2 questions
pitbullmamaliz
Posts: 303 Member
Holy moly, you guys sick of all my random questions yet??? I'm just so grateful to have this group and all the incredibly knowledgeable and generous people here!
1. I am frequently cold these days. I used to run pretty warm, but I feel like now I'm cold more often than not. And of course my electric blanket bit the dust, so now along with tons of blankets, I also have to sleep in warm clothes, which annoys me as I prefer sleeping au naturale. ;-) Is this a low carb thing, or a "almost lost 23 pounds" thing?
2. Short of peeing on a stick or something, is there a way to know if we're in ketosis? I don't feel like my breath stinks. I'm not aiming for ketosis, but I generally am below 50g carbs so I'm just curious.
1. I am frequently cold these days. I used to run pretty warm, but I feel like now I'm cold more often than not. And of course my electric blanket bit the dust, so now along with tons of blankets, I also have to sleep in warm clothes, which annoys me as I prefer sleeping au naturale. ;-) Is this a low carb thing, or a "almost lost 23 pounds" thing?
2. Short of peeing on a stick or something, is there a way to know if we're in ketosis? I don't feel like my breath stinks. I'm not aiming for ketosis, but I generally am below 50g carbs so I'm just curious.
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Replies
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Hahaha, I also sleep au naturale.... But inside of a long sleeve t-shirt, tights and wooly sox and under a Hudson Bay wool Point Blanket and a duvet. Women who have lost fat weight tend to run cooler. If you feel like it is a problem though, and you have other symptoms you might want to get your thyroid checked. There's a couple of good threads on thyroid in this forum.2
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Yep lost 32lb here and always cold now. I was never cold heavier..
I would also like to know ur question number 21 -
From what I understand you will be in ketosis at that level of carbs - no need to test anything especially if you are getting results. I don't think I ever had bad breath from it (at least no one said anything, not even my husband) but definitely stinky pee.1
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Both good questions! It's the same here, on both counts. I don't use the Keto sticks, I don't think I have bad breath either. I keep carbs under 20g per day, so I would assume I'm in ketosis. I'm also cold all the time now. I'm sure it's partly due to loss of fat.
I'm not much help with answers just letting you know I completely relate.
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Great questions! I've been wondering about the cold thing as well. I'm always wearing a sweater or wrapping a blanket around me. I sleep au naturale as well, but under a great thick duvet that I sometimes double up over top of me.
At 50g carbs you might be in ketosis, but might not. Everyone has their own level of carb sensitivity I think. Eg. my sister really needs to be under 20g to maintain ketosis but I was there at 40-50g. The stix are fairly inexpensive around here, $15 for 50, so I'd say if you're curious, it's not a big expense to find out.2 -
Thanks, all! I'm glad I'm not alone in my new cold nature, LOL. Maybe I'll buy some sticks just for *kitten* and giggles. Though I have noticed stinky pee, now that canadjineh pointed that out. I was wondering why but maybe it's a sign I'm in keto. Bodies are so fascinating! And if I'm this chilly now, can't imagine how cold I'll be when I lose the next 30-35 pounds!0
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Looks like you got your answers but I'll chime in to say back when I was 180 lbs a few years ago (I'm 5'8") I got cold all the time! And it hurt to sit on a hard chair for very long, and it was hard to nest my knees for sleeping. But I'll take all that over worrying about my health I guess, lol
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sixaround1 wrote: »Looks like you got your answers but I'll chime in to say back when I was 180 lbs a few years ago (I'm 5'8") I got cold all the time! And it hurt to sit on a hard chair for very long, and it was hard to nest my knees for sleeping. But I'll take all that over worrying about my health I guess, lol
I had to get a small pillow for between my knees when I sleep since I've lost weight, it really helps.
I may also get those stick, I didn't realize how inexpensive they were.1 -
Bwaahahahaa, @canadjineh !
Over my birthday suit and Borat swimwear, I sleep in a long-sleeve base layer, a fleece top, thermal long underwear, and, if we have kittens, slippers. Plus a stocking cap with Dumbledore colors if it's not July or August.
Yeah, some old guys run cooler, too.....2 -
sixaround1 wrote: »Looks like you got your answers but I'll chime in to say back when I was 180 lbs a few years ago (I'm 5'8") I got cold all the time! And it hurt to sit on a hard chair for very long, and it was hard to nest my knees for sleeping. But I'll take all that over worrying about my health I guess, lol
Lol, so I am not the only one who now sits on a cushion
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TravellerRay wrote: »sixaround1 wrote: »Looks like you got your answers but I'll chime in to say back when I was 180 lbs a few years ago (I'm 5'8") I got cold all the time! And it hurt to sit on a hard chair for very long, and it was hard to nest my knees for sleeping. But I'll take all that over worrying about my health I guess, lol
Lol, so I am not the only one who now sits on a cushion
I relate to all that. I don't sit down at the kids' soccer games when they play Indoor for the bench issue. Frickin' ouch.
I have a knee pillow. Wear jackets when the house is below 74 deg (23C). EFF Winter, though seriously. My hands and feet are miserable. I'm bundled up like the younger brother in the Christmas Story every time I have to go outside.1 -
Before I got the Ketostix (which are not the best to determine if your in Ketosis), I knew I was in Ketosis when I had a massive amount of energy, but had not eaten for a long period of time (12, 18+ hours). Once you start seeing the scale and waist measurements move down you know your in Ketosis, your burning fat. You will not be hungry, another sign for me. I did not want food even after a long period of time of not eating. You dont need the Ketostix, they do not measure the three types of amino acid that Ketosis produces, only what is escreted.3
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Cold can be a sign your metabolism is slowing down which is not ideal. But it's for sure also related to your body losing some of it's blanket aka fat lol
I don't monitor Ketosis either. I do notice a slightly different smell to my pee. (I can't believe I just typed that) sometimes Similar to when I was pregnant (can't believe I typed that either) and I suspect that's a result of being fat adapted or ketones or whatever. I don't know that I really care but I do notice some subtle changes and that lets me know SOMETHING is going on inside...I'm not sure this is even answering your question. I'm goning to quit while I'm ahead. 4 -
I'm cold more too (30 pounds down).
I've never monitored ketones. My goal is fat adaption, so as long as I can go long periods between eating and feel energized, I'm happy. At the beginning I had dry, metallic mouth and asparagus pee, but nothing like that in a long time.0 -
In regard to cold, less fat = less insulation. However, if you have adequate brown fat (which is "good" fat), that will help. One thing that keeps people losing inches but not weight initially is their body converting white fat ("bad" fat) to brown fat which is much denser. Brown fat actually burns a lot of energy to create heat and keep you warm.
This is an area of interest for me because I am always cold which sucks because my wife is in early menopause due to a hysterectomy and is always hot. Car rides suck from a temperature standpoint.
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
I REALLY hate being cold all the time, so I am considering doing some n=1 experiments with this even if I can't find the original research. However, we are approaching summer, and I live in Texas, so I may not have an easy way to do this for several months.
As for your second question, those pee stix only work accurately until you are fat adapted. After that, it is easy to get a false negative simply because your body gets more efficient at using the ketones so fewer get expelled through urine.
If you want to know for sure, you either need to use a blood ketone meter (considered the gold standard) or a breath ketone meter (i.e. Ketonix).
As @johnnylew mentioned, there are signs which can give you a reasonably good idea if you are in ketosis, however it is not 100%. The biggest/easiest IMO is when you can go 12, 18 or even 24 hours without eating and aren't even really hungry.3 -
I see cardigan shopping in my future.1
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cstehansen wrote: »
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
This is interesting and I am eager to hear what you find out. If you need a "cold place" even in summer, make friends with your local gas station attendent and ask if you can walk in their freezer for a few minutes a day and just stand there (in full sight). Or go to your local Costco or grocery store with a walk in type freezer. I know this because grocery shopping at costco is painful when I have to go into the milk/veggie area 1 -
cstehansen wrote: »Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
I REALLY hate being cold all the time, so I am considering doing some n=1 experiments with this even if I can't find the original research. However, we are approaching summer, and I live in Texas, so I may not have an easy way to do this for several months.
If you want to continue the cold therapy during the summer, you can finish your morning shower with straight cold water (or as cold as you can handle) for as long as you can handle it. It was a shock when I first started, but it does get easier the more often I do it. I have done this and it helps - having lost 60+ lbs, I am in the camp of 'always cold' along with the others.1 -
cstehansen wrote: »Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
I've read this too. So this winter I didn't heat up my car and end up shivering for the first 10 minutes of my commute. I don't know if I'm brilliant or demented.
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cstehansen wrote: »
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
This is interesting and I am eager to hear what you find out. If you need a "cold place" even in summer, make friends with your local gas station attendent and ask if you can walk in their freezer for a few minutes a day and just stand there (in full sight). Or go to your local Costco or grocery store with a walk in type freezer. I know this because grocery shopping at costco is painful when I have to go into the milk/veggie area
I may not do this exactly, but it did give me an idea. Several of the convenience stores around here have a walk in refrigerated beer section. Hanging out in there for several minutes doesn't seem like a bad idea.4 -
cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
This is interesting and I am eager to hear what you find out. If you need a "cold place" even in summer, make friends with your local gas station attendent and ask if you can walk in their freezer for a few minutes a day and just stand there (in full sight). Or go to your local Costco or grocery store with a walk in type freezer. I know this because grocery shopping at costco is painful when I have to go into the milk/veggie area
I may not do this exactly, but it did give me an idea. Several of the convenience stores around here have a walk in refrigerated beer section. Hanging out in there for several minutes doesn't seem like a bad idea.
Attire?0 -
cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
This is interesting and I am eager to hear what you find out. If you need a "cold place" even in summer, make friends with your local gas station attendent and ask if you can walk in their freezer for a few minutes a day and just stand there (in full sight). Or go to your local Costco or grocery store with a walk in type freezer. I know this because grocery shopping at costco is painful when I have to go into the milk/veggie area
I may not do this exactly, but it did give me an idea. Several of the convenience stores around here have a walk in refrigerated beer section. Hanging out in there for several minutes doesn't seem like a bad idea.
Attire?
I'm thinking shorts and a t-shirt - for as long as I can stand it. I stopped wearing sleeveless shirts and tank tops back in my 20's.0 -
cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
This is interesting and I am eager to hear what you find out. If you need a "cold place" even in summer, make friends with your local gas station attendent and ask if you can walk in their freezer for a few minutes a day and just stand there (in full sight). Or go to your local Costco or grocery store with a walk in type freezer. I know this because grocery shopping at costco is painful when I have to go into the milk/veggie area
I may not do this exactly, but it did give me an idea. Several of the convenience stores around here have a walk in refrigerated beer section. Hanging out in there for several minutes doesn't seem like a bad idea.
Attire?
I'm thinking shorts and a t-shirt - for as long as I can stand it. I stopped wearing sleeveless shirts and tank tops back in my 20's.
Stopped following Richard Simmons?1 -
I've read this too. So this winter I didn't heat up my car and end up shivering for the first 10 minutes of my commute. I don't know if I'm brilliant or demented.
Perhaps a bit of both?!
cstehansen wrote: »In regard to cold, less fat = less insulation. However, if you have adequate brown fat (which is "good" fat), that will help. One thing that keeps people losing inches but not weight initially is their body converting white fat ("bad" fat) to brown fat which is much denser. Brown fat actually burns a lot of energy to create heat and keep you warm.
This is an area of interest for me because I am always cold which sucks because my wife is in early menopause due to a hysterectomy and is always hot. Car rides suck from a temperature standpoint.
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
I REALLY hate being cold all the time, so I am considering doing some n=1 experiments with this even if I can't find the original research. However, we are approaching summer, and I live in Texas, so I may not have an easy way to do this for several months.
As for your second question, those pee stix only work accurately until you are fat adapted. After that, it is easy to get a false negative simply because your body gets more efficient at using the ketones so fewer get expelled through urine.
If you want to know for sure, you either need to use a blood ketone meter (considered the gold standard) or a breath ketone meter (i.e. Ketonix).
As @johnnylew mentioned, there are signs which can give you a reasonably good idea if you are in ketosis, however it is not 100%. The biggest/easiest IMO is when you can go 12, 18 or even 24 hours without eating and aren't even really hungry.
I'm interested in your n=1 experiment results with regard to this too @cstehansen! Prior to Keto, and weighing 300 pounds easy, I was always the warmest person in the room. Post Keto and after successfully eliminating 167 pounds, I am officially dead (i.e. = ice water in my veins). LOLZ I, too, am now always the coldest person in the room. I consider any less than about 75 degrees to be "cold" to the point where I'm wearing a jacket. Over this past Winter in Southern California, I can clearly recall multiple times going for walks outside (usually very late at night and/or very early in the morning) wearing: a thermal tank top under whatever top I'd chosen for the day. Over this I would wear a long-sleeved, zippered jacket and over ALL of that, my trusty down ("industrial strength") jacket, and 2 pairs of gloves on my hands which weren't enough because my hands never warmed up on the usually hour-long walks. It's crazy how keenly I feel the cold now.1 -
cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
This is interesting and I am eager to hear what you find out. If you need a "cold place" even in summer, make friends with your local gas station attendent and ask if you can walk in their freezer for a few minutes a day and just stand there (in full sight). Or go to your local Costco or grocery store with a walk in type freezer. I know this because grocery shopping at costco is painful when I have to go into the milk/veggie area
I may not do this exactly, but it did give me an idea. Several of the convenience stores around here have a walk in refrigerated beer section. Hanging out in there for several minutes doesn't seem like a bad idea.
https://sparklinghill.com/cold-chamber2 -
canadjineh wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
This is interesting and I am eager to hear what you find out. If you need a "cold place" even in summer, make friends with your local gas station attendent and ask if you can walk in their freezer for a few minutes a day and just stand there (in full sight). Or go to your local Costco or grocery store with a walk in type freezer. I know this because grocery shopping at costco is painful when I have to go into the milk/veggie area
I may not do this exactly, but it did give me an idea. Several of the convenience stores around here have a walk in refrigerated beer section. Hanging out in there for several minutes doesn't seem like a bad idea.
https://sparklinghill.com/cold-chamber
I have heard of these places. I work for a company that tests the electrical safety of products, and we have tested some of these. I think the convenience store beer room is more in my price range though.
BTW, aren't you in Canada? In my book, there is about 10 months of the year where just stepping outside = freeze my tail off.0 -
@ladipoet - First, WOW about losing 167 lbs! That is AWESOME!!!
I was stuck living in northeast Ohio for 11 winters. During that time, I started wearing thermal top and bottom every day starting in early October and going through late May. My next door neighbor just referred to me as "the freeze baby" as I had on full winter attire as I did the last lawn mowing of the year and he was wearing shorts and a tank top. So thankful to be back in Texas where I belong.0 -
cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
This is interesting and I am eager to hear what you find out. If you need a "cold place" even in summer, make friends with your local gas station attendent and ask if you can walk in their freezer for a few minutes a day and just stand there (in full sight). Or go to your local Costco or grocery store with a walk in type freezer. I know this because grocery shopping at costco is painful when I have to go into the milk/veggie area
I may not do this exactly, but it did give me an idea. Several of the convenience stores around here have a walk in refrigerated beer section. Hanging out in there for several minutes doesn't seem like a bad idea.
I think I read a detailed abstract of that study, but I don't remember where. (Maybe Mark's Daily Apple had a link to pubmed for the actual paper?) Basically, it wasn't nearly as extreme as hanging out in a walk-in freezer. As I recall it was a fairly small group of men (maybe 10?). I seem to recall they were middle aged and office workers. (That is actually important because there are other studies that show people who labor outside for a job have high brown fat already.).
The men were exposed to 60 f temps for 30 mins a couple times a week for several months wearing light clothes. My understanding is they were cold, but not cold enough to shiver (because then you are heating yourself up by shivering rather than encouraging the production of brown fat to keep you warm).
Tim Ferris claims that an ice pack across the back & shoulders also encourages brown fat increases. That was from an n=1 study where the result was fat loss. So because he lost more fat that way, he inferred that he must have increased his brown fat.
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cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
This is interesting and I am eager to hear what you find out. If you need a "cold place" even in summer, make friends with your local gas station attendent and ask if you can walk in their freezer for a few minutes a day and just stand there (in full sight). Or go to your local Costco or grocery store with a walk in type freezer. I know this because grocery shopping at costco is painful when I have to go into the milk/veggie area
I may not do this exactly, but it did give me an idea. Several of the convenience stores around here have a walk in refrigerated beer section. Hanging out in there for several minutes doesn't seem like a bad idea.
I think I read a detailed abstract of that study, but I don't remember where. (Maybe Mark's Daily Apple had a link to pubmed for the actual paper?) Basically, it wasn't nearly as extreme as hanging out in a walk-in freezer. As I recall it was a fairly small group of men (maybe 10?). I seem to recall they were middle aged and office workers. (That is actually important because there are other studies that show people who labor outside for a job have high brown fat already.).
The men were exposed to 60 f temps for 30 mins a couple times a week for several months wearing light clothes. My understanding is they were cold, but not cold enough to shiver (because then you are heating yourself up by shivering rather than encouraging the production of brown fat to keep you warm).
Tim Ferris claims that an ice pack across the back & shoulders also encourages brown fat increases. That was from an n=1 study where the result was fat loss. So because he lost more fat that way, he inferred that he must have increased his brown fat.
I thought it was the act of shivering that stimulated development of brown fat???
I can't remember where I had read about it. Actually maybe it was a podcast. Quite a while back.
I remember thinking I wanted to do the cold shower thing for the benefit but I can't stand being cold. It's actually painful. All my muscles tense up so much that it hurts.
If what you're saying is all it takes, with the way my husband controls the thermostat in the winter I had several months of being cold but just warmer than shivering! Lol
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cstehansen wrote: »cstehansen wrote: »
Anyway, as I have looked into this, one thing that may help is actually "cold therapy" which I can only describe as an anti-sauna. Essentially, it seems there is some evidence that spending 10-20 minutes a day in cold will make your body convert white fat to brown fat. I have not been able to find the original research articles on this yet, but have seen/heard it referenced a few times now, so I will keep looking.
This is interesting and I am eager to hear what you find out. If you need a "cold place" even in summer, make friends with your local gas station attendent and ask if you can walk in their freezer for a few minutes a day and just stand there (in full sight). Or go to your local Costco or grocery store with a walk in type freezer. I know this because grocery shopping at costco is painful when I have to go into the milk/veggie area
I may not do this exactly, but it did give me an idea. Several of the convenience stores around here have a walk in refrigerated beer section. Hanging out in there for several minutes doesn't seem like a bad idea.
I think I read a detailed abstract of that study, but I don't remember where. (Maybe Mark's Daily Apple had a link to pubmed for the actual paper?) Basically, it wasn't nearly as extreme as hanging out in a walk-in freezer. As I recall it was a fairly small group of men (maybe 10?). I seem to recall they were middle aged and office workers. (That is actually important because there are other studies that show people who labor outside for a job have high brown fat already.).
The men were exposed to 60 f temps for 30 mins a couple times a week for several months wearing light clothes. My understanding is they were cold, but not cold enough to shiver (because then you are heating yourself up by shivering rather than encouraging the production of brown fat to keep you warm).
Tim Ferris claims that an ice pack across the back & shoulders also encourages brown fat increases. That was from an n=1 study where the result was fat loss. So because he lost more fat that way, he inferred that he must have increased his brown fat.
Thanks for this. I was actually thinking about the ice pack option. I had a car accident last Monday and am supposed to be using one across my upper back/neck but have a hard time finding time so I have only done so twice so far. (See my current avatar for a picture of what is left of my car. No significant injuries, thank God.)
I also like that the temp may not need to be extreme. Perhaps since the beer cooler is colder than 60 f, I can use timing of staying in there until I start to shiver as a starting point if shivering means it is no longer productive for production of brown fat.
@Sunny_Bunny_ - as for the shivering, this is something I did know because of an article talking about how babies have a higher percentage of brown fat and are therefore able to stay warm without shivering.0
