Yesterday I sent off my 2nd newsletter, which I called Chill. I was very reluctant to start a newsletter. My thinking is that readers already have RSS, Twitter and can even have each post sent via email. Why should I add more noise and yet another newsletter?
It turned out that I really enjoyed putting together the two newsletters so far. Instead of being link dumps, I wanted to attempt to connect the various posts with a new narrative.
For those that aren’t signed up, here is a direct link to Newsletter #2.
http://eepurl.com/8HjG1
If you have any comments regarding the newsletter, leave them below. Right now the plan is to put out a new newsletter every other month.
Pauline
Nov 19, 2014 — 1:41 am
Got this in my inbox today and wondered if you have read it :
http://hypothermics.com/2014/11/let-the-games-begin-2/
MAS
Nov 19, 2014 — 7:51 am
@Pauline – Yeah, I skimmed it. So far I haven’t gotten any value from that site. Wish the writing was tighter.
Maybe I missed it, but the key element that only I seem to be discussing it is how important it is to get warm quickly. Being cold is a stressor. Get that level right and wonderful things can happen. Push it too far and it will be a net negative. Those levels will vary between people and I suspect vary as one gets leaner.
If I was a male endomorph with 30 pounds to lose (like the site author), then my window of temps and time exposure is more extensive than those of us leaner and with less muscle. Muscle does throw off heat (uncoupling protein). Male endomorphs typically have the most muscle.
If you see any important nuggets worth sharing on that site, leave a comment.
Becca
Nov 19, 2014 — 2:13 pm
That newsletter was awesome! I really liked how you used narrative to connect everything… it helped it all seem more connected and interesting.
Pauline
Nov 20, 2014 — 12:17 am
I think he has done an experiment of an 11 day water fast (which is ok if you have 30 pounds extra weight) – noting that his body hasn’t gone into starvation mode but is using up his fat surplus and burning off the pounds. I have always been interested in fasting for healing for say 3-5 days, either using water or broths, vegetables etc. Its one way of clearing your body of any food sensitivities and finding out if that relates to any health issues. His goal was to lose 30 pounds and it sounds like he has done that. I think what he is also saying is that we live in an environment in which there are too many calories/food surplus and warmth, and not enough cold adaptation. Our ancestors may have naturally experienced calorie restriction as we would have cycled our food intake because regular food sources would not have always been available. Too many calories and too much warmth (heated environments) mean we do not get to burn off the excess body fat as we would have by shivering to stay warm in a cooler environment and when food sources were more restrictive and cyclical. So we are not adapted to this modern environment where there is a glut of food and warmth.
MAS
Nov 20, 2014 — 8:49 am
@Pauline – After your comment yesterday, I covered more of my thoughts on the next post.
https://criticalmas.org/2014/11/cold-exposure-not-one-size-fits/
Our ancestors probably did not have to deal with the chronic stressors of modern society and were better equipped to response to cold and irregular sources of food. My thought is that we try to engage in resiliency building exercises like cold exposure without dealing with chronic stress we could make things worse.
Also there is a feedback loop that when one is repeatedly exposed to cold temperatures, the body responds by lowering metabolism to conserve energy. If one has a high metabolism, cold exposure might be fine. If one has a low metabolism at the start, it could make things worse.
I’m a fan of cold exposure, but I am also a healthy male that gained 40-50 pounds of muscle since high school. I had a lot of wiggle room to get it right. And there were still times I pushed it too far.
Chris
Dec 3, 2014 — 5:41 pm
How do we sign up for this newsletter? I don’t see a sign up link anywhere.
MAS
Dec 3, 2014 — 5:45 pm
@Chris – Oops. Looks like my signup form disappeared. I’ll fix that, in the meantime go here:
http://eepurl.com/8HjG1
Upper left hand corner is a Subscribe button.
Thanks!