Not food related but im sure a member can help!

gottagetitoff11

Not food related just looking for advice i guess it would be.

Im getting a bit up in age 42 but my brain still tell me im young but my body says no no no lol. I notice i can not do things like i use to as it gives me pain but its habit. Like when i lie down on the sifa i put my head on the arm not it hurts my head and side of my face but i still do it.

How do i tell myself your too old to do certain things. If this is not allowed please delete but this group gives great advice so i thought id ask.

Thanks

Alatariel75

I don't imagine that someone only 5 years older than me would be "too old" to do much, frankly. 42 is hardly decrepit.

If something hurts, I stop doing it. If I do it again without thinking (I have a bad habit of sitting on one foot while I'm working, for example), then once it starts hurting, I stop doing it again. I wouldn't keep doing it once it starts hurting, but that doesn't necessarily mean I will train myself not to do it in the first place.

pinuplove

Alatariel75 wrote: »

I don't imagine that someone only 5 years older than me would be "too old" to do much, frankly. 42 is hardly decrepit.

That's what I was thinking! I'm 37 and the only things that make me feel old are current fashion trends and the kids I used to babysit having babies of their own now I really hope that doesn't change much in the next 5 years.

DietPrada

I'm 43 this year. I'm still 30lbs overweight. I can't think of a single thing I can't do now that I could do 20 years ago. I regularly ride my horse, walk wherever, lay on the couch however I want, I can still put my foot behind my head. And I am NOT fit by any stretch of the imagination.

WakkoW

45 here. I can't wear high heals anymore. Thankfully low is in fashion.

Machka9

50 here .... and I'm doing pretty much what I was doing in my 30s again, now that I've lost the weight and regained my fitness.

Occasionally my head tells me I might be too old to do stuff like cycle two 200 km events in a month ... but then I go and do it anyway.


I'll add this ... I hit my highest weight when I was about a month shy of my 48th birthday and for a little while I thought that I had reached "too old". "Too old" to lose weight. "Too old" to do all the cycling I used to do. But it didn't take me long to snap out of that mind-set and decide that I didn't want to be "too old" at the age of 48. So I lost the weight and got fit again.

cmtigger

Maybe it's the couch, the cushions have gotten compressed over time.

Machka9

gottagetitoff11 wrote: »

I notice i can not do things like i use to as it gives me pain but its habit. Like when i lie down on the sifa i put my head on the arm not it hurts my head and side of my face but i still do it.

Maybe it's your sofa's way of telling you you're too young to be lying on the sofa and you need to be up and active.

lucys1225

Just turned 50 and am just as active as ever. I go to the gym 7 days a week, kayak, paddleboard. I haven't found anything that I'm too old to do.

STEVE142142

56 year old male. I guess you're ready for the home.

I find age is an attitude and not a number. I'm probably more active now and healthier and stronger than I was in my thirties. That being said as you do get older things do sometimes hurt more and it's just a matter of listening to your body and giving yourself a break once in awhile.

mystic_elegance

42 is not "too old", I am not sure what your personal story is for this "pain" but I can assure you... ANYONE can work their way up to exercise, even if they use a step tracker like fitbit and say this week my goal is to do 250 more steps every day. Or go for a walk around the block, then after you're comfortable do 2 blocks, then 3 and so on until maybe you start speed walking or a light jog. Don't give up friend. You are far too young to feel this way. It is not the exercise you have to overcome, it is your mind.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Say what?

You're 42 not 82!

We're around the same age and I'm nowhere near old. Change your thinking.

ccsernica

I'm 53, and if I'm too old to do certain things I haven't noticed.

Christine_72

I'm 45, and am more active now than i ever was in my 20's and 30's.

Don't lie down and get ready to die just yet OP.. If your mind thinks you're old and decrepit, your body will soon follow.

markrgeary1

Your 42. Getting old ain't for sissys.

You are not close to feeling old. Check back in twenty years.

AnnPT77

42? Old? Bwahahha! (And why does your MFP profile say you're 38, BTW? ) I can't see why you'd want to tell yourself you're too old to do certain things.

Yes, it can be useful to think about gradually increasing activity levels, rather than overloading all at once. It can take us longer to recover from overuse or injury as we age. Persistence, continuity, gradual progress, injury avoidance, a thoughtful plan for making progress physically: All important.

As a person with a very sedentary life, I started becoming more active when I was 46 (shortly after widowhood & my own cancer treatment, including surgery, 6 months of chemotherapy, and radiation). Within a couple of years, I became the near-mythical pretty-fit obese person. Around 12-13 years later, I finally lost weight down to a healthy goal. Now I'm 61, and a pretty-fit li'l ol' lady.

Throughout, the funny thing was, I found that the stronger & fitter I got, the fewer things that hurt. Being at a healthy weight only magnified that result - even fewer things hurt, they hurt less severely, and they hurt less often. Sure, I have a few over-use issues, a little arthritis, torn meniscus, that sort of thing. None of it really seems to prevent me doing whatever I decide I want to put my mind to.

Old is not a synonym for decrepit, weak, broken down, incapable, or anything of that nature. It just means we've had more birthdays. (Yay for birthdays!)

At 61, I row 4-5 days a week in summer (those long skinny boats like in the Olympics, but mine is slower ). I bike, I walk, I lift weights, I swim, I go to spin class twice a week. (Most of this is stuff I didn't do, at least not often, before my mid-40s - i.e., older than you.)

I have friends my age who are unhealthy, overweight, taking half a dozen or more medications, unable to do even some everyday things because of infirmities. I also have friends my age, and in their 70s and even 80s who are active, quite healthy, and going strong. They can out-do a good many 20-30 year olds.

In most cases, the difference is in how those people lived their lives: Activity levels, eating, etc.

Bottom line? There are choices, and choices have consequences.

About that couch? It's like the old joke: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this! Then don't do that!" So maybe consider getting off the couch?

Good luck, and best wishes - I think you can keep doing things, within reason, despite your advanced age, and make good progress toward a healthier lifestyle.