Cold Fat Theory

steveb said:

I have a small ring of fat around the old midsection; about 1" to 2"s
worth. After a ride, even after riding on a 102 degree day, that ring
of fat will be COLD to the touch. I mean, its as if it were
refrigerated. I've had my wife feel it to confirm how cold it is.

My theory: My body is desperately trying to hang on to the last
bastion of blubber on my skinny body (6'4", 198 lbs.) so it is going
into conservation mode instead of burning it.

What do you think?

Your wife is a jewel.

(LOL)

Try bib shorts if you haven't already. The cool air blows right down the
jersey; and circulation goes to legs, arms and head while riding, leaving
the tummy cold. Bibs at least put some "firm fabric" down there to help
insulate.

Bill "wild guesses" S.

I do wear bibs thinking that would make a difference and it does not.
"Bill Sornson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

steveb said:

I have a small ring of fat around the old midsection; about 1" to 2"s
worth. After a ride, even after riding on a 102 degree day, that ring
of fat will be COLD to the touch. I mean, its as if it were
refrigerated. I've had my wife feel it to confirm how cold it is.

My theory: My body is desperately trying to hang on to the last
bastion of blubber on my skinny body (6'4", 198 lbs.) so it is going
into conservation mode instead of burning it.

What do you think?

Your wife is a jewel.

(LOL)

Try bib shorts if you haven't already. The cool air blows right down the
jersey; and circulation goes to legs, arms and head while riding, leaving
the tummy cold. Bibs at least put some "firm fabric" down there to help
insulate.

Bill "wild guesses" S.

steveb said:

I have a small ring of fat around the old midsection; about 1" to 2"s
worth. After a ride, even after riding on a 102 degree day, that ring
of fat will be COLD to the touch. I mean, its as if it were
refrigerated. I've had my wife feel it to confirm how cold it is.

My theory: My body is desperately trying to hang on to the last
bastion of blubber on my skinny body (6'4", 198 lbs.) so it is going
into conservation mode instead of burning it.

Well, I don't know much about how man sweats, but it could be that since
fat is an insulator the body is sweating more--and thus cooling
more--where there's fat, in order to cool the core organs better. But
maybe that's impossible.

Or perhaps there are fewer blood vessels in fat, and so it's cooler than
muscle when cooled by the same amount of sweat?

--
Robert Uhl <http://public.xdi.org/=ruhl>
French General: `I knew it. You Germans are only useful as garrison soldiers.'
German Colonel: `True. In the last war, we garrisoned Paris, Nice, Lyon...'

In article <eYhSe.325110$xm3.131549@attbi_s21>,

steveb said:

I have a small ring of fat around the old midsection; about 1" to 2"s worth.
After a ride, even after riding on a 102 degree day, that ring of fat will
be COLD to the touch. I mean, its as if it were refrigerated. I've had my
wife feel it to confirm how cold it is.

My theory: My body is desperately trying to hang on to the last bastion of
blubber on my skinny body (6'4", 198 lbs.) so it is going into conservation
mode instead of burning it.

What do you think?

Maybe riding causes your blood circulation to be
redistributed somehow.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Those are good plausible theories - maybe all of the above

"steveb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:eYhSe.325110$xm3.131549@attbi_s21...

Quoted message said:

I have a small ring of fat around the old midsection; about 1" to 2"s
worth. After a ride, even after riding on a 102 degree day, that ring of
fat will be COLD to the touch. I mean, its as if it were refrigerated. I've
had my wife feel it to confirm how cold it is.

My theory: My body is desperately trying to hang on to the last bastion of
blubber on my skinny body (6'4", 198 lbs.) so it is going into
conservation mode instead of burning it.

What do you think?

steveb said:

I do wear bibs thinking that would make a difference and it does not.
"Bill Sornson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

steveb wrote:

The fat is "chilled" by the evaporation of sweat and simple conduction,
just like the surrounding area of your abdomen, but not being heavily
supplied with capillaries, as with the surrounding skin and muscle, it's
not re-heated to body temperature when you've just gotten off the bike.

It would be interesting to try and measure the temperature. I'd be though
it feels 'cold' by comparison, it's probably stll 80 or 90 degrees F. ;-)

jj

steveb said:

I have a small ring of fat around the old midsection; about 1" to 2"s worth.
After a ride, even after riding on a 102 degree day, that ring of fat will
be COLD to the touch. I mean, its as if it were refrigerated. I've had my
wife feel it to confirm how cold it is.

My theory: My body is desperately trying to hang on to the last bastion of
blubber on my skinny body (6'4", 198 lbs.) so it is going into conservation
mode instead of burning it.

What do you think?

Easy. It's wet (from sweat) since the sweat from your upper body
migrates down your jersey until it hits your spare tire.

And let's face it - fat is a great insulator (think "whale"😉. That
means the evaporative cooling going on around your middle is going to
be successfully lowering the surface temperature of your skin.

Another factor is that if you're really working, your body will reduce
blood flow to unnecessary areas (and I'm having a hard time thinking
about a part of the body that is less necessary than your belly while
riding a bike).

Mark "I finish rides in Arizona with NO cool parts" Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

To actually answer your main question, yes, the body does go into a
fat-conservation mode, when most of the fat stores are depleted. That's
why some problem areas of persistent fat deposits are difficult to lose,
even when you're slim overall. Most people have to cut their calorie
intake down even more to finish off a diet, to trim those last few, ugly
bulges. The trick is not to gain it back and you won't have to suffer
through that process again. It's amazing how little a person needs to
survive if the body has shifted to an energy-conservative mode.
If you do gain back weight, the first places it will go, are those spots
where you least want it to be.

Steve McDonald

Thanks for all responses. Thanks Steve, you do confirm what I suspected on
the main point but the actual COLD temperature of that area is what is most
intriguing to me. I am going to place a thermometer on the "love handle"
area and report back. I think it is way colder than all other areas of my
body, particularly after a hot ride (95+ degree days).

To sum up (from all the responses); The fat, acting as an insulator, does
not conduct heat well and because of the sweat rolling down over it,
actually conducts the cool sweat instead of the increased blood flow to
other parts of the body, particularly the legs, which need it most. And even
though I am universally considered "skinny", the last bastion of blubberdom
will always be around the belly.

But man, thatt ffffaatttt is ccccooolllldddd!

"Steve McDonald" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

To actually answer your main question, yes, the body does go into a
fat-conservation mode, when most of the fat stores are depleted. That's
why some problem areas of persistent fat deposits are difficult to lose,
even when you're slim overall. Most people have to cut their calorie
intake down even more to finish off a diet, to trim those last few, ugly
bulges. The trick is not to gain it back and you won't have to suffer
through that process again. It's amazing how little a person needs to
survive if the body has shifted to an energy-conservative mode.
If you do gain back weight, the first places it will go, are those spots
where you least want it to be.

Steve McDonald

"steveb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:eYhSe.325110$xm3.131549@attbi_s21...

Quoted message said:

I have a small ring of fat around the old midsection; about 1" to 2"s
worth. After a ride, even after riding on a 102 degree day, that ring of
fat will be COLD to the touch. I mean, its as if it were refrigerated. I've
had my wife feel it to confirm how cold it is.

My theory: My body is desperately trying to hang on to the last bastion of
blubber on my skinny body (6'4", 198 lbs.) so it is going into
conservation mode instead of burning it.

What do you think?

I've noticed the same thing though my dimensions are different [6`1" (used
to be 6`2" dammit!) and closer to 210lbs - more a linebacker build]

My thought is two-fold.

[1] Perspiration is how the body cools down your blood. You get perspiration
on your belly.

[2] Fat does not have a lot of blood vessels if you are exercising your body
is trying to pump blood through areas that will cool the blood.

So your [my] belly is sweat covered with little flow of hot blood to be
cooled.

Just a thought.

--
'And then one day you find,
Ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun' -pink floyd

I think that is a big part of it. There have been people like us (well
conditioned endurance athletes) who have done everything, including cutting
calories, eating sensibly, etc. who had to resort to liposuction to get rid
of those last few lbs.

In my case, when I am at the peak of the cycling season, the amount of fat
is minimal and unnoticeable to anyone but me, BUT the fact that the body
will respond as it does is fascinating.

"lowkey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"steveb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:eYhSe.325110$xm3.131549@attbi_s21...

Quoted message said:

I have a small ring of fat around the old midsection; about 1" to 2"s
worth. After a ride, even after riding on a 102 degree day, that ring of
fat will be COLD to the touch. I mean, its as if it were refrigerated.
I've had my wife feel it to confirm how cold it is.

My theory: My body is desperately trying to hang on to the last bastion
of blubber on my skinny body (6'4", 198 lbs.) so it is going into
conservation mode instead of burning it.

What do you think?

I've noticed the same thing though my dimensions are different [6`1" (used
to be 6`2" dammit!) and closer to 210lbs - more a linebacker build]

My thought is two-fold.

[1] Perspiration is how the body cools down your blood. You get
perspiration on your belly.

[2] Fat does not have a lot of blood vessels if you are exercising your
body is trying to pump blood through areas that will cool the blood.

So your [my] belly is sweat covered with little flow of hot blood to be
cooled.

Just a thought.

--
'And then one day you find,
Ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun' -pink floyd

"steveb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:bsDSe.326749$xm3.222022@attbi_s21...

Quoted message said:

I think that is a big part of it. There have been people like us (well
conditioned endurance athletes) who have done everything, including cutting
calories, eating sensibly, etc. who had to resort to liposuction to get rid
of those last few lbs.

I have more than a 'few' pounds and 'well conditioned endurance athlete'?
Not me.

🙂

My doc is happy with my weight though my build does not really make the
body mass index meaningful
I would estimate I am carrying close to 15 lbs more than ideal. But I don't
look it! Honest!

However I did date an avid cyclist who was in tremendous condition. But she
still had a very little bit of belly. She was quite secure in her appearance
as she should have been but she still recognized it as a trouble spot.

My theory: Consider the cycling posture. If your body is going to find a
place to store a starvation reserve of fat, where would be the most
ergonomic, aerodynamic spot?

--
'My sister got lucky
Married a yuppie
Took him for all he was worth'
-tom petty

Oh well, I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt.

"lowkey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"steveb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:bsDSe.326749$xm3.222022@attbi_s21...

Quoted message said:

I think that is a big part of it. There have been people like us (well
conditioned endurance athletes) who have done everything, including
cutting calories, eating sensibly, etc. who had to resort to liposuction
to get rid of those last few lbs.

I have more than a 'few' pounds and 'well conditioned endurance athlete'?
Not me.

🙂

My doc is happy with my weight though my build does not really make the
body mass index meaningful
I would estimate I am carrying close to 15 lbs more than ideal. But I
don't look it! Honest!

However I did date an avid cyclist who was in tremendous condition. But
she still had a very little bit of belly. She was quite secure in her
appearance as she should have been but she still recognized it as a
trouble spot.

My theory: Consider the cycling posture. If your body is going to find a
place to store a starvation reserve of fat, where would be the most
ergonomic, aerodynamic spot?

--
'My sister got lucky
Married a yuppie
Took him for all he was worth'
-tom petty