Aging Progression and Getting Old

[marko]

So here's my musing for the day:

I'll be turning 68 soon. By my appearance no one believes that I'm that age (by most accounts my 90 year old mom looks about 75). Good genes.

Now most days I feel great, strong and full of energy, ready and able to take on anything. Every tenth or twelfth day however I feel creaky. Just 'not with it', not quite as physically flexible, not quite as energetic; maybe I didn't get a good night's sleep. DW shocked me the other day by commenting that "you shouldn't be surprised, you're closer to 70 than 60 you know".

So here's my question. For those of you who are further along, did your aging creep up on you? Like, did 'feeling your age' go from once a week to once every three days to every day over time?

Or was it just a slow, imperceptible degradation? I doubt anyone just woke up one day feeling old!

Is it a progression where the spaces between feeling young and feeling old get closer together and then eventually you just feel old all the time? Or is it more of a slow, subtle thing? Or, like when to take SS, it depends upon the individual?

I'd ask mom but she's up on a ladder right now cleaning her gutters (only half kidding).

 

[bolt]

So here's my musing for the day:

I'll be turning 68 soon. By my appearance no one believes that I'm that age (by most accounts my 90 year old mom looks about 75). Good genes.

Now most days I feel great, strong and full of energy, ready and able to take on anything. Every tenth or twelfth day however I feel creaky. Just 'not with it', not quite as physically flexible, not quite as energetic; maybe I didn't get a good night's sleep. DW shocked me the other day by commenting that "you shouldn't be surprised, you're closer to 70 than 60 you know".

So here's my question. For those of you who are further along, did your aging creep up on you? Like, did 'feeling your age' go from once a week to once every three days to every day over time?

Or was it just a slow, imperceptible degradation? I doubt anyone just woke up one day feeling old!

Is it a progression where the spaces between feeling young and feeling old get closer together and then eventually you just feel old all the time? Or is it more of a slow, subtle thing? Or, like when to take SS, it depends upon the individual?

I'd ask mom but she's up on a ladder right now cleaning her gutters (only half kidding).

Age*ing is a dis'ease we're all born with.
Everyone starts aging at birth.
It manifest itself differently w/ea. of us.
Staying active, engaged, and not fat is said to be wise.
I know people that cannot reach to tie their shoes.
Good luck!

 

[audreyh1]

Over the past 20 years I’ve regularly done things to hopefully age better - practice yoga, play musical instruments, strength training, and eat mostly home cooked meals from high quality ingredients.

 

[timbervest]

At 66 I pretty much feel the same mentally as I did 20 years ago. Almost the same physically as I keep myself fit and don't have a lot of bad habits. A few aches and pains in my knee but still can run as referee for teen soccer on the weekends. The main changes is I look alot older than I feel so I see it in the mirror (wrinkles, thinning hair, spots) etc. I guess I dont have to look at it so it's ok!

 

[aja8888]

I'm feeling pretty good at 76 years young, even with a new hip implant almost three weeks ago. No HPB, diabetes, lipid panel is normal, etc. My 35 year old female PCP thinks I am in pretty good shape for my age.

I have no bad habits (anymore, LOL), and don't really "diet" as my weight is slightly heavy for my height, but nowhere near obese stats. I was a very competitive long distance runner between 1975 and the late 1980's, so that may have had a good, long term effect on my cardio system.

My usual exercise program includes walking 10,000+ steps per day. Right now, 2+ weeks after the hip replacement, I am back up to about 5,000 steps per day.

I take one pill, tamsulosin, for a slightly enlarged prostate, but my PSA tests have been between 0.7 - 1.4 for a decade.

What's gotten me in the last 10 years is osteoarthritis, and it has shown up in both hips, so I now have two new hips (yeah!!). And the arthritis pain is gone.....

In the last 20 years, I have felt and endured the aging process as the osteoarthritis has festered and I am "slower", physically. I also seem to be easily tricked into a fall, as the ability to catch myself seems to have gotten slower, if that makes any sense.

 

[MuirWannabe]

I’m sure how we age varies per the individual. But if one has done things to stay active and relatively healthy, and has been blessed enough to avoid major diseases, then I think it’s mostly a gradual progression as you describe.

I’m younger than you. Although even at 57, I have occasional days of being just ‘not with it’. I expect that progression to continue although I’ll do what I can to stay active and fight it off. Staying ambulatory and maintaining faith and positive attitude are important imho.

Based on observations with my parents, once old age hits though, it hits with a strong vengeance. They were 85 before that happened. Bouncing back at some point just hardly happens. The death rate is 100%. It’s coming for all of us and that’s actually a good thing in the end.

 

[aja8888]

Based on observations with my parents, once old age hits though, it hits with a strong vengeance. They were 85 before that happened. Bouncing back at some point just hardly happens. The death rate is 100%. It’s coming for all of us and that’s actually a good thing in the end.

The above is so true. I saw this with my mother who left us about 85 (failed kidneys). I'm doing all I can to get another dozen "good" years.

 

[Ronstar]

I'm only 64, but I can feel the beginnings of getting old. I keep as active as I have been for my whole life, just putting up with little aches and pains along the way.

Like aja8888's sig ^ and how Clint Eastwood replied to Toby Keith when asked how he keeps going: "Don't let the Old Man In"

https://youtu.be/yc5AWImplfE

 

[cbo111]

At 61, I am probably more active than most, with tennis, pickleball, cycling and hitting the gym a couple days a week. But after a recent 2-week break to visit my DM over Thanksgiving (where I did almost nothing), I really lost a step. So sore the day after returning to workouts. When I was younger, taking 2-week breaks and returning presented almost no ill-effects. Now I seem to fall out of shape very quickly if I don't stay active.

 

[Walt34]

Now I seem to fall out of shape very quickly if I don't stay active.

I'm 69, and trust me, it gets worse. The older you get the faster the atrophy sets in and the longer it takes to recover. Now I go to the gym because I'm afraid of what will happen if I don't.

 

[martyp]

I am nearly 64. The first sign of aging I experienced was the need for reading glasses at age 50. At age 60 I realized I didn’t recover from vigorous exercise as quickly as before and I am wearing glasses pretty much all the time. Otherwise I feel fine and people often say I look younger than my age.

 

[Amethyst]

I'm concerned more with "acting old" than "being old."

One can't help being old, except by death.

One can try, for a while at least, to maintain awareness and avoid acting old.

 

[Nemo2]

Turned 77 in September. As I noted in a post waaay back, if you're in your 50s or 60s you may as well say you're 17.

At the beginning of this year I thought I was indestructible - rude awakening. Still have my own (not store bought) knees/hips, but I also had sepsis this year....not something I'd recommend.

Starting the long climb back, (or as close to 'back' as I can manage); did 18 minutes on the elliptical today, (adding a couple minutes every day so as not to overreach)....hope (I'd say 'intend' but that would be presumptuous), to get back into stair climbing shortly......but it'll be a long way from being 60 or even 70.

 

[Hermit]

I went to the funeral of a friend yesterday. He was 63. A few aches and pains as I turn 70 aren't so bad.

 

[Dtail]

Been lucky in not having any funerals among friends yet.
I am always somewhat sore after playing Pickleball, but try to play 5 or 6 days a week.

 

[Midpack]

May be no help at all, but the telltale sign to me is a change in ability to perform infrequent or sporadic tasks. I think we decline imperceptibly slowly so we can’t see it in everyday tasks - but the tasks we do annually or less frequently tell us we’ve aged. Some examples:

• I used to go on the roof to clean gutters less than annually. I went on the roof to clean gutters last week, went from the front to the back gutter, and knew immediately I’d better get down, even though we moved from a two story to a one story (albeit a sloping lot). I’ve called a handyman.
• I used to clean the bottom of my boat in water a few times a year, as often as every two weeks. Holding your breath as long as you can and vigorously swimming to stay under about 6 feet, used to be nothing to it. The last few years, it was all I could do to complete the task despite a smaller boat.
• You may have examples of your own - things you used to do that you now hire out for physical and/or mental limits now, and not just because you can afford to.

That’s where I really know I’ve aged

 

[Souschef]

I also think it depends on your attitude. If you think you are old, it is a self fulfilling prophecy.
Getting old has partly to do with genetics. I am 81 and am fairly active. My dad lived to 93 and mom to 102.
I volunteer at a hospice with another man my age. He has arthritis in his hands, and his wife who is the same age as mine has COPD, among other ailments.

 

[marko]

May be no help at all, but the telltale sign to me is a change in ability to perform infrequent or sporadic tasks. I think we decline imperceptibly slowly so we can’t see it in everyday tasks - but the tasks we do annually or less frequently tell us we’ve aged. Some examples:

• I used to go on the roof to clean gutters less than annually. I went on the roof to clean gutters last week, went from the front to the back gutter, and knew immediately I’d better get down, even though we moved from a two story to a one story (albeit a sloping lot). I’ve called a handyman.
• I used to clean the bottom of my boat in water a few times a year, as often as every two weeks. Holding your breath as long as you can and vigorously swimming to stay under about 6 feet, used to be nothing to it. The last few years, it was all I could do to complete the task despite a smaller boat.
• You may have examples of your own - things you used to do that you now hire out for physical and/or mental limits now, and not just because you can afford to.

That’s where I really know I’ve aged

Actually an astute observation!

 

[street]

Aging scares me but it is part of life. At 62 I do pretty much everything I have done in my past. I still do a lot of physical work and am busy everyday pretty much all day. Climbed up on a roof today to do a small job for an elderly lady. I still cut tree ad trim trees from a ladder and climb up and belt fall to do the work.
The one thing I have noticed is my eye sight isn't as good as it once was and use glasses now to read. A few aches and pains but really feel good for all the outdoor activity I do. No wrinkles but I do have gray hair. My mother at 92 never had a wrinkle on her face.
I thing attitude and how you think you should feel at a given age is a mental thing.

 

[Bamaman]

11 years ago, I found out the hard way that I couldn't fly--after cleaning gutters. I experienced two broken legs and I spent two months in bed.

A number of other "flyers" also failed their flight test that day, and they had serious spinal injuries. It was like when I used to fly light airplanes. I could fly great, but my landings were sometimes a little rough.

I'm a little stiff in the morning, but I really don't have a pain anywhere in my body.

My father always said every year over 80 gets harder and harder to make. He could work like a young man until he had an injury at age 78.

I'm now 69, and it seems all I do is move furniture from place to place. And I never stop building. I am in the process of completing a boat barn at my lake house and then I'm permanently retiring from hard work of any kind.

At one point in life, retirees of any age need to stay off high ladders and even go into defensive mode for maintaining long term health. That means being grounded and getting pro active in lifestyles--more exercise and eating better.

 

[Souschef]

At one point in life, retirees of any age need to stay off high ladders and even go into defensive mode for maintaining long term health. That means being grounded and getting pro active in lifestyles--more exercise and eating better.

DW will not even let me get on a ladder

 

[jollystomper]

At 61, the main concession I have made to the reality of aging is to "retire" from the full/high contact sports I enjoy. It takes longer and longer to recover from those related soreness/injuries. I was not good enough to play at a level to create serious injuries or put a toll on my body that I see showing up in some of my friends who were star athletes back in the day. Back in my mid-40s I played several hours of tag/tackle football and then had to get on a long plane ride the next day. I thought I would have to request a wheelchair to get off the plane, and the trek to get my bags and rental car was full of pain.

I not longer go up on ladders onto roofs - anything that cannot be done standing firmly on my 3 foot solid step ladder is a job for someone else (one form of "blowing that dough" ).

I still do my gym workouts several times a week and on non-gym days do some activity like brisk walking/hiking/biking/golf. I walk the course whenever possible when playing golf and it has actually gotten easier. I did it today in 40 degree weather and it felt great. I do not have any daily aches and pains. I do not take any of this for granted, I am surprised at the amount of people my age who find some of these things difficult or impossible. I will simply enjoy the way things are for as long as I can.

And... as long as I am able to consistently perform "things" with DW that we enjoy together, without the assistance of anything other than our love for each other, I will not feel like I am aging . "It's a wonderful thing, as time goes by, to be with someone who looks into your face, when you've gotten old, and still sees what you think you look like.” (from the movie The Bachelor)

 

[jollystomper]

I'm concerned more with "acting old" than "being old."

One can't help being old, except by death.

One can try, for a while at least, to maintain awareness and avoid acting old.

+1

We had a younger couple once tell us that they could not believe DW and I were the same age as their parents, because we "did not act old". We asked them what that meant, they said things like you don't complain about aches and pains, when you talk about the past it is never with a "the perfect good old days" attitude, you listen, you talk with and not down to younger people, you like active activities, you like to learn things, you don't sit around watching TV, you seem happy with the way you are... it was an interesting conversation.

 

[Amethyst]

Exactly.

Some people are so astonished and affronted by age that they become severe bores about it. It's one thing to get some sympathy and maybe advice from your friends - we all need that. It's another to generate a full-length dissertation at every opportunity.

+1

We had a younger couple once tell us that they could not believe DW and I were the same age as their parents, because we "did not act old". We asked them what that meant, they said things like you don't complain about aches and pains, when you talk about the past it is never with a "the perfect good old days" attitude, you listen, you talk with and not down to younger people, you like active activities, you like to learn things, you don't sit around watching TV, you seem happy with the way you are... it was an interesting conversation.

 

[audreyh1]

We’d given up getting on the roof decades ago. Why chance it? And DH is early 60s.

Always hired professionals to do things on roofs, cut down trees, etc. Heck we love that regular lawn maintenance is included in our neighborhood fees, although we do our own shrub trimming which involves a little risk. We may delegate that soon.