What about item 31? How about some help and consolation for those of us reaching "that age".
It's not easy when brain says "I'm still young" but body says "Think again!"
I know that Nature thinks it's a good idea to add a layer of fat to my waistline and stomach but I don't.
Is it possible to exercise it away or am I stuck with it for ever? Can I keep some tone to my muscles (eg upper arms)or am I fighting a losing battle?
I want to keep on running into and through my 50s but at the moment it's a big struggle.
I know there are many articles in RW about motivation and I have read them. Perhaps they are all written by men who just don't realise the hold that hormones have over a body.
There must be many women who have struggled - please pass on some help, advice, encouragement!!
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Post whenever you feel like, I'm here for you as much as possible. But not between Friday and Monday, o.k.? Just till I get back from FLM.
Vets rule o.k.!
Freda, I'm in my early forties and although there are some things I'll never be able to recapture (i.e. no wrinkles) I do feel stronger, more confident (as Ironwolf has already said) and more positive than any time in my life. I'm sure taking up running has something to do with it which I only started 3 or 4 years ago at the age of 39. I also don't think that 20 or even 10 years ago I would have had the guts to go out running public, entering races etc....(with the full knowledge of being at the back of the pack).
I also, like you, still feel really young in my head and a couple of years ago started doing things that I'd stopped doing when I had my kids....like going to gigs and playing the piano again after a break of 20 years. I'm sure a lot of the 'aging factor' is psychological...
Please don't get too disheartened. I'm sure you'll get lots of encouragement from this Forum.
This has had a powerful effect on all areas of my life, so I can truthfully say I've never been happier, either.
However, a word of caution.....ageing is inevitable and I now find that I cannot get away with being unkind to my body like I did from my teens to my thirties - I mean xs alcohol, junk food, all-night partying, workaholism etc. In fact, to meet the running challenges I set for myself (and stay in the same waist-size jeans) I have to lead a very balanced, and some might say boring, life.
I don't think it's boring - I'm doing my first fell race on Easter Saturday! Me! A middle-aged lady! A lorry drver half my age leaned out of his cab and wolf-whistled as I ran past yesterday - then looked gobsmacked when he saw my smiling, wrinkly face!
PS - an upper body weights program twice per week keeps the arms from developing those underarm flabby "bingo wings".
Due to compartment syndrome and chronic hip disorder, I can't run and can only walk briskly for about 30 minutes without hurting, and I now have to wear permanent orthotics in all my shoes. Try fitting your Manolos with these!
However...........
You're as young as the man you feel!!!!
Try Canadian Airforce exercises but sloooooowwwwwwly (writhing around on the floor).
Get an allotment and grow your own food. Soon gets the weight off and tones you up.
Have wild unabandoned sox with or without the above man.
Do you need a foot for that??!!
Respect Steady!
Am telling steady!
Ironwolf, you inspire me. I sometimes (for eg now at end of term) feel ancient and drained at 33. But it's great to know that I've elected a sport where age isn't a barrier to progress.
Freda just keep doing it, you know you want to.
And after all 50 is the new 40.
- wear the sox while your doing the Canadian?
- have the sox whilst doing the Canadian Airforce Exercises, or,
- grow your own vegetables, whilst both having and wearing sox, with a Canadian young man....?
All versions sound good enough to keep you young in mind and body!
A new euphemism is born.
There are some fantastic looking older men and women nowadays and the wrinkles are all part of that. (Helen Mirren, Sting, etc etc). In my opion, all those celebrities who have had face lifts to look younger have taken away their expressiveness.
This goes back to Freda's original posting (sorry we've all gone off on a tangent about Canadians and sox) that we shouldn't get depressed about the ageing process. There's nothing we can do about it other than to keep fit and happy. We should also celebrate our experience and maturity - which also allows us to be extremely silly without getting too hung up about it.
And when it comes to fantastic older men, I would happily puff and pant for half an hour with Alan Rickman, thank you. And he's 57.
*(I live near a big RAF station)
I flush and wrinkle... And she's older than me.
But I m running (and walking)first (and last) FLM on Sunday, and trying hard to act my age.
She's got a touch of the Peter Pans which you might be unkind and call denial...maybe I'm jealous...but I'd rather have a role model of, say, Helen Mirren (or maybe that's because she's also a 'Helen')....
I have to say I am always surprised by the age categories that people are in when they go up for prizes after a race, they never look their age.
Oh and Steady is my toy boy - he is seven years younger than I am. However to keep him on his toes I always introduce him as my first husband.
My sister-in-law is the same age as me, we went to the same school, other than that we are chalk and cheese, she sits at home all day doing nothing, certainly doesn't do any housework, smokes, is overweight, has high blood pressure, doesn't have any friends, hobbies, get up and go, dresses like her mother would, and her worst crime is her 19 year old son doesn't know any difference and he is going to end up just like her.
what op id you have
id say you need at least 6-8 weeks off to let the scars heal, may be longer depending on what you have had removd
good luck
xx
remember youll get fitness back quickly as youve been marathon fit in the past
Best wishes,
Barbara