Rob- the body not only "gives a good fight" to resist being cold, it also adapts.
If I've been leading a "normal' lifestyle of interior-dwelling, then go on - say - a several day back-pack trip in sub- freezing temps, I'm cold the first hour or so, and dress and shed accordingly. Within an hour or two, however, my metabolism kicks into another gear (usually about an hour, with some adjustment thereafter), and after a day or so out there in the outdoors, when I come back into a 68 or 70 degree room, I have to strip to my undies to be comfortable for some hours afterward. (I have a reputation in the local McDonalds! )
30 years ago, in my first fall in the Arctic, it took exactly one October weekend trip to figure out that Coleman single-burner, with freeze-dried food was just not as good for a 3-day trip as a dozen 8" frozen tom-cod (eaten frozen, guts, feathers, and all!) and a 6 inch square of muktuk, also eaten frozen, but sliced into thin slivers, with a quarter to half-inch of blubber on the skin. (Them Eskimos have learned a thing or two over the centuries....)
The fish, I think, is mostly for mild protein gut-filler, while the muktuk contributes bookoo carbohydrate calories for heat. The Coleman (or other heater) is right handy for the "luxury" of brewing up some hot, heavily sugared tea, tho! I've used Jello similarily to the tea, in less harsh climes.
I think that the more one goes back and forth between indoors and out, the more readily the body adjusts to the differences.
Mental set also contributes. If you "know" you are going to miserable the whole time- you probably will be. If you "know" you will adjust shortly, it's gonna be a whole lot more pleasant of a misery.
)
