for showing up and doing the work.  

LMAO!!! Oh Chris, here I was taking my cold shower, trying to hold my exhale breath, and barely being able to contain my laughter whilst imagining you screaming like the woman for psycho when the water turns cold. LOL!!! But, I got through it...and yes, I completely understand the cold therapy is not for everyone AND there are just as many benefits from heat therapy as well - like sauna's or hot tubs. So, there is more than one way to open up the capillaries - and, likely far more comforting than a cold shower. But, definitely keep up with those breathing exercises. If anything, those are key for a lot of processes in your body. Breath holds are actually a very ancient tradition and go wayeeee back into the days of yore when Buddhists and Yogi's often used similar techniques to tap into the "higher" potential of the body. Also, look up how Wim Hof uses his method doing push-ups. It's a great way to discover the potential this technique has while doing any kind of strength training. 

naturally pretty and Love your curls 

Looking so good. Congrats 

looking good 

Hey! I took a 20 sec cold shower XD 😜 

Looking great!