Some days I go out with a big jacket where I saw others with only a t shirt?
In: 4
Put water in the bowls. In one add lots of ice. In another heat it as hot as you can safely handle. In the last leave it at room temperature.
Now put a hand in the hot bowl for a minute and then in the room temperature bowl. Do the same with your other hand from cold to room temperature. What did you notice? It’s the same with weather. If you’re used to 90, 70 feels cold. If you’re used to 50, 70 feels hot.
**Perception** is a big one because it varies for everyone and is greatly influenced by what someone is used to. If they are used to the cold, they may not perceive it as being cold, only cool.
**Personal preference** means that some people prefer to feel cooler than others, regardless of how they perceive it.
**Anatomy** is different and people with large muscle mass and high fat content will feel different than a healthy weight person because they have varying amounts of “insulation”
I’m a big guy, with some muscle and (unfortunately) more fat. I hate the heat. Once I’m hot, it takes me forever for my body to cool down, due to the extra layers of muscle and fat covering my organs. I only wear socks when I’m literally freezing.
Conversely, the same muscle and fat protect me from being cold. I’ve been outside for a smoke break in -40 degrees wearing only a suit, and it didn’t bother me. Sure I was cold, but the door was 20 feet away and I knew I could get warm as soon as I went inside.
If I was stuck miles from home in -40 in a suit, I would have been freezing. So, as another poster said, it’s also about perception.
Hormones also play a role. Some FtM transgender individuals have mentioned that getting testosterone made them feel less cold in cold weather, and this was noticeable after a few days, way before any changes to muscle mass.
Body fat really matters. I lost a lot of fat weight in the past few years and I am much more susceptible to getting cold. I once was they guy in the tee shirt in a snowstorm. Now, it’s a winter parka.
Besides body mass, it’s also whatever you’re used to. Right now the weather is cooling off as we transition towards winter (USA); within a month or so we’ll have temperatures below freezing. Since I’ve been used to warmer temps for the last 6 months or so, 30F will feel pretty cold to me for the first few weeks.
By the time March rolls around, 30F will feel absolutely warm compared to what I’ve gotten used to, so I’ll be taking out the trash in a t-shirt.
I’m fat (which warms me up) but also very bald ( which cools me down ), so every waking moment is spent at a blissfully pleasant temperature
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