I think a lot about aging.

[Bertha Venation]

I'm 46 and quite unfit. I have a couple of physical ailments, too, things that I should be paying attention to but don't (by eating right, testing my blood, not drinking, exercising, etc.).

I think about dying early if I don't take care of myself. But for some reason - maybe it's just in the blood - I don't do it. Inertia: a body at rest tends to stay at rest.

I think about Mrs. V. and me taking care of each other into elder-hood. If I don't take care of myself now, I'm not going to be able to take care of her then.

I think about what my life will be like when I'm 56, 66, 76, etc. - if I make it to those ages.

I'm not fatalistic, and I don't want to die. But why in the hell don't I pick it up?

Thursday I'm asking my doc for a referral to a bariatric surgeon. We shall see.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you think about aging? Is your body ready for it? How about your psyche?

[schmuls]

1. Boy, Bertha, this really hits close to home. I know I need to start

taking better care of my body, but I just can't get started, and I don't know why. On top of that, I beat myself up over it. And stressing out sure doesn't help, either. Want to know the stupidest thing? I should be taking blood pressure medicine, but I haven't for a long time, and haven't seen my doctor either. I'm putting off seeing him to get a refill because I know how pissed he is going to be at me. Idiotic, isn't it?

[RebelOne]

4. Same here. I'm supposed to be on blood pressure medicine,

but I haven't taken it in a few years. I don't like to be bothered about going to the doctor. I have dropped 20 pounds within the past 6 months, so I'm hoping that has brought my blood pressure down. I have a monitor, but the batteries are dead. Well, I'm 70 years old and still going strong. I'm not overweight and eat healthy since I am a vegetarian. My only problem is that I smoke and that is going to get me sooner or later. Why it hasn't gotten me sooner, I don't know because I have been smoking since I was 16.

[Bertha Venation]

6. Not idiotic at all.

Now, if it were me, yes, it would be idiotic. ;)

"just can't get started, and I don't know why" -- :toast: Yep.

[grasswire]

13. see a new doc

that would solve the embarrassment problem

[old mark]

2. BV, in '03 I had been having pain in my arms and neck for years -

my doc told me it was Carpal Tunnel. Turned out it was blocked arteries - I had 2 heart attacks (at least), had a quad bypass plus new arteries installed in my chest. Two things saved my life - I took aspirin (tylenol never worked for me, and I carried aspirin with me) and I was exercising regularly for a long time. I had a lousy diet, was overweight, and an undiagnosed diabetic, but I had good muscles and that helped save my life during over 5 hours on a heart/lung machine. Also, I had stopped drinking years before (over 21 years now) and stopped smoking.

Do what ever you can do - force yourself - start slowly, a few days a week to exercise even a little. Control your food intake a little, cut your drinking. It is not easy, but a little is better than none, and you will start to feel better soon - you WILL notice a difference.

The hardest thing to do is get started. I will be 62 this summer, and believe me , getting old is great compared to being dead.

:pals:

mark

[Bertha Venation]

10. Good lord, did you think of suing him for malpractice?

Carpal tunnel?!

I'm slowly getting a little more exercise, and I emphasize "a little" - I got Wii Fit. I huff and puff in front of my TV everynight. At least it gets my heart going for a little while.

Thank you, Mark :pals:

[old mark]

11. BV I talked to my lawyer and he said," You can't sue a doctor for being stupid..

if you could, all lawyers would be rich."

He missed the diabetes, missed heart disease. My wife told me if I hadn't made it, she would have shot him.

I believe he is taking a lot of speed of cocaine - he was a real asshole in addition to being stupid.

mark

[Skittles]

15. WTF!!

in your initial post Kim you sound like you're rooted to the couch, now you're confessing not only have you started some exercise but you're doing it "everynight"?? KEEP IT UP! When you start to see the benefits you'll be encouraged to do more!!!

[Bertha Venation]

16. Skittles!

:bounce:

I'm taking tiny baby steps, but yes, I am moving. I am trying.

I sure have some good support around here, too.

[Skittles]

17. don't get discouraged! keep moving!

surgery must be a LAST resort! Give it time - you can do it! And remember, don't look at it solely as weight loss - exercise is good for your heart, lungs, bones!!

[LaurenG]

3. Just start walking now

or just pick one thing to start doing right now. I felt great at 46 - no issues whatsoever but over the last 7 years things have started to pop up that I wouldn't have thought I was at risk for. Long ago, before moving to Ohio, I was very fit but I found many reasons to just let my healthy lifestyle go, ie: the weather, tired, depressed, etc. After menopause things do change, your body feels a bit stiffer and it takes a bit longer to recover from illness or injury and the best thing I knew to do to regain some energy and feel better was to move, even if it was just around the yard for a while.

Aging is weird though because the person in the mirror no longer looks how I feel. My dad at 80 said he never felt like an old man on the inside and was always surprised at how quickly he went from 18 to 80.

You're a good person Bertha, I hope you realize how much many of us admire you, so yes please make it to 106, we can't replace you!

[RebelOne]

5. That's true, Bertha. Get a dog and take it for nightly walks.

I think that is what helps me. I walk 2 dogs every night. I walk down a hill to a big field, walk around there and then back up the hill. And I'm a smoker, so climbing hills isn't too easy. But I'm 70 years old now, so that is a little bit of an excuse.

[cwydro]

7. I've always been very active.

But my roomie never exercises and I used to bitch at her all the time (because we've been friends for 20plus years and I want her to hang around).

Just get out and walk. Or do something you like.

I finally got the roomie doing something. We go out and throw a football around in the yard. Then she mentioned she wished she had a baseball glove, so I went and got us gloves and a ball and at least that is something!

She loves to throw back and forth, so maybe you can find some activity like that to get you started.

My next trick is to get a bat and drag her down to the park and hit balls. She'll have to run, lol!

Take care of yourself woman. If nothing else, think of the cats!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. My dear Bertha...

It boils down to one basic issue:

Do you want to live enough to change?

I do, and I've made the changes that will hopefully have me living as long as my parents. They're in their 90's, for crissake!

Get going! I would miss you too much, and that's the truth.

Don't let a heart attack be your warning.

Please.

:loveya:

:hug:

[Pied Piper]

23. Hey CP!

I think it's great that you still have your parents! One of my grandfathers died in his 60s (I never met him), the other made it to his 91st birthday; both of my grandmothers crossed over at 82. My parents are both 68 and in good health, so I hope they're around for awhile. We all have to do what we need to do - my parents have a neighborhood walk every morning at dark-o'thirty. I manage to walk about 2-3 miles every day (no car - what else am I supposed to do!).

Hey BV - maybe you can start by taking a walk every day. I live in Boston with no car, so I have to walk everywhere. The public transit is OK, could be better, so I walk everywhere. Fortunately, I live relatively close to good shopping, etc., so it's really not that much of a burden.

[qwertyMike]

9. WALK, WALK, WALK

and then walk.
e
I'm 64 retired, live downtown and walk everywhere. Every day.

Minnimum 4 hrs, cos I hit the bookstores, internet coffee shops etc.

The speed is just right for the mind to take things in, and I have made so many friends on park benches, coffe shops etc.
GOOD FOR THE BODY, MIND AND SOUL.

I'm glad I'm not a country dweller where a car is a necessity just to get groceries.
Good luck.

[av8rdave]

12. I age a lot while I'm thinking

That's not a good thing.

[alarimer]

14. I think about it too.

Mostly, though, in terms of where I think I should be in life, which is not where I find myself these days.

I have a Master's degree, yet am finding it hard to find a job using my abilities. Instead, I labor at the same crappy entry-level job I've held for 12 years almost. Something's wrong here.

I have noticed I've put on some weight over the last year. I guess I don't eat right because I DO workout (although probably not as much as I should due to my ridiculous work schedule). Quite frankly I am really tired of being told I need to eat no more than 1400 calories a day (I'm sure I'd be hungry all the time) and being told (by media I guess) that I am over the hill and not "hot".

I am alone now, again, as usual. I think I am not relationship material, given my utter resistance to doing whatever it takes to please a man. Too independent by far I suppose. My current ex-boyfriend wanted to move in together after only 2 months. He interpreted my reluctance to do so as my being "not that into him".

I think my current job will kill me long before aging will. Or at least cripple me enough that I won't enjoy retirement. My retirement plan consists of living just as long as I feel like and then going out on my terms, preferably by being eaten by a shark or dying in a unfortunate skydiving incident.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

18. Good whiskey ages. Fine wine ages. Great cheeses age.

Personally, I don't age- I just keep getting better. ('Nother month and I'll be 54, child...)

Up and at 'em! :headbang:

[intheflow]

19. I've been without health insurance over a decade,

so i think about my health quite a bit, and try very hard to take care of myself. But I'm 45 and worry a lot about being alone in my old age, since I'm single and osteoperosis and alzheimer's runs in my family. Who will take care of me in my old age?

[seemunkee]

20. My wife and I both do, but in different ways

She looks in the mirror and sighs. I wonder how much of a pain in the ass I can be to my kids before they give up and throw me in a home. I also solve the problem of seeing friends age by getting younger friends. My biking buddy is 20 years younger than me.

Glad you got the Wii and are using it. One time you said you were an athlete and played sports, any chance you can get back into it? Maybe find a casual softball league for the summer. Look at Mrs V and think how much you want to see those years together, you have a reason to make it happen.

I have three trite mantras I say to myself when I need motivation, whether it is on a long ride of just need the push to get off the couch.
Pain is temporary, quitting is forever - Lance Armstrong
Get busy living, or get busy dying - Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption
We don't do these things because they are easy, but because they are hard - JFK

[JitterbugPerfume]

21. walk

but don't try to do to much all at once because then you get all achy all over and give up

[Mike 03]

22. I'm just a bit younger than you, and I can relate to your post

I've always worked hard to be fit, and eat healthfully, but for the last six or so months I have been in a bad downward spiral, and just recently it got so bad I decided to try a liquid fast and really crack down on myself, make sure I exercise every day, no mater what.

The only difference I guess between you and me is that I have usually been healthy but lately, hitting near middle age, I'm worried because I'm beginning to have doubts, feel like "who cares, I'm gonna die anyway, probably of the same thing my parents and grandparents are dying of no matter what I do," and it's hard.

Don't feel alone.

[Nikia]

24. I think about it a lot

At 31, I am aware that if I don't start running again soon that it will just get harder. It worries me that I probably will start facing more irreversible physical changes in the future.