The paradox of weight loss
 

When I first decided to start losing weight, of course I wanted to feel better and be healthier. As I started feeling better and having more energy, my goals changed some and suddenly another very important reason for losing weight was pure vanity. I wanted to look better. I was tired of wearing big boxy shirts that came past my rear with long pleated pants, or a similar outfit. I daydreamed about wearing cute little sundresses, or a pretty sleeveless blouse with a skirt, or any other outfit that I would have avoided when I was so heavy. Now I can finally fit into these clothes. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way I look in them. :D But, there is no possible way I can wear them anywhere. Why? It's too COLD. Every restaurant, store, even church and my workplace is so cold. I can't leave the house without a 3/4 or longer sleeve, and I have to have a jacket on most of the time as well. Sandals are out, otherwise my feet will freeze all day long. Skirts are out for the same reason. Too cold! So what am I wearing all of the time? Long sleeved shirts and long pants AGAIN (minus the high waisted pleats at least)! There is no place in Mississippi that I know off that doesn't have air conditioning. How they can all afford to have them running at what feels like 50 degrees is beyond me! Of course, that was comfortable at 346 lbs, but not anymore.

I went shopping over the weekend. At first it was fun to see all of these cute little tops and skirts that looked great on me, but I knew it would be a waste to buy them. I wouldn't be able to wear them anywhere comfortably. :mad: So now, I'm very close to my goal, happy with how I look in clothes, but too cold to wear anything sleeveless or even short sleeved, skirts, sandals, or shorts. Not that I'm wanting to gain weight back to warm up or anything....

Am I doomed to long sleeves and long pants year round or do you think I'll eventually warm up? I've been maintaining for about 8 months now, after a slow weight loss that began in 2005. I keep thinking it will get better.

Tammy, it took me almost exactly a year to start feeling normal again. I can do t-shirts and tank tops now, and even capri pants with them. I'm barefoot much of the time.

8 months out, I was still having shivering episodes periodically...I'd get SO COLD all of a sudden. It did even out, but it was atrocious.

It took me about a year, also, to get thermostatically (I made that word up) adjusted again. So, hang in there. Maybe next year you'll be able to wear those cute little tops and skirts.

Just be sure and carry a sweater with you at all times. :)

Thanks, Amanda. Maybe there is some end in sight then. I know people must think I'm crazy because I practically run through the frozen foods, meat and dairy aisles at the grocery store, slinging items in my buggy as quickly as possible. Iced drinks in restaurants start me shivering and my teeth chattering. I'm sitting here in my office wearing a long sleeve shirt and a denim jacket, the thermometer reads 80 degrees and I'm still a little chilly. Luckily, I have an outside entrance, so I go stand in the 90 degree sun to warm up every couple of hours.

Shelia, I never leave home without a sweater or jacket. Thermostatically - I'll have to remember that word. ;)

Of course, being hot, sweaty and red-faced all the time at 300+ lbs was no picnic either. I must remember that, I must remember that, I must remember that!

3 years out, still freezing. I have a blanket over my lap in the office today.

I positively DREAD the frozen sections and the grocery store in general... kind of a shame because it's one of my favorite places! DF always shakes his head when I "bundle up" to go grocery shopping in the middle of the summer...

I'm still cold a lot of the time unless I eat a lot of carbs. Then I'm hot and sweaty and feel awful.

It does get better...then you'll get hot flashes :rofl: nature is full of cruel tricks.

Mel

Though I've maintained my weight loss for only 6 months, I, too, am very frustrated with being cold all the time. Today, I'm sitting inside my house--outside it's about 50 degrees--and I have on my winter pajamas and a heavy bathrobe and am wrapped up in a blanket. With all those layers, I'm cozy. I still turn on my electric blanket. My family gives me lots of crap about always being cold. I can't figure out how to stay warm! Though I love my newfound slim world/lifestyle, I hate always being cold!

It's so true! I dreamed of being able to wear sleeveless shirts, camisoles, shorts, sundresses, etc. and now that they look good on me, I still can't wear them because I'm so :censored: cold all the time!

Sometimes it feels like the only place I'm warm is in my car. Then I am so warm, I get sweat spots on my pants. There's no happy medium. I'm either freezing or dripping sweat. There are times when I've been cold and sweating at the same time--how can that be?

I've been accidentally maintaining for two years now and I have to admit that I'm really starting to wonder if/when it's going to get better. I just want to be able to wear cute sleeveless shirts and sundresses. Is that too much to ask?

July 4th will be one year since I hit my initial goal, 135 lbs. I am still painfully, painfully cold in places where most people - are not.

The freezer section as well as the refrigerated section of the supermarket are agony for me and I dread it. I went to a party on Saturday and had on a cute little fitted cap sleeved wrap shirt and then realized I would probably be miserable. I didn't want to bring a sweater because that would cover up the cute little shirt, so I changed into a long sleeved blouse. I was frozen anyway and my DH offered to give me his jacket. I didn't want to cover up the long sleeved blouse, even though it wasn't as cute as the cap sleeved shirt. Then I started to eat - and then I continued to eat. I drank too. I warmed up.

As far as the hot flashes that Mel mentioned. Well, having lost all the weight, I was thrown into menopause and completely passed over the "hot flashes" stage. Not complaining about it - much. I guess it's just one of those things I will never experience.

But you're absolutely right Tammy. Being almost 300 lbs and always, ummm, insulated was no picnic either. I will try and keep that in mind the next time I'm shivering with goosebumps on my arms when everybody else is nice and toasty. I'll also try and remember it when my nose is constantly running because I'm so darn cold.

I must say, I really feel like an oddity at times.

I'm actually kinda looking forward to this phenomena, because it is so blazing HOT out where I live! I'm looking forward to saving on A/C costs! :D

Winter will be another story, but I just wanna survive the blast furnace of summer for now.

You're cold in Mississippi? I hear you though, lost a bunch of weight and I was always cold. Didn't help that welived on the Puget Sound and there was a lot of cool winds in the summer.

While I don't think I'm quite entering menopause yet, my coldness has started to dissipate. It is one of a couple of things: I've gained 5 pounds so I have a bigger layer of fat or the fact that we had a record breaking 113 degrees yesterday! I do agree that carbs warm you up. I am usually coldest when I eat a diet high in protein and low in carbs.

Crazy isn't it! But inside is where it's so miserable. Every building you enter has central air/air conditioning. And it's always on full blast. :brr:

I've been hearing about your record breaking temps in CA and AZ, Alison and AppleCheeks. Even though I'm complaining, I will admit that at least if you're cold you can always put on warmer clothes. Not quite as easy when it is sooo hot.

Mel, I would almost say that I look forward to menopause, except I think I went through hot flashes in my 30s. (I've not had a period in years and years and years). I always thought it was from the "insulation" ;), as Robin calls it, but DH swore it must have been hot flashes. No "flashes" there, just a long slow burn.

Barbara, funny you mention the car. After being cold all day at work, I love those first few minutes in the car. It's like a toasty little fire.

And yeah, I've experienced the carb warmth too. When I have a carb binge, I can feel my face getting warmer, then it seems to spread til I'm actually comfortable. :o

Tammy, I was freezing after weight loss too. For me it actually got worse as time went on . . . until I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism! (By that point, at work I was wearing two sweaters and a winter coat and drinking hot tea continuously all day.) Now that I'm on medication for that, I am not nearly as cold as I used to be. I still take a thin sweater with me when I go out in case of chilly A/C though. Anyway, it is probably just from the loss of fat, but getting a thyroid test never hurt anyone. :)

I've been freezing for years. It shows no signs of improving either. Having an occasional hot flash with menopause does not abate the frequent periods of freezing. They keep it too dang cold at work and I'm always raising the thermostat only to have someone else lower it. Ice cold drinks and the freezer sections at stores are punishing. I always wear long sleeves at work - two layers. I work in a hospital and they keep it cool. I suffer in restaurants and especially in movie theaters. I make my husband put his arm around me and rub my arms & shoulders at times to heat me up. I think I will be this way the rest of my life! By the way, I had my thyroid checked and it is normal. I was kind of hoping it would be low so I could find a cure! :(

I actually have always been "cold-blooded", but it's gotten worse since I lost weight. My mom was always very stingy with the thermometer during Pennsylvania winters, never would go above 68, so I was always cold no matter how many layers I had. (Of course the irony is that now I'm the one trying to control the thermometer (keep it low in the winter/high in the summer) b/c my roommates don't seem to mind outrageously high electricity bills.) I do remember that as a teenager I started making an effort to go for longer walks on the weekends and exercise more, and the exercise always helped make me warmer for a while - I think I have naturally poorer circulation.

Moving to Florida helped me get warmer :sunny:, but during the summer everyone always keep their AC cranked to the max here, so I always carry layers that I put on inside, take off outside. During the summer luckily a lot of the socializing is done outdoors, so I can wear cute tank tops and sundresses (but then bare arms get bitten by all the bugs...). In the wintertime (50-60's during the day, 20's-40's at night) all of the rednecks here sit around outside fires in shorts and a t-shirt and I'm the one who's cold in my winter coat. BF makes fun of me, I'm from the north, shouldn't I be the warm one? I'm usually cold all winter long. :brr:

But it's been over 3 years since I lost the bulk of my weight, and I'm still freezing. I'm trying to build up my collection of cute jackets, sweaters, etc. I consider it a small price to pay.

:rofl: 68 is much warmer than we are willing to pay for during the cold PA winters! Megan, you'd turn blue at my house!

I thought of this thread this morning when I was picking out clothes for work. It's SPRING! I want to wear something that looks, well...springy :sunny: but who am I kidding? I basically wear a winter wardrobe in lighter colors all spring and summer because I'm freezing to death in my office. When I go outside in the summer, I can take my jacket off and be hot in a sleeveless top, but inside stores, at work, just about anywhere that is air conditioned, I'm in either a suit jacket or a sweater.

Let's see.. I've had a problem with being cold since I started losing weight a couple years ago.. Now that I have started trying to lose weight again, I've been getting cold easier... although it has been cold here this spring!! ICK!!!
And growing up my dad kept the heat low.. generally 65 was his high.. and at night he'd turn it down to 55... my mom would turn it up a bit when he wasn't looking.. but the majority of time it was about 62-65... now that I'm married the DH is great about keeping the heat on.. I'm generally more likely to turn the heat down.. Since the spring has been chilly he turns the heat up.. I just sit through it until he turns it on.. because that's what I grew up with :D

Hmmm...all of your posts get me to wondering if I may already be affected by this.

I work mostly with men (lucky me!:D), and I am always the first one to reach for a jacket or turn on the heat. Usually the poor guys are sweating it out just so I can feel comfortable. One guy even started calling me "Chilly Willy!" :lol:

I did lose about 60 pounds about 9 years ago (gained it back, taking it off again!), so maybe my thermostat got thrown off way back then and I just never realized it.

Getting warm
 

I had the same experience after losing a lot of weight -- freezing cold all of the time for a few months. I seem to have moved beyond that point, although the frozen foods section is still bitterly cold and I move through it as quickly as possible (which is probably a good thing since ice cream is my biggest downfall). There are two things that I think have helped me to overcome the cold problem. One is lifting weights, which I believe has revved my metabolism (I'm following the New Rules of Lifting for Women plan, which is working splendidly) and thus is making me warmer. Also, I find that eating healthy fats in adequate amounts helps a lot. I eat whole, organic foods most of the time and try to eat healthy oils or nuts/seeds with each meal. This has made a huge difference in my life (I mostly followed a whole foods low fat/low cal diet to lose weight) as far as not only being warmer, but also controlling blood sugar levels and stabilizing my mood (no more bingy feelings -- yay!). According to one source, eating Omega-6 essential fatty acids which have gamma-linolenic acid, amongst many other benefits, helps to stimulate the brown fat around our organs, which helps to keep us warm because it converts calories into heat (which means it also helps to lose weight). Apparently, as we get older the burning capacity of brown fat declines, which is why older folks tend to get cold very easily and why my 12-year old son can go out in 30-degree weather with no jacket and claim that he's not even remotely cold. The highest source of GLA is Evening Primrose Oil, but also can be found in soybeans, pumpkin seeds/oil, sunflower seeds/oil, flax meal/oil and leafy greens.