Losing tolerance to winter cold

[shootingstar]

Overall, in over the decades, I'm losing my resistance to really cold weather. And it varies, each season.

Right now, I could have worn a fall cycling jacket and layered up since temp. above freezin'. But no, I felt best with a winter gortex below hip jacket that I go snowshoeing, but I cycled now whenever I do it during these winter months. I wasn't sorry either with today's wind in my face...even though I sweated slightly as soon as I stepped indoors at home.

I can't beat myself too much for being whimpier at nearly 53 yrs. At least, I feel warmer just so that I can cycle around and be comfortable outdoors.

Unbelievable that I used to walk around in a dress with a knee length winter coat, pantyhose and dress shoes over 30 yrs. ago for same just above freezin' temperatures and no snow.
Are you losing your winter cold resistance much as years roll by?

[Biciclista]

No, I don't think so. I can handle cold better than i could 20 years ago, before I got fit. I couldn't have my ears exposed to cold (below 55 degrees) without experiencing a lot of pain. THat just doesn't happen any more. and i'm 60 now.

[PamNY]

Same for me. My cold tolerance is greater now and I'm 60.

[Kiwi Stoker]

Remember as a kid you would spend hours in the pool. lake, beach etc and didn't feel cold at all? And now as an adult you have to be very hot and then after 5 mins in the water you run back to your towel?

[jessmarimba]

I lost my cold tolerance when I hit puberty, pretty much. I happily wear long sleeves if it's below 80. I don't swim unless other people think the water feels like bath water. I wish I could tolerate it better b/c I'd love to do a tri. Maybe I need a wool bathing suit...c'mon, Ibex? Icebreaker?

But on the other hand, I also overheat now very quickly when I'm working out. So while I looooove my down jacket and will wear it all day at the office if I walked in with it on, I can't run in more than a long-sleeved shirt unless it's below 20. I'll be freezing for a few minutes (and my feet and hands will be numb for 15-20) but I'll feel like I'm suffocating once I warm up.

[NbyNW]

I think my cold tolerance has increased due to my last two winters in Edmonton.

[OakLeaf]

I lost a lot of tolerance between about 18 and 35. Except for the asthma-related episode I mentioned in the other thread, it seems to have been pretty stable since then. Although since I started having (brief, mild) hot flashes I occasionally have a few seconds when I'm not freezing!

I'm losing heat tolerance too, it seems, and that worries me a lot more than the other.

[Crankin]

Mine has increased, as far as exercising in the cold. As for just walking around, like in the city, I can tolerate it, as I have better clothes now, but I prefer NOT to do it. I love being outdoors in the winter, but I am working hard!
I have lost tolerance to heat since leaving AZ, but what I really have no tolerance for is heat and humidity. It increased a little over the past 2 summers, which were really hot here.
I understand why people want to move to places where it doesn't get cold, but I love the change of seasons/winter sports so much, I will never do it. I also couldn't live somewhere where the winter was longer than it is here. Really, January and February are real winter here, with some variation in December and March. Some years we get snow in those months and other years, not. It's been mostly not in the past couple of years.

[lph]

My tolerance to cold varies a great deal according to what I'm doing, if I'm hungry or full, drunk or not..., and how my immune system is doing. If I'm cold, my body is telling me that I need to do something about it, or I will end up sneezing and miserable. I don't think it's changed with age. But I'm better at dressing the cold out.

But Norwegian has two different words for distinguishing between being cold ("kald"), and feeling cold ("fryse", literally "freezing"). Being "kald" just means that you can feel something is cold but it's not bothersome, i.e. you're generating enough heat from inside. But if you "fryser" it means you're bothered by the cold, feel uncomfortable and need to warm up.

The tipping point between those two states changes from October to February

[Biciclista]

But Norwegian has two different words for distinguishing between being cold ("kald"), and feeling cold ("fryse", literally "freezing"). Being "kald" just means that you can feel something is cold but it's not bothersome, i.e. you're generating enough heat from inside. But if you "fryser" it means you're bothered by the cold, feel uncomfortable and need to warm up.

Very cool!! and in Italy, even if it over 100 degrees, if you turn a fan on, people think you're entertaining pneumonia...

Remember as a kid you would spend hours in the pool. lake, beach etc and didn't feel cold at all?

We were very different kids. I was the whiny one with the blue lips that was too cold to try to dry myself with the towel a helpful adult handed to me..

[shootingstar]

But Norwegian has two different words for distinguishing between being cold ("kald"), and feeling cold ("fryse", literally "freezing"). Being "kald" just means that you can feel something is cold but it's not bothersome, i.e. you're generating enough heat from inside. But if you "fryser" it means you're bothered by the cold, feel uncomfortable and need to warm up.

Dearie tells me that German has the same two word equivalencies too. German words sounds the same as Norwegian too. He's not too sure of their spelling in German.

I will do sports in cold and have noticed that I heat up rapidly once I get going, but again I have to pay attention to my hands because of Reynauld's condition/syndrome. I am not overly thrilled walking around in -24 degrees C winter cold/snow but have done it ...for several hrs. last year when we were up in the Rockies. We were within the town limits on trails, but it's not a situation I want to be out in the middle of wilderness. Certainly never alone.

Strange when cycling season heats up, wearing cycling shorts initially feels cold at 15 degrees C and but by fall, I'm fine at 5 degrees C in shorts, my legs always build up resistance to cooler temperatures. In fact, I find it hard to get back into full length tights for first few days.

I may be losing my resistance to hot, humid (100%) weather now that I've lived away from that type of heat over the past 10 yrs. Yes, southern Ontario summers become like that often.

[malkin]

I think my tolerance for temperature is about the same as always. In my late teens and twenties, I used to get hives on my knees and elbows when the weather was cool and I was active and warm. That doesn't happen anymore.

[Melalvai]

My tolerance changes dramatically from the beginning to the end of the season.

It also changed as I got more fit. I used to always be the one who was cold and wearing a sweater as everyone else begged to turn the ac colder. Now I'm the one wanting to turn the temp down.

We have more brown fat when we are younger.

[zoom-zoom]

I can remember as a kid ALWAYS sweating and being overheated...even in Jan. I would wear shorts to school in NE Wisconsin.

It all changed after I gave birth to my son. I can remember being SO cold that I could not get warm, even if I jacked the heat up to 80. It's better, now, but I still tolerate heat better and have less tolerance for cold. I usually can't fall asleep unless I have a heating pad draped over my hip.

[Crankin]

I guess I'm so old that we would have never considered going without gloves, a hat, and a scarf under our woolen pea coats or duffle coats!
I think I have better tolerance now, due to the invention of merino wool and my knowledge of layering.
But all of those years in the south and southwest made me forget. When I first came back here, I rarely wore wool and I was cold all of the time. I even x country skied in cotton long underwear and a cotton turtleneck .
How dumb was that?