Always Cold!

MondayJune22nd2015

IriaSparcast wrote: »

First, thanks for all replies, both private and public. I did mention in original post that my GP already ran blood work and thyroid tests in June to rule those issues out. Numbers all came back solidly within the median of "normal." (She gave me my actual numbers, not just an all-clear, so that I could do my own homework.)

It's disheartening to hear from folks that after 2-4 yrs it doesn't get better. I was already wearing long sleeves and hoodies, plus fleece tights under my jeans at the end of summer. Guess I'll just hafta double up this winter....

Some here said that gaining muscle helps them, so lifting; might also help you.

sweetiepie781

Wow glad to read this thought it was just me I was 147 and am now down to 108 and ever since losing weight I am always FREEZING and we havent even hit winter yet I am already blasting my heat in the house and in my car

ntnunk

I've always been on the more cold-natured side, even when I was at my fattest. Ever since dropping below about 190 (I'm in the 170s now) it's been constant. Winter, summer, spring, or fall, there's a blanket or jacket near at hand.

jgnatca

Did you get your iron checked? That's the only other factor I can think of.

Yi5hedr3

Yeh, those thyroid tests are bunk. Feed that thyroid with iodoral, the best form of iodine.

hekla90

jgnatca wrote: »

Did you get your iron checked? That's the only other factor I can think of.

If you do get it checked, specifically ask for ferritin which is not generally checked. It measures iron stores so to speak. You can have normal hemoglobin and hematocrit and iron levels but a low or low normal ferritin and still might cause issues. I had mine checked when my other labs were normal and it was normal too at 8, but my gp said women should aim to be above 20-30 or you can still be symptomatic. Women lose a lot of their iron stores menstrauting.

robmcleod613

I was the human furnace for the majority of my life. I though it was my super power. Turns out I was only well insulated.

5"11' 147lbs (down from 210lbs)

Cold regularly for the first time in my life.

To lighten your mood let me tell you the story of going to a concert for the first time with my girlfriend in July this year.

She is my New GF. We are at a Tragically Hip concert. It is raining. It has been raining all day. We are prepared. Me because I am wearing some fancy Gortex Sports Jacket. Her because she is wearing my old school yellow raincoat, which I insist she wear when she arrives at my as she was literally dressed for a day at the beach.

A bit of rain is no big deal I think to myself. After all, it is the middle of the summer and who doesn't like a bit of rain. Right? Wrong.

Sporty Gortex jacket begins to leak down my neck and back in minutes I start to shiver. She is warm and dry in my jacket. Shivers get much worse. What the heck? I have never been so cold. Hug GF. Ah warm. Mmmmm. New GF not exactly 100% comfy with strong PDA's as we had only really just started dating seriously. She moves asay a bit. I follow hug closer. Repeat. To add a little spice to this some of her longtime friends were there watching me glom onto her just to make her really comfy.

By the end of the show I was so cold I was just waiting for it to end and trying to stay as close to her as I could to suck up as much heat as possible. Later, I explained to her that I was trying to not to drop into hypothermia.

The good news in all that cold?

She must really have believed me a she is still my GF!!!

Happy maintaining. May you dress in Layers.

RoB

christinaleigh44

We have almost the same stats, I'm 5'5, started at 197, currently at 144. ALWAYS cold. My normal weight is actually about 10 lbs less than my current and I wasn't cold until this time around losing weight.

elisa123gal

don't forget how hot you get when you're fat.. and that's the truth. you chilly bunch are a lucky bunch.

SuggaD

I'm always cold. I'm told its because I don't have much body fat. Oh well!

MsJulesRenee

Buy a light 100% wool jacket, zip up hoodie style, and wear that under your winter/autumn jackets. I work outside sometimes and it helps a lot. Places like Eddie Bauer should have them, worth the money!

kwantlen2051

Same here. When we lose weigh, we lose some of the "insulation" (Fat). Just keep a sweater handy. I have a pair of gloves with me all the time since I feel the cold in my hands first.

aylajane

Get your blood moving a little helps a lot! I can be freezing, then do 20 jumping jacks and some pushups and suddenly I am "normal" for awhile. Look into T-Tapp "Hoe Downs". Good way to pump up your body temp pretty quick (she claims they do more, no clue on that... but not hard, can do anywhere no one is looking and really helps with the cold thing for awhile!)

ANd I second/third/fourth the whole "more muscle helps" thing!

ForTheLoveOfHiking

Yes, get your blood moving!

I wish I had that problem. I am lean and I run HOT even in the winter. I hike when it's 40 degrees out and will usually end up taking my jacket off 20 mins into my hike.

hgycta

As others have mentioned, muscle keeps you a lot warmer than fat so you may want to start thinking about incorporating some muscle bearing exercises into your daily routine if you can; not only is muscle warmer, but it burns more calories, too.
Something else that helps me is layering up! Long johns have become my best friend, seriously. Not to mention heavy, long, and thick wool socks (I admittedly get them from the Men's section in Walmart). But the biggest lifesaver for me personally is winter coats. I have tried Columbia Omni Heat coats and were moderately impressed, but what really saves me is purchasing coats with Down feathers in them!!! Make sure they're hooded, and long enough to cover some of your hands and extends up to your neck to keep that area nice and warm, too. Preferably look for hoods line with fur (doesn't matter if it's real or faux, that's up to you) since it acts as a further barrier to wind. I love my down jackets, it's almost as if they heat up the longer I wear them! (Note: don't go for those lightweight packable down jackets, they don't do much. Look for something big and thick!)
If price is a factor, eBay is there to help I usually purchase my jackets used, but even new ones on there are a lot less expensive generally. You can also try Ross!

jgnatca

Here in Canada the Mark's Work Wearhouse chain has lots of gear for keeping warm. I love their Merino wool socks in women's sizes, and that is also where I got my thermal under-gear (tights, shirt, and balaclava) for my runs.

jgnatca

If you want to try a miracle fiber, try Alpaca. It has superior thermal properties even when wet like wool, and as the fiber is hollow, is very light. It's like wearing a warm air blanket. This is the most expensive sock I've ever bought, but oh so light and warm.
http://www.albertarosealpacas.com/Products.asp

Orphia

I don't seem to be cold much at all now I'm 50 lbs lighter, but I was always cold when I was overweight.

I think it's because I've become so fit from exercising, and my heart is stronger and pumps better.

arditarose

I don't know. I just assume I'm going to be cold and needing to pee constantly for the rest of my life.

Linnaea27

Like everybody else here, I got really cold when I was a few pounds away from my goal (being in a deficit makes it even worse) and I've stayed that way to some degree. It improves somewhat when you transition to maintenance.

I just went on Sierra Trading Post and to other sources of inexpensive, but high quality clothing, and bought myself a variety of fleece and wool clothes, including a wonderful fleece vest. I just wear more clothes now, and I love that vest in fall, winter, and spring. It's kind of annoying to have to wear more clothes and cover up your new body, once you're thinner and feel better about your body's appearance!

I highly recommend splurging on mid-weight merino wool clothes-- leggings/baselayer pants and some type of top (I love zipneck wool tops since they are so good for cool-weather workout wear as well as just everyday clothing). Wool is much more insulating than other fibers, except maybe for real down.

lbaxandall

I'm freezing all the time. My feet are always soaked with a clammy sweat too, which doesn't help. My hands, feet, nose and butt (yes, the booty, so strange) are always frozen. Double up on socks, long sleeve shirts under sweaters, Ugg boots... I have a portable heater at my desk at work, and try to do some jumping jacks, squats, twists, to get the blood moving when I go to the washroom. Lots of tea and coffee too! Room temp water, not cold water. Good luck!

AbiBain

I just hit my goal weight and I'm freezing all the time now too. But on the plus side, it is easier to deal with that the hot flashes I used to get. Silver linings and that.

oceangirl99

I lost roughly 50 lbs years ago and remember the cold feeling. I know exactly what you mean.... really cold all the time! I have felt cold my whole life but that was different and remember hearing one person who was experiencing the same thing say they wanted to GAIN the weight back so they could feel warm again. I recall thinking that I didn't care how cold I was, the weight loss was worth it. It did get better for me..... when I was pregnant with my third and gained weight again. I sit here right now wishing I was cold (and about 50 lbs lighter )

Alassonde

I've been cold my entire life! People at work joke about my drawer full of sweaters, but I need those things! Even when I weighed a little more I was still cold. I have been doing strength training lately, and have added some muscle, which has helped a bit. I'm just going to plan on being cold forever, and maybe moving somewhere that's not so cold eventually.

MamaLlamaThatsMe

I was always particularly warm as a child, but I grew up on the heavy side. I lost a bunch of weight (67 pounds; 175 down to 108 at the low end, maintaining around 110-120) in high school and became cold all the time... not just cold, but shivering/shaking/extremely cold. I stayed thin for a whole bunch of years, and my sensitivity to cold temperatures did not improve, unfortunately.

Even after I had kids and my weight skyrocketed to obesity, I never really felt warmer... Then I finally lost all THAT weight and actually ended up lower than my previous, already low weight. (I lost 104 pounds; 202 down to 98 at the low end... Yes, I am significantly underweight. That's another story. I am working on it.) Now I could swear I am just twice as cold!

I agree with others that the one thing that helps is exercise. Even jogging in place for at least 10-20 minutes, if stuck inside on a cold winter day, can get your blood flowing, and it helps. Of course, once you stop and sit down to rest you go back to being cold. I do get warm when I am doing a lot of housework, so there's that...

Of course, where I live, subzero temperatures are the norm at certain times of year. I walk my boys to their bus stop every morning around 7:00, which happens to be the coldest time of day. Layers are my friend, and hot drinks upon returning to the house are even better!

NailsnfitnesS

hekla90 wrote: »

jgnatca wrote: »

Did you get your iron checked? That's the only other factor I can think of.

If you do get it checked, specifically ask for ferritin which is not generally checked. It measures iron stores so to speak. You can have normal hemoglobin and hematocrit and iron levels but a low or low normal ferritin and still might cause issues. I had mine checked when my other labs were normal and it was normal too at 8, but my gp said women should aim to be above 20-30 or you can still be symptomatic. Women lose a lot of their iron stores menstrauting.

Gr8 advice! Im cold -ALL.THE.TIME. Even after gaining all my weight I lost using this app. Health issues made me slip 100% off that track and now trying to recommit I saw this post. I got my iron levels checked and dr. said to actually cut back on iron because my levels are high. ….I wanted to see if anyone would supply useful advice as to how to approach iron levels being checked-thanks- from someone who too has this issue so much went to dr. for it. My thyroid came back normal as well.

OP one thing helped me when I used to be in shape was running-in the winter. It sounds counter productive but I swear I would not wear coats when ever I had to leave during that time in my life when it was lose fat or bust!. Even when I was done running or an off day-I wonder if it has to do with the blood being so adaptive or metabolism. I even took cold showers (in the winter yes) What helped since both of these activities are not in my natural way of living life (running outdoor and cold showers in winter) was just checking it off- a mental check list of things to do. I had no reaction my mentality was like a soldier's just go in and get it over with with no feelings. Machine-like mentality. Nike just do it had muffin on meh. you get the drift. lol…oh I miss that part of me. I need to find her and bring her out some more to get me back on track lol. Sorry for the weirdness, grammar

RodaRose

arditarose wrote: »

I don't know. I just assume I'm going to be cold and needing to pee constantly for the rest of my life.

LOL. That pretty much somes up how I feel.

LisaTcan

I'm freezing all the time - it has gotten worse as I've lost weight but I was always pretty cold. I'm tracking my body temperature as we are trying to conceive and I've realized that my temperature runs lower than what is considered normal. I think some people just naturally have a lower body temperature than others.

I'd second getting your iron checked though - my hemoglobin and ferritin were both very, very low and I felt even more cold and tired. My co-worker commented at the time that my lips were blue! 6 months on an iron supplement and its back to the low end of normal.

youngmomtaz

Always cold. As I have gotten older I have started to splurge on decent clothing items a lot more often. I bough a down winter coat a few years ago and now it is huge on me but I won't give it up until I find another in sale. Down vests get worn even In the house. I fell in love with high quality wool items as well. Merino sweaters, socks, scarves, mittens, etc. I bought a few beautiful Icebreaker brand sweaters and tunics this year that I have been living in! I usually wear long johns or at least a pair of tights under my pants all winter and often have to drive wearing my snow gear in the winter. I have low thyroid function and even though my body temp average has risen since I started treatment I still get chilled so easily!! Blankets on the furniture all year round and even in +20C outside I often have a sweater or blanket nearby if I am relaxing outside because if there is too much wind and I am not moving I end up cool.

nxd10

Yeah, I've been like that for several years of maintaining too. I dress warm. I wear socks. I take a bath every night. It keeps me warm for several hours. I also eat more when it's cold. I need to.