By Elena Voropay

Just because winter is running late doesn’t mean it’s not going to get here. Before long, you will find yourself covered in sweaters and scarves. Pouring rain, cold wind and humid air make us stay inside as much as we can. Of course it feels good sitting in the warm house, watching your favorite show and enjoying a piece of warm apricot strudel topped with a dull of rich fluffy whipped cream. But don't despair simply because chilling winter weather is just around the corner. Sometimes you just need to get yourself up and move out, regardless of the weather. Here are plenty of ways to enjoy outdoors in spite of the cooling temperatures.

The body also constantly loses heat. 80 percent of the heat is lost through the skin and the rest is lost with sweat and breath and excreted with waste products. Several mechanisms help regulate heat loss. When the mercury drops, the blood vessels of the skin constrict keeping blood and heat in the deeper tissues. Sweat production is reduced and shivering is triggered. Shivering is cased by “cold” sensors and involves muscle contraction that produces heat. During maximal shivering, the body can increase the amount of heat it produces to as high as four to five times normal.

Most of the heat is lost through skin and it’s the only one that can be regulated. There is no control over heat lost by the other routes. Common sense tells you to insulate the body against the cold by wearing clothing. Two important concepts here are layering and staying dry. Air is a poor conductor of heat and when layers of air are trapped in clothing and between the skin and clothing they act as effective insulators against excessive heat loss. That is why it is preferable to wear several layers of lightweight clothes than one heavy garment. When choosing winter clothing, look for ventilation layer next to the skin to wick moisture away; two insulation layers to transfer perspiration to the outer shell and trap warm air; and an outer protective shell made of breathable material allowing moisture to escape while shielding from wing and snow. Without the proper insulation around your body, you're putting yourself at risk for hypothermia, or too much heat loss.

Here are some tips to keep your inner heat:

* Several layers of clothing will allow sweat to pass through, while at the same time keeping warmer dry air trapped close to the skin

* If you sweat a lot, avoid wearing the protective shell unless it is designed with substantial venting, such as zippers in the armpit area

* To stay dry, avoid heavy cotton and tightly woven materials that lock in water vapor

* Up to 50 percent of the heat lost when outdoors in the cold is from the head, so wear a hat to trap in your body heat

* Choose wool or fleece gloves and two layers of socks – moist or dry, wool will keep you warm

* Wear a scarf or mask over your mouth if necessary

Whether you belong to the sandy beach or to the snowy mountains, onset of the holiday season will be delightful with some increased awareness. Enjoy spending your days in the fresh air in spite of the unique challenges presented by exposure to the environment. With a little advanced planning, and a healthy dose of self discipline, there is no reason to be cold!

Fast Facts

It’s Getting Hot’n’Here

The temperature of your body varies with the time of day being lower in the morning and higher at the end of the day. This is due to the fact that food consumption and physical activity increase our body temperature. Upon awakening, your body has deprived water and glycogen stores resulting in poor blood circulation and heat production. As you eat and exercise throughout the day, heat production raises keeping the body in homeostasis.

Is Your Nose Red Yet?

Do your ears and nose get red when you step outside? No wonder. The blood vessels constrict to conserve blood and heat in the deeper tissues to prevent heat loss. However, when the temperature drops too low, blood vessels dilate, thereby allowing more blood to flow to the skin to prevent irreversible tissue damage. Dilated blood vessels and increased circulation to the surface of your nose and ears result in charming red appearance.

Light The Fire Within

The body produces sufficient heat to maintain core temperature under almost all conditions. But you can increase your body temperature by exercising. During physical activity, more than 75 percent of the energy produced by the working muscles is converted to heat, which elevates core temperature. The blood vessels dilate allowing more blood to flow to the skin. This activity transfers heat from the deeper tissues to the surface of the body. With exercise, the amount of heat produced by the muscles may increase by hundreds of times.

Staying Alive With Food

It's not uncommon for anyone to gain up to 10 pounds during winter. As a matter of fact, eating more food in winter is the body’s natural response to find the means of generating heat, and increased caloric intake is one of them. Your body will also try to insulate itself from cold environment by increased tissue insulation, namely fat. Thanks to the superb efficiency of living organisms to adapt, the body will do everything possible to create an insulating layer of fat cells and hold on to it. Arctic animals are a good example of the nature’s adaptation principle – nice thick layers of fat and fur keep them warm.