I’m scrawny, so I get cold very easily during this time of year. (Who am I kidding? I get cold year-round, but I digress.) It seems like the cold seeps into my bones and I just can’t get warm.
I’m freezing at work all day long. Our building is old and heated by steam radiators which are sparsely placed. One of our buildings isn’t heated at all. I wear layers of sweaters, but that doesn’t help my hands or my head, so by the time I get home some evenings, I feel like I’ll never warm up.
I know some of our Dopers work outside. How do you guys stay warm or warm up once you get back inside? What about other thin people? Do you suffer during the winter the way I do, and what do you do to deal with it?
If I’m at home and I’ve been out walking (or shovelling the block and cleaning off the car, or skating, or whatever) I have a long hot shower and cuddle up in my bathrobe with a good cup of tea or hot chocolate.
Other than that, I layer, and stay out of puddles and slush that soak the clothes. Mostly basic common sense of stuff.
I used to work outside through the winter (I am a petite woman who gets cold easily). Remember the motto: “start warm, stay warm.” It is harder to warm up once cold than maintain good body heat. Some tips…
Your friend, fabric. Buy some liner underthings (undershirts and long underwear) made of performance fabrics for skiing like Thermax, Thermostat, etc. (www.campmor.com is a good place to buy such things inexpensively). Never wear cotton next to your skin.
Keep extemities warm.
a. Wool socks inside rated, waterproof winter boots with a correctly sized toebox (too thick socks inside too small boots = cold feet). I have had great experiences with the Columbia Bugabootoo boot (often on sale at www.zappos.com). They aren’t that ugly and acommodate an orthotic insert if that is an issue for you.
b. Gloves. Wear light “ski liner” gloves. Either fingerless ones for light duty work, or under bulkier heavy duty work gloves for heavy work. When dexterity is needed, you can pull off the outer layer without getting completely frozen. Another option are crocheted or knitted “wrist warmers” for your forearms. Your knitting friends would love to give you a pair for Christmas.
c. head/ears - wear a baseball cap or other hat at the minimum at all times, unless specifically not allowed by your job. If the latter, consider a polarfleece scarf.
To warm hands, wear fingerless gloves. I just cut cheap knit gloves, but some places sell them that way, for driving, gardening, etc. I think Home Depot has them in the tool cage for outdoor workers.
For your feet, bring in a discrete space heater, one without a fan.
For your head, good luck. I hate hats myself, but wore one that winter I was running a project in a warehouse.
I’m tempted to slap one of those thermal pain-relievers on my thigh. I wonder if they’d help insulate. (I still have a rod and pins from my hip repair.) Long underwear doesn’t help.
Don’t jump in puddles? Man, you really know how to suck all the fun out of life, don’t you?
As for the gloves, I really can’t wear them while I’m working. I need to have complete dexterity to do delicate work. (And they’d get incredibly filthy and wet.)
there’s an old expression " if your feet feel cold, cover your head".
Your scalp has no layers of fat and muscle to hold heat like the rest of your body, so you lose a lot of body heat from your head. Wear a sock hat–even at work (if possible, and always at home inside the house. You’ll look dumb, but your whole body will feel a LOT warmer.
I feel your pain. I am always cold (er, and I’m not remotely scrawny, so there’s another cause!).
At home, I wear a sock cap. That doesn’t work so well for work. There, I tend toward turtlenecks and I have a space heater. It’s not perfect, obviously.
I second the hot tea suggestion. Look for ones containing ginger or cinnamon oil (not bark), to get your circulation going. Also, most Chai has a pinch of black pepper, which sounds nasty to drink, but actually has a slightly floral taste in small quantities.
Okay, I gotta give it points for creativity, but the practicalities leave much to be desired.
The paranoid fear of fire is actually one of the reasons why it’s so damn cold in the building. All heaters have to be turned off before we leave.
Do hot drinks really warm you up? Vague memory tugs at the back of my mind, insisting that I once read something that suggested drinking hot liquids actually lowers your body’s temperature. (Something about your body being shocked by the heat and working to cool itself rapidly in response.) They feel good while you’re drinking them, but afterwards, you feel colder. Any truth to that?
Yep. I think that’s alcohol. It expands the blood vessels, which increases circulation, but also increases sensitivity to the cold. Hot drinks provide warmth, just from the heat. Although, the spicy drinks may have the same effect as alcohol because of the rapid increase of circulation. But, I’ve never experienced a chill afterwards.
Just over the last two years I have discovered that if I have a scarf around my neck, whether it’s woolen knit or filmy and pretty, I feel much warmer. If your job involves a shredder or similar machinery disregard this advice…or tuck the ends inside your shirt.
Do you exercise regularly? I found that when I started doing aerobic exercises to lose weight, my tolerance for cold temps became much greater. I think that the exercise improved my circulation, which keeps me warmer in cold weather.
