Why do people feel the cold in different ways?

[RobM77]

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. It's a question that's often bugged me though. Why is it that my girlfriend is often shivering in a jumper when I'm happy in a t-shirt (maybe sitting on the sofa in the evening, or outside going for a walk), and yet I find the sea in this country so cold I wouldn't consider swimming in it, and yet my girlfriend is quite happy to? At work we have the same thing - sometimes in the winter people have their heaters on under their desks and jumpers etc, whereas I'm sat there in a shirt quite happy, and yet I find the local pool uncomfortably cold, whereas they hadn't really noticed!

Any ideas? I'm guessing it's to do with conduction and convection but I can't think of any logic behind it.

[RobM77]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Regarding hunger, I believe there's a trigger that tells us to eat. This has been linked to obesity. Also, people have different metabolic rates and the body settles into different patterns for eating - I for instance eat little and often.

With regard to the cold, it is interesting how people feel the cold differently, but what really intrigues me is that even in the Med I feel terribly cold going in the sea, and yet other people just stroll in and swim off. It'd not pain threshold, because I can bet you I'm out running in shorts and t-shirt when those people are shivering in fleeces and hats. I don't actually own any running trousers, and wear shorts right through the winter months, the only change being a long sleeved top over my t-shirt if it gets below zero.