The FastDay Forum

1) when going to bed place ice cubes in a hot water bottle, seal and place it at your feet.

2) Freeze a dry towel and place it over your pillow to allow your head to feel cool enough to sleep at night.

3) Combine 1 and 2, fill a hot water bottle with ice and seal, place it under your pillow, so that everytime you turn your pillow over it feels refreshingly cool.

4) Wet down your legs with cool water, as high up as you can manage, thigh height preferably (or have a cool shower) immediately before bed (cool mind you) and just pat dry, the water evaporating off even under a thin sheet, will cool you down enough to drop off.

5) a sheet will give you something to pull up to your neck without making you too warm.

6) Place a tray of ice cubes in front of a fan (or open window with a breeze) to blow colder air than ambient around a room.

7) Wet your hair prior to bed. So what if you look like you have been pulled through a hedge backwards. You would have looked like that anyway with a sleepless night tossing and turning.

Anymore out there?

You can try and use the breath

a long deep gentle breath in; without any breaks; imagine the breath is a cooling breeze ( blue in colour) filling your chest and body with cool calming air. When you breath out imagine the breath is red taking the heat out of your body.
It sometimes works for me provided I am in a quite; relatively calm area

lukewarm to cool showers lower body temp too. Keep windows shut drapes drawn during the day to keep heat out of the house.

Sit in a kiddie pool. Water the garden and yourself. Cold water to your pulse points works. Do you have a basement? Always cooler underground. Bus or train ride? Don't know if you have a/c or not. Local mall/museum/theater? WATER WATER WATER.

I have just discovered Skinny Cow ice lollies - 94 cals of cool creaminess

Pant. It seems to work for the dog.

No basements in most UK houses. Some cellars, but not the same thing! Also not much air con in houses - mostly supermarkets and a few other public places. But I love Julieathome's suggestions, and agree about cold water on pulse points (wrists especially!)

Living near the coast is better - especially if it's the North Sea - lol!

Sian S - we have Marsbar and Snickers icebars in the freezer compartment of the fridge at work!!

just giggling - Im in Australia ..........

Yes Silverdarling that is what I was trying to say go ride a bus/train/theater/mall wherever there is public a/c...library? Sit in a kiddie pool or paddle your feet in it. Cold water works wonders to lower body temp.

Wet a towel or bandana and wear it around your neck if you have to be outside.

Freeze bottles of water (not filled all the way) to use the next day.

Drink slushies, eat snow cones.

Clairemarie, haha! Buses/ trains definitely NOT the place to be, in UK anyway! And not libraries either (I should know, I work for the library service) - theatres too, especially West End ones, are notorious for being too hot in summer! We're just not geared up here for hot weather!

Supermarkets, and retail park shops and stores, better bet - but they aren't as prevalent over here as in US and Oz. Although we do have a huge mall here just south of Newcastle, the biggest in Europe, and I guess they might be quite busy at the moment ... Luckily most people round here can get to the seaside, and that's where they've gone - Tynemouth, Roker and elsewhere look just like Bondi from the pictures in the news

Looks like we will have to do the British thing and just put up with it
(Mustn't grumble )

Great tips, Julieathome, thanks!

I've been sleeping with a little table fan on the window sill in front of an open window. It seems to help by drawing in cooler air from outside.

I'm making myself thoroughly unpopular by complaining about the heat. We've been over 30C for a few days in London - way too hot for me! Mind, I reserve the right to moan about the rain and cold once we return to normal weather

Another one here who runs wrists under cold water!

Also, Ribena ice lollies are only 25 calories! I can even have one on a fast day!