Accidental Cold Adaptation For Fun
I recently blogged about this topic here. It was actually a bomb of a post (it happens). Little to no interest, which kinda mystified me, since it has been such a big deal in times past. But it also happens that I sometimes miss the mark in blogging what might interest me, but not correspond elsewhere (it happens).
Stalwart I am, I’m going to try again, a bit different angle, more experience, and some pics. And, a big qualification to render this as something of curiosity, not something you necessarily want to do.
To recap, Beatrice and I took on a project to live off grid, guard a large property where a fire took place in August, and I may be managing the rebuilding project on site, 24/7. But the important thing is that the view is astounding and it’s 3 miles down the hill to her work. We love it, 4 dogs and all, all camping out in an RV. We regularly laugh at how crazy we’ve allowed ourselves to become.
For instance, when she’s head down, cleaning up the RV, I like to joke that she’s going to tarnish our trailer trash image. We have so much fun poking fun at ourselves, the dogs. It’s a crazy life. Being all together in a 30′ RV every night lends a special touch to simple human contact and closeness…and canine contact, with 3 of the 4 of them playing musical bed & covers periodically throughout the night. Scout (“butt hole”) growls if you change position while sleeping. I could go on and on. We laugh all the time—unless we both tipped a bottle a little too much, and we have a little mini shit-talking fight.
…So I’m not going to suggest that this is what anyone ought be doing. We went up to the cabin a few weeks ago and of course, heaters were blasting. Once the rebuild is complete and we move in, we’ll be making it toasty, I’m pretty certain. This isn’t particularly desired, but to our surprise, remarkably doable and one could even say, challenging fun. That’s all.
So this isn’t what I’d call comfortable by any stretch, but that’s not the point. It’s remarkably not miserable, which is my chief interest. In other words, we can simply do it, handily, to our surprise. I figured I’d get along, but I was concerned that Beatrice would just hate it, get into a funk about it, et cetera, et cetera. To my amazement and joy, the exact opposite has happened. I actually think she’s adapted more profoundly and quickly than I.
Bea feet, barefoot in 45 degree F, outside.
I snapped that the other day and quickly checked the temp. Yep, 45. And she was only wearing the tank top she sleeps in.
She hasn’t complained a single time and she used to be the one bundled up in a 70 degree house, with both socks and furry house shoes on.
Uggs? Ugh!
We have the ability to do heat. The RV has a main gas heater with a forced air fan, but the fan really draws a lot of power we’d prefer to use for the radio internet and TV, since we’re on solar and do not wish to run the generator. I got a small propane space heater, but it’s just too much bother. We’re just not that very uncomfortable in the 40s and 50s and I think both of us realize that if we get accustomed to keeping things warm it would become an obsessive addiction, or something. Instead, we just make a good French press coffee every morning that doubles as a hand warmer.
This is probably a limit to what can be done on a 24/7 basis without bringing heat to the party. If it gets much colder and for any length of time, we’d either have to heat the space or, basically, hibernate; which is to say, spend a lot of time in bed, under heavy cover.
I posted this to Facebook this morning:
Well, time to kick the cold adaptation up a notch. We’re now fully acclimated to 45 in the mornings, purposefully not using any heat at any time. It gets into the 50s and 60s for highs, but by bedtime you’re chilled to the bone, rather like at the end of a ski day or a 2-hour winter hang-gliding ridge soaring fun thing at Ft. Funston. But this is every day.
Whereas I used to have cold hands even in a 70 degree house, I now have only mildly chilly hands at 45-60 all day outside.
Morning temp was 41 today and still no prob. Outside now with three upper body layers, bare hands. I have gloves but I don’t bother with them anymore. The discomfort is so mild.
Next few days we up the test, with morning temps forecast down in the mid-30s.
Just a bit ago, I reported on the great socks experiment.
How I keep the feet relatively warm in 40s temps. Oversize house shoes, no socks. I’ve tested it. Even loose fitting socks make my feet colder through what I suspect is a very small restriction of circulation. Keep your core warm, let your blood circulate freely to extremities.
In my test, put a sock on one foot, no sock on the other and sure enough, the stockinged foot was noticeably colder 10 minutes later.
See mom? No socks.
As a final tidbit, in exchanging email with Ray Cronise just a bit ago, he suggested I might want to include this study into the post: Ambient Temperature and Prevalence of Obesity: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Korea. It’s new, published only earlier this month.
Abstract
Background
Recent studies have suggested a possible association between outdoor or indoor temperature and obesity. We aimed to examine whether ambient temperature is associated with the prevalence of obesity or abdominal obesity in the Korean population.
Methods
Data on anthropometric, socio-demographic, laboratory and lifestyle factors were retrieved from National Health Insurance System data obtained in 2009–2010. Thirty years (1981 to 2010) of meteorological parameters for 71 observation areas were acquired from the Korea Meteorological Administration. Included in this analysis were 124,354 individuals. A body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2 and a waist circumference (WC) ≥ 90 cm (men) or 85 cm (women) were considered to represent obesity and abdominal obesity, respectively.
Results
The mean annual temperature (MAT) ranged from 6.6°C to 16.6°C, and BMI was positively correlated with MAT (r = 0.0078, P = 0.0065). WC was positively correlated with MAT (r = 0.0165, P < 0.0001) and negatively correlated with the number of days with mean temperature < 0°C (DMT0; r = –0.0129, P = 0.0002). After adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption, exercise, income, residential area and altitude, the odds ratios (95% CI) for obesity and abdominal obesity in the highest quintile MAT group were 1.045 (1.010, 1.081) and 1.082 (1.042, 1.124), respectively, compared with the lower four quintiles of the MAT group. Similarly, subjects in the area of the lowest quintile of DMT0 had significantly higher odds of abdominal obesity compared with the higher four quintile groups of DMT0.
Conclusion
This study finds an association between ambient temperature and prevalence of obesity in the Korean population when controlling for several confounding factors. Adaptive thermogenesis might be a possible explanation for this phenomenon.
~~~
We’ve all lost weight, which ought be intuitively obvious. Myself, Bea, and all four dogs, with Nanooka (“Nuke”) being the most profound. She was always a kinda plump female; not fat, just plump. She’s now ripped and has abs, down 20-30% in body weight. And, because of the cold, I feed all four dogs very liberally.
Quite interesting.
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I applaud you and Bea’s ability and desire to do what you two are doing. I lived off grid in a camper for two weeks in late summer in Wyoming. Loved it!
Only negative, the bed was over the cab of the truck and the lack of head room was painful at times. :)
I enjoy reading these posts.
Temps have just turned cold (sub-freezing) in NC, yesterday my feet could not stand the 29 degrees for more than 30 mins. It’s 30 now (6am) and I’ll be tromping around barefoot soon.
I have never been able to stand cold weather – 70 degrees had me shivering, and I was nonfunctional in winter temps. I would shiver so hard I couldn’t do anything; I was basically paralyzed.
About a year and a half ago, I started a regimen of a daily cold shower after reading your tub experiments back in the day. At first I couldn’t tolerate more than 10-15 seconds. Now I crank it as cold as it will go and can stand for minutes with no problem. It has dipped into the 40s several times lately here in Arkansas and I usually just throw on a sweater. A few years back I would have layered like a mountain climber and still been miserable.
On the flip side, I have always loved hot temps – I’m talking 90s and above. I spent a week in El Paso last year and it was 100, zero humidity and I was in heaven. I’ll take 95 over 65 any day of the week. Contrast that with lots of people I know who prefer it to be cold, but they shut down in any kind of heat.
Have you done any research or experiments on heat adaptation? I’m curious if there are any benefits to prolonged exposure to high temps.
Ha, that’s great you did that for yourself and proved that you’re not just “genetically intollerant.”
The body is amazingly adaptive to reasonable extremes.
I find it in the barefoot walking area too. People tell me they have tender feet, you look down and they wear huge shoes or boots. Requires conditioning.
In terms of heat, no research but certainly experience, off grid this summer in Baja, with temps in the 90s and low 100s, 90% humidity. Yes, I adapted, but still damn miserable, especially when you add dozens of bug bites to the mix.
I grew somewhat immune to the bites, they’d only itch for a few minutes. And the heat wasn’t bothering me as much. First few weeks it was a dozen “cold” showers per day and by the time I left, far less than that.
The CoolFatBurner guy, Eric, has raised almost $1M with his Indiegogo for his ice vest! This tells me it’s “catching on.” indiegogo.com/projects/cool-fat-burner-burn-500-calories-with-no-diet#/
I’ve found that using the cold to one’s advantage definitely is a worthwhile “hack.” Living in the Arctic, I get plenty of cold exposure. People always laugh at me for not wearing a coat as I walk from the parking lot at work when it’s -40. I love the way that extreme cold feels for those couple of minutes, really wakes you up!
Wow, didn’t know Eric would be able to take it that far. He sent me one of his prototypes way back but it wasn’t something I really felt honest about promoting since I was kinda just ‘meh’ with it. At the time, I was doing way more extreme stuff, so wasn’t really interested.
I wish him well and if it works, great. I just really prefer finding more natural ways. Guess I’ve done that.
That walk you describe reminded me of a week in January I spent in a resort on [frozen, windy] Lake Michigan east of Green Bay, WI, where the condo units and bar/restaurant were separate building some 50 yards apart. It was epic, that walk between the two with that sub-zero, wet wind howling. Cuts you right to the bone. Conversely, if it was calm and clear sun in the morning, still air, it was easily doable in a T-shirt for a few minutes.
On the rare days it gets cold enough, I keep my heat on to about 72 because one of my dogs is a potato and is *miserable* in the cold. I live in a very temperate clime (much more so in the Winter than SoCal) but we had a bad cold spell about five years ago and it happened to be when my heater was broken. Quote to fix was $700 which I didn’t have to spend on that right then. Since I figured it would warm up a lot more quickly than it did, I decided not to obtain the money and declined to have it fixed. Turns out Albus Dumbledog the Big Strong Pit Bull HATES being cold. A more miserable dog I have never seen than during that month of cold spell. I bought him doggie sweaters and turtleneck sweaters from the little boy’s department in Target, but he just looked pitiful all the time. The only time he seemed really happy was when I ran a hot bath, put on my bathing suit, and climbed in the tub with him. Then he would sigh deeply, lean back against me, and make small puppy noises. Kid you not. Then I would hug him, etc. Both of us were pretty pathetic about it all.
So how are your dogs with the no heat thing?
The dogs are hilarious. Nuke and Scout are crazy lean and ripped. They’ll sit and lightly shiver, wait for the sun to hooefully come out. Fortunately, it’s CA and so they usually get their wish.
Nuke is a sun goddess.
But even when lightly shivering, if they think they heard something, all in, 100%.
At night in the trailer, Choncho and Scout must always be under the covers next to Bea. In the morning, Scout is always out and about but Choncho sleeps in as long as possible. That guy can go twelve hours without a bodily relief easy.
Nuke is funny. Ten years old and she still won’t jump up on the bed when a human is there, without an invite and then several admonitions. But she prefers to spend about half to most of the night just in the doggie bed, unconvered. Sometimes all night. But some nights she’ll get cold enough that you wake up to micro whines, little squeaks, really, and she wants to be invited up under the covers.
Hunter, the beagle is pretty hardy. Outside dog all his life so none of this is unusual to him and in fact, luxury since he’s never been able to sleep inside. He’s not showing signs of becoming spoiled, at least too much.
Amy! LOL! The dog is a ‘potato’? LOL! Hilarious.
Two years ago we had an ice storm a few days before Christmas. Lemme tell you, it got mighty mighty cold in here. It was minus 20C outside. Damn cold. I have a couple of sheepskin blankets/throws made of 4 skins each. Bundling into those for me and the cats was very comfortable. One cat got sick. He’s got a chronic ‘thing’ and is not supposed to have ‘exposure’ to extreme cold for long periods of time. 3 days was too long.
The worst of it all was the darkness, not so much the cold. And no internet. Power was restored at 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
gab, you have no idea. This dog loves his comfortable leisure they way jihadis love virgins. His favorite place is on the couch, on his back, with feet in the air. Or, like Richard’s dog, laying around in the sun.
But another example: this morning I did some cardio HIT. 20 second bursts of sprinting as fast as I can, followed by 2 minutes of walking normal pace. Six sets. I make a loop in the park out in back of our property where I can run on a good stretch of grass, and I have the running/walking distances timed with landmarks so I don’t have to use my watch.
Anyway, my other dog Smiles follows me faithfully through all six sets of the loop, running with me when I run and then walking when I walk. He loves being active and I always wished I’d had the schedule permitting so he and I could have done doggy agility. My energy level wouldn’t have accommodated a serious hobby, but once in a while on a good day it would have been fun. Now he’s getting up there and has a touch of arthritis, plus my schedule hasn’t changed much so I’ve kind of given up on that idea.
But Albus the Potato Dog stands there and watches me do HIT. When I take off running he just stops. When I call him to come with us, he *sits down* to watch. :-| In the past, whenever I tried to take him through a dog agility course that Smiles just sailed through, Albus would stop to contemplate the hurdles before wallowing *under* them, plus stop in the middle of the tube to wallow for a while. Etc. LOL
All the potato-ness out the window, of course, if there are people at the door, or squirrels or other varmints around. He is a mean squirrel hunter.
Richard, I’ll be interested to know what your spoiled-ness assessment is on your new Beagle in six months. ;) Beagles catch on so fast…
Ha ha! Amy, Albus the Potato is just smart. He sees you running around in circles and decides there’s no point chasing after you since you always end up back where you began. Now, if you take off over hill and dale, he’ll probably go looking for you. He’s a philosopher dog who prefers meditation until the right stimulus presents itself. :)
Richard, man, listen: women of a ‘certain age’ develop central heating. Hot humid summer weather is what gets somewhat problematic especially the humid part.
When I first lost weight a couple of years ago (20kgs) I couldn’t bear the first winter. I probably had no brown fat and was still used to being insulated all the time by a copious layer of fat.
Nowadays I thrive in the cold, I often go shirtless at home and try to restrict the heating. Too bad my gf isn’t really game with the whole cold adaptation ;-)
Your previous post inspired us to see how long we could go without turning on the heat. My lady was pretty reluctant at first, but is now leading the charge. We’re in DC, had our first dip towards 30 this week, no problem. We have a small brick house built in the early 1800s with very poor insulation. The temp indoors had been regularly 52-55 in the morning, with a low of 48. I was a cranky, shivering fuck getting out of the shower at first, but now it’s not a big deal. It’s just mild discomfort really.
That’s fantastic, Gabriel.
Even if one does not intend to live this way all the time, it’s sure great to give yourself the gift of knowing what you’re cabable of without even really trying.
I also think a lot of it is mental, not just metabolic adaptation. You still feel damn cold, but the panic subsibes after a while.
Are you sure that a low temperature won’t cause a toxic mold to grow on the walls between the external world and the rooms? Especially in an old house, that perhaps is not well insulated, has thermal bridges?