This is the inevitable thread for ILxors in their forties

I'll take unperson's spot in Feb, glad there was an opening.

You're quite welcome, Maresn3st.

my pinched nerve got very painful as I tried to sleep and I got one hour of sleep. I got up to take a warm shower and intense pain started radiating down my left arm after standing up, and it wasn't getting any better, even in the shower. started hyperventilating until that stopped and became more of a dull ache in my back again.

usually by now it's back to normal, and I couldn't call out thanks to the skeleton crew at work today (i've been busier than usual), so tomorrow perhaps the ortho it is.

I've been using (non custom) orthotics for several years but didn't prevent Achilles tendonitis. Bound to open being that I hike 800-1000 miles per year and play basketball 2-3x/week. Just glad it doesn't stop me from doing those things. Yet.

Actually just got some inserts specifically for heel problems. And some straps to go around Achilles. Will test them both out on new years hike.

Hi

Velcome

ah, new(ish) blood

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/5/5d/675249-crypt_keeper_large.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20160110153816

I’m new here as well as of Sunday. What wonders do I have to look forward to??

Scratch to reveal your prize: ▪️

Hi!

I resolve (to try) not to talk about physical ailments here. Although the parental health issues kicked in right on cue with my birthday.

I am more breathtaking than ever.

it gets worse

As a visitor from another thread slowly approaching yet another thread, I can say no more, lest I violate the Prime Directive or spin up a temporal loop wapped up in an ion storm inside The Small Magellanic Cloud.

As someone who is going to be 48 in a few months, I'll say one thing: get your health/fitness and money/career sorted out or at least heading in the direction you want. (OK so that's two things. Or maybe four) In particular, getting in shape will never be this easy again.

snoball otm. your forties are not a time to let your physical condition coast.

A physical therapist told me, "It takes a lifetime to get in shape and weeks to lose it."

my physical therapist told me I have six months to live, then he gave me my bill.

with a week left, I got my bill, and told the doctor I couldn't pay it.

He gave me six more months.

Yeah, I turn 47 in a couple of days, and while I'm healthy as can be, I can tell the days of coasting are long behind me. Fortunately as I get older I find I eat less like, well, like a young kid.

i got through periods of being better at it but i just scarfed two handfuls of candy

Since about November of last year, I've cut down the amount of meat I eat by a huge percentage — I only eat meat about 1-2 times a week now. (I know I'm not supposed to be posting in this thread anymore; I'll go.)

actual 40s person here as of... oh geez, it's been nearly a year. hope you're all getting a few walks in

What wonders do I have to look forward to??

your friends start dying off more frequently

Between 40 and 42 I aged approximately 25 years.

:(

I'm in shape and a vegetarian now, just need the old spine to not get too much worse. And I should stop eating so much (I don't gain weight, just trying not to stress my digestive system). It would be nice if I could continue drinking 5 - 7 beers a week too.

Jeff....did I last see you irl at 39? I'm scared

your friends start dying off more frequently

Oof, while I don't have any (permanently) ex friends, I will say that I have more than a few friends that had horrible stuff happen just on the other side of the age-50 horizon. A good friend of mine was just diagnosed last week with colon cancer at 53. Pretty treatable at her stage (1-2), thank goodness, but you never know. Another friend of mine recently had a stroke at 50 (!). She has pretty bad aphasia and can't use her right arm or right leg that much, but she/they think she's making progress.

Anyway, make sure you get your annual physicals!

Jeff....did I last see you irl at 39? I'm scared

Considering the beginning of my 40s coincided with Covid, yeah it feels like I’ve aged 25 years

The eyesight thing is relatively minor, but damn it is fucking annoying to get used to!

still playing the "is it the pandemic or perimenopause" game

Ha I am right there with you. The memory thing is fucking annoying, too

Here’s something that might instantly make you feel younger upon watching:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CY6i4PQqtEs/

Forgot to make my entrance into this thread. I joined last summer. Spent the last year getting fitter and feel better for it. Wish I could eat like I did in my 20s. The lines around my eyes are deepening too....

I posted a few months ago that at 48 I hadn't noticed any eyesight problems. Well all of a sudden I can't focus as close as I used to - 30cm is my limit now - or so well in dim light. I was trying to read my daughter a Dr Seuss book with small black text on a dark green ground at bedtime and I absolutely couldn't make it out. I think WFH might be a factor, my desk is against a wall so I have nowhere distant to rest my eyes on.

baldness otoh finally suits me

My eye doctor told me that once you hit your early 40s, reading glasses become far more appealing

most paper books have seriously ableist tiny letters even with reading glasses, thank fuck for kindles.

I thought that I might have some grey by now along with the dwindling follicles, not that it would bother me either way and would wear that look rather than reaching for the dye. Looking forward to adding the elder abuse card to my armoury/survival plan!

I lost thirty pounds between 41 and 42 and haven't looked back -- my appetite hasn't readjusted, including for spirits. One of advancing age's disadvantages -- the body's resistance to change -- I used to my advantage.

Alfred, that is inspiring. I was able to take my metabolism for granted until about 38 but over these past 2 pandemic years I've gained about 20 pounds, and I was already 10 over a weight that would feel healthy. Now at 40 I need to get my shit together and actually lose this weight that makes me feel gross way too much of the time.

i got through periods of being better at it but i just scarfed two handfuls of candy

― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, February 9, 2022 5:25 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

What was the country of origin?

I can't focus as close as I used to - 30cm is my limit now - or so well in dim light.

i think the reading in dim light/night vision issue is definitely a product of age ... for over a decade i have complained about those insanely bright LED headlights that newer cars have ... and now i'm thinking ... i would really benefit from having brighter headlights on my car so I can read residential neighborhood street signs at night.

xp Sweden!

I feel like I've aged 10 years in the last two years (just turned 47). It's partly covid, but I'm just generally slower: metabolically, mentally, physically. My left knee is now fucked enough that I can't entertain the idea of anything beyond swimming and walking and my eyes have gone from pretty much A1 to needing a double varifocal change in two years.

My "boy" is 16 this year and is nearly the same height as me and is lithe and supple. I've also noticed in recent photos that I'm essentially turning into my old man. I'm being existentially squeezed from both ends, ffs.

No question my metabolism slowed when I hit my mid thirties; I was once thin as a reed, then, without changing my diet much, watched myself bloat. I wasn't overweight but felt so.

Sometime in 2016-2017 I reduced portion sizes, cut carbs and starches, etc., and, well, it worked. When the pandemic began, I started walking. At my peak in 2020 I walked six miles -- too intense, too time-consuming. I hover at just below five miles daily now and am content.

I forgot to post here and bookmark when I joined the club four months ago. So... hello all! Not sure how much longer I'll be even a semi-regular poster on ILX. But I do hope to be one of those 40-somethings who remains an occasional lurker, and a still-present voice to those who keep up with a handful of beloved threads.

welcome!