Tips for beating the cold that don’t involve your heater

July is often the worst month for South Africans in terms of the weather. Our homes and offices aren’t equipped to deal with the cold temperatures and so we often have no option but to feel the plummeting temperatures. These tips should help you stay as warm as possible, even when you sit next to a colleague who wants the window open.

Eat fatty foods

This is the one month of the year where you now have a legitimate excuse to eat foods with extra fats. According to Columbia Health, eating fats can rev up your metabolism, which in turn can help your body better moderate its own internal temperature. This isn’t the time to worry about your summer body, it’s about keeping warm.

Stay Active

Winter is a great time to stay more active, and not just cause you are eating all the fatty food from tip one. Studies show that even the most enthusiastic athletes and fitness nuts exercise at least 5% less in winter, but this is the time to get up and keep moving. Staying active will not only increase your body temperature when you are actually moving, but it will also increase your metabolism for the next twenty-four hours, turning up your internal body heat.

Wear a lot of layers

It’s a trick well known overseas, but for some reason, we in SA just tend to ignore their advice. Wear many thin layers instead of one thick jersey, the warmth from your body is trapped in air pockets formed between each layer. More air pockets equal more warmth.

Trick the thermostat

Clever bosses often lock the thermostat to keep temperatures and costs barely above freezing. With the remote nowhere to be seen, it’s easy to simply sit and curse your luck, but there is a better way. Holding ice up to the thermostat will fool the device into thinking it’s colder than it is, thereby switching it on again, just don’t tell your boss how you found this out.

Hot air rises, cool air sinks

Cold air sinks and the bottom of the door is the perfect place for it to get into your house. Block the bottom of your doors with towels or anything else that can seal off that draught. Likewise, take advantage of the fact that hot air rises, and turn on your ceiling fans to blow that air back down into the room.

Move your bed away from the wall

The external walls of the house are the coldest, simply touching them will show you just how cold. For winter move your bed just a few inches away from the wall, ensuring the two are not in contact. That space will make sure you are much warmer.

Cover your surfaces

You may have heard that 80% of your body heat escapes through your head, but this is untrue. The heat will escape anywhere it can, so make sure you cover all the exposed parts of your body, even inside. Wearing gloves, scarf and beanie inside may seem ridiculous to your colleagues, but you will be laughing right back when they complain about the temperature.

Keep the curtains closed

Without double glazing windows are one the main places where heat can escape a building. If you can close your windows, then draw all the curtains you don’t absolutely need. The added layer of protection over the windows will mean the heat escapes a little slower.

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