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The Benefits of Being Cold

theatlantic.com

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Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#121

Post by buro9 »

tmmm wrote: post #110
buro9 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the most extreme conditions I used to visit building sites as the site offices tended to remain unlocked (there's nothing in there to steal) and they were unattended from 7pm through 5am. They also tended to have a kettle and some enamel cups... usually all dirty at the end of a day but with boiling water to hand that isn't an issue. One can sleep there and actually feel really safe and secure, not just from the h…

A little bit off-topic, but why were you walking so much? And where did you find so much energy to do so (I presume you would probably need to eat a lot (much more than 2,000 calories) to be able to walk so many miles)?

I'd made myself homeless to move on from a place I didn't want to be.

I didn't really see the point in staying in a new place I didn't want to be (sitting on a street).

I chose to walk cities, talk to people, hitchhike around the UK, and generally see if I could find a life and place I did want.

It also means I avoided getting into a rhythm of hostels, soup kitchens, and charity.

I know I was homeless and sleeping rough, but at the time I didn't view it like that. At the time I just viewed myself as a nomad, wandering around with a backpack containing some library books for company.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#122

Post by astletron »

Is there any correlation between population obesity and local temperature distribution? That is, are Alaskans generally thinner than Hawaiians and Swedish people thinner than Tunisians (correcting for other factors to the extent that is possible)?

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#123

Post by cflyingdutchman »

trackofalljades wrote: post #21

I'm not really sure this is revolutionary or even "news" when high school wrestling coaches have been telling kids to sleep with their bedroom windows open to cut a couple pounds for decades? (no idea if that works, always wrestled above my weight)

My teammates would take ice baths to burn calories routinely.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#125

Post by arethuza »

ihnorton wrote: post #10
adevine wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall reading an article, though, where Michael Phelps admitted he didn't eat as much as was reported. The story about the gargantuan amounts he ate was something the media loved, and something that helped build a "mythology" around him, but even Phelps said it wasn't true.

12,000 is on the high end of extreme athlete caloric intake, but not totally outlandish. There are many stories about Iditarod mushers throwing whole sticks of butter into their food for the fat, and a study of one musher showed average consumption of about 9,000 calories per day through the race [1] (with weight loss indicating a deficit of ~2k/day). A quick google says Tour de France racers consume in the range of…

Ranulph Fiennes and Dr Mike Stroud were burning 11,000 calories a day when they were manhauling up a glacier in the Antarctic:

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/sep/17/ranulph-fiennes-an...

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#126

Post by sanoli »

eru wrote: post #84
buro9 wrote: post #81

I used to dislike the cold, always feeling I suffered greatly from it due to growing up in poverty in the UK and living in damp spaces (mould on the walls, condensation on the window, a cough always a breathe away). Then I was homeless, sleeping rough through UK winters. One does adapt, and fairly quickly too. The first nights I slept out during snowfall I didn't get much sleep as I was shivering too violently and un…

You can also get used to heat. But it takes a while, too, as I learned when I was living in Singapore.

Very true. Yesterday it was about 38c with a sensation much higher, and at night I slept pretty good with my trusty blanket. I've lived in tropical climates pretty much my whole life, and it's the cold places that bother me.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#127

Post by sanoli »

colund wrote: post #102
sidek wrote: post #24

People's reactions to the cold always astonish me. I spend a lot of time in Canada and Hong Kong. In Canada, it can be 12 C (~53F) and lots of people will be wearing t-shirts and jeans, and it isn't too uncommon to see the odd person wearing shorts. In Hong Kong, 12 C necessitates a cold weather warning, and a fair amount of people die when it drops to 10 C (50F). It would be interesting to try this article's suggest…

I live in Sweden where -C is very common at winters. -25-30 is considered very cold even by us though. Nasal mucus freezes and skin "bites".

What? I didn't that your nasal mucus froze. I thought your body temp would keep it from freezing. How does it feel? Is it a beginning sign of frostbite?

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#128

Post by wodzu »

buro9 wrote: post #81

I used to dislike the cold, always feeling I suffered greatly from it due to growing up in poverty in the UK and living in damp spaces (mould on the walls, condensation on the window, a cough always a breathe away). Then I was homeless, sleeping rough through UK winters. One does adapt, and fairly quickly too. The first nights I slept out during snowfall I didn't get much sleep as I was shivering too violently and un…

Great story. Glad you managed to get out of the street.

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#129

Post by tmmm »

buro9 wrote: post #121
tmmm wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A little bit off-topic, but why were you walking so much? And where did you find so much energy to do so (I presume you would probably need to eat a lot (much more than 2,000 calories) to be able to walk so many miles)?

I'd made myself homeless to move on from a place I didn't want to be. I didn't really see the point in staying in a new place I didn't want to be (sitting on a street). I chose to walk cities, talk to people, hitchhike around the UK, and generally see if I could find a life and place I did want. It also means I avoided getting into a rhythm of hostels, soup kitchens, and charity. I know I was homeless and sleeping ro…

What and how much did you eat a day?

Re: The Benefits of Being Cold

#130

Post by ddeck »

Renaud wrote: post #34
sidek wrote: post #24

People's reactions to the cold always astonish me. I spend a lot of time in Canada and Hong Kong. In Canada, it can be 12 C (~53F) and lots of people will be wearing t-shirts and jeans, and it isn't too uncommon to see the odd person wearing shorts. In Hong Kong, 12 C necessitates a cold weather warning, and a fair amount of people die when it drops to 10 C (50F). It would be interesting to try this article's suggest…

Don't forget one thing though: Canadian homes are built to resist the cold and they are usually well-insulated. Hong Kong, by comparison, is probably one of the worse places when it comes to thermal insulation. When it's 12 outside, it's not far from being the same inside. It always amazed me how such an energy-hungry place, where electricity is expensive, is built so cheaply that insulation doesn't factor at all. En…

>It always amazed me how such an energy-hungry place, where electricity is expensive, is built so cheaply that insulation doesn't factor at all. Energy-efficiency is totally unknown when it comes to housing.

I agree that it's absurd. Switch off the aircon in summer in any of the apartments I've lived in there, and it's back at 33C within 10 minutes. After several years I finally rebuilt a place from the concrete up with proper insulation and double-glazed windows and the difference is astonishing.

The amount of wasted energy is depressing. Not so surprising though when the same groups that own the larger housing developers also own the power company.

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