No one likes being cold, but sometimes you have no other choice. Cold weather can make you feel uncomfortable, trigger illness, and make you sluggish if you're not prepared for it. Whether you're moving to a colder climate or simply wanting to feel more comfortable in the cold/winter weather, there are steps you can take to better adapt to cold temperatures.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Adjusting Body Condition to Cold Temperature
Step 1. Get out of the house and feel the cold air
If you want to get used to the cold, you have to be willing to get out of the house. When it's fall or winter (or if you live in an area where the weather/climate is cold all year round), take a few hours to get outdoors every day. Wear warm clothes as necessary, and wear less clothes when you start to feel comfortable. Over time, you will be able to spend more time outdoors and be less affected by the temperature.
- When you're out for long periods of time, wear gloves, boots, and a hat, but leave your jacket at home. Usually, the hands and feet are the parts of the body that feel cold the fastest. Often times, numb fingers or ears make you quickly “give up” with the cold before the rest of your body is completely chilled.
- Try driving without the heater on if you have to travel. For a more difficult challenge, try opening the car window.
Step 2. Take a cold shower
Different from when you shower as usual, try opening the faucet in the opposite direction (or turning off the hot water faucet) while showering each day. Taking a cold shower can be excruciating, but it's the first step to building your body's tolerance for cold temperatures. For some people, this bathing pattern can be the closest to an extreme activity like diving in the Arctic Ocean to help the body adapt physiologically to cold temperatures.
- Get used to bathing in cold water by gradually lowering the water temperature. If you immediately use water that is too cold, chances are you won't be strong enough to take a shower and wash yourself thoroughly.
- You can also alternate between hot and cold water in your shower to get used to the rapid changes in temperature, just like when you step out of the house.
Step 3. Gain weight
The function of stored fat in the body is to provide a reserve of calories that are burned for energy, as well as a layer to protect the body's internal organs in a consistent temperature. While not an attractive option, increasing body fat can make you feel warmer in cold weather.
- Be careful when you are trying to gain weight or increase the amount of fat. You still have to eat a healthy and balanced diet. However, increase the number of calories you normally consume.
- Eating a diet rich in protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats (e.g. low-fat meats, dairy products, whole grains, and vegetable oils) is a proven method of gaining weight, without creating undue health risks to the heart and system. digestion.
Step 4. Exercise regularly
Start doing cardiovascular and resistance training a few times a week. The body's metabolism (which breaks down calories to release energy) helps balance the body's average temperature. This process becomes more efficient when adapting to the effects of intense exercise. In other words, exercise makes you feel warmer because the body's metabolism runs healthy and increases.
- Increased muscle mass can also warm your body because the body has more warm tissue.
- With cardiovascular exercise, the ability of the heart and lungs to circulate oxygen-rich blood will increase so that the body can function better.
Method 2 of 3: Adjusting Habits
Step 1. Lower the temperature on the heater or thermostat
Just like when you get used to the cold temperatures outside, you must also adapt to the cold temperatures indoors. Usually, people set the temperature in the room in the range of 23-25 degrees Celsius because this range is considered the most "friendly" to the body temperature balance. However, try lowering the temperature on the heater or thermostat a few degrees gradually until you're comfortable living and working in a cooler room.
Lowering the temperature on the heater can also help you save on electricity costs in cold weather/winter. However, seek agreement from a family member or roommate if you are not living alone
Step 2. Get used to not covering the body
When the weather starts to get cold and you are tempted to wrap yourself in a warm blanket or wear house slippers, immediately resist the temptation. Try to hold the temperature you feel and do something to distract yourself if necessary. This step aims to eliminate the urge to blanket or wrap yourself in warm clothes in cold weather, as well as to train you to deal with low temperatures "as is". If you are used to living in cold rooms and taking cold showers regularly, this step can be easily skipped.
- If you can't resist the temptation to throw a blanket or warm yourself up, try folding the blanket and storing it on the highest shelf in your closet. There's a good chance you'll feel lazy or have trouble picking it up if the blanket is stored in a high place.
- Your body temperature will naturally drop while you sleep. So if you want to try a quick workout to develop your resilience, try sleeping without a blanket!
Step 3. Drink iced water
Make ice water your drink of choice, even in cold weather/winter. Consumption of cold drinks with ice can lower body temperature. This means that the body will show an adaptive response to compensate for these changes in temperature. When people enjoy coffee or hot chocolate in cold weather to warm themselves up, you need to take the opposite step. In the end, you won't feel the need to warm up.
As well as being a useful medium for building your body's tolerance for cold temperatures, cold water (even with ice) is usually free of charge by restaurants or cafes, and you can get it anywhere
Step 4. Enjoy a typical weather or winter activity
To reduce sensitivity to cold temperatures, you don't have to undergo a rigid "workout". If you live in a country or region with four seasons, try enjoying winter sports like sledding, skiing or snowboarding. Try to have fun when you're outdoors while everyone else warms up indoors. This way, you can adapt more quickly to cold weather, and can get through the weather or winter in a fun way, rather than just snuggling up and snuggling indoors.
- Plan camping in late fall or winter as a first step to dealing with cold weather. Once in the great outdoors, you have no choice but to sleep on the cold ground. Eventually, the body will get used to the low temperature.
- There's a good chance you'll feel stifled after a few hours of skiing or snowboarding. This condition shows the amount of body heat produced by the body itself. Things like this can make you feel confident in your ability to deal with cold temperatures.
Method 3 of 3: Training the Mind
Step 1. Feel the actual temperature
Instead of thinking about how cold it will feel when you leave the house, feel the actual ambient temperature firsthand. Usually, you will feel a significant difference and the actual temperature is not as cold as imagined. Try to accurately assess the ambient temperature so that you don't overreact to the weather.
Learning how cold the temperature feels is part of controlling your unconscious response to stress
Step 2. Imagine a cooler temperature
You may not like the current cold weather, but what if it feels much colder? This is a mental trick that helps you see the situation from another point of view so that the current weather conditions don't look bad when compared to other conditions. If you remind yourself of people who live in colder areas (eg Antarctica or Siberia), without complaining, the chilly nights in Lembang or Batu won't be as torturous anymore.
Step 3. Stop shivering
Whenever you start to shiver, force yourself to stop. Shivering is one of the body's mechanisms for generating heat when the ambient temperature is cold. However, in general this kind of physiological response is needed if the environmental conditions are really cold or extreme. If the temperature outside is still "normal" or a few degrees below zero, and you start to shiver uncontrollably, there's a good chance the reaction is overreacting.
- Shivering is an autonomous process in the body that generates heat by prompting the muscles to perform small, rapid contractions, similar to the effects of exercise.
- Research shows that shivering in less cold weather conditions is unnecessary and has no effect against mild cold temperatures.
Step 4. Realize that cold temperatures are not always a threat
Instinctively, you will feel uncomfortable with unusual conditions. However, discomfort and danger are two different things. As long as the temperature doesn't reach extremes that lower your core temperature and your exposure to cold temperatures isn't extended, you can safely operate in cold environments.
Exposure to cold temperatures will not threaten your safety as long as it does not lower your core body temperature below 34-35 degrees Celsius. However, when the body temperature starts to drop and the situation becomes dangerous, it's better not to push yourself and immediately find a warm shelter
Tips
- The first thing you should always do is accept the fact that the area or place you live in is indeed cold. If you're wasting your time hoping that the weather will be warmer, you'll never feel comfortable in low temperatures.
- Sometimes, you need to hold yourself back and consciously force yourself not to feel cold. After a while, you will automatically be able to deal with cold temperatures better.
- Cut down on the amount of clothes you wear when you leave the house for short periods of time.
- As an alternative to a cold shower, try soaking in water as cold as you can hold it for as long as possible.
- If you always feel cold, while other people feel comfortable, check with your doctor. Maybe you have low thyroid hormone levels. This condition is quite common, especially in women.
Warning
- Recognize the difference between cold temperatures and very cold temperatures. Don't feel "conceited" about your ability to withstand the cold. If the temperature outside drops to dangerously low levels, or you've been out in the cold for too long, get inside and warm up. Be aware of the triggering factors for hypothermia and its symptoms. There is no point in taking risks that jeopardize personal health and safety.
- Prolonged exposure to low temperatures can drain the body of energy, weaken the immune system, and make the body more susceptible to disease. Keep these things in mind as you train your body to get used to the cold.
- The phenomenon of frostbite is a condition that occurs when parts of the body such as the feet, hands, or head experience nerve and tissue damage due to prolonged exposure to cold weather. Always cover and protect your hands, feet and sensitive organs when you have to work in severe weather conditions for long periods of time.
