Marjory shares her top 4 tips and tricks for how to stay warm outside while working on the homestead during the winter months.
Image by Artur Pawlak from Pixabay
As you start to live more sustainably, you will be spending more time outdoors. And, in the winter, it can be tough to stay warm while working outside in the cold. Getting or cutting firewood, tending livestock, taking care of the orchards or greenhouse—all of these activities mean you’ll be outside in the cold.
Sure, it may not be a full-on survival situation, but you are going to want to stay warm regardless! Here are my 4 best tips to follow when you’re wondering how to stay warm outside when you’re working during the winter months:
Cold-Busting Tip #1: Wrap Your Neck
Your neck radiates more heat than any other area of the body. The head and feet are next on the list. However, your neck is the most important area to keep warm. In my backpack (which also doubles as a purse), I keep a neck wrap. I’ve used it more times than I can count to stay warm during an unexpected cold front.
Have you ever started to get that scratchy feeling in your throat and you can feel the beginnings of a cold or the flu coming on? I like to wrap my neck while sleeping at night. I have found that this simple act seems to nip that sore throat in the bud! While I am no doctor, my theory is that by wrapping your neck, it creates a localized mini-fever, which possibly stops trouble before it has time to spread.
Check out this article on treating fevers—and when not to treat a fever. The comments section of this particular article is especially amazing—click here to read how to assist a fever.
Cold-Busting Tip #2: Wrap Your Kidneys
An ancient way to dress warm in the winter is to wrap your kidneys. This idea seems too simple on the surface to work. But if you follow the logic, it makes perfect sense.
You May Also Enjoy: “The Kidney Wrap: Prepare Your Body For Winter”
When we get chilled, our bodies divert extra blood flow to our core area to protect our vital organs from freezing. As a result, two things happen. First, you feel a significant increase in pressure in your core due to the extra blood flow. Second, the parts of your body furthest from your internal organs lose blood flow and get cold faster.
Update 01/30/21: Our luxurious, handcrafted Ultimate Kidney Wraps get rave reviews—but our supply is limited, so hurry to get yours! Click Here to Buy Your Heirloom-Quality Kidney Wrap.
Compression kidney wraps simulate your bodies response by adding insulation around your internal organs and increasing pressure in your core area so additional blood flow is not required to keep your organs warm. That means you get to keep the blood flow going strong from the top of your head, to the tips of your fingers and toes. That makes you feel warmer all over.
Cold-Busting Tip #3: Stay Hydrated
For some reason, it seems harder to stay hydrated and drink enough fluids when it is cold outside. Of the many signs of dehydration, getting a bit chilled is usually one of the first to appear. Some other signs may be dry lips, dizziness when standing, and slower mental function. I find that making a quart of tea (like a good nourishing infusion made with nettle leaf or oatstraw) to sip on throughout the day helps me to drink more fluid. By using a quart-sized mason jar, I am easily able to keep track of how much I am drinking during the day.
You May Also Enjoy:
“How to Make Herbal Infusions”
“Oatstraw: Stress Reliever, Love Potion, Brain Booster, and More”
I find that tea helps to keep my body hydrated better than just drinking straight water. My grandmother was always drinking herbal tea that was nutritive. Good health is best achieved with gentle nudges! Sipping tea is a great way to help the process. Wildcrafting and/or growing your own teas is easy and can be a fun gardening project for the whole family.
Cold-Busting Tip #4: Prepare a Warm Space for Your Return
Image by Larry White from Pixabay
I picked up this tip when I got my permaculture certification. It is a lot easier to go out and brave the cold if you have a warm place to come back to. It doesn’t have to be a large room or even the whole house. But knowing that when you come back inside there will be somewhere warm gives you a psychological boost. I’ve relied on this for so many years that I don’t think about going outside without setting up my warm spot first!
Before you dress up and head out, throw a few logs on the fire and set the flue so you’ll have a warm spot waiting for you. If you are not heating with wood, perhaps you might run a tiny heater in a small room to have a “warm area” to return to.
Whichever you choose, knowing you have a warm place to come back to after working outside is vitally important. And, you never know: If you have an accident outside, having a warm space to return to during an emergency may be crucial to your survival.
What Do You Think?
Do you have any suggestions on how to stay warm outside while working in the cold weather? Leave a comment—I’d love to hear them!
___________________
This is an updated version of a post that was originally published on December 1, 2016.
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Marjory Wildcraft is the founder of The Grow Network, which is a community of people focused on modern self-sufficient living. She has been featured by National Geographic as an expert in off-grid living, she hosted the Mother Earth News Online Homesteading Summit, and she is listed in Who’s Who in America for having inspired hundreds of thousands of backyard gardens. Marjory was the focus of an article that won Reuter’s Food Sustainability Media Award, and she recently authored The Grow System: The Essential Guide to Modern Self-Sufficient Living—From Growing Food to Making Medicine.
COMMENTS(61)
Wow, makes a lot of sense.
Good information Marjory because we are actually trending into a cooling cycle here in North America contrary to what the “global warming/ climate change ” crowd tries to imply.
The newer, ever changing, vague term “climate change” is a term used to manipulate and control mankind.
Stay Warm, Gene
Hi Gene,
Well that topic has raised up a literal storm on this site before! Regardless of how ti all goes, it still gets dang cold.
You didn’t explain how to take it. Tea spoon, tablespoon strait up. Do you mix into a tea, your food or what?
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/science/earth-highest-temperature-record.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0
I fully concur with hydrating with teas. I personally avoid caffinated teas for hydration purposes. My personal favorite is jiaogulan. It is a powerful afaptogen and has many health benefits. I the summer I make an ice tea and winter hot tea in a thermos for extra cool days. Cheers everyone and drink up!
A couple summers ago, I attended a Zen Festival in northern Kansas, where the daytime temps reached 108-110. I am very pale, burn easily, and don’t handle heat well, and all I had to cool myself at this powerless campsite was a small handheld fan and a strip of cloth around my neck with ice in it. So I decided to make a chilled herbal tea, and wow did it work wonders. I used hibiscus and peppermint, which have cooling effects, and angelica root, which helps the body handle extreme temperatures, whether hot or cold. I had a large bottle of it that I carried around, and it kept me hydrated, as well as providing some amazing assistance to staying cool. Highly recommend it, but I should add that I am not a certified herbalist. Just an herbalist. 🙂
I should also add that I did not seek relief from a car’s a/c during the day, as many of my friends did. I discovered that doing so only made the heat more unbearable, and weakened my body’s ability to adjust. If the Amish can make it all day without a/c, I decided I could too, lol. Going back and forth between extreme temperatures like that can actually make you very ill.
Marjory, love your tips and love your site! I found you by way of the Survival Summit, and I am very glad I did. 🙂
Hi Jess,
Well, welcome to the community. We are working very hard to make this the most useful site on the web for individual and family food self-reliance.
BTW, I had always heard that drinking hot tea on a hot day helped you hand;e the temps better. I tried it a few times, but couldn’t get myself to drink it – LOL.
One summer I got the crazy idea to have a sweat lodge and somehow managed to convince a bunch of friends into doing it too. The outside temps were Texas August usual at about 105. So this was really, like insanity (I do have good friends!). It was hotter than hell, but after the four rounds of sweating and going in an out – heck the rest of the summer seems downright cool. So we might have been onto something.
my mother always told me hot teas work better to cool you when it’s hot, it’s some kind of reaction of your body, you start sweating and that cools your body. In cases like this my mother is often right …
Thanks, Jess! I don’t do well with the heat, either. Your suggestions sound great and I’m preparing to give them a try next time it gets hot. And thanks for the “heads up” on Angelica. I used to work on a farm that grew it and wondered about its uses.
I thought I was writing to Marjory, but Saving Star replied to me.
Marjory, I wanted to let you know that lemon juice in a spray bottle used 4-6 times a day and at night whenever you get up will cut a sore throat. You can use bottled lemon juice and keep it in the refrigerator. I have stopped a sore throat many a time with this.
Buy bulk cayenne pepper powder then load it into empty vitamin type capsules. It will warm your insides without damage. You can rub it onto your feet before donning socks. It will warm your feet.
Max, rally? doesn’t that burn?
I listened to a You Tube video about the cayenne pepper. She said she mixed 1/2 – 1 tsp cayenne powder with a quarter size amount of any lotion then rubbed it onto the bottom of her feet and the palms of her hands and covered with socks and gloves. She said it helped her stay warm while working as a security guard at night.
Hmmm, I might try that out on my next camping trip. which will be next week!
I’ll let you know. My neighbor grew me a bunch of cayenne pepper a few years ago. So I am sure I can grow it.
Great article.
I find acclimatizing myself to the weather helps, having worked on the tools in north and central Alberta during all the seasons out and indoors (including 14 hour days in -35 celsius weather for weeks at a time), I’ve found that despite the cold my body would eventually adapt to the climate, my metabolism would speed up and my wife would tell me that sleeping next to me would be like sleeping next to a furnace. Actually sometimes I would sleep with only a sheet or one blanket on in the winter.
Point is, get outside and shovel snow for a couple hours in the cold weather or do some hard work outside in the bad weather, the fresh air will help keep that cold away, and your body will adjust and become more resilient. Same thing goes for the summer, spend some time in the steam sauna over a couple weeks before the heat wave hits and you wont be melting in the heat, plus sweating is a good natural detoxification.
Thanks for the article Marjory!
Marjory,
I love your emails. They are so pratical, loving and straingt from the heart. Stuff I can use!
I love in So Cal, so our brand of cold isn’t the same as what most others have to endure. (I have overewintered bell and chili pepper plants still producing after 3-4 years) But it does get cold and dry here.
I usually make sure I moisturize my legs (which can get seriously cracked) then start layering into exercise or yopa pants covered with either jeans or sweats to work in the garden. And Layered tops like tanks, with a long sleeved T or thin sweater and peel off as necessary as the weather heats.
I also brew a pot of tea in a cast iron pot that stays warm for an hour and refill my cup(s) as needed.
Your tip about the scarf keeping your neck warm at the first hint of a sore throat is ingenious. I just wonder about choking while unconsciously tossing and turning at night as I tend to move a bit and fear getting caught on the wrap around my neck. Maybe a turtleneck in that case?
Thank you for all you do Marjory, I get many email blogs, but yours if on I pay attention to. Hugs!
Hi Stephanie,
thanks so much for your kind words.
I haven’t choked yet… LOL.
When I was a child in the 50s a sore throat was treated by rubbing a mentholated ointment on the throat, wrapping the neck with a cotton diaper & then pinning it closed to form something like a cervical collar. We even wore the thing to school! I got a lot of sore throats as a child & this always worked. As an adult I use a wet bandana or cloth around neck to keep cool in hot temps. No need for ice. It works very well.
I toss and turn a great deal myself, Stefanie. I would be concerned about the very same thing! A turtleneck is a great idea, but you could also probably tuck the ends of the scarf into your shirt, if you wear one, or tie them together so they make less of a threat, lol.
Love that you brew tea in a cast iron pot! I need to get myself one!
What part radiates the most heat depends on how covered it is. I know for a FACT that my balding head is where most of MY heat radiates!!!! I will try just wrapping my neck the next time I am chilled to compare results though.
Well, let me know Steven.
I find that finger-less gloves are really helpful too. Even if you need the dexterity that only fingers can provide, keep the rest of your hand warm. I took regular garden gloves and cut the tips off.
Yes, Alice. good one
I make my tea really hot and breathe in the vapors till it is cool enough to sip. I hold some tea at the back of the throat before swallowing to heat that up. Sometime in my distant past I learned that the cold/flu virus likes the cooler throat and chest so keep them warm.
I never thought about wearing a scarf to bed, guess snuggling deep under the covers works well too. Those sore throats never last long.
Greetings Girls!
Oops Ladies!
So today it’s about staying warm. Ok here goes; since the massive amounts of 3 typed of radiation to my neck and throat in between the 16th of April 2010 and 28 August of that same year, I don’t do cold well at all.
In fact if the temp drops below 50° it is time for a turtle-neck or faux turtle neck and a scarf otherwise it feels as though someone is strangling me.
I too sip on tea [though alas I’m not in a position to grow my own at the moment] for the majority of the waking hours. Have for years anyway about 3 quarts a day along with bottle of water for the supplements and meds as needed with the couple of cups of coffee [dark water as it is always brewed quite weak].
But I find that the best ways should include layering of the garments under the jeans such as spandex tights with two [sometimes three] pairs of socks and either Thermals or sweats as the final garment before the jeans then a sleeved pocked T-Shirt and a Turtle-neck [Faux as it’s hard to find them in the men’s departments] and a flannel shirt before the filled vest that is topped with a good jacket of either leather [I have an old Bombers jacket] or Denim as liken to the old Levi’s type with the flannel lining. Mmmm toasty. A pair of knit gloves then the ol proverbial leather gloves.
Now for regular times it’s Lulu [my 2.3 lb] l’ Chihuahua girl tucked inside either the Flannel shirt or the vest. Tuffy rides to the right side in the truck so I’m surrounded by and with pure unadulterated love.
Bed time for either a nap or a recoup session or a nights repose is usually a thing with the Lulu proverbial snuggler!
Well I used to snuggle with Michele Ann the wife of my youth but somewhere along the way she got off the yellow brick road and ended up in the land of oz [Sacramento]. Twas a lonely life for the most part until JohnHenry adopted me [my first Chihuahua] then when he was abducted the sadness was immense until one day a lifelong friend phoned as said she was a home where they had to get rid of all their dogs [Chihuahua] puppies and there was a male there that I’d like but that she recommended the little [runt] girl as she needed the love and no one wanted her because she wasn’t party coloured dog sort of a washed out white.
When I arrived an hour later they had all been taken but the girl no one wanted. Ah Enter Tinkerbelle into my life! Was no bigger than a long pack of cigarettes! Tiny little thing!!! So I put her in the T- shirt pocket and sped away to the Swem residence out in Caruthers to show Naomi and Brenda what and who stole my heart. Miss Tinker!
The Tink would grace my life for the next 19 years went everywhere with me always in my shirt on the left side. Never met anyone that took offense even in the congregational meetings and gatherings. Save one day at the Shreveport, LA VA medical center. Then she couldn’t go with me there any longer. It wore on her when I was gone in the hospital for all those months of radiation and it was tough cus she was already a senior citizen as Lady Dogs go.
Then 13 months later along came Lulu! Yeee Ha! Looks just like The Tink just about 4oz heavier but just the lady all the same. She jumped out of the gals arms [she was 3 months old] and came scampering over and took a seat on my boot!
The gal said ‘I guess she chooses you, you can take her with you if you want as we are getting rid of everything here and moving back to Arkansas’. Needless to say I was shocked amazed and filled with joy! Heck yeah I’ll keep her!
Took two hours to bathe her and get the horrendous amount of fleas and such off of her and give her the Hollywood Shampoo set Paws and Claws with the Foo Foo and the new Necklace and jewelry.
Been with me ever since!
Anyway I trust you will forgive me my long and somewhat boring tale of how I stay warm.
Here’s to you two Ladies and all the good you are doing!
Always – Love Honor & Respect!
d’13
You know, my daughter still sleeps with us occasionally – and I love being surrounded by her and my husband. Makes for a very warm night. Kids throw off a lot of heat. I suppose it is the same with small dogs.
And isn’t there something to that saying “three dog night”?
My doggie Toetie (pronounce as in Tutti Frutti) keeps me warm at night, but she’s much too large (being a Jack Russell mix) to carry in a shirt pocket …
Hi Marjory,
Good job!
If you can still get old fashioned Vicks Vapor Rub, smear it on your neck under your ear lobes to under your chin and jaw bone around to the other ear lobe. Then wrap a large sweat sock around your neck and use a large safety pin to secure it. The sock holds in the heat as you just noted and it keeps the stinky vicks from spreading everywhere. I call it “the magic sock routine”. I can go to bed with a sore throat and wake up feeling normal.I take a shower to wash of the stinky vicks and start my day.
Also to keep warm I wear a very thin material, snug fitting tea shirt made of 80% cotton and 20% polyester. The snug fit keeps my ribs warm.
I hope this helps because it works for me.
PS- I wish they would go back to the original formula for Vicks Vapor Rub. The current product does not smell as strong as I remember. I wish the same for LAVA bar soap. I called W-D 40 who owns LAVA and asked them to put the original scent and amount of “sand” back in the soap, but no help.
And, Marjory, order some 4th of July tomatoes or seeds from Burpee seed co. They are the best tasting and prolific producers thru the heat clear to frost. And you will get ripe tomatoes before the 4th of July as their name says.
And, Marjory, did you read the book “How to Grow Record Breaking Tomatoes”? Do it. Or let me know and I will send you some excerpts from it.
TTYL,
Gene Cramer, Shawnee, Kansas
Hey Gene,
its funny you mentioned Burpee. I haven’t used their seeds much over the years – not totally sure why. But I’ll be publishing and article written by George Ball, CEO and owner of Burpee uh, next week. While doing more research on Burpee, I realize that my vague unfounded concern for that company is probably unfounded. I might interview him to lay aside any mus-conceptions about the company.
OK so here is the correct title of the book.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/598464.How_to_Grow_World_Record_Tomatoes
check it out. Gene Cramer
Hi Gene,
I just ordered a copy from Amazon. I’ll take a look.
who doesn’t love tomatoes?
Calories- at a recent wilderness 1st aid class, the instructor said he never saw a case of hypothermia in one with sufficient nutrition. He also advised a snack if you are freezing whether out and about, staying still, or in your sleeping bag. He also said that it is a myth that urinating before bed will keep you warmer, though you would feel more comfortable.
Consume plenty micro nutrients and ensure you are getting enough vitamins – they support metabolism and temperature regulation. The Standard American Diet is devoid of micronutrients. I recall Marjory mentioned that her tolerance for cold went up when she started growing her own food.
For Macronutrients, eat plenty of healthy saturated fats. Packets of Coconut oil/ Coconut butter are great! Approximately 70% of calories from healthy fats is considered optimal. Eat real foods; stay away from garbage!
For a cold- 50,000 IUs of Vitamin D3 (not D2) immediately at the first hint of symptoms for 3 days. Take with Vitamins A and K rich foods. Test your blood. I try to keep my Vitamin D3 levels between 70-90.
Oh andres,
Yes. I’ve come to realize that my Jan. / Feb. bout with sinus congestion is most directly related to low vitamin D levels. I’ve been meaning to write about it.
Wow, 50,000 IU’s is a lot…. My levels tested quite low (around 30) and that was in the summer so probably lower now. I am currently taking 2x 5,000 IU’s. Getting from sunlight is best, but not possible until late Feb. early March. I really need to get Dr. Mercola’s excellent video up on how to tell the suns angle for maximum vitamin D absorption.
I get real living vitamins and so much more from the Kombucha I make and drink. Those pills you can buy are dead manufactured wanna-be vitamins. Here in Michigan my whole life I will put on a light jacket at 50F only if the sun isn’t shining.
Really google Kombucha and go to kombuchakamp dot com and click on BENEFITS. Then click on NEW START HERE and sign up.
I do not get colds or the flu like I used to get every single one.
A great hint for head and neck protection is found at a place that sells protection for construction workers. Up here in Michigan anyway.
It is a Winter liner for a hard hat. I have two of them from back when I was working for one of those big companies that required hard hats.
One is light duty and one is super warm duty. They cover your head and have a lower part that wraps around your neck and snaps in the front.
Makes me feel all warm and toasty just thinking about them.
Herbal teas, yes! Especially ginger tea. I heaping tablespoon in a quart of boiling water. Let simmer for 15 or 20 minutes. To each cup add the juice of 1/4 of a lemon or lime and honey or agave to taste. Is also great for colds and flus.
I discovered something just this winter. I have trouble keeping my extremities warm. If I go back inside for a few minutes after working outside for about 10 or 20 minutes, then when I go back outside I my nose, toes, and fingers stay warm for quite a while. I suspect that working or walking is a necessary part of this equation but I don’t know for sure.
Another thing to keep in mind is the body is constantly trying to find equilibrium. Water conducts energy/heat away from the body, so urinating will help warm a body up. I notice when I work, I heat up, my body calls for water, but when there is a delay and my body starts to cool off, I’ll have to urinate. This can be an indication that I don’t have enough layers on. This really doesn’t matter unless one is rationing water. I hope this made sense, if not, then I’ve just exposed myself as a person who not only works, but pees. Yee Haw!
Yes, sprinkling some cayanne in your boots helps. It can get a bit hot if your feet sweat so don’t add too much. Water can really bring out the heat of the cayanne! Like many things start off small. The capsules, as Max mentioned, will warm your insides nicely and it doesn’t burn. While off topic if you’ve had a bit too much to drink and are not feeling well the next morning take a couple of these cayanne capsules and it will warm your stomach and you’ll feel better. While I haven’t had to do this in many years it really works.
The fastest way to get rid of a cold is to take a few drops of 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide into your ears. Colds start in the ear . Here is a link about this: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2002/03/13/hydrogen-peroxide-part-one.aspx
I like to keep a small heater on in the bathroom. Heating water before you drink it helps. Eating a small piece of something chocolate or really sweet makes me thirsty so I can drink a lot. Wrapping the kidney in a scarf helps keep the core warm. (Tip from Marjory at a picnic in Idaho)
Most days in the wintertime and early spring, I put on a turtleneck sweater underneath other tops which keeps my neck much warmer than just a jacket with a scarf. 🙂 Also, if I’m working outside, I’ll wear two sets of pants.. the outer one is usually sweatpants which can be removed anytime.
I would like to know about “kidney wraps”. You brought up the subject some time back, but didn’t tell us where to buy a kidney wrap. Please give us a run-down on their importance, and where we might buy one.
Thanks so much for the advise. I agree with all three. My husband and I work a 2 acre vineyard in northern Italy. I never really wore neck scarves until moving here. Now if I don’t have one I really notice the difference. In Italy they have many old, tiny stone buildings in the vineyards used as warming huts and a nice place for lunch. They might also have a nice cup of red wine to keep hydrated. We have come to know how healthy that is too.
Two words to keep warm… wear wool… layers of wool.
I use merino wool underwear and surplus wool army pants and a wool Swanndri jacket. I wear a wool hat and merino wool glove. If it gets really cold I use mittens over the gloves. Wool socks are a must under a modern version of mukluks.
Proper washing and care of wool will gives years of use making wool very economical. Since I switched from space-age outdoor sports wear to wool I never get cold anymore.
Another good thing about wool is that if it does get wet, it keeps the warmth.
Back in the day, east coast fishermen used to get called “blue nose” because the blue dye in their wool mittens would rub off on their faces when wet! I also make what I call “scar-neckers” out of what ever yarn I have handy. They are a combination scarf, neck warmer and chest dickie. I tend to get cold where my coats meet and this handy little thing covers my upper chest without balling up, covers the back of my neck and if I need more face protection I can pull it up over my face and ears as well. I wear glasses so my nose has to stick out LOL.
I agree, keeping the neck warm is crucial. For hydration, if you are using a water bottle in an insulated holder make sure you put the bottle in upside down. Liquids freeze from the top down. There is nothing worse than looking at liquids in the bottom of the bottle when you can’t get to them because the top is frozen. I also use one of those little toe warmers that activate when you rip the pack open. Placing one of those in the bottom of my water holder keeps the liquid from freezing a little longer. But if it gets cold enough for long enough, it will freeze regardless. Keep an eye on it when you’re out for extended periods of time, if it is starting to freeze, go ahead and drink it rather than carrying around a block of ice. I’d rather have it in me than on me.
Oh! good tips. TNX for posting
About warming up after returning inside. When I built my house, I installed hydronic heating in the floor. I live near lake superior, so I know what cold is. When I return inside, I have found that warming up your feet is the fastest and most comfortable way to warm up. Taking my boots off and walking on that 80 degree floor is heaven. Another way to do this is to put a towel in the dryer before working outside and when you return it will be nice and hot to wrap your feet in (my wife does this).
In the climate here it is not very cold (barely freezing), but when it’s cold most of the time it rains too, and often there’s a hard wind … That makes it hard, getting wet while the icy wind is blowing … So besides a scarf or so to wrap around your neck, you need watertight boots (with nice warm socks inside) to keep your feet dry and warm, a long raincoat (over some layers of warm sweaters) and a rain hat and also your gloves need to stay dry.
When I come home, my place to get warm again is: under a blanket 🙂
Winter is one of the easiest seasons to live in IF you have the correct attitude. Appropriate clothing for the weather is key. Even at minus 40 degrees
F or C, they are the same, if you have kindling and matches and fire wood indoors, you will enjoy starting a fire to warm the house/cabin, etc.
In a few moments the heat starts and the smile comes on your face. Soon you can do a rotating dance, warming all sides of you evenly while the room
continues to warm, while you peel off layers of clothing. Soon the kettle is boiling for the beverage of choice, then onto food and warm relaxation, or indoor work.
The most dangerous temperature is just below the freezing point of water, as you can easliy get wet and might slip into a hypothermic situation without recognizing it initially – the proverbial up the creek without a paddle.
That is my experience of 70 years of life on the praries and subarctic areas. Alaskans will say the same. That is the people who do not live in the highrise canyons of cities hold this opinion.
So learn to live a lot, go outside in the cold and enjoy what frosty the snowman calls nice weather.
Thanks Marjory for all the great suggestions to stop a cold in its tracks.
My Mum used to use goose fat on flannel and wrap around throat.
Hi, all the time i used to check blog posts here early in the
morning, for the reason that i like to learn more and more.
Thanks Silvia!
I would just caution that in a small room with an electric heater without ventilation, that toxins will build up in the air. The room will not smell ‘fresh’ after a while, and those warning signs are not to be ignored, because you want to avoid the build-up of carbon monoxide in the room.
I like the herbal tea idea, in fact, I do that myself. However, I put mine in a thermos (which I can judge approximate contents by weight) so that it will STAY warm, even if I’m sipping it outside. Chinese traditional medicine suggests we generally avoid iced drinks because the cold going down the esophagus ‘steals’ heat from the windpipe and bronchial system on the way down. This ultimately is said to impact the health of the lungs.
I’ve been trying to build up brown fat this year (to burn off some white fat) by spending more time out working in the cold and acclimatizing myself to it. Supposedly, we have the most brown fat deposits around our neck and shoulders. I wonder if it helps to keep that area wrapped by preventing vasoconstriction from exposure to cold air. Or maybe I want to expose that area to get my brown fat properly motivated. I don’t know.
lots of reading here, (this is a good thing). Maybe I am way off track; but I grew up on a dairy farm in PA and when I was a kid the temps would drop stay dropped; but I always came in after walking back the quarter mile from the barn in sub zero weather and good brisk winds and after taking off the coats and boots go to the fridge and get a nice cold drink. I still do drink cold herb teas from the fridge all winter. Anyone have any research on the pros or cons of this or am I just stranger than I thought. lol
As I have gotten older, I have become less tolerant of the cold. I also carry a lot less fat and less muscle mass than when I was younger (there’s still fat there, don’t get me wrong, just not in the places it would be more useful, LOL) The heat, I have no problem with (humidity is another story). I live in Ohio, so I deal with both extremes. I have tried Marjory’s suggestion of kidney wrapping, and it works. THAT is why we always wore undershirts as kids, huh? I don’t use the kidney wrap method much anymore, but I am never without an undershirt in the cooler weather (usually just one of my summer tank tops). As others have mentioned, whenever we fell ill, grandma slathered us with vicks on the neck and chest and back, and yes, a tube sock around the neck! As an adult, I’ve added a hot toddy to the mix 😉 I think one of the reasons keeping the neck warm is so important, is the lymph tissue that is present in the neck and surrounding areas. One of the (maybe silly) things I do in cold weather, before I get out of the shower, I run warmer water over my armpits for a minute or so, as the armpits are rich with lymph nodes.
I am probably weird, but I never wrap my neck. I find the pressure of a scarf, even if loosely tied, or a turtleneck very uncomfortable on my windpipe. My two tips for staying warm are to keep moving and keep dry. Vigorous activity keeps the blood circulating and warming the extremities. Waterproof boots and mittens are good, but a simple plastic bag between your sock and your boot or over your mitten or glove will keep melting snow and ice from coming in contact with your skin. If I do get soaked out in the cold, immediately on coming back inside, I will take a hot shower and then change into warm, dry clothes.