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I live in Quebec, and it gets pretty cold here. I've always been a bit of a wuss regarding the cold and I'd like to get over that. Now I have no problem staying outside for extended periods of time as long as I have proper clothing, but I'd like to kick it up a notch. I've always been fascinated by those guys who throw themselves in frozen lakes (apetor's videos are a good example). I don't really have a plan; I guess I should just go outside in my yard wearing less-than-optimal clothing at least once per day for some time and eventually I'll be able to stay longer and longer, maybe even barefoot or the likes. I know it's possible, in the russia thread they linked the story of a family that were totally cut off from civilization and basically one of their kids would go hunting for days barefoot in the snow. Now I'm wondering, will this have an effect on my immune system? Is there a better way than what i'm planning? I've looked a bit online and all I can find is tips on exercising outside during the winter. Is what I'm looking to do even a thing? Thanks for all input.
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Dec 10, 2014 23:20
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I don't know if it will have any effect on your immune system - the whole "cold weather causes colds" is bunk, viruses cause colds and cold weather causes a very temporary bought of the sniffles - but I wouldn't go all the way to barefoot. Frostbite can still happen regardless of training or experience, and tissue that's been damaged by cold tends to be more sensitive to future cold events. Just spend some time outdoors with slightly-sub-optimal clothing, and push yourself to stay out longer than "I am slightly uncomfortable". Or, better, find something to do outdoors that you really enjoy. Do that, and you'll find you've been outdoors for hours without noticing just how cold it is because you've been having fun.
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Dec 10, 2014 23:35
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ExecuDork posted:Or, better, find something to do outdoors that you really enjoy. Do that, and you'll find you've been outdoors for hours without noticing just how cold it is because you've been having fun. Yup. I HATE being cold, due being freezing cold pretty much every single winter when I was a kid (house was inadequately heated with wood heat). I can deal with the cold if I'm having fun or being distracted, but otherwise it really gets to me.
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Dec 10, 2014 23:54
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Hated the cold as well. As a kid my room didn't have any insulation in the floor of the closet, and my father insisted on buying an old VW Beetle which meant I was cold as gently caress the majority of the day during winter. Now as an adult and not having to pay for heating directly but instead through a fixed condo fee I keep my condo set at a mild 27C during the winter. Frostbite would be my biggest concern before launching into something like this. Do you have any goals in mind? You might want to talk to a doctor as a lot of them eat this special challenge poo poo up and would have the medical knowledge and background to give you a clearer picture of what you need to do to prepare and roadblocks along the way. Biggest thing is keeping your mind on something else at least initially. Had a car with a radiator way too big for it about two years ago and the thermostat decided to go on it during a spell of -30C weather. Once I got driving for a bit I never noticed being cold as gently caress until I hit a stop light. Skin cracking on my hand was the thing I noticed most during that time.
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Dec 11, 2014 01:38
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Exercise outside this winter. I've worked outside for the last 5 or so years in some pretty lovely conditions typically 10 to 12 hours a day and I've noticed that after the first two or three times I work up a really good sweat and allow my body to cool back down in temperatures below -20 to -25 (degrees celsius) is when my body starts to acclimatize for the winter. I typically work in conditions from -20 to -40 for a few weeks at a time, then return home where the temperature hovers around -5 and find it extremely warm outside. Through the winter my thermostat sits at about 16 and I sit around in shorts and a T shirt comfortably. If you have a long day ahead of you in the cold, always have an extremely hot shower before you start your day. It also helps to be in good shape.
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Dec 11, 2014 08:06
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I went to montreal for new years once and standing outside was literally painful. Ive lived in northern Vermont and I still dont understand how you guys do it. My advice is to move.
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Dec 11, 2014 11:09
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1500quidporsche posted:Hated the cold as well. As a kid my room didn't have any insulation in the floor of the closet, and my father insisted on buying an old VW Beetle which meant I was cold as gently caress the majority of the day during winter. Now as an adult and not having to pay for heating directly but instead through a fixed condo fee I keep my condo set at a mild 27C during the winter. Allow me to ask the opposite question as the rest of the thread (you seem like you might know the answer): how the gently caress you do make yourself comfortable when it's that warm? When my apartment gets that warm in the summer, I sweat from doing drat near anything, I can barely sleep, and I just feel miserable until it cools down a bit. I wake up super-early to set up fans and get cold air into the apartment before everything warms up. Right now, I'm sitting in my apartment at 20C and it could do to be a few degrees cooler -- the heater hasn't even kicked on in a while, it's just from the fact that the common areas are too warm and my appliances produce heat. Right now I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt and feel extremely comfortable. Whenever I'm in a place where it's hotter than 30C outside, I feel like I'm going to sweat myself to death. I don't really like the cold either, but it's preferable to being too hot for me since it's really easily fixed by putting on more clothes. EDIT: And before anyone says anything: I'm about 6'2" and 165 pounds or so, and I work out every day, so it's not like I get really sweaty from exertion during normal tasks. I just feel warm pretty much all the time. PT6A fucked around with this message at 14:45 on Dec 11, 2014 |
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Dec 11, 2014 14:29
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PT6A posted:Allow me to ask the opposite question as the rest of the thread (you seem like you might know the answer): how the gently caress you do make yourself comfortable when it's that warm? When my apartment gets that warm in the summer, I sweat from doing drat near anything, I can barely sleep, and I just feel miserable until it cools down a bit. I wake up super-early to set up fans and get cold air into the apartment before everything warms up. Right now, I'm sitting in my apartment at 20C and it could do to be a few degrees cooler -- the heater hasn't even kicked on in a while, it's just from the fact that the common areas are too warm and my appliances produce heat. Right now I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt and feel extremely comfortable. Whenever I'm in a place where it's hotter than 30C outside, I feel like I'm going to sweat myself to death. Probably the same as the answer to acclimating to the cold: you just get used to it. Where I live the heat index sits around 30-40 C in the summer and fall, and everyone wears shorts and flip flops a lot. We complain about the heat but complain more when it cools off. I like the heat, because I like going outside without too much clothing and feeling the sun on my skin. Of course I do sweat, but it doesn't bother me. Being a little sweaty and then feeling a nice breeze is pretty great. I get cold easily, and my ideal outdoor temperature is something that will help me warm up after being inside an air conditioned school/commercial building.
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Dec 11, 2014 15:48
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Sweating is still a thing when I'm really warm, but it seems to bothers me less than others. But I want to get into amateur endurance racing down the road so it was something I wanted to increase my tolerance to. I used to be a bit of a nerd so a few years ago I'd make a conscious effort to keep outside during the summer, but I also had a skin condition called keratosis pilaris that I was self conscious about at the time that meant I'd be out in 30+C weather in long sleeve shirts and jeans. Now that I really don't give a gently caress being in a heat wave with a T-shirt and shorts seems perfectly fine as long as I have water. I'm fine and have gotten used to it, my current car doesn't have A/C and this summer I never really found myself wanting it despite the dark blue interior. If I'm on the highway I actually leave the windows up and just use the air vents to cut down on noise.
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Dec 11, 2014 18:22
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Cold is easy fool, you just wear more/thicker clothes. Let me tell you of the hell that is working in Los Angeles with people who wear coats in the summer and think the AC should be set to 80.
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Dec 11, 2014 20:54
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Chard posted:Cold is easy fool, you just wear more/thicker clothes. Let me tell you of the hell that is working in Los Angeles with people who wear coats in the summer and think the AC should be set to 80. Oh good, another sane person. 70F/21C is shorts weather. A winter thermostat setting should be 18 or 19C, if I had A/C it would be set to 21 or so in the summer.
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Dec 11, 2014 21:03
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tolerating the heat is really just a matter of carrying ice water with you. if your core is cool, you will hardly notice your extremities being warm. doesnt really work for tolerating the cold though.
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Dec 11, 2014 22:36
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PT6A posted:Oh good, another sane person. 70F/21C is shorts weather. A winter thermostat setting should be 18 or 19C, if I had A/C it would be set to 21 or so in the summer. If my thermostat was set to 18/19C I'd be shivering constantly. I could live with 21 but since I don't directly pay for my heating bill I crank it up until I'm comfortable.
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Dec 11, 2014 23:03
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throwAway712 posted:tolerating the heat is really just a matter of carrying ice water with you. if your core is cool, you will hardly notice your extremities being warm. doesnt really work for tolerating the cold though.
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Dec 12, 2014 01:02
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I have always been interested in this since I was a kid. I read a story that had an Indian in it who lived in a cave and slept on a slab of ice because he believed another ice age was coming. In the winter where I work is really cold, so I try to acclimatize the best I can. People always ask me though "Aren't you cold?" or "Why aren't you wearing a jacket?"
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Dec 12, 2014 02:22
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Seriously, I can't believe people would put their heat above 20C in the winter. I'm wearing nothing but shorts at the moment in my apartment and I feel pleasantly warm, and the thermostat shows 20C. If I were wearing a shirt and pants, I would almost surely be unpleasantly hot. So, uh, to acclimatize yourself to cold, apparently you ought to do whatever I've done with my life. I guess just tough it out a little bit, and then your body will react to it as normal, but that's never worked for me when it comes to heat, so that's probably not the best advice. I still find the extreme cold unpleasant. With a good jacket and boots, I can be comfortable down to about -10C but once wind-chills start to hit -30 or below, it just loving sucks no matter who you are or what you're wearing.
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Dec 12, 2014 08:01
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Sierra Nevadan posted:People always ask me though "Aren't you cold?" or "Why aren't you wearing a jacket?" What's the point of improving yourself if you can't shove it into the faces of lesser people?
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Dec 12, 2014 17:57
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PT6A posted:Seriously, I can't believe people would put their heat above 20C in the winter. I'm wearing nothing but shorts at the moment in my apartment and I feel pleasantly warm, and the thermostat shows 20C. If I were wearing a shirt and pants, I would almost surely be unpleasantly hot. When I was little the window by my bed would get stuck badly just short of sealing, so it would look like it was closed but there would be a pretty major draft. My parents complained when I kept bugging them for help getting it open/closed, so eventually I just gave it up and left it stuck slightly open. For about two years. That did the trick for acclimating to cold, the flipside being that I can't tolerate heat very well.
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Dec 12, 2014 18:50
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Thanks for all the answers. It seems like there's no way to get used to all temperatures; if you get acclimatized to the cold you start getting sensitive to heat. Ideally I'd be comfortable in all climates... for the record I haven't started acclimatizing yet, but I will soon and will update this thread with a trip report when I do!
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Dec 12, 2014 18:59
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Sign me up as someone else who can't stand hot weather, either. By "hot", i mean anything above 80. My favorite temperature is anywhere between the 40-70 range, I feel swampy and sweaty and just gross, and then there's the fact that I have severe allergies so I've come to associate that level of warmth with migraines and snuffy noses and sinus pressure. My boyfriend thinks I'm nuts when I get so happy about that first day in October when it's a high of 60.
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Dec 12, 2014 20:20
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Can't answer the OP, but I'm happy to report that I keep my thermostat at 75 year round. Also, as far as the cold causes colds thing, it has to do with humidity levels. A virus can't survive on a doorknob for long in high humidity.
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Dec 13, 2014 19:39
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Colonel J posted:Thanks for all the answers. It seems like there's no way to get used to all temperatures; if you get acclimatized to the cold you start getting sensitive to heat. Ideally I'd be comfortable in all climates... for the record I haven't started acclimatizing yet, but I will soon and will update this thread with a trip report when I do! Yeah, I work outside a good chunk of the day and did so this past week with only a long undershirt and short sleeve shirt in -2 weather. My thermostat is at ~19 when I'm awake, ~17 when I sleep. My problems arise in the summer; I cannot stand being hot, or when coming inside a building with the heat cranked during the winter after being outside for a bit.
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Dec 13, 2014 20:26
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adorai posted:Also, as far as the cold causes colds thing, it has to do with humidity levels. A virus can't survive on a doorknob for long in high humidity. Maybe. I find it more believable that the simpler explanation is that people are stupid, the English language has some problems, and people hear the word "cold" and conflate two completely separate concepts. Sniffles when you walk around outside in cold weather get confused (by idiots) with sniffles caused by an infection. Weather cold enough to need gloves or mittens should reduce virus transmission rates because (I think) this will reduce the number of infected surface <-> mucous membrane exchanges, though my optimism is dampened by the number of people I see rubbing their eyes while wearing latex or nitrile gloves in laboratories. 
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Dec 14, 2014 07:24
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ExecuDork posted:Maybe. I find it more believable that the simpler explanation is that people are stupid, the English language has some problems, and people hear the word "cold" and conflate two completely separate concepts. Sniffles when you walk around outside in cold weather get confused (by idiots) with sniffles caused by an infection. Weather cold enough to need gloves or mittens should reduce virus transmission rates because (I think) this will reduce the number of infected surface <-> mucous membrane exchanges, though my optimism is dampened by the number of people I see rubbing their eyes while wearing latex or nitrile gloves in laboratories. Conversely the cold weather could cause the viruses lipid envelope to solidify and thus be able to transit larger distances to new hosts before succumbing to the elements.
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Dec 14, 2014 07:39
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PT6A posted:Oh good, another sane person. 70F/21C is shorts weather. A winter thermostat setting should be 18 or 19C, if I had A/C it would be set to 21 or so in the summer. gently caress that, 50 is shorts weather, you might just need a sweatshirt if the wind's up. I can't imagine staying awake trying to work in an 80 degree office setting.
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Dec 14, 2014 07:57
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I unironicly rock shorts until about 10 degrees Fahrenheit and I only become uncomfortably.cold -20f. I cannot deal with temperatures above 85-90f. I.guess it supports the idea that you get acclimated to one extreme at a time.
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Dec 15, 2014 02:05
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Keep moving and you don't get cold. I suggest getting into a workout routine. It's 29 deg here and I am in shorts and low socks... of course that is inside but yeah.
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Dec 15, 2014 02:58
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Canine Blues Arooo posted:I unironicly rock shorts until about 10 degrees Fahrenheit and I only become uncomfortably.cold -20f. I cannot deal with temperatures above 85-90f. Yeah, this is true. I was talking about "shorts weather" as in "weather where it's necessary to wear shorts to be comfortable" not "it's possible to wear shorts without being uncomfortable."
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Dec 15, 2014 04:42
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I was born in Transylvania where the medium temperature during the year is generally much lower than in the rest of the country (Romania) but I moved in the east, where the summers can get insane (by my standards). I got accustomed to temperatures around 40 degrees celsius (104 F) the hard way but I will never get accustomed to the wind during winters here (russian blizzards are the worst  ). The secret to withstanding low temperatures is to work on your blood circulation by exercising or walking, having a healthy diet, having regular massages and, the best method I know, have Scottish showers coupled with Finnish saunas. Given that your heart is healthy enough, a cold/hot treatment at least once a week its great for your blood circulation (you'll find that your feet begin to burn when they're cold) and for your general energy.
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Dec 15, 2014 08:08
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1500quidporsche posted:Hated the cold as well. As a kid my room didn't have any insulation in the floor of the closet, and my father insisted on buying an old VW Beetle which meant I was cold as gently caress the majority of the day during winter. Now as an adult and not having to pay for heating directly but instead through a fixed condo fee I keep my condo set at a mild 27C during the winter. I would sweat like a pig in that temperature. We keep our house at 20-21C and thats a nice temperature. We're located in Finland we can have temps below -25C in the winter. I hate cold though, but working outside really helps keeping it at bay, then you get so warm you strip to a short sleeved shirt while working in your garage that is a sweltering 10 degrees C. That was me last night actually.
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Dec 15, 2014 11:37
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This thread had more replies than I expected, so maybe an update is in order; I've actually been working on my cold tolerance in various ways over the past weeks. In that timeframe, when showeribg alone, I've only used cold water. It sucked big time in the first days but now it's just part of my routine. I've also taken many a snow bath in only underwear and even went to go swim in a partially frozen river. Overall I think it works. I think much less about the cold when I go out, and didnt even feel the need for a scarf yet. The initial shock of cold water is still as bad, but I get over it much quicker. The shock of snow is still very horrible though. There's a big community claiming cold water has big health benefits; I don't really want to believe it's going to make me lose fat or whatever, but it certainly makes me feel much less sluggier than melting under hot water for half an hour. Also, wheras getting out of a cold shower leaves you shivering in the cold air, getting out of a cold shower leaves you feeling really warm as your body is heating up like crazy to fight it. It also leaves your skin feeling amazing. I've been very much inspired by Rewild University's youtube page; the guy has really good videos on cold showers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jglxMHd4uxI), cold tolerance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsKjG7u__n8) and general survival/bushcraft/primitive skills. I don't know if there's a thread for this lifestyle on SA, or interest for one, but I found myself really interested in all this and would quite enjoy discussing it further. Colonel J fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Jan 12, 2015 |
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Jan 12, 2015 17:49
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You sound like you are turning into a bad rear end. When do you covert to not wearing shoes?
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Jan 12, 2015 22:42
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Colonel J posted:I've been very much inspired by Rewild University's youtube page; the guy has really good videos on cold showers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jglxMHd4uxI), cold tolerance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsKjG7u__n8) and general survival/bushcraft/primitive skills. I don't know if there's a thread for this lifestyle on SA, or interest for one, but I found myself really interested in all this and would quite enjoy discussing it further. Took a cold shower inspired by this thread, and if nothing else, that poo poo sure is refreshing and amkes you feel really good afterwards. I used to do this stuff more often, but the problem with it is that when you are leading a busy life, working hard, working out hard and doing everything else there is to do, your mental energy is already being depleted through various ways, so when you realize you got to take the cold shower on top of it all every day, it can sometimes feel a bit too much and you just wanna skip it, have a nice meal and sleep and relax already. So even though it's good for you, it can become and additional task taht nags you on the back of your mind.
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Jan 13, 2015 12:04
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It's all in the breathing. Relax your diaphram and take deep slow breaths. Getting all tense leads to shivering and slows the blood flow to your extremities making you even colder. So basically, don't be a pussy and the cold won't bother you as much.
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Jan 13, 2015 13:38
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Yes, that's what I found, the first step is calming down and it makes it very manageable. It's all a question of mindset really, and after a while of this the idea of "relaxing under a hot shower" now seems sort of weird to me, which explains why I don't see it as a "task" but just... that's just how showers are now. Takes less water and energy and I waste less time; also if you do it first thing in the morning, it really jump-starts your day and takes off the mental pressure of "ok now I have to do this" and just procrastinating and stressing out over it. As for going barefoot... I tried it a bit in the snow but it's really hard. I can't last much more than 30 seconds to a minute. I've been watching a bit Cody Lundin; the guy has been going more or less barefoot for 25 years. This seems a bit excessive, but I think there can be a middle-ground. We coddle our feet since birth and they turn into these masses of soft super-sensitive flesh which we have to keep in wraps or terrible things happen to them. Without going overboard, I'm definitely planning to try and harden them over the summer. Maybe by next winter they'll be tougher and snow will be more manageable.
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Jan 13, 2015 19:57
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There's a guy who walks around my campus barefoot at all times of the year. It's pretty gross. Unless you're a hobbit I cannot say I'd recommend doing that anywhere at any point in time aside from on the beach or around a pool.
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Jan 13, 2015 22:09
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I grew up in the desert where 110+ was absolutely normal for like 9 months of the year. Let me tell you, I grew up (and still do) hating the god drat sun. Every moment outside was just loving miserable and you learn to walk as fast as you can from your apartment to your car to the store/work. You can walk around in shorts and a tee but that still doesn't change the fact that it's one hundred loving ten degrees. Then as an adult I've moved far away. My first winter with snow was loving amazing. You can actually walk outside 365 days of the year. Raining? Rain coat. Snowing? Jacket. Really cold? Jacket. Really loving cold? Thermals. Windy and really loving cold? Scarves wrapped around your face in addition to everything else. My point is with cold weather there's always something I can do to mitigate the effect. Can't do that with 110+ degrees. Can't do that with humidity. If it was below freezing every day that would be great. All said, I don't particularly LIKE freezing my rear end off, but the right clothes makes it so I'm comfortable. I also never use my heaters because that just sounds dumb to waste resources and pollute over things like "wearing a hoodie indoors." From what I've seen with my friends I'm definitely more tolerant of the cold and I'm really not sure how. They'll complain that 65 is too cold when we're walking around. 65 to me is like jeans and a hoodie weather.
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Jan 14, 2015 13:37
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Liquid Communism posted:gently caress that, 50 is shorts weather, you might just need a sweatshirt if the wind's up. Bum the Sad fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Jan 15, 2015 |
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Jan 15, 2015 05:47
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Colonel J posted:Yes, that's what I found, the first step is calming down and it makes it very manageable. It's all a question of mindset really, and after a while of this the idea of "relaxing under a hot shower" now seems sort of weird to me, which explains why I don't see it as a "task" but just... that's just how showers are now. Takes less water and energy and I waste less time; also if you do it first thing in the morning, it really jump-starts your day and takes off the mental pressure of "ok now I have to do this" and just procrastinating and stressing out over it. 2 years ago, as an experiment, I started taking my kids to the bus stop in the winter without shoes and wearing only a polyfleece vest. After a few weeks of that, the soles of my feet changed. The skin became very thick and my feet started to get very hot. I could feel the ice melting under my feet as soon as I went outside. The only problem I ran into is my heels started to crack due to the thickness of the skin. The cold response is maintained though. I usually wear shoes outside in the winter now but, if I don't, my feet still handle the cold fine. The only trouble is when the snow is more than a few inches deep. It's the top of your foot that gets cold, not the bottom. You also find that, as long as it's above zero, going without gloves works fine as well. Your hands start to get very hot. Once you're acclimatized, you can come in out of the cold and your hands and feet will bright red from the blood flow that your body is sending them. No discomfort. Cold adaptation is pretty awesome. Even though we've had a bit of a cold snap in MN for the last few weeks, I still haven't had to wear more then a vest when I go out. The trick is to always under-dress but make sure you have access to a warm coat, hat, and gloves in case you need to be out for a significant amount of time. I just keep cold weather gear in the car in case I get stranded.
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Jan 15, 2015 15:27
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mostlygray posted:2 years ago, as an experiment, I started taking my kids to the bus stop in the winter without shoes and wearing only a polyfleece vest. After a few weeks of that, the soles of my feet changed. The skin became very thick and my feet started to get very hot. I could feel the ice melting under my feet as soon as I went outside. The only problem I ran into is my heels started to crack due to the thickness of the skin. This is awesome! Did you start going barefoot in full blown winter or in like september and had the full fall season to get acclimatized? Did you do anything special to get your hands adapted too?
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Jan 15, 2015 16:27
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