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Health, Losing Weight, and Older Than Fifty

Updated on October 24, 2011

when it sneaks up on you



I never had a weight problem at any time in my life, except maybe after having my kids, but even then, losing weight was not ever much of an issue. I had no problems no matter what I ate. Getting into shape was not ever an issue in my life for I always maintained an active lifestyle, playing with my kids, running with my dogs, and riding horseback kept me fit and trim.
Then, during the 47th year of my life, everything seemed to change, and it was not a slow and subtle change but it happened quickly and quite noticeably. For some reason everything I did became harder to do, and my active ways seemed to cause me to become fatigued and left me out of breath and worn out. The runs with the dogs became slower walks, and even that left me with leg cramps and muscle aches that made it impossible to do much the next day.
I began gaining weight, and with the weight gain came the back pain that I had because of old injuries, that had not been evident before. I watched myself fall apart in a matter of a couple of years, and it seemed to be an impossible thing to stop, much like a snowball rolling down a hill and picking up more snow as it went.
If all of this wasn’t bad enough, I also became depressed, for I swore to myself my whole life that I would never let myself get fat, or out of shape, yet I seemed to be unable to do anything about it. I was eating less and less, and still gained weight, and was less able to do any amount of exercise without irritating old wounds. I was becoming arthritic. I was also experiencing swelling of my ankles and feet, sometimes making it impossible to even stand up some days. On bad days, the swelling would extend all the way to my knees. I was retaining water.
I was in trouble, for I did not want to become unable to get around, and as time went by, I was finding that it was becoming harder and harder to control what was happening to my body.

What Was I Going to Do?

I talked to a few of my friends who were my age, and found that I was not alone. Some research and questions presented to my husbands doctors gave me some answers to at least part of my problems. What was going on? Was I becoming an invalid? Was there something wrong with me?
Indeed, what was going on was the inevitable falling apart we must endure when we grow older.
The doctors explained to us that the older we are, the longer and harder it is to get ourselves back into shape and to get our health back. We have to go about it more slowly, and never do get back to where we were long ago.
My husband was a commercial diver and a surfer all of his adult life, and since he has entered his fifties, and with his back pain, has been struggling for several years to get back into the water and swim well enough to allow him to just paddle his surfboard around, and still has not gotten all the way back to surfing yet.
I fear that if we do not conquer our decline, we will never again be able to enjoy those things we loved to do all our lives.
So, each day, I am careful to not eat those things that I know will very quickly add the pounds and inches on, and I do the stairs and all those things that make me breath hard, and even if I can only walk, I will still try to do what I can to get my health back.
In closing, all I can do is to try and warn all those who will listen to me, for if you are not very careful when you are in your forties, to stay in shape and to keep active and doing those things that you love to do. For if you stop, you may never do them again I fear.
The old saying, “If you don’t use it you will lose it” is very true I am afraid, so for heavens sake, do not stop using it.
This problem is ongoing, so as I continue to try to get back to where I want to be, and doing the things I love to do, I will continue to write updates, and if I find things that work or do not work, I will be sure to share these things with you all, for knowledge is power, and I truly wish I had taken notice sooner than I did. I will do all I can to help those who will hear me, and maybe we would be wise to join into a group and do some of these things together, for our health is one thing that is too precious to waste.

working

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