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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   1348 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for December 10, 2025

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

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Does anybody have any good suggestions for staying warm while sedentary indoors? I've lost a lot of weight and the cold is starting to wear on me.

I'm wearing synthetic base layer bottoms, then either a synthetic or wool base layer top. Socks are thick insulated winter socks. On top of that I'm wearing something like a Henley and trousers and a hoodie. I'll frequently wear a neck gaiter and slippers as well.

I'm mostly running into issues with my legs.

Scrap the synthetics in favor of more wool. Prefer thicker individual articles over layering - too many layers aren't good for blood flow. But having two is a good sweet spot for that air gap. Get some wool long johns and the thickest wool sweater and wool pants combo you can find. Make sure the sweater fits well and and closes snugly around the neck, wrists and hips.

Then just pour in hot tea until you reach a tolerable temperature.

Man I hate being cold.

But yeah, nothing beats physical activity.

I concur with @bolido_sentimental. A hot water bottle is cheap, and somehow comforting and cozy in a way that just keeping the room at 21C isn't. I suggesting getting an extra and using it to warm your bed for a couple of hours before you sleep.

Don't underestimate the classic hot water bottle. A very Lindy solution.

What does Lindy mean? I tried to google it once, and got some odd line dancing technique.

More or less, just "time tested."

Probably the Taleb sense, though the term is much older. The slightly self-aggrandizing version from Taleb:

I [Taleb] suggested the boundary perishable/nonperishable and he [Mandelbrot] agreed that the nonperishable would be power-law distributed while the perishable (the initial Lindy story) worked as a mere metaphor."

As a fellow Siberian: put an electric blanket on your chair. A gamechanger in comfort for a fraction of the energy it would take to heat up the whole place. If your blood circulation is good, it doesn't matter if it doesn't directly warm your legs.

Besides what everybody else has said already, I'd like to add that cold tolerance can be trained by exposure. If you currently go running/lifting, try going very lightly clothed (and move the activity outside, if your gym is heated). I find doing the exposure like this is much more comfortable than doing exposure while sedentary (which also works).

If you're highly motivated, you can add ice baths. Those get massively easier with exposure, too, and the adaption carries over to some degree. I recommend doing them in a rive, lake or the sea together with friends, that makes them at least type II fun...

If you don't want any more cold exposure in your life, I'd recommend keeping especially hands and feet warm. There's really nice lamb fur slippers and wool gloves for indoor use.

I do make sure that I do at least 30 minutes of moderate outdoor activity every day unless the rain or snow are too bad, and my basement where I lift or hit the bike sits around 56 degrees this time if year.

If I'm active, I'm fine for about 46 - 60 minutes after I sit down again. Unfortunately I'm a desk jockey for a living, so I have to stay sedentary during the day for longer than I'd like.

Heat your damn place. The question is absurd. You're keeping it way too cold and asking how to be warmer.

This has never been a problem before in my life.

Maybe I just need to get fat again.

Don't listen to them. Turn the thermostat down even lower and search for deranged penny-pincher techniques to tolerate the freeze.

Let the dadness flow through you.

Sounds plausible as the ${CurrentYear} meta for dadmaxxing.

In recent past decades in various countries the dad meta was letting the house run hot and rambling about how airconditioning was a luxury, and how acclimating with the heat builds character.

I could see how the current dad meta would be to run the house cold, especially as a preemptive way to curb daughter outfit thottery (to the extent possible within one’s household).

True dadmaxxing is living somewhere with seasons that let you do both.

No AC in summer, no heat in winter. Any children that make it out alive will be wolves among men.

Bro just heat your house. It's not rocket surgery. The house is cold, therefore you are cold.

Based

t. keeps his mother's-basement bedroom at 78 degrees and wears one layer while his insane mother keeps the rest of the house at 68 degrees and wears two or three layers (including a hat)

t. keeps his mother's-basement bedroom at 78 degrees and wears one layer

Getting dangerously close to being a literal lizardperson like Taylor Lorenz.

Are you in a Siberian prison? Sounds like you've got more than enough clothing on. I'd try to increase the (effective) temperature in the room. If that's not possible, look up heat generating body movements/exercises. If you're relatively tuned into your mind and its powers you can generate heat mentally and move it throughout your body too.

Yeah OP can check out Tummo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tummo

I've been considering buying a pair of these but haven't justified the price.

https://www.glerups.com/products/the-boot-with-natural-rubber-sole-honey-cranberry

Thanks for the link. I need some new slippers, and some colors of the shoes (not boots) with leather soles are on sale for $79. Might as well try them.

You should report back, I wonder if they are as warm as they look.

I have bad circulation and get cold easily. Extremities are worst affected.

It's obvious, but drink hot tea. Once the core heats up, the rest of the body catches up real fast.

How cold is your house??

If you don't want to go full parka, then get a blanket (possibly heated) and drink tea. There's also a surprising amount of difference between sitting on a fuzzy couch and sitting on a chair.

I keep it at 61 during the day and 55 at night. Usually that's fine, but there are some spots where the heat just radiates through the walls

That's decently cool. If you don't want to turn up the thermostat (understandable in a drafty expensive to heat house), just go for the heated blanket.

It takes a very small amount of direct active heating to make huge difference. It shouldn't get in the way if your legs are the main problem, even if at a desk/computer. In some limited applications a heated chair pad or parabolic radiant heat dish might be better, i.e. your desk chair is getting tangled in blankets or you work standing at your desk.

What’s the fire risk like for a heated blanket?

Low - they typically use resistance heating elements that cannot thermally runaway because they become more resistive the hotter they get, they are manufactured from flame-retardant material, and have integral overcurrent detection and/or GFI sensors to prevent short-circuits. Since the heating elements are directly against the body, they don't get all that hot.

I would also suggest a fleece or flannel hooded-cloak-style bathrobe. These can be worn over clothes and are effectively a wearable blanket. The long cloak-length ones should cover your legs.

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