If I burn more calories trying to stay warm, why do I get fat in the winter?
A friend saw one of my exercise updates and wondered if there was a kcal calculation for staying warm. And being the dork that I am, I had to try and find one.
So here are the results.
Everyone kind of intuitive knows that it will take more calories to keep the body warm in cold weather. But we should not get overly excited about the prospect that gives us on weight loss. Technically it takes a lot of calories to warm our bodies. For instance I have about 160 lbs in my body of water weight. The water weight is what really matters in this case, the solid mater in the body will take the heat of the ambient temperature of the water around it (if I understand the science correctly). If I had to warm all of that water from freezing to 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees C) then I would burn approximately 2700 calories.
That is a ridiculous scenario of course.
So now the more complicated reality steps in. Hypothermia begins to set in at 35 degrees C. If you are just shivering then you are likely in the first mild stages of hypothermia. Not dangerous per se, but your judgment will be impaired and reaction times will slow even in the beginning stages. So if we assume that you are outside in the cold and then your body is going to have to expend – in my scenario above – approximately 150 calories to warm my body back up. But that is if your core temperature actually drops.
The vast majority of the time when we start to shiver it is just the outside of our body that is cold and needs to be warmed. Add to that the fact that our body is very efficient at transfering heat from one part of the body to the other, the insulation effect of fat, the slowing of the metabolism in the cold etc. And the net result is that cold weather activities will only burn about 5-10% more calories compared to their warm weather counterpart.
So in the scenario my friend asked about, sitting watching hockey, normally sitting, standing, cheering etc will burn somewhere in the neighborhood of 125 calories for an hour. Doing this in the cold then would mean 6-12 extra calories.
Not exactly a huge benefit to the weight loss equation.
But for sports, cross country skiing for instance, would 90 calories more if the skiing were done for real vs on the cross country machine in the gym (640 vs 730). So it can make a difference, but it is not going to be a make it or break it scenario.
You will actually burn many more calories just drink ice water since you can force your body to take in something exceptionally cold that it then is required to warm up. You end up burning a Kcal for every 1 oz of water you drink a 5 degrees Celsius and then have to warm to your body’s temperature.
Ok, I had my fun for the day. Make it a great one.
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Comments
Hi Lennie, Good to hear from you.
You could probably get away with about 2 bites for free – and then you'd just have to enjoy the rest and just plan on a working the rest off like normal.
I know you're joking on that. But I am going use the comment to make a point. Weight loss should not be dull. If we had to give up living what would be the point? So enjoy a sensible desert (split the regular order 2-4 ways depending on the size) and keep up the consistent work out regime.
Thanks again for the comment
That's great, Matt. So, what you're telling me is that I should've enrolled my kids in soccer or football or tennis; anything that doesn't involve sitting in an ice rink for hours on end.
Thanks for the research. Very interesting.
RC
I think this is the weight loss equivalent of a sale. When someone comes home and say 'hey honey I just saved $400!' You know you're going to get into trouble from that shopping spree.
Calories are like that too, the little savings are not going to help if we are over budget to begin with.
HI Ryan! Thanks for the post. I love doing research so any other questions that come up let me know. Questions make for more interesting content.
Thanks again.
Hi Randy,
This was one of the funnest research questions that I've had in a little
while. I especially like it because one of my readers posed it. That is the
basis of community, people helping people – even if it is something a little
mundane. It was still fun.
I'm glad you like the post. Thanks for the comments.
You will actually burn many more calories just drink ice water since you can force your body to take in something exceptionally cold that it then is required to warm up. You end up burning a Kcal for every 1 oz of water you drink a 5 degrees Celsius and then have to warm to your body’s temperature.
MAKE MONEY ONLINE
Interesting…you should create an exact mathematical equation and determine temperature of substance vs. calorie intake. 
And THEN create the next fad diet!!
Wow! What an experiment! Good to see this kind of article. People loving to loose weight will definitely love this article.
It is a nice article.Which tells us about weight loss.Thanks for the information.It is more important for who needs less weight.Thanking you once again.It is interesting.
Coming from the cold north I could never understand why I still weighed as much as I do and I asked also why I gain weight in the winter ratther than losing. Now I see that it is not the cold but the activity that lead to burnign calories and weight loss. And of course, when the cold weather comes we like to sit indoors and watch the snow fall rather than take a walk in it, or heaven forbid, shovel it instead of using the snow blower. Thanks for your informative blog.
Matt,
Thanks so much for answering this question…I have always wondered…sooo, when I am in a restaurant and the air conditioning is subzero and I am shivering…possibly first stages of hyporthermia…impaired thinking…could I use this as an excuse for ordering dessert?