R.J.
God I miss the heat. LOL...I'm with Shane, it's in the 50s and raining here in Seattle. I've spent most of my life living in deserts, jungles, and tropical / semi tropical islands.
Heat talk:
1) Appropriate Clothing. If it's business wear, we're talking silk camisoles and linen suits. They breathe. If it's casual wear, you had better be in shorts/capris with a tank on. Avoid closed shoes in either situation if you can, as well as closed hats. ((If you have to wear a hat, make sure it's loosely woven. But it will still keep in your body heat more than a bare head)). A VERY loose button up left open over your tank top will block the sun AND create your own little breeze as you walk around.
2) Sun Block. You'll feel a LOT hotter if you're burned. A whole lot. So start strong. 30+ minimum. 50+ if you don't have a base tan. Ditto, go to a tanning salon and start working on a base tan. The melanin in your skin is natural sunblock. If you're not from a sunny area, you don't really have to worry too much about skin cancer from a single year of tanning... although certain kinds of cancer spring from BAD burns. So protect your skin. Chemically & naturally.
3) Stay Hydrated. In hot climates I typically drink at least 1 gallon of water per every hour that I'm active in the heat. (aka if I'm indoors, I'm not drinking anywhere near that much... maybe 1 litre an hour). You're sweating, even if you're not soaked, and you need to replace the water you're losing. Carry a waterbottle around with you and empty it at LEAST every hour. Ice water is my preference. You also need to replace lost salts, in order to stay hydrated. So DO eat salty foods. If you're not peeing at ONCE EVERY HOUR you're not hydrated enough. And your pee needs to be CLEAR. Maybe the faintest hint of yellow. If it's dark yellow, or you're not peeing more than once or twice a day you are severely dehydrated and that's bad for both your kidneys and your brain and your overall well being. If you start peeing a "tea-colored" pee... take yourself to the ER for an IV bag. Seriously. It's a sign of very, very bad juju. You WANT your kidneys to be healthy, and they don't heal.
4) Avoid heavy, caloric rich foods. They make you MUCH hotter. Salads, seafoods, gaspachos, sammies, cold pastas drizzled with just a litle olive oil and fresh grilled veggies... these are your friends in the heat. Another great food tricks are to take a bunch of grapes and stick them in the freezer. Soooooo yummy.
5) As much as you can, avoid massive temp fluxes. If you're spending 3 hours in air con, and 3 hours outside... you'll (figuratively) die of the heat. Your internal temp control won't have time to acclimate. Whenever you can, keep the air con about 10-15 degrees cooler than the outside air. So if it's 100, keep the air con set at 80-90. The fewer fluctuations your body has to deal with the faster your body will acclimate.
6) Swim or shower. If you have a pool available to you, try swimming a few times a day. If not, take a "cool-off" shower a few times a day. Obviously in cool water, not warm water. You get totally wet, but don't wash. It takes about 2 minutes. Then DO NOT dry your hair. Your hair, in heat, will dry in less than an hour in the heat. Until then, it acts as natural air conditioning. If you want it to take longer to dry, slather it with cheap hair gel like LA Looks. Doubles drying time. You can also carry along a spray bottle to periodically spray yourself. Restaurants do this all the time (have misters in their patios)... so take a cue from them.
7) Hair up off of your neck. Pony tail it, chigon it, braid it, chop it. But get it up.
8) While you're acclimating, try to spend most of your time outside in the cool morning hours and the cool evening hours. Cool, of course, is relative. But 80 degrees is MUCH cooler than 100. It won't feel like it in the beginning. But it's a way to acclimate your body. Before too long, you'll be looking for your jacket in the 80s and f-f-freezing when it drops into the 70s.
