Matt Brian

Feeling The Cold

I don’t know if it’s just me but it seems like every woman I know has a completely different attitude towards the temperature of their surroundings. At home, I can be sitting in my living room wearing just shorts and T-shirt whereas Katie is huddled on the sofa trying to keep warm. The same goes for when I sleep, I always have to have some part of my body out of the covers otherwise I become hot, bothered and find it difficult to sleep.

The one place I have experienced this difference is at work. I walk into work in the mornings and most of it is uphill, when I get to work, as manager I am the one who opens the place and makes sure all the lights are on and post is collected etc. But as I walk through that door in the morning, the place is like Hell’s Kitchen, it’s like walking into the boiler room of the Titanic.

The reason for the extreme temperature (even during these sunny April days), is the ladies of the office and their need to keep a radiator on, most of the time overnight, so that the office is warm and toasty when they get in. Luckily, my office is always cool due to the fact I have nobody else to share it with, but it’s like stepping from a rare sunny day in England to the sands of the Sahara walking between the two offices.

I have garnered a little bit of a reputation for having a nice ambient temperature in my office and not wanting to be sexist or stereotypical, I looked up the reasons as to why people my be disposed to feeling the cold a little more than myself.

Weight: “The more body fat you have, the more insulation you have, so you tend not to be as cold generally.”

Fitness: The amount of dense muscle an individual has helps the body regulate temperature more efficiently. “There’s no question,” an expert says, “that if you want to enhance the overall regulation of your system — exercise. It’s scientifically proven that it’s the single most important thing anyone can do for themselves, ever.”

Diet: People who do not get enough vitamins, minerals, protein, vegetables and other essential nutrients for a healthy metabolism could find themselves feeling tired and cold because their metabolism is not getting the nutrients it needs to work efficiently.

Gender: Women are more prone to hypothyroidism than men are, according to experts. Hypothyroidism is a condition in which the thyroid works too little and causes the patient to feel cold. Women’s body temperatures are also prone to irregularity due to their menstrual cycles and menopause, and women generally have less dense muscle mass than men do, which lowers their average body temperature.

Age: As people age, their hormonal systems may begin to function differently. When they do not produce as many hormones as they once did, they may find themselves feeling colder. Likewise, hormonal surges associated with menopause can cause hot flashes.

Stress: Being too tense or uptight in the office could reduce your circulation, making you feel colder.

Source: CNN

Now, I could argue that the people I work with are unhealthy people who are extremely old, that don’t exercise and are on their monthly cycle constantly. Whilst some maybe true, the bulk of my office are young and relatively active.

I put it down to a few self realised core points:

1. The women don’t dress appropriately.
2. Most of them do not have a breakfast, meaning they have less fuel to burn to keep them warm.
3. Men may have more muscle mass meaning they may generate more heat.

A very unscientific analysis but it always intrigues me that when I am with the woman in my family, my office or even somewhere completely random, I am always the warm one and everyone else is cold.

If this post is offensive to you, I don’t care.