As we segue into February, I am grateful for my cozy little home. With only one wall exposed to the outside, it's not difficult to stay warm in here.
In fact, with the exception of my childhood home, I've always had the good luck of living in warm apartments. When I shared a basement apartment with my first husband, all the pipes for the radiator system for the whole building ran through our living room. We wore T-shirts indoors year-round.
It all seems very luxurious compared to my first, freezing-cold bedroom. When I did homework at the little white desk in the corner of my room, where two outside walls of the house met, I used to wear two pairs of slippers to keep my toes warm. One day I reached down to pick up a pen I had dropped and I saw that there was actually ice that had formed on the inside of the wall, in that corner. I'm not talking about a little scrim of frost, I'm talking an inch-thick, glacier-like chunk. (Due to the leak that had caused this ice build-up there was also dark mold growing under the ice. It was pretty disturbing.)
It doesn't hurt that I gained around 20 pounds since last winter. I can't tell you how much more comfortable I am now that I have some proper personal insulation. In fact, I've adjusted to the cold so well this year that I have to be careful that I don't overdress. It's easy to overheat once I work up a good walking pace on my way to work. Sometimes I have to take my gloves off or flip my hood back for a few minutes to avoid working up a sweat.
I'm thinking that some of that 20 pounds must be brown fat. Never heard of it? Brown fat burns calories to produce heat. It's pretty awesome stuff. And considering how I'm indulging my omnomvorous nature (in the past 24 hours alone: quiche, muffins, pizza, a Clif bar, French pastries, and dates, as well as fruits and veggies) my brown fat must be working hard or I'd be up another 20 pounds in the last week alone, for sure.
Are you keeping warm this winter?
9 comments:
I live in the Mountains of North Georgia and it's been pretty cold here this winter. But true to my Ohio nature (born and raised for 25 years) I run around in flip flops and tank tops. So yea I stay pretty warm. Got our first snow in 3 years last night to!
I live in a pretty cold clime too, and I have to say, we're doing pretty well. The last few days have been hard, but I've got a nice thick meat blanket to keep me warm too. Not sure much of it's brown fat, but it still provides insulation. :)
Used to complain about being too hot in the last place I lived in and now this apartment is way chilly...but love it here and would rather have on fuzzy PJ's than be back in the other place...otherwise known as hell lol. Glad that you are doing so well this Winter. You deserve it! <3
No problems keeping warm around here. We have had a mild winter so far, but it is not unheard of to see a winter blast arrive mid February. We desperately need moisture in any form including snow or freezing rain.
Sure I have a good portion of all types of fat here.
Winter has been a bit abnormal this year as not a heck of lot of snow and temps ranging from the teens to the hi 40's.
I am a bit hot in nature, so I don't suffer from the cold as much as others, but I do love my fireplace in the evenings.
As long as we have the central heating on in the house and the car, I'm warm enough. The UK weather has been pretty cold too. I just hope the electric bill isn't too high.
Slippers under the desk, for me! Thankfully I don't have to slip into them more than a couple times a day. :)
I am just so happy for you, Spark. To hear you talk of getting up a good walking pace, when last year you'd get so tired after a few steps that you'd have to find a bench to catch your breath. What an amazing recovery you've had! That makes my heart warm. :D
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