Body Drama?

[shootingstar]

I'm looking more for a primer on what to expect with the 40+ year old body, what's normal, how/what parts change, stuff like that, with pictures, ideas for maintaining health, knowing what the inevitable changes are, what are environmental impacts, and genetic ones. I was honestly not expecting my eyes to change so rapidly. Changes to the waistline seem to be inevitable from what I've seen from people around me, but is that really true? I have a lot of questions like that, and probably I have a lot of changes coming that I don't even know about, and that's what I'm looking to avoid. Being caught off guard, like I was with this vision business.

Since you do cycle and some other form of exercise, are you really that concerned redhodie at this time? How old are you?

So far you have probably read over the last few years some women's experiences in TE about perimenopause and menopause. Some of it the usual, hot flashes, heavy or unexpected periods, etc. and then there are some women like myself who don't exhibit terrible symptoms at all, where it's just fading pleasantly into the horizon.

Some of us who are aging well, just don't speak up enough in TE. Because we may not want the others who feel not the best, to feel worse/more frustrated.

Probably most people --female and male would affirm that their metabolism simply slows down abit compared to when their 20's. However it can be boosted as you know, by regular exercise, eating more properly at the right times, etc.

I can do all the reading, plumb the expertise of doctors, but probably will come up with same truisms:

*some of how I age is hereditary: I no longer have to shave my legs, pits that often. Maybe 2-3 times per year. I'm getting hairless (hopefullynot my head!) as I age. I've inherited this trait from my mother.

*my metabolism has slowed down: So exercise, food portion control, sensible diet is necessary. (Do I need to carb load alot now for a long trip? Well, for me, alot less compared to 15 yrs. ago.)

*I will get grey hair..but it is probably getting delayed. For mysterious reasons I can't explain. Maybe hereditary trait here. My 82 yr. father is not grey, he's just getting abit bald. (I prefer not to colour my hair if I can avoid it...it's just healthier and cheaper. It's just 1 more set of chemicals on myself that in the end, I don't really need.)


*I probably should take in more calcium but simply have been abit lazy. Meanwhile I continue to drink skim milk daily. No more than 1 cup daily.

*My eyesight is very slowly degrading now. I only started to wear reading glasses last year. I'm 52. (I know someone else a few yrs. older who has cataracts..) I need to wear sunglasses often, which is a good thing. I read somewhere daily exposure to alot of sun for eyes, can eventually increase cataract risk, etc.

And so on.

Actually ...I tend to think more about the financial side...will I be able to support myself fully when I get quite old? When can I fully retire? These questions are not really that far-fetched, when some of my closest friends can consider early retirement, when where I work there is a wave of retirements of people not much older than I.

I can't use my mother as my accurate benchmark. Her life is totally different than mine. I can only gauge on evidence, what I have biologically inherited from her (and my father). There is compelling evidence in my family, that if I observe healthy eating and frequent exercise, I will not suffer multiple medical complications in a severe way.

Though we cannot know the future, we have to do our best now. Then later, we will not regret that we haven't tried.