;;Five Things About Getting Older That Shouldn’t Have Surprised Me ;;;

pjmedia. ^ | December 12, 2012 - 7:00 am | John Hawkins

[virgil283]

"I never imagined what being 40 would feel like, because it never occurred to me that I’d ever be 40. I didn’t think I wouldn’t be, mind you. It was just too boring to enter my brain, and it seemed like forever from now." — Stephanie Dolgoff-- Been there, done that, got the postcard. Haven’t we all (I’m not including you whippersnappers in “all” — and P.S.: get off my lawn!)? When you’re a kid, people who are middle-aged almost seem like a different species. You’re young, energetic, and have your whole life in front of you. You’re the male lion of the human world, and they’re not the hyenas you’re going to surpass or the antelope you plan to eat; they’re more the hippos of the human world. You see them around, moving from one task to another, doing things you don’t. You don’t hate them or eat them, but you don’t want to be them either. The idea that you’ll be like that one day seems almost beyond belief. ....

[Wiser now]

Ha! Top this:

“Gramma, why are your legs lumpy?”

[Hot Tabasco]

I am AMAZED at how quickly I lose physical condition now.

Wait till you hit your 60's, you'll be replacing your daily vitamins with ibuprofin.........

[GunRunner]

Please give some brief insight into your diet. I’m shooting for minus 30 pounds over Q1 and Q2 and know what I need to do, but like different perspectives.

[null and void]

Health Warning for girls!

Health Guru or Domestic Goddess?

This is Gillian McKeith. She is 51.

She is a TV "health guru" advocating a holistic approach to nutrition and ill health, promoting exercise, a pescetarian diet high in organic fruits and vegetables. She recommends detox diets colonic irrigation and supplements, and also makes statements that yeast is harmful, that the colour of food is nutritionally significant, and about the utility of lingual and faecal examination.

This is Nigella Lawson. She is 50.

She is a TV cook, who eats nothing but meat, butter and deserts. So forget "join a gym and eat more celery". This Christmas, it's food and booze all the way. And the only exercise you need is dancing.

Merry Christmas!

[TexasKamaAina]

I’m 63 and watch my grand-kids while my daughter and son-in-law go to their jobs as teachers. Being probably the only adult in my grandkids’ lives that doesn’t go to a job, I shouldn’t have been surprised when my 4 year old grand-daughter asked, “Poppie, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

[CaptainK]

I’m in my late 50s also. I’ve found that weightlifting gives you definition that cardio doesn’t. I do it twice a week with a former bodybuilder. It’s not the answer to the fountain of youth ( I’ll still stick to a one piece bathing suit), but I feel stronger and hope to keep muscle atrophiation at bay for as long as possible.

[Norm Lenhart]

Into my late 30s I was routinely carded by checkout people and others refused to believe my real age when I would tell them. People actually thought I was in my early 20s at most. Heard a ton of comments about how lucky I was.

At around 40 all hell broke loose and I aged dramatically Physically and in appearance. Now, at 47, I look like I’m closer to 60. And health wise...don’t ask ;)

[Liberty Valance]

lol - bttt

[ottbmare]

The fact that my kids keep desperately telling me I’m not old and I’m never going to die does not contribute to reality.

They only say that because THEY don't want to be the front line. };^)

You are absolutely right. They're 18 and 24 (very close to 19 and 25) and they don't want to have to be The Adult and not have anybody to ask for help. I know the feeling--I wish my own parents were still alive to get help from!

[rfreedom4u]

I am 48 and set to retire from the military in a few months. I have five kids and five grandchildren. I can still outrun all of them (but it hurts more to do so). After 20+ years of going strong in the military I can tell my body has been beaten down some (I now go to physical therapy twice a week) and takes longer to recover.

[Little Bill]

Sounds like a woman thing, can't compete in that category.

My Grand Daughter is still trying to beat me in mental math, add, divide, subtract and multiply a series of numbers thrown out verbally. So I haven't descended into senility, as she thinks.

I have been working with her on geometry and trig, women do well with shapes and relationships. Does well for a nine year old.

[Free Vulcan]

One thing I’ve learned is that although I had way more energy, both mental and physical back in the day, a great deal was wasted due to a lack of experience of applying it. You simply are not as good at connecting the dots at 20 as you are at 40, nor cutting out unnecessary and inefficient steps.

I’ve also found that many things I held dear at 20 were delusional and unproductive. Bottom line is, the best use of your youth is to do so maturely and productively, and not be not overly self-enamoured of the fact that you are young. The earlier you start learning and building, the better life will be from there to the years ahead.

[Little Bill]

Spoil my kids and corrupt my my grand kids is the correct answer.

My Grandson five just wants to do man work. My son and I have to keep a close eye on him lest he cut a hand off with some of our tools.

[niteowl77]

I was also carded well into my 30's* and like my mother's side, aged very well until I underwent my first surgery in my mid-40s. Physically and aesthetically, it was downhill fairly fast from there, and some days I am also convinced some of the old gray cells never came out of anesthesia. Luckily, being a male, I can privately indulge in the delusion that I actually look distinguished and wise.

The fact that I feel like crap every morning is a bit harder to rationalize away.

Mr. niteowl77

*I took a perverse sort of pleasure in showing my Selective Service card when asked for ID, because the younger clerks had no memory of them.

[umgud]

It’s tough when you get so old, you can’t do it anymore, but your memory is so bad you thought you actually did.

[Roccus]

Sophia Loren at 70

"Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." S.L.

[ottbmare]

Fish oil and glucosamine/chondroitin for my arthritis. Vitamin D supplements because I've been indoors a lot, and I live at a latitude that doesn't expose me to the sun much. Trying to cook with coconut oil because it seems this may have some positive influence on brain function.

Lots of protein--fish, chicken, meat, bacon, ham, whole-milk cheeses, eggs. Butter, cream, goat-milk yogurt.

NO WHEAT products or anything containing HFCS, almost no sugar. Fruit is an occasional indulgence. Carbohydrates come from vegetables and salad, without commercial-type dressings and toppings on the salads. When you start reading labels, you realize that there is an incredible amount of sugar in everything you find in a grocery, and it screws your health up seriously.

Look at the Wheat Belly Diet I am not sensitive to gluten at all, but I think this guy really has it nailed. Our digestive systems did not evolve to handle the grain products we've been eating for the last five or ten thousand years, and we do better with a more protein-based diet. The "well-balanced" rice/pasta/potato high-carb diet the federal government has been pushing on us for years has led to diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease for millions of people, problems that hardly affected our ancestors at all.

So this means giving up all the things I love--bread, standard doughnuts, pasta, rice, cornbread, muffins, and candy. However, after a week or so of cold-turkey withdrawal, you start not wanting this stuff anymore, and the idea of eating a piece of cake starts to seem nauseating. The Wheat Belly Diet does involve a lot of delicious breads and treats made with non-wheat flours, so it's not all bad.

After I had each of my kids, I lost scores of pounds eating a protein/vegetables diet. I can share clothes with my daughter, my blood sugar is back in the normal range, my asthma is much improved, my skin looks fantastic for my age, my arthritis doesn't bother me much, I'm sleeping better, and I have a lot of energy.

Caveat: I am really poor right now and don't have the money for treats and snacks anyway. It saves money if I don't buy snacks but just live on eggs, cheese, and the venison my son shoots for us. I truly can't afford drugs, so eating to minimize inflammation helps a lot.

And I'm not a total prude. Believe me, there will be some bourbon or sherry at this time of year and champagne at New Year's.

Good luck. It's really worth it. Just dont' think of dieting as a temporary fix. It's for the rest of your life (with the occasional slice of mince pie at Christmas!)

[Little Bill]

I ain’t hit that level yet but if I was still married to my dear ex the memory loss would be a blessing.

[ottbmare]

I don’t lift OR do cardio. I get a lot of exercise hiking in the woods with my dog(s), doing yardwork, and—most exhausting and demanding—taking care of and riding horses. They really keep me fit, keeping my stomach muscles dead-flat and strengthening my back. If I can’t ride, everything starts to slide pretty quickly because I have a sedentary job.

[Norm Lenhart]

My favorite episode of age disconnect was when by daughter was a teenager, her and a friend were looking through old pix and they came across one of me from 83-85ish. Her friend looked up and said “Oh my God, that’s you!”

Well duh of course it’s me.

“No I mean it’s YOU! what are you a Vampire? You look exactly the same!”

Odd...She didn’t come over often after that... ;)

Even at 40, some of her then military friends I met couldn’t believe I was old enough to be her father. (I was 23 when she was born).

They wouldn’t make that mistake today.