My husband climbed into a freezer
Should I run a boot camp next?
I remember in about our 20th year, my first husband saying, “It just gets weirder and weirder around here.” I think I had a new fermented food on the counter.
I’m grateful that my second husband, John, is on board with the “health hacks” I do.
The first guy would definitely have something to say about our latest “cold plunge.”
Our chest freezer is our latest experiment. And how good we feel ALL DAY, after doing this, is kind of blowing our minds.
You feel amazing for hours, after you freeze for 60 seconds, or however long you can take it!
We were putting ice in cold water in the bathtub before this.
But this is a RING OF ICE now and it’s super crazy how cold it is! The first time, I didn’t last much longer than John did. It’s deeper than the bathtub, and everything is submerged but my head.
He did get out, as you can see in this video, and decided to get back in. He lasted about the same the second time. Like 30 seconds max.
I started to feel competitive, and then I lasted 60 seconds, totally submerged, no legs out. I could have stayed in longer. The important thing is, I beat John – lol.
Honestly, the really hard part is the first two minutes. Then, it’s weird, you get warmer as your circulatory system is in hyperdrive and sends blood back to the heart – my husband and daughter agree that your THIRD MINUTE is SO much easier.
I wouldn’t do it longer than 6 minutes. And if you have a medical condition, please consult with your trusted physician; this is NOT medical advice, I’m just telling you my latest exciting discovery.
If you’re gonna try this, start with a cold shower first. Ice in cold bath water next.
If you’re hardcore like me and wanna get a chest freezer, you can probably buy an old one somebody isn’t using for $20 on NextDoor app or whatever.
The thing is, you feel like a MILLION BUCKS when you do this. You feel amazing for HOURS.
Apparently, this is a “thing,” all over the place, my kids are telling me.
And before I even talked to them about it, two of my kids were trying out fully cold showers. Or at least 30 seconds of totally cold water at the end.
That’s a good place to start. It’ll give you a taste of how your cardiovascular system and endorphins PUMP, from just being cold for a short time!
I'm not on TikTok or Insta or following pop culture much, so I haven't seen “cold plunge” trending ... but there are $8K to $12K cold-plunge tubs. I looked at them and was like, "Oh hell no." (So much money. Chemicals you have to add. Just no.)
Our firefighter neighbor comes over and talks to me while I'm in the sauna, and he told me the "caulk a freezer" hack.
And John has a friend at the gym who did the same ... an old freezer is a great idea ... it took like 4 DAYS for this to freeze a ring of ice in there. It would probably take a WEEK to freeze solid.
(You don’t need it to freeze solid. If it did, how would you get in? Plug it in for a couple days, then unplug it! I leave mine unplugged for many days at a time. Those freezers are insulated!)
So, NOW we have the freezer OFF. We’ve been letting a foot or so of water partially freeze – and then we just add more water from the hose. When you get in, your body pushes the ice block to the bottom.
Don’t want to sit naked on ice? Then wear clothes.
As you can see, my daughter gets in wearing a bikini. John wears a swimsuit, too. I usually do it naked.
I started doing this in Michigan, when I was running all over the world, studying non-toxic cancer treatments.
(For research purposes. I didn’t have cancer. I certainly encountered a lot of reasons to avoid it in the first place, though.)
At a clinic in Michigan (no longer in business), we’d get in an old-school Russian banya, where you’d pour water over hot rocks (an old-school sauna) … and then when you couldn’t take the steam anymore, you’d get out and jump in the freezing cold river and then back to the banya. Rinse, repeat. We did it in a group, which was fun.
That’s where I found out that you feel like SUPERMAN, doing this. In fact, I don’t like doing it after 7 pm, because then I can’t fall asleep. Now I do it in the morning.
I took several years off the ice-in-the-bathtub thing when it caused a tragedy. (Let’s don’t talk about it, but pro tip: close the door to the bathtub full of ice if you have a pet.) I had PTSD over that, for a few years.
But then while I was separated from John for two months last year, as he rebuilt our home after the hurricane, and I had to work elsewhere (while my house was a construction zone) … sauna + ice bath really saved me.
It was a stressful time, but I actually felt great because I was doing sauna + ice bath every day.
The endorphins your body will produce from “cold shock proteins” really are incredible.
They remind you that it’s not even as much circumstantial, so much as hormones/neurotransmitters, that give us anxiety. (Or at least, you can control the latter, while often NOT the former.)
Having to go to the store and buy $10 bags of ice is a hassle. I’d been doing that for months. It’s not like you can stock up and store 20-lb bags of ice. You have to go to the store every time.
Another pro tip: 20 lbs of ice in cold water in your bathtub? Not NEARLY as cold as this chest-freezer deal.
I can sit in an ice bath in the tub for 5 minutes, easy. Not so much in this ring-of-ice thing. I go for three minutes as my goal. I set a timer on my phone, and take long, slow breaths, and calm my mind.
I know what you’re saying: “But I hate cold water.”
(We all hate cold water. We all saw Titanic. Just have a laugh about it and go in for 30 seconds. You can do it. Have your towel handy. Congratulate yourself when you get out!)
My daughter Emma was saying how people are probably making payments on these 8K cold plunge tubs, and probably do it twice and hate it, and never do it again. She’s probably not wrong. Exactly no one CRAVES being in freezing water for a few minutes.
With cold, you gotta start somewhere. John heard me gush about how awesome it was for months, before he’d get in the ice-water bathtub … and that was after my body melted all the ice!
He finally started doing it, and he’s totally hooked now.
You know what I always say: “Leave the LOVE DOOR open.” Don’t shame anybody for not doing your “weird” health hack. Just keep “dripping” on them about how good you feel.
Often, they come around. And if they don’t–it’s their life, not yours, right?
They want to feel great, too. People take a while to come around. Like many of you who have done our 26-Day Detox.
You had to hear like 10 times how amazing people feel, when they do it. Before you joined up. Right?
The cold plunge is the best anti-inflammatory ever, and John goes to a fight gym and beats guys up wearing boxing gloves, three days a week. So he’s been doing a cold plunge before his drive to the gym.
Expect energy out the wazoo!
My daughter got so hooked, that our joke after she was here for 4 days, is that she misses my chest-freezer cold plunge more than she misses me.
Her first time in, I thought she’d like boot-camp style, with me counting down and pushing her to stay in a little longer. (After all, she skydives and bungee jumps. Which there is absolutely no health benefit to, by the way.)
But her second time, she requested Enya Mom instead of Boot Camp Mom. (Which would you prefer?)
Maybe cold plunging sounds crazy, but the way it feels once you do is absolutely incredible. You’re probably as amazed as I am, by Wim Hoff, who popularized the cold plunge.
That guy climbs mountains in his bare feet and swims for an hour in an icy river.
I’m not there yet. I’m just proud of myself for doing 3-6 mins.
One doctor’s video one of you sent me said 6 mins daily in cold plunge(s) is worth more, for FAT BURN, than any hour of exercise you can do. (You ready to try it, yet? I’ve given you lots of reasons.)
Again, if you try it, start out with cold showers and work up, from there. Remember, somewhere near you, somebody has an old chest freezer they don’t use, who would probably part with it for $20 and you bringing the pickup truck and dolly.
Good health doesn’t have to be expensive, even if your neighbors might think you’re weird. I’ve told my neighbors, “Come on over, get in my chest freezer.” No takers yet.
P.S. What are the health benefits of cold plunging?
A huge rush of endorphins
Decreased inflammation
Improved sleep
Positive, euphoric, can-do mood
Reduced stress & more resilience
Helping remedy aches and pains
Turbo fat burn
Will you try it? Would you want Boot Camp Mom, or Enya Mom, timing and coaching you?
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I was in Budapest on vacation at a great hotel spa. I purposefully was there for the wet sauna and mineral water baths. They had a single person plunge pool. I've heard about the benefits of doing so. I got up to a minute submerged to my neck. By that time, after you can do a minute, it doesn't seem so bad. I miss that vacation and hotel!
I would love that! But we would have to share a ride over with someone from Bradenton (until Aug 21), after that from Ocala, since we no longer have a car. And hubby post-stroke rides better in back seat and I got nervous driving.