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Old 01-15-21, 12:03 PM  
Vintage VFer
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Exclamation Senior Roll Call: VFers 60+ years old!

Some of the recent menopause threads had me thinking about other challenging life stages. For me, at 65, being a senior makes menopause seem like "the good old days."

I posted a thread in 2018 saying that I didn't feel like a senior. Well, how the mighty have fallen! In a few short months after that post, a vertebral fracture would make me eat my words. Yikes, I need cataract surgery and maybe hip surgery. All being put off due to Covid.

A VF thread asked, "Should I retire?" I say, you have to retire because grooming and personal maintenance become full-time jobs. (Where did that hair come from???)

Like so many VFers I keep on working out as best I can. VF continues to keep me motivated. I know many here are dealing with health (mental/physical/emotional) issues that can be overwhelming.

A grateful shout out to other 60+ year-old VFers who are here!
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Old 01-15-21, 12:26 PM  
Pat58
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{{{Thank you}}}

I still don't feel "old" in my mind, but my body isn't keeping up as well as I anticipated it would. I do all the right things but arthritis and gravity don't discriminate. I console myself by imagining how much worse it could be if I didn't have healthy habits.

I'm a big believer in "use it or lose it." So many people look fabulous for their age and are doing amazing "wow she did that at her age!!" things, but on the flip side I think lots of us are engaged in battling our genetics, and our "I can do that at my age" moments are lower on the wow chart. You can choose to be happy with that and grateful for your wows, though.
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Old 01-15-21, 12:31 PM  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat58 View Post
{{{Thank you}}}

I still don't feel "old" in my mind, but my body isn't keeping up as well as I anticipated it would. I do all the right things but arthritis and gravity don't discriminate. I console myself by imagining how much worse it could be if I didn't have healthy habits.

I'm a big believer in "use it or lose it." So many people look fabulous for their age and are doing amazing "wow she did that at her age!!" things, but on the flip side I think lots of us are engaged in battling our genetics, and our "I can do that at my age" moments are lower on the wow chart. You can choose to be happy with that and grateful for your wows, though.
You're right, Pat. I can still do so much and I'm grateful for that!
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Old 01-15-21, 02:10 PM  
Demeris
 
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I have to agree with Pat, I'm grateful I have good exercise and eating habits. I can only imagine the state I'd be in if I didn't.

Now, that said, I am deeply grateful for the health I do have and the physical abilities I do have.

I can get up off the floor! None of my aunts and uncles were able to do this at my age, and neither can most of my over 55 cousins and friends, so there's that!

I'm more flexible now than I was at 30, and I'm as flexible as my sister, who does hour long power yoga classes 3Xs a week. I don't need to point out that I can beat ANY of my cousins and most of my friends over 40 at flexibility.

I'm stronger and have better endurance now than I had immediately post-menopause. Menopause, and its evil, ugly sister, perimenopause, almost killed me. It's been a slog to regain strength and endurance, and I still have a ways to go to be content, BUT I'm stronger than all my cousins and most of my friends 50 and over!

And now that I've been retired almost 8 years (YIKES!!! those years just whizzed by), I am healthier emotionally and psychologically. I think, constitutionally, I probably would have been happiest as a cloistered nun, but my obsession with boys in my yoot convinced me I wasn't made for the cloister. Oh well.
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Old 01-15-21, 02:55 PM  
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Interesting thread - I did not realize a lot of people over 55 can’t get up off the floor. I feel better about myself. My stepmom was in her 70’s when she started calling the fire department to get her off the floor. I would be totally humiliated, but she thinks it’s great. Apparently, they will do it 5 times before they start charging you and they’ve only hoisted her up 3 times, so she’s thrilled she’ll be able to have them do it 2 more times before she has to pay. Her doctor has told her to do more things for herself but she likes sitting back and having Dad wait on her.

I just want to keep moving and lifting weights. I do feel sad that I have so much stiffness and soreness these days and I really feel sad that the hair on top of my head and my eyelashes have thinned out. Some days I feel bad that a I can’t always think of the word I’m looking for when I’m talking and then other days, I don’t really care.

I feel inspired, though, when I look at my 88-year old mother who still works out daily with Leslie Sansone and when she sits on her bed she tucks her feet under her, sitting back on her ankles which I don’t see many people her age doing.
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Old 01-15-21, 03:28 PM  
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I'm here! I will turn 62 in February.

The past few years have been my most challenging regarding my fitness level. I started having all kinds of aches and pains and after going through the menopause thing in my mid-fifties I gained a lot of weight, which didn't help matters. Throughout it all, though, I did try to keep up with basic strength training and walking (workouts or outdoors). I was so grateful that I have kept up the strength training, since it came in handy when I had to use mostly my upper body to crawl into the house last summer to get my phone. (see next paragraph)

Last August, I broke my right ankle and was completely helpless for several weeks. I am just now starting to feel like things might get back to normal in the next couple of months (keeping fingers crossed, though!).

My goals for feeling like normal? --Getting down to the floor and back up again without using any assistive devices (like chairs, my step bench, etc.). Yes, having an ankle that won't bend properly can affect being able to do that. I didn't know until it happened to me. --Being able to walk down steps like a normal person (right now, I have to lead with my left for each step--like a child or elderly person). Again, it's due to the stiff ankle. --Being able to put on clothes (undies, pants) without having to sit on a chair or bed. I have no balance in my right leg at present. I'm working on it, though!

Sorry to go on and on. I am getting so tired of the extra efforts I have to do get through my day and keep up with rehabbing my ankle, so I need to vent once in a while!

Donna
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Old 01-15-21, 04:14 PM  
annette
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Just turned 62 last month. I feel pretty good most of the time and am still consistent with my workouts which I feel have contributed to that. I do have morning stiffness and aches in my hips while sleeping which wakes me up every night. We have a new bed so I don't know what the deal is there.

I don't concentrate on cardio too much anymore; it hurts my feet. Boxing routines like KCM get my heart rate up enough. I want to remain strong and flexible so I mostly do weights and stretching. Still able to hoist those 40 lb bags of salt for the water softener into the store cart, into and out of the car, down the basement steps and dump into the container.

It seems like though it takes me longer to do things. Am I moving slower? And grooming - OMG - takes forever. I have super thick, wavy hair which I wear almost shoulder length and I dread washing, drying and trying to make it look like something other than a bushy mess.

I could stand to lose a few pounds and it's all in my middle. The sag in the lower abdominal area is so discouraging but maybe that's from having 3 kids - I don't know. Gravity sucks. BUT - the older I get the more I really don't care. It's all about functionality now. GAMS mentioned her step-mom and that's exactly what I don't want.

Gotta keep on truckin' ladies! Seems like we're all doing the best we can.
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Old 01-15-21, 04:16 PM  
Paine
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I am 65. I don't feel 65 but I look it when I look in the mirror. I have been doing my best to stay healthy to reduce the possibility of having someone change my diapers in a nursing home the last few years of my life. I am slender and have healthy eating habits (I eat whole food plants exclusively). Before the pandemic, I worked out consistently but my motivation to workout has been terrible since the pandemic and I'm disappointed in myself about that.
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Old 01-15-21, 04:51 PM  
Joni O
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I'm the oldest in this thread - so far! 67.5. I worked out at least once (usually a walk and then a workout) every day in 2020! I don't do workouts like Cathe's Interval Max (or any high impact cardio) anymore and, come to think of it, I don't do step at all anymore - maybe a little Firm stuff once a great while on the small step or Transfirmer section. I still do Cathe or Firm upper body weights 3X a week, though.

That said, I do wish Crepe Erase really worked. I mean, is every single piece of my skin eventually going to get saggy and wrinkly? Gheesh! Isn't weight work supposed to take care of that? I finally tossed mine this week.

I do lower body stretch/strengthen exercises in my bed every night for 15 minutes to keep my SI joint from getting out of whack again and messing up my knees.

Other than that, I'm in good health and - wait - what was the point I was trying to make? I don't remember the topic. Let me go back and re-read Alta's OP.
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Old 01-15-21, 05:43 PM  
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Turning the big 6-0 this year! Looks like I'm in good company with you all paving the way!

I'm looking and feeling more tired than ever before. And, my energy has completely vanished most days, hence my workouts are of the kinder/gentler variety now more than ever.

Yeah, I'm a bit more achy, crabby, and sleepy!
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