Ageing And Natural Degenerating Processes

[ThaiPauly]

But what happens if you have had a wild life, had your share of wine women and song or in the case of our aussie readers, Rum, Bum and gramaphone records(flat black things 30 years before digital ), Now I will be 66 in 2weeks,and over the years have picked up the odd injury, here is a list of my genuine health problems, diabetes , blind in right eye,4 vertebrae in cervical spine fused together and reenforced with a titanium cage, a pacemaker, pelvis is held together by a 5inch steel plate, left leg tib and fib and femur are plated and screwed , no patella, on my 3rd artificial knee joint in left leg too, have bad problems with contracting tendons in my hands and forearms causing my hands to seize up, can be embarassing when you cant let go of the steering wheel ,dont get enough exercise, I,m understandably over weight, dont drink or smoke, try to eat sensibly lots of fish , chicken and vegies, My philosophy used to be live fast ,die young , have a good looking corpse, well I have done the fast living bit lol, but now have the means and the mindset , to say <deleted> to all those who would like to see me stuck in a wheelchair !! so me and the wife much to the dismay of centrelink,keep popping back to thailand or penang, okay so we might have to sell the motorbikes this year, but really growing old is not so bad its a way of life!!!!

Good Post

I used to live my life on the basis that tomorrow never comes.....well it did, now I have to deal with the ramifications of the "far less than healthy" lifestyle I previously ENJOYED.

My motto was "Always put off today what you can do tomorrow".....tomorrow I am gonna stop doing this , tomorrow I will start doing that.....you get the picture!

So tomorrow has come and my life has changed.........not because I wanted to stop doing everything to excess, but because I have to if I want to stay around...and I want to.

I always beleived I would live to the age of 72 because I had all the lifestyle traits of my Grandfather, but I know now that when I am 71.9 years old I don't want to leave ...so I have to change.

Its a bit of a bummer really, but life's good. I love being alive and it's certainly far better than the alternative

My lifestyle changes, though not easy are being slowly achieved, but as soon as you overcome one health issue it sems to be replaced immediatley by another

Thats growing old for you I suppose

Stay healthy everyone

[marshbags]

I cannot speak for everyone, but I reckon most of us have had our share of living the good life and are not just boring old geezers having never enjoyed ourselves to the maximum, in our earlier years.

Remembering of course someones idea of enjoyment is not anothers idea.

So long as we can all live and enjoy what pleases us in the cycle of our lives, then life has not been wasted.

As you grow older the priorities change and re adjusting to new pleasures is at first a challenge.

How fortunate we are, hopefully be able to adopt, both mentally and physically at our various levels and appreciate many of the things we either took for granted or didn,t realise could provide such enjoyment and pleasure.

Take our families and the new generations most of us are blessed with.

I for one took this for granted as a younger individual and never found the time with working to enjoy their company or be able to give a bit back where as now, I am able to do so in so many ways and pass on the benefit of my experiences to others.

I now enjoying a night out without getting so drunk, I have to be reminded the day after, " what a brilliant time we,d had " and as for the morning after feeling, hangover and all. and

I look back and when comparing then and now, can only wonder how much of my life was wasted in the after hours of unaccountable time, that I,d love to add on to whatever time is left of my life today.

The enjoyment part of past times I wouldn,t say are wasted, it,s the lost time trying to remember the forgotten hours of many occasions, and what took place the day after, that was.

If we only have one life then I for one want mine to continue as long as I am able to stay healthy in mind and body.

If it means a sensible lifestyle in the various ways our members have done on this thread, then I am more than willing to change to extend and achieve it.

Should I become a burden through the various later life afflictions ( forgive the terminology ) then I would think it was time to gracefully leave life as we know it and hope there is more in the world of beyond.

Nothing negative in that IMHO and all I would want to wish for.

Yes my friends, we have much to be grateful for and being able to share and debate it, for me personally, is a massive plus.

Re reading the thread and taking in the different lifestyles we have lived and in many cases, truly difficult times and how they have been overcome, is truly uplifting and makes me realise how lucky I am to be sharing the experiences and benefiting from all of them.

I never could have realised what is behind our chosen T.V. names and to be able to see others in a different light than I originally imagined various members were about, is amazing.

marshbags

P.S.

I owe one of our members on the thread a promised email and will be sending one in the next few days.

Edited July 4, 2009 by marshbags

[jetjock]

I cannot speak for everyone, but I reckon most of us have had our share of living the good life and are not just boring old geezers having never enjoyed ourselves to the maximum, in our earlier years.

I agree with you that many of us that have enjoyed our early lives to the absolute max are still going strong and leading very interesting lives as we advance into the stage known as old age. I turn 68 this month and still do pretty much what I have done throughout my younger years which is to get a lot of exercise, play many sports, eat a healthy low fat diet, no alcohol or smoking or drugs, and try to live my life to the fullest. The only precautionary concessions I have made recently in my lifestyle (on the advice of my sports physician) were made to prevent my knees and hips from wearing out due to the high impact nature of my training and sports so I switched to some lower impact type of things. Now instead of running 5 miles a day, I do the equivalent on eliptical or stairmaster machines or swim laps. I switched from singles tennis to 2 man beach volleyball which is I have found is just a hard but much less joint impact. I also still do a lot of biking, hiking, weight training and boxing, acrobatic flying, and several other sports. On an average day, I spend about an hour and a half at the gym and another 2 or 3 hours doing sports.

I realize that my lifestyle would not be for everyone but the results have worked very well for me as I advance in age. I usually work out with very young guys and although they are now usually a little quicker than me, I can usually beat them in the endurance part which is obvious proof that an active life is not over just because you are past 60. Even my 32 year old wife who also into sports and is an excellent athlete readily admits that she cannot keep up the active pace of activities that I lead on a daily basis. Now that I am older and do not have to worry as much about work and money, I have found that I also have much more time in my life for cultural activities like going to plays and concerts and socializing with my friends and family which is an added bonus to the aging process.

It may be true that the aging process is not for sissies but it is my opinion that if you have a positive outlook on life, take very good care of yourself and have good genetics (my mom is 95 and still drives her car and works out at the gym every day), it is my belief after the age of 60 can be some of the best times of our lives.

[Rinrada]

Must admit to have cut back on the Alco/Lager intake to between 3 /4 pints a night ...unless on holiday ..cant seem to drink as much as before but feel its important to keep up thw PH levels (not too fussy about water)

Also as mentioned earlier try and avoid stress..work-life-money-sex.and Worry ..its the big KILLER ...o and of course FAGS.

One of our engineers at work passed away last week ..following chemo etc.and although he looked about 65 was only 53....sad.

Any probs with eyes or lug holes just get some decent bins and hearing aids ..and if in doubt switch off ..the latter that is and just shout ...privilages of age...init

[moe666]

A friend recommended a magazine called Mature Life once I promptly told him no way I want an Immature Life. My sons friends always comment to him about my liking to party with the young guys, I refuse to have friends my age all they want to do is sit around and talk about their problems.

here is to a long and crazy life.

[Old Croc]

I'm 61, retired at 53 because of health problems. I am around 6' and overweight.

My haemachromatosis went undiagnosed until it had caused arthritis which damaged many of my joints.

I've had two hip replacements, need a new knee and suffer from lumbar stenosis with creates difficulty in walking distances or standing for too long. I also suffer high uric acid levels (gout) and high blood pressure.

I do virtually no exercise because of my mobility problems, and all of the many drugs I take list weight gain as a side effect. The excess weight exacerbates the blood pressure and back problems.

I've never smoked, but love a fine wine. (One of the few good things to come out of the world recession is that wines in Oz are dirt cheap at the moment!) Therefore I probably drink more than I should, but nowhere near as much as I did as a younger man.

At this stage I plan to move permanently to Thailand next year, and home access to a swimming pool is a must to help achieve the exercise I just can't seem to organise where I am now.

Moral: Get your iron levels checked early in life to avoid the sort of problems I have.

Edited July 6, 2009 by Old Croc

[moe666]

Hey guys what happened here good thread and input stopped. Been on the Hormonal Enhancement Diet about 3 weeks now lost some weight but the body fat is melting off feel really good. I always thought I ate enough protien but now I know I didn't after the last three weeks.

I have been doing a lot of reserch lately and as we get older we need protien are the muscle will fall off and leave you weak.

[Lopburi99]

I don't want to live longer than 70, after that the limited things i can do, no thanks.

I'm with you on that. I'm 62 and in so-so health. Many minor problems, overweight, iffy teeth, chronic kidney stones, tinnitus, eye floaters, lousy hearing, some remaining diverticulosis although I had a resection, inconsistent temperament (feel crappy in the morning), and more. I'm a <deleted> basket case. The ticker seems ok, showing only minor arterial accumulation in my last angio. The temperament problem is the biggest, but I don't have the funds or desire to try anti-depression meds anymore.

If I have all this going on at 62, and with the expectation of at least the same for the future, yeah, 70 is about enough for me thank you very much.

Many of you guys are really healthy it sounds. That's great, keep up the good habits.

Lop99

[tomartoh]

I am 70 next week and I am fuc_ked if I am going to give in to old age any more than I have to do. Just been out this afternoon and bought myself a s/h road racing bike. as a birthday present to myself.

I wont ride as far or as fast as I used to do when I rode in my forties, but I will still have a lot of fun riding up Doi Suthep and doing many other rides.

When I was ill at 59 and thought I might die, it was a massive shock to me and left me feeling very vulnerable.

Now I plan to live forever, unless I die first of course!

[adammike]

I am 58 and it looks like I may have Pagets disease, went for another X-ray today, see the specialist next week.

Affects people over 45.

[mommysboy]

I am 70 next week and I am fuc_ked if I am going to give in to old age any more than I have to do. Just been out this afternoon and bought myself a s/h road racing bike. as a birthday present to myself.

I wont ride as far or as fast as I used to do when I rode in my forties, but I will still have a lot of fun riding up Doi Suthep and doing many other rides.

When I was ill at 59 and thought I might die, it was a massive shock to me and left me feeling very vulnerable.

Now I plan to live forever, unless I die first of course!

Good on you!

I'm 48 and very fit, but even now my feet ache, and I have loads of aches and pains that really hurt, my teeth are wearing out and my sinu8s kicks up really easily and very painfully.

As a natural coward I can't say the thought of dying a hero's death enthralls me, but freakin hel_l, nor does the thought of a slow descent in to decay, pain, humiliation, disfunction, madness, or whatever. I mean if it's painful now, what's it going to be like in 10-20 years time.

What a complete bummer!

[Nignoy]

I am 70 next week and I am fuc_ked if I am going to give in to old age any more than I have to do. Just been out this afternoon and bought myself a s/h road racing bike. as a birthday present to myself.

I wont ride as far or as fast as I used to do when I rode in my forties, but I will still have a lot of fun riding up Doi Suthep and doing many other rides.

When I was ill at 59 and thought I might die, it was a massive shock to me and left me feeling very vulnerable.

Now I plan to live forever, unless I die first of course!

Good on you!

I'm 48 and very fit, but even now my feet ache, and I have loads of aches and pains that really hurt, my teeth are wearing out and my sinu8s kicks up really easily and very painfully.

As a natural coward I can't say the thought of dying a hero's death enthralls me, but freakin hel_l, nor does the thought of a slow descent in to decay, pain, humiliation, disfunction, madness, or whatever. I mean if it's painful now, what's it going to be like in 10-20 years time.

What a complete bummer!

Wow when I was 48 had just married for the 3rdtime ,running a thai social club out of our flat in farnborough,and working all hours to make enough brass to move to australia, my 3rd wife is a cracker, as mad about thailand as I am and also the best friend a clown like me could wish for, I think once you hit 55 and you see younger fitter people popping their clogs all around you, you tend to think <deleted>!! I have got so much I still want to do , got a horde of grandkids who just love their crazy grandad and grandma, who sets the metal detectors of at every airport he goes to!!I like at it this way when I was 40 I was like the sporty flashy Sierra Cosworth I used to drive, when I was 50 was slowing down abit like the volvo Iwas driving, now I guess i,m in the old morris minor stage , dont like cold mornings and usually need to be started by hand, but then I keep going till I run out of petrol or boil over My last job before retirement out of 45 staff 41 were nubile beautiful queensland women under the age of 35,as their boss my biggest worry was the hidden threat of sexual harrassment ,so I made sure I was never alone with 1 women, At a reunion earlier on this year a couple of real beauties approached my wife and told her I was always worried about sexual harassment, and would she mind if they gave me some Enjoy life while you can!!you might get a rep as a bit of anut, but at least you can go out SMILING

[ThaiPauly]

I don't want to live longer than 70, after that the limited things i can do, no thanks.

I guarantee you won't be saying that on the eve of your 70th birthday

My Dad is 79 and is still pretty fit, active and having a ball...as is my Mum who is also 79

Naturally they have certain limitations., but I reckon my Dad is still fitter than I am, he has lead a very clean life.

[Lopburi99]

I don't want to live longer than 70, after that the limited things i can do, no thanks.

I guarantee you won't be saying that on the eve of your 70th birthday

My Dad is 79 and is still pretty fit, active and having a ball...as is my Mum who is also 79

Naturally they have certain limitations., but I reckon my Dad is still fitter than I am, he has lead a very clean life.

Imagine how yet much more fit he'd be if he hadn't lived a clean life.

[moe666]

I lived a hard life until about last year always drank and ate to much and sometime not enough sleep. At about 30 started taking a lot of vitamins C,E,B, and a lot of other stuff and I think it helped to mitagate the hard living.

My Thai girlfriend has a 80 year old mother got the old gal on Vit.C,E and calcium she went from seeing the Dr. 3 times a week to once a month also at the same time she was having problems walking and the vitamins helped this by all accounts.

Good luck boys and girls and live life to the fullest.

[marshbags]

O.K. i,ll be the first poster to openly admit it.

One thing that I do now is use the toilet more, especially at night.

I am assured by my doctor this is normal and is to be expected as we get older.

Being a good doctor he did tests to check if something other than ageing was causing this to happen and checks me out at least once a year.

I get yearly PSA tests and have my pee tested from time to time to see if there is an infection present that needs sorting out with medication.

Burning and colour changes re peeing can be experienced and need checking out

While it may not prevent cancer at some stage in my life, at least i,ve had what I am aware of as being unusual and worrying, checked out.

Without sounding crude, I always do a visual check of my poo and urine as a matter of course.

We all get to know our individual motions and how often we usually go and anything out of the normal.

If it becomes repetative and doesn,t revert to what is normal individually then again it needs to be checked out.

Blood being passed in any way when having a poo be it on it,s own or in the stool is not to be dismissed as unimportant as abnormal stools and constipation. ( wet motions / diarrhea ) are not either.

Add to this drastic weight loss and the warning bells are ringing loud and clear.

Personally I have lost at least 2 good friends from colon cancer who would probably be alive now, had they took notice of these warning signs and gone to their doctor at an earlier stage, which is as soon as possible after it starts.

Another friend did this at an earlier stage and had an operation followed by chemo several years ago with no further problems apart from putting loads of additional weight on, over and above what he was before.

He now eats what he likes and much more than he should, hence the extra gains.

He says he nearly died and now he over indulges while he can in this life, " fuff it " or words of a more descriptive nature.

Anyway just thought i,d add another important subject that when shared, can benefit and reassure us all and possibly prevent things developing into something nasty and life threatening.

Depending on my intake of fluids, I could get up 2 / 3 times in the night, if as I do sometimes, keep having a top up before going back to bed.

At least I am aware of the reasons for my own frequent trips to urinate during the night.

If in doubt, check it out

marshbags

Important

This is an observation of my own personal experiences and the learning of possible reasons why.......................I am not a doctor or a medical specialist.

Edited July 19, 2009 by marshbags

[Tokay]

I'm curious how many of you are taking HGH while living here, as it is so easy to get?

If so, has it made a difference in your body and energy?

[tominchaam]

“Today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope”

The above was once written by Orson Wells and I got it as “a printed card” from my wife (at that time) when I was not yet 35. So it was about 30 years ago. On the other side of the card was the following

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life” (Orson Wells as well)

These two sentences has followed me since that and opened up my mind in a way I think was very good. I still live according to these “advices” and really enjoy life a lot.

There are certain sicknesses or age related stuff most of us will face sooner or later. But if we manage to keep a positive attitude it gets easier to accept even bad news. The seeing on my left eye has been reduced with 75% due to a virus some years back - but the right eye gives me all seeing I need so not a problem. Osteoartrit in my fingers have a bad impact on my scoring in golf but I can still enjoy the game which now is more important than trying to improve it. Tennis is no longer possible but badminton is not a bad alternative even if people are laughing when they see my racket which has been adjusted to fit my bad fingers.

So I am enjoying my life and trust there is a lot of good new things to come – the bad ones might come as well but no way I do worry about them.

[tomartoh]

Do fellow posters think the topic too morbid, or has it just run its natural course and will sink into oblivion? like we will do!

[camerata]

I don't think it's a morbid topic at all, but it would take me hours to go through all my stuff. I'm in my late 50s, don't smoke, don't drink, eat well, exercise by walking 30 minutes every day, and am the right weight for my height.

I'm amazed at all the weird things I've got that I'd never heard of before but aren't that serious. Let me start with one that has no name. When I wake up in the morning my eyelids are glued shut. If I force them open, my eyes will still like I haven't slept for 24 hours. So the best thing is to get vertical and let gravity open them gradually. The right one will usually open pretty quickly. The left is the worst and takes several minutes to open on its own. So early morning I am walking around with one eye closed. Sometimes I gently massage it open. Apparently, my tears ducts aren't producing enough water, so the oil produced at night solidifies like wax (I assume the aircon makes this worse).

I also have had asthenopia for many years. This is a severe form of eye strain that you get from focusing at short distances for a long time. For me it's using computer. Apparently my eye muscles are out of balance so one gets more stress and causes severe pain for 48 hours. Sometimes it causes a nasty headache instead of eye pain. Since I have to use computers in my work, the only thing that helps is artificial tears first thing in the morning and 4 or 5 times during the day - and no reading small text. To get to sleep I need a combination of Tylenol 8-hour and Celebrex 200mg. If you get any kind of eye strain it's worth remembering to try Cellufresh MD frequently throughout the day.

I've had knee problems for 20 years - caused by structure of the knee and a bad habit of squatting Asian-style - that got worse and worse until I finally stopped jogging, started doing the right static quad exercises every day and got a good supplement. The main supplements for cartilage is glucosamine and chondroitin. The brand I use is called Triple Flex, and it really works. Now my knees rarely ache and hiking up steep hills is not a big problem.

Another thing I got a couple of years ago was a kind of hot flush followed by a feeling that if it continued longer than a few seconds I might faint. Apparently it's called near-syncope. The heart gets old and worn, has the occasional short-circuit that causes it to stop beating for a few seconds. When it starts again there's a rush of blood to the brain. So my doc says.

Anyway, more later...

[tomartoh]

Camerata

i am interested in the cartilage supplements. just over 20 years ago i had the cartilage removed from knee after an accident. in those days i did a lot of running. what do these supplemetns do? they cannot replace cartilage, do they increase bone density? like jogging/running do and cycling doesnt do

I don't think it's a morbid topic at all, but it would take me hours to go through all my stuff. I'm in my late 50s, don't smoke, don't drink, eat well, exercise by walking 30 minutes every day, and am the right weight for my height.

I'm amazed at all the weird things I've got that I'd never heard of before but aren't that serious. Let me start with one that has no name. When I wake up in the morning my eyelids are glued shut. If I force them open, my eyes will still like I haven't slept for 24 hours. So the best thing is to get vertical and let gravity open them gradually. The right one will usually open pretty quickly. The left is the worst and takes several minutes to open on its own. So early morning I am walking around with one eye closed. Sometimes I gently massage it open. Apparently, my tears ducts aren't producing enough water, so the oil produced at night solidifies like wax (I assume the aircon makes this worse).

I also have had asthenopia for many years. This is a severe form of eye strain that you get from focusing at short distances for a long time. For me it's using computer. Apparently my eye muscles are out of balance so one gets more stress and causes severe pain for 48 hours. Sometimes it causes a nasty headache instead of eye pain. Since I have to use computers in my work, the only thing that helps is artificial tears first thing in the morning and 4 or 5 times during the day - and no reading small text. To get to sleep I need a combination of Tylenol 8-hour and Celebrex 200mg. If you get any kind of eye strain it's worth remembering to try Cellufresh MD frequently throughout the day.

I've had knee problems for 20 years - caused by structure of the knee and a bad habit of squatting Asian-style - that got worse and worse until I finally stopped jogging, started doing the right static quad exercises every day and got a good supplement. The main supplements for cartilage is glucosamine and chondroitin. The brand I use is called Triple Flex, and it really works. Now my knees rarely ache and hiking up steep hills is not a big problem.

Another thing I got a couple of years ago was a kind of hot flush followed by a feeling that if it continued longer than a few seconds I might faint. Apparently it's called near-syncope. The heart gets old and worn, has the occasional short-circuit that causes it to stop beating for a few seconds. When it starts again there's a rush of blood to the brain. So my doc says.

Anyway, more later...

[camerata]

Camerata

i am interested in the cartilage supplements. just over 20 years ago i had the cartilage removed from knee after an accident. in those days i did a lot of running. what do these supplemetns do? they cannot replace cartilage, do they increase bone density? like jogging/running do and cycling doesnt do

Typically they are for people with arthritis or chondromalacia in which the cartilage has degenerated. Off the top of my head, Glucosamine stops further degeneration of the cartilage and chondroitin regenerates it. The effect is reduced pain and aching. There's no effect on bones, AFAIK.

[zenman]

Great thread.

I'm turning 45 next week but have for the last 5 years been looking for ways not only to increase longevity, but perhaps more importantly the quality of my life.

Fortunately living in LoS provides an environment that supports this. The climate encourages lighter healthier eating, once I was past my judgement and attachment to western ways I developed a more accepting and tolerant attitude which has reduced stress to zero for me. this has been a significant part of improving my physical and emotional health.

I have been reading a lot of literature about good health and the common denominator seems to be good diet, exercise, supplementation and in some texts a week or two of fasting every year. Pretty much what my mother and grandmother told me except for the fasting bit. Although come to think of it a couple of times a year we would eat only fruit for a few days to "clean out your system".

There are two great movies that you can watch that I found educational and informative about diet.

"Eating" which is associated with the Rave Diet book.

and

An excellent movie I saw recently at Atmanjai in Phuket. The movie was called "Food Matters", I bought copies from there for some of my friends it made such an impression on me. Especially the section about vitamins and why they are so important these days in times of manufactured food and overcropping farming practices that have left the soil depleted of minerals etc.

Personally I can recommend a good fast or detox every year as this has made a huge difference in my life. Much more than going to the gym or fad diets. And it has encouraged me to take more responsibility for my health which has been a big turning point. I was alarmed to find out that less than 20% of doctors ever study nutrition yet as far back as Hippocrates what you eat was already defined as the root of good health.

Stay healthy!

[billzant]

Dear Zenman,

Try

zarendhara.com/Clips/Health/foodmatters.avi

Personally I feel the issue of chemicals in our foods is very significant especially as we get older and their effects are stored within our systems. Mind you these effects are clearly shown in western young with the increase in conditions or disorders. I don't have the stats to back this up but feel there is a string connection between the increase in these disorders and the types of foods (with chemicals etc.) the young eat.

Our older bodies don't have the natural strength to deal with these tainted foods so perhaps we should try to avoid them.

There are many people on this thread who have kept up a good fitness regime. My own is fairly good but nowhere near as physically energetic - aerobic. I have reasonable health and feel that significant in this is the lack of processed foods in my eating. I was warned away from processed foods by a doctor who said I then had Gerd. Initially he started me on a 10-day diet for detoxifying, and I have to agree with Zenman how useful such a diet is - especially if eating healthy food is not part of your attitude to health.

I hope this thread continues.

Hope you are keeping well,

All the Best,

Bill Z -

[ignis]

The biggest problem of getting old is having a 25 year old mind in a 64 year old body. The mind is willing and the body refuses to obey. It is sometimes depressing knowing that there are many things I can no longer do and will never be able to do again.

Very true, even the simple jobs now takes much longer to do.

[Galong]

The biggest problem of getting old is having a 25 year old mind in a 64 year old body. The mind is willing and the body refuses to obey. It is sometimes depressing knowing that there are many things I can no longer do and will never be able to do again.

Very true, even the simple jobs now takes much longer to do.

The way I see it and the way I deal with this (I'm 53) is the change the way I think. Your mind, to a large degree, affects your body. Knowing realistic limits is part of the aging process, but being negative and believing that growing old necessarily means slowing down is not part of my way of thinking.

The trick is to never stop and hopefully never get hurt. I'm heading out to do a 200+ KM mostly off-road mountain bike ride this coming Saturday through Monday. I do hard rides and mountain climbs all the time. I know I'll complete everything I try because I know I can. Will I be sore? Yep. Will I have cramp? Most likely. Will I give up? No way Ray! Equally, could most people half of my age do this? Probably not. Would they be sore and have cramps? Most likely. Would they whinge more than me? Oh yeah.

My point: If you think your body is older than your mind, you're already at a disadvantage. Change the way you think, but be realistic. That does not mean you have to give up.

[ignis]

I do wonder about being overweight in later life ?

I remember well about 10 years ago talking to friends when there 'Harley St' Doctor Son was visiting.

He said it was bad to start diets and change drastically your lifestyle in later life...

Myself I am the same weight now as I was in my late Teens, I have been on many diets from a kid and over the last 40+ years, the lowest I every got down to was 98kg.... I am 132kg and have been the same for the past 15 years because I have not tried to diet but eat healthy..

Remembering back to when I was 15 with my Mother and Sister at Weight Watchers, the man that lost 50% of his body weight died 6 months later.

My Grandfather Mothers side + his 6 brothers were also very large in kg between 120 - 150, as was my Mother and her 6 brothers and Sisters, [Mother + 2 Brothers died, all at age 40] the other are all in the late 70's healthy and as large as life

132kg is a lot to drag around as one gets older even at 189 tall [6'3"] I am a diabetic so very careful about what I eat all being sugar free + Fat free, or very low.

Anyone lost weight later in life? feel any better?

[Galong]

Hi Ignis,

I think you might benefit from looking at how your activity level has changed (if it has) over the years too. I think that a lot of us gain weight as we age due to slowing down and doing less physical activities.

I do certainly believe that genetic pre-disposition has some bearing on the matter, but an active older person can often over-ride such genetic disadvantages.

To address your last questions: Three months ago I was 15 KG heavier than I am now. I decided that I wanted to get down to a certain weight and did so by limiting my alcohol intake (drastically, actually) and stopping eating at night (a very challenging endeavor indeed ) and making sure I get at least an hour of exercise almost every day. Keep a positive mind Ignis and don't give up!

Edited August 18, 2009 by Galong

[ignis]

My point: If you think your body is older than your mind, you're already at a disadvantage. Change the way you think, but be realistic. That does not mean you have to give up.

Not at all sure that most would think there mind in younger than there body.. Forget what I was going to say problem is I keep forgetting things, you open the freezer to get something out for the evening meal pop it in the fridge to find what you took out yesterday is still there oops forgot to have my evening meal yesterday... Now I have had tuna fish salad for lunch because the plate is still on the table.. last week drove to Pantip 2, forgot where I parked the car, I always write down on the parking slip the floor number, when I remembered that found it easy., problem was when I got home and emptied my pocket found the shopping list.... sure forgot 1x IT item + forgot to go to Tops for something can only by there + wanted to go to another shop in Nothaburi but forgot...

Oh yes you can only think of doing something and put it in your mind as if you were 25 it was easy only problem at 60 it is not that easy anymore. This morning have been up on the ladder cutting some trees in the garden, also did some yesterday. found it harder than a couple of years ago, did not feel safe and also have not finished yet, yet my mind thought back to when I was 25, all would have been cut down within a couple of hours.

[ignis]

Hi Ignis,

I think you might benefit from looking at how your activity level has changed (if it has) over the years too. I think that a lot of us gain weight as we age due to slowing down and doing less physical activities.

I do certainly believe that genetic pre-disposition has some bearing on the matter, but an active older person can often over-ride such genetic disadvantages.

To address your last questions: Three months ago I was 15 KG heavier than I am now. I decided that I wanted to get down to a certain weight and did so by limiting my alcohol intake (drastically, actually) and stopping eating at night (a very challenging endeavor indeed ) and making sure I get at least an hour of exercise almost every day. Keep a positive mind Ignis and don't give up!

Well done on your 15kg weight loss, myself don't drink and never have. Never eat anything after 18:00 [6pm] exercise always spend at least 2 hours a day doing things in the garden, have 4 dogs, Ponds with over 400 fish which takes time every day with feeding and filters checking there health etc, and of course the house, cleaning everyday as 4 dogs, maintenance and all the other odd jobs there appears to be always something to do.