Winter always comes and shocks me to the very core. From the intense, bitter cold wind that whips past your face whilst you walk to Uni, to the sharp, even colder air that fills our Uni house causing my body to react to try and raise my core temperature by shaking and shivering uncontrollably. The amount of back pain I have had the last 3 winters from being at Uni is ridiculous and today is no difference. And it's not just me being cheap and not wanting to put the heating on; our heating literally does not work. Whenever we turn it on, our radiators only ever get lukewarm, never ever ever close to being hot.
Last night, whilst I was revising for my exam I had earlier today, I had two tops on, a jumper and my dressing gown accompanied with some fingerless gloves (because I can't use my mouse with proper gloves on) and I still shook like nobody's business.For the sake of other students out there, I have some handy tips for you.
1. Layers. You may think that one really big jumper might do the trick to keeping you warm, but you'd be wrong. The heat gets trapped in all the little layers that you have on and serves to keep you warmer than just one big jumper that will let the warmth out. And remember, the most heat is lost through your head, so make sure you wear a hat or hood to preserve the heat!
2. Go cook. There's nothing more warming than standing beside an oven or hob that is on and radiating heat. Sometimes, I'll be freezing, start cooking and by the end of it, I'll be nice and toasty just by being close. And even if you don't stand by the oven waiting for said food to cook, once you put the hot food in your mouth and start eating, you'll warm right up. Just remember, if it's that cold, your food won't take long to cool down; so you may have to eat fast.
3. Take a shower. This is one of my favourite things to do. Whenever you're cold, and you've tried everything else to get warm; just go stand underneath the shower spray and the hot water will make sure the coldness is just a distant memory. I usually limit this to once a day, when I generally have my actual shower, because water/electric bills are almost as bad as heating bills.
4. Get in bed. What's better than having an excuse to get back in bed and stay there all day? Nothing. I like to do this but feel guilty when I have work to be done because bed = chill, not work. This means that during revision time, I feel the need to sit at my desk and work and so I go back to my other 3 tips to keep warm. But on other days, I'm definitely up for staying in bed with a big, thick duvet wrapped round me to keep me warm!
5. Hot drinks. This can be coffee, tea, hot chocolate or any other hot drink of your preference but whenever it's cold, I make tea in abundance. The mug warms your hands when you place your hands around it, whilst drinking it warms (and sometimes burns) your mouth, right the way down to your belly making you all warm. This tip doesn't last long though and you'll find yourself wanting another warm burst a couple of minutes later but heck, if you can deal with needing to pee all the time- I say make all the tea you can handle.
6. Exercise. One of the best ways to warm up is to get your heart beating faster and subsequently your blood flowing faster around your body. There's no better way for this than to exercise. I'm gonna be hypocritical and give you this tip without actually doing this at all myself. I'm not an exercise girl, that's why I am doing an English degree. The only exercise I get is my fingers and hand when I type or write...
Well, those are my top tips on how to stay warm during the winter, I hope you enjoyed reading and will implement them into your life next time you are feeling the chill. Love you all,
Nicole
xxx
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