[Cheryl14]

Hi All!

Thought that now we can S-P-R-E-A-D out within our whole forum, I would start a few new threads.

As a GOLDEN GIRL of 50 or 50+ what do you see as your biggest challenges?

Here's mine:

1) Saying no

2) Thinking about my own needs

3) varicose veins (spider veins AND those UGLY bulgy veins, too)

4) aches (osteoarthritis)

5) wrinkles (I swear I find new ones every day!)

6) my upper arms


Cheryl

[meowee]

Well . . . I think I'm older than the rest of you (64), so I may have a few things you haven't bumped into yet . . .

Have to agree with the Osteoarthritis aches and pains.

Then I definitely have to add my Type II Diabetes (partly age-related; mostly overweight-related).

Cataracts - although I'm now half-way through the surgery (left eye, fixed; right eye, next month).

Also agree about the wrinkles too. Every pound I lose seems to bring at least one more to the forefront - my double chins are turning into turkey wattles.

Receding gums and loosening of teeth . . . getting 'long in the tooth' really does have a basis in fact.

Sagging Skin in general . . . some of it weight-loss related, of course, but some of it just due to old age . . . you know -- the bustline that you can now belt in with your waist and the buttline that gets closer to the knees every year.

[Bobbolink]

As a GOLDEN GIRL of 50 or 50+ what do you see as your biggest challenges?

• Bad feet, plantar fascia, heel spurs and bunions on both feet. It makes standing in the kitchen, cleaning, etc. painful. It makes walking for exercise a no-no.
• Constant lower back pain, I have to be careful how I lift things or my lower back becomes inflamed and hurts like heck.
• The wrinkles are a given, I was just looking in the cosmetic section the other day for something to "fill in the cracks"
• On the plus side, I had a colonoscopy and I'm clean as a whistle! In more ways than one! I just got my bill yesterday in the mail, would you believe it was $1800?

[Gladdy]

I see a number of challenges for myself as a 50 plus woman, but one of them that irks me to no end is:

Not being noticed anymore...or the corollary, not having much credibility with younger people simply due to age. (It's like a woman should cease to exist after 50. What are you doing still hanging around, you old bag!)

[Dorie]

I don't mind being in my 50s - much, but it sure seems like I am getting rounder in the hip/tummy area and I don't like that at all. Especially since I got no but!!

I've just started taking really good care of myself and I have a fear that the weight won't come off. I guess time will tell.

I'm gonna like this place.

[murphmitch]

I don't mind the age thing. I know I'm wiser and more experienced than younger women I work with. But the physical part (joint pain, hot flashes, drier skin) is not much fun. Had hot flashes pretty bad and was put on an estrogen patch. Feel much better but now have started to gain a little weight since starting them (despite eating my WW flex plan and exercising). Taking glucosamine and chondroitin and my joints feel a lot better but still get twinges of pain. Am considering trying bio-identical hormones. Anyone else ever try them?

[ellabella]

Originally Posted by Cheryl14

Hi All!

Thought that now we can S-P-R-E-A-D out within our whole forum, I would start a few new threads.

As a GOLDEN GIRL of 50 or 50+ what do you see as your biggest challenges?

Here's mine:

1) Saying no

Yep. Hard. Not impossible, but VERY, VERY hard for me, too. Easier, actually, to say "no" when out with others or when someone ELSE offers something; MUCH, MUCH harder to say "no" to ME!

2) Thinking about my own needs

Yep. I haven't really thought of them for so many years (how DO you think about your own needs when you have kids?) and it's hard to get back in the habit fersure.

3) varicose veins (spider veins AND those UGLY bulgy veins, too)

Yep. Getting THOSE, too. Noticed a new little network of the lil' suckers up to the side of my left knee just a couple of days ago, in fact.

4) aches (osteoarthritis)

Yep. THAT, too.

5) wrinkles (I swear I find new ones every day!)

Me too.

6) my upper arms

Yessssss!!!!!!!!!! the #$%^%$#&*&^%$#$ upper ARMS. Dagnabbit, I hate 'em!!!

Cheryl

There are, of course, times when I'm awfully glad to be the age I am. I look at some of the young people these days, just starting out in life, and I can tell you that I wouldn't want to have to do it all over again.

And, while I've had some good conversations with some of them to be sure, some just seem so ignorant - and so pompous and confident in their ignorance - that I'm tempted to say, "Ooooohwee, baby! Have YOU ever got a rude awakening coming!"
I don't, of course. Life will teach them their lessons just like it taught me mine. It's too bad, though, isn't it, that wisdom seems to come accompanied by so many wrinkles, bulges, aches and pains?

One of MY biggest challenges is looking in the danged mirror! It's enough to send me running back to bed and pulling the covers up over my head, I tell you!

TTFN,

Ella