Over 50 and feeling not-so-nifty

MsGenXodus

Hello! My name is Gen and I'm into fashion, makeup, glamour photography, dancing, and getting outdoors.

I've tried to stay fit and active all my life, but the pandemic and the years following have taken a toll on my health.

I lost my job in 2021, then I lost two very close, elderly family members in 2022. All of us have seasons of our lives where things are particularly difficult, and this appears to be my season.

For now, things have mellowed out. I'm still looking for a job, but I've been interviewing and have some good leads on positions I think I can enjoy.

I've had a health scare recently, which brought me back to MyFitnessPal, now. I thought I was experiencing a heart attack in the middle of the night after waking to use the bathroom. Don't worry, I was fine. It was "just" a panic attack. But it was a wake up call that I had been severely neglecting my health.

I'm not a noob to the health and fitness space. I went on my first diet when I was 11 years old to support my mom. We joined weight watchers in 1981 together. I don't think I had to pay for my membership as I wasn't over weight, but followed a maintenance plan appropriate for my age.

In an age when no one thought about what kids ate, and junk food was beginning to creep into everyday life, having that kind of nutritional foundation was such an important part of my education. I did eat a lot of junk food in my teens and early 20's, but knew how to mitigate the damage I did to my waistline in a relatively healthy way. Yes, I'd use products like Slim-fast or Dexatrim on occasion. Yes, I'd go on fad diets.

Anyone remember the grapefruit diet or the cabbage soup diet? In the 1990's I'd resort to the cocaine and cigarettes diet for a time, except cocaine was too expensive so I used an ECA stack instead. (Not recommended!!)

I've worked in careers that kept me physically active my whole life. Although my weight would fluctuate by about 20 pounds over the years, I was never bigger than a BMI of 24-25. My doctors weren't worried about my weight at all.

The thing is, today, my BMI is 22. Great, right? Nope. I'm pretty much the poster child for skinny-fat. My body fat percentage is 31%!

I can feel how weak I've become. I know they say that you lose muscle mass faster after menopause, but I had no idea what that meant for functualty. One day, at my job in 2021, I dropped my pen on the floor and when I bent over to pick it up, I couldn't reach it. So I got down on all fours to pick up the pen, and couldn't stand up without hanging onto my desk.

I couldn't do even a single air squat.

For a person who prided herself on being strong, active and fit, this was my first wake up call.

I've been doing mild strength building exercises since then. At first, I was so weak, and got DOMS to the point that it made me wonder if I had Fibromyalgia. (Dr. says no)

I was making some pretty good progress, when an elderly family member got very sick. Then she passed in May of 2022, about the time another elderly family member also became very sick and also needed care. I left my job, as it was just too much to manage working full time while also providing full time caregiving.

Physically and mentally, I was deteriorating. My most recent caregiving duties came to an end in late 2022. The funeral was in January.

My savings is all but gone at this point, and my credit card balances are creeping up every month. I just keep hoping that everyone stays healthy in my family as I'm out of resources to help at this point. My family has many elderly members and not so many younger members. The youngest members of my family are in their 40's and are scattered all over the country.

I honestly don't know what I'll do if another elderly family member falls ill. I'm out of money, and my health is deteriorating.

I'm doing the only thing I can think of: getting back in shape.

Thank you for taking the time to read my long, long, LOOONNNNGGGG post. I'd love to connect here for mutual support.

mtaratoot

Hi Gen,

Welcome to the community. Wow. You've been through a lot lately. It's clear you've got grit, so that means you are likely to succeed when you decide to stick to it. I bet you will.

Now that it's time to focus on yourself, what goals are you setting for the short-term?

If you are looking for a group of supportive people to share your struggles, challenges, and victories with, you might be interested in a group that I belong to. This group has been active since 2016. The name of the group is "Lose 1 Pound a Week and Keep it Off," and the focus is to STICK TO IT! THIS IS YOUR INVITATION to join us!

The group has been around since 2016, has a number of ongoing challenges, and usually has a fun "special" challenge each week. All the challenges are voluntary except goal-setting and a weekly weight check-in. Pick one, pick some or pick none of the others. Start and stop whenever you want.

Click on the link above (or this one), then click the JOIN link and someone will approve you soon. We're run by a group of committed volunteers, so It might take a day, but you will be approved. It's a private group, so anything you post only goes to other group members, not the entire MFP universe. We don't tolerate bad behavior and support all of MFP's guidelines and a few more to keep it friendly and supportive.

Come join us if you like.