<p>I’m 54, Look younger than most my age, but I hate how my knees hurt. I can’t sit on the floor anymore cause it hurts to get up.</p>
<p>Ugh…I don’t know if I LOVE or HATE this thread!</p>
<p>Will turn 50 in a couple of months. It’s the first time a birthday has even remotely bothered me. I’m not totally sure why.</p>
<p>I think I look OK for my age (my husband and kids all tell me I do, but would they really tell me otherwise?) Weight’s OK, not a big “tanner” so the face is decent, and I try to stay fashionable yet age-appropriate.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I took a nasty slip down my stairs the other day. Directly on my tailbone - OUCH! It’s been over a week, and it still hurts. My greatest fear is that this is going to be one of those injuries that never really goes away and causes lifelong problems. (Just for the record - I was walking down my stairs at 5:00 a.m. to go for my daily 3 to 4 mile walk - even in the freezing cold!!! I’m trying my best to keep the aging process in check!)</p>
<p>I don’t feel old. I don’t look old (she sez, haha), but…</p>
<p>…dammd if AARP sent me a member card in the mail this week. Unsolicited! Unwanted!</p>
<p>Go away, AARP! Come back in…oh, 20 years!</p>
<p>(I’m another one looking at 50 in the near future, course I have to put on my bifocals to see it…)</p>
<p>I’m feeling my age too these days, but also something else. I live in a community where many of the women don’t work. So on my way to work, or on my way home, I see them walking in pairs or threes around the block. One day I decided to work from home and popped into the local grocery store, and there were dozens of women gathered in little groups gossiping.</p>
<p>Although I do like my job and <em>really</em> like the money from the job, I felt sort of left out. I never felt like this earlier in my life so I’m not sure why I feel this way now. Maybe it’s because I’ve been attending sports games for my youngest and have started to realize that all the parents at these games know each other and I don’t know any of them. (Of course, they are also the parents who scream loudly at their kids during the games which is sooo not me. So I don’t necessarily always want to get to know every group of people I come across.) </p>
<p>I’m so tired from work and everything else that I don’t have the energy to go volunteer or whatever it is that gets these women acquainted with each other. I do admit that some of the women that have never had a job and live in my town are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, so I probably wouldn’t fit in with them anyway. I have a smattering of casual friends and two very close friends, one in the next state (high school friend) and one in town whom I talk to every day. I also have a group of friends from college who live in various states and I see periodically when we can figure out how to get together. But I’m definitely feeling like I’ve gotten this old and haven’t cultivated the local friendships I should probably have.</p>
<p>ACCCKK. I feel like I just read 2 pages about ME.
A young 54, but…
My bones creak in the morning.
My knee dictates where I sit and how many stairs I climb.
Those articles in AARP are getting more interesting.
A big night out with DH usually involves dinner at 6pm and home for TV.
I still work long hours and like RTR I miss having girlfriends in the neighborhood.
Now that I have an empty nest, it is really obvious that my recent socializing was all with parents of S’s school and activities.</p>
<p>But DH and I are planning a trip and I am a lot more mellow at this stage of life. It’s good</p>
<p>ReadyToRoll -</p>
<p>I’m sorry that you feel left out. </p>
<p>I have a group of walking friends. We get together to walk a few times a week, but we don’t socialize otherwise much more than an annual lunch to celebrate all the birthdays at once. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy this group - the fresh air, exercise and conversation is invigorating. We have very little in common and a few of us might not be particularly “sharp knives,” but what does that matter? I like to think that by our age we can transcend the dividing lines of varying income, education and experience levels and find common ground. We have a couple of lawyers, a massage therapist, an artist and a teacher our group. Some of us work and some of us haven’t worked for years. Staying fit enough to enjoy life is what binds us together. </p>
<p>I suggest getting a similar group together. You can start by asking one other person and maybe she’ll know someone and so on. Or approach one of the walking groups and ask if you can join in. You may find that it is the highlight of your week.</p>
<p>I enrolled in “no direct mail marketing” and have yet to hear from the AARP (at age 54). <a href=“https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/static/learn_more.jsp[/url]”>https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/static/learn_more.jsp</a></p>
<p>I haven’t fallen in a while (well, other than tripping over my daughter’s apartment’s stairs and landing in a puddle two weeks ago) because I made a commitment to myself not to go outside in wet slippery conditions unless I was wearing shoes with good traction. (That was after I tripped over the curb when the dogs saw a squirrel… and cracked a rib.)</p>
<p>My “arthritis” turned out to be a bone cancer that I had removed and now my knee doesn’t hurt nearly as much as it used to. (Yes, I have some arthritis.) </p>
<p>Have you all been checked by a doctor to make sure your conditions can’t be treated?</p>
<p>I take flax seed oil and fish oil–both natural antiinflammatories, do yoga once a week, and walk three to four miles three or four times a week. I train with my dogs in competitive dog agility. I am in better shape than I’ve been in years (still overweight). I try to avoid “fake foods.” I define that as anything I don’t know how to cook for myself from raw ingredients. </p>
<p>Preventive maintenance is a b**** but really, the alternative is worse.</p>
<p>For me it’s the skin. What is up with the skin?? My neck looks funny. My hands, with the winter weather, looked like they had paper cuts all over the knuckles last night. It was really just small cracks from going outside with gloves.</p>
<p>On the good side-I was working at my school and going between sitting on the floor and getting up to get more supplies and sitting back down on the floor. The occupational therapist walked by and commented on how well I get up and down. I really really love that woman.</p>
<p>dmd77 -</p>
<p>You’re correct - feeling good and staying physically young is all about preventive maintenance. My 82 year old dad says that at his age, it’s a full-time job. For me at 50, it’s a part time job, but I can see where I’m heading.</p>
<p>My dad lives in his own home, rides his bike daily, does his own lawn work, lifts weights, and just finished painting his house. His only concession in recent years is a once-a-week cleaning person. He’s also a cancer-survivor and a firm believer in a simple, healthy diet - a very critical component of staying well.</p>
<p>zoey in 28 –</p>
<p>I’m happy to tell you that your cracked hands are easily solved – it’s dermatitis. I have various kinds of Cortaid around and in my purse, the ‘store brands’, name brand and with aloe or E.</p>
<p>Try that, I’m serious. My D laughs at me, because I always comment as I’m rubbing it on my hands, “Look! My old lady hands are gone!”</p>
<p>Gourmet - congrats to your dad! There is a good lesson there.</p>
<p>My FIL will be 96 next month. He lives alone, has weekly maid service and last year we talked him into giving up driving. But he stays more active than many folks I know. Plays golf at least once a week. Lifts weights and goes to gym. Goes on educational sessions at the hospital once a week, even though he retired from surgical practice 20 years ago. </p>
<p>Goes dancing with his girlfriend of 25 years whenever they get a chance (she’s 80-something). He paints, reads, does crosswords and fiddles with his laptop. Sure, he moves slowly, and annoys us when he forgets to wear hearing aids, but he is inspiring. </p>
<p>He credits exercise, staying slim and enjoying his bourbon.</p>
<p>oh deAR when I first read that- he had a 25 year old girlfriend! ( the brain cells are the first to go)</p>
<p>I’ve noticed 2 things in the last 5 years or so (I’m 47).</p>
<p>1) Weight - it just keeps coming. I don’t feel like I eat any more than I used to, and I’m no less active, but I’ve gained 30 lbs in the last 12 years! </p>
<p>2) Multi-tasking. I can’t do it any more. I remember writing a paper while watching the World Series in hs. My mom chided me that I couldn’t write well while watching TV. Well, that paper was so good that my Honors English teacher read it aloud to the class.
Now? If I want to read the newspaper and D has the TV on I have to go to the other room- the noise is too distracting. I have to turn the radio down/off in heavy traffic. And forget trying to work in my small office that I share with my boss when she’s on the phone!<br>
I feel like I have adult on-set ADD as well. I start something, think of something else I need to do, walk into another room, get distracted… I leave stuff all over the place and am drowning in half-finished projects (the bills, the laundry). WHY don’t I just start one thing, focus on it and finish it, like I’m always telling my daughter to do?</p>
<p>The brain thing scares me even more than the weight. I’m promising myself that when D leaves for college I’m getting Wii Fit or doing her Wii dance game or something like that… I won’t have anyone around to walk in on me and make me feel embarrassed!</p>
<p>dmd77-Your dogs must be stronger than mine; sorry for the cracked rib. My first thought when I was going down with the dogs was holding on to their leashes; there is a main road behind my house where they saw the coyote, and neither dog is street savvy. After I knew I had a good hold, I thought of s**t, I am going down! If we had not been on the leaves and were on the steps, I would have had some serious injuries I am sure. I am not sure if my landing was easier because I had them in one hand or if it made things worst. With 90 lbs. on dog pulling on one are, I am surprised my shoulder doesn’t hurt more than the slight ache I have.</p>
<p>I have never broken anything- ( I think it helps to be double jointed even if I don’t have the cat like reflexes 
)
although pulling is one reason why we got a lab instead of a boxer- cause they have extra layers of muscle, even though labs have high pain tolerance.</p>
<p>I guess that is something to consider after our current doggie reincarnates herself as a soccer star ( she used to headbutt the ball for extra air in her younger days).</p>
<p>I am a little paranoid now that I have osteoporosis- without being menopausal-I have vivid images of my paternal grandmother who had extreme kyphosis, although I never knew her to have milk in her house either- very big on grapefruit or pineapple juice.</p>
<p>But she was a * grandmother*!
my kids aren’t even going steady!</p>
<p>( but at least I don’t get the remarks that the neighbor children make to our dog after they haven’t seen her for a while.
" Sadie! I thought you were dead!"
then she gets lots of hugs and love- she is coming up on 16 years, she has outlasted lots of dogs on our street)</p>
<p>eggmom - </p>
<p>Your FIL must be a legend in his neck of the woods! He and my dad would get on swimmingly! My dad also enjoys his drink - a glass of wine or two before dinner. He started a second career as a potter and an art instructor about 15 years ago - exploring a new part of his brain while creating useful art, he says.</p>
<p>I would add that in addition to everything mentioned, social interaction and intellectual stimulation are critical to staying vital.</p>
<p>re the brain-
I have learning issues, never diagnosed in school ( which was before IDEA), however, I have books on my shelf that I couldn’t get through today.
However ( [the</a> nature assessment](<a href=“http://www.pintochiropractic.com/php/sec1a.php]the”>http://www.pintochiropractic.com/php/sec1a.php) I took this quiz from my naturopath and she prescribed some supplements) I have been taking not only Vitamin D3 ( which she says is more utilized than reg Vit D) but Phosphatidylserine and I swear my little grey cells are coming back to life.</p>
<p>I’ll turn 50 late this year. My mom was already a grandmother by this age. I have two teenagers.</p>
<p>Bounced down the stairs over Thanksgiving and broke my tailbone – after about three weeks it was OK. But until then…ouch.</p>
<p>I desperately need to work out…but one of the lovely side effects of the daily oral chemo is extreme fatigue – so getting out the door is the biggest challenge. I’m working part time so we don’t have to borrow as much for college, so by the time I get home from that, I am physically and mentally wiped out. Of course, I am thankful to even be here, since eight years ago we didn’t know if that would be the case! </p>
<p>DH has no interest in diet or exercise, which also makes it tough. </p>
<p>Gotta keep these bones strong, as my my mom fell and broke her femur six years ago, it never healed and she is now totally bedridden.</p>
<p>I’m part of the club too. Early 50s and last week I fell going down the steps to my garage. The thing that worries me the most is that whereas when I was younger I was able to manage the various parts of my life (job, kids, house maintenance) really well, now it sometimes seems overwhelming to keep track of everything.</p>
<p>On the plus side, I now feel more comfortable with myself. I don’t feel like I have to please everyone.</p>
<p>anudduhMom-Thanks! I’ll try it. I’d love my old lady hands to be gone!</p>