Acclimatization slippin'

[shootingstar]

When we first moved to Vancouver from Ontario in 2002, I marvelled over its balmy winters, etc. Just 2 years ago, I wore shorts (6 inches above knee) in the fall, with temp. as low as 5 degrees C when I cycled, before I had to wear long tights.

Now, when it's -10C, I wear a heavy wool winter coat which I would have considered way too warm in 2002. It boggles my mind that I used to ...wear flat sandals with no socks at freezin' when I was in my early 20's. yea, and I wore them with my light winter coat in Ontario.

It's most noticeable this year, my acclimatization to cold has fallen a great deal. It doesn't help right now, when I have a low-grade cold/sniffle that has been hanging around for past week.

Maybe it's psychological too, but it's friggin' (brr) annoying to me. I must be going through a stage in life or somethin'.

[bmccasland]

Yeah, and if I move north of the Mason-Dixon line, I KNOW I'm going to Freeze My Fanny Off. My blood is THIN.

Meanwhile my cross-country skis stored in the attic of my garage heard rumors of snow and are quite upset that they didn't get to come out to play.

[Eden]

I don't think you are imagining it and you aren't alone... I went to school in Rochester, NY. We had days that with the wind chill were -60 F.... now here I put on all my layers when its 20 above... I used to go out in a jean jacket and a scarf in Rochester. Now I live in Polar fleece and wool in the winter. Maybe I just don't remember how cold I used to get?

[buddha_bellies]

Same here... I remember when I was a teen, I used to wear skirts with pantyhose in the winter. Didn't bother me a bit. Now, even with my knee socks, my body is freezing. I keep thinking, long johns with jeans isn't that bad, is it?

Then my BF delivers out at UBC, he sees girls with mini skirts and just wonder how in the world can they walk in heels and wear next to nothing in such cold temp. Guess when we are young, nothing bothers us.

Heck! I remember staying up all night talking to friends, go clubbing, etc... way past 3am. Now I have a hard time staying awake past 11pm. Guess I'll sleep pass the New Year again this year.

[Bruno28]

I notice this phenomenon when I'm accidently out in the big city (Edinburgh) on a Saturday night. The kids are going about in shirts and tops flashing their midrifts while I'm wrapped up in my woolly coat, hat, gloves and scarf.

There's nothing like that experience to make a person feel old. And I wear sensible shoes

[OakLeaf]

There's acclimation and there's aging, and I'm pretty sure both play a part.

It takes me a good month for my body to acclimate to the temperature every time I move. My ex-husband served in the Air Force in Thailand, and he tells a story about coming home to Ohio in August when it was 85° and humid, and being just freezing, literally had to wrap himself in blankets. And he was 20 years old then. Except, although I can get used to humidity, I still can't breathe in it - even the one time we were here for a year and a half, I breathed MUCH better as soon as we came home, and that wasn't just emotional.

My parents (in their 70s) still keep their house freezing cold and sleep in the basement, but that's stubbornness. I gave up trying to tell them how the cold and damp in that house was damaging MY health even on short visits oh, about 30 years ago, and now that the damage to THEIR health has accumulated, they just don't care and I'm sick of telling them.

For the most part though, it does seem like people lose the ability to tolerate cold when they get older - my in-laws keep their home super hot, and I can't tell you how many times I've visited elderly clients whose thermostats were set at 78 or 80 in winter, even when they couldn't really afford such a high utility bill. And like you guys, when I was a kid I know I used to go around in the cold out of stubbornness and machismo. But I think it has as much to do with not feeling like I need to prove anything at my age, as anything else.

But I've read that from a health standpoint, as you get older, while warmth may feel good, your body actually loses the ability to tolerate heat, and the #1 weather-related killer is actually heat, not tornadoes, hurricanes or earthquakes.