Hi Buds,

This weekend I pulled out all last year's spring/summer clothes (in hopes of nudging Ol' Man Winter outa here!). Went through everything, seeing what I still like and what's so worn out it should really be tossed...

I decided to try on some things, and stood before the mirror thinking what the hell has happened to my body? The sagging over my knees is horrible - varicose veins like a roadmap over both legs... my skin is all crepe-y looking on my arms, and even my chest!

I do light weight exercises every single day and have for years, and my little dog sees to it that I get two or three good brisk walks a day. I eat well, for the most part. For THIS???

I ended up bringing every single pair of shorts I own to Goodwill... From now on, it's capris (then I'll just see the bottoms of the road maps). I'm planning to buy a couple of long, lightweight sun-dresses for the hottest days.

And now... thinking about a BATHING SUIT?? I noticed last week that all the new swimsuits in the LL Bean catalog looked like they had a lot more coverage, attached little skirts, etc. Now I know why!

And I've so been looking forward to summer!

JJ

I'm 54, and I know what you mean about the thin skin. I am very fair, and you can just about see through my skin. While I don't have varicose veins, I do have those purple and red broken capillaries on my ankles and they are starting to appear elsewhere up my legs as well. I think the way we age has a lot to do with our genetics, especially the skin and veins.

But the things we can control are diet and exercise. Unfortunately, I have found that I need to do my weight training 4 times a week now, using heavier weights than before. I am also eating less calories, just to keep my weight stable, never mind losing any weight. Building muscle mass is the only way I keep my body from sagging and jiggling. But I agree that sometimes, it seems like a losing battle. I need to do more exercise more often, and for a longer time, just to keep what muscle I have now.

But you know, those long, soft cotton skirts are just as cool as shorts on a hot summer day.

A dermatologist can do a lot with varicose and spider veins, also loose skin. Why not check it out? Have to agree with Armadillo re: heavier weights and more frequent workouts. Trouble is, I don't seem to have the energy to do more right now. I feel like I'm swimming upstream as it is!

I just turned 54 as well. So far so good. But I've always been fitness oriented and have no plans to stop. My weight has been the same for 36 years. I'm petite in stature....only 5'3" so weight bearing exercise is very important. I'm sure genetics plays a large role as well.

Granted my rear isn't quite as high as it was when I was 18...and I'm sure my ta ta's are not as high either....but it's all still defying gravity for the most part.

JJ - after reading your post I just howled with laughter. Had you seen what I saw down in Mexico, believe me...you'd be looking in the mirror and saying - ain't look'n bad girl! I don't know what it is about mexico, but everyone...and I do mean everyone dresses like their 20. Men wear capri pants, ladies in their 70's wear short shorts and bikini's. I bought a ton of those just above the knee types while I was down there because they were so comfy...(I always buy at least a size bigger than I wear, because of IBS). So girl, believe me, I KNOW we are always our own worst critic...but save a pair or two of your old shorts just 'cuz'. Heck, you can always wear them at home...

YES!!! Swimming upstream is exactly how it feels for me, too!

And perhaps in a few years, if I ever live long enough, to pay off my debt from psychiatric bills and college tuition for 3 children, I will check out that dermatologist. Maybe I can tighten up loose skin, but I can't tighten up ugly! They haven't been too successful with face transplants!

All I have to say is....thank goodness for capris and bermuda shorts! And they are in style!!!

Oh, I hear you!! I haven't worn shorts in years. I hate my legs, they're heavy and always have been. Even when I was thinner years ago I still hated wearing shorts.

I'm all about the capris these days. When I turned 49 last year, I even got a tattoo on my calf so the capris will show it off! It was my birthday present to me and a tribute to my father, who passed away in July. I'm thinking about getting another one on the other leg for my 50th!

JJ, I hear ya! Thank god capris are still in style -- probably because of the huge population of baby boomers. I have varicose veins too and am relieved capris cover most of them up. I live in such a hot, humid climate, I do wear shorts at home... but if the doorbell rings, I hurry and change into a pair of capris! I just had enough of noticing people staring at my veins. Grrrr.... I don't look forward to summer -- but if I lived in a cool climate like the Pacific Northwest, I would. Ohhhh, to wear long pants all year round would be grand!

MrsB,

You go, girl! Are you saying what the tattoos are of???

Armadillo, you nut - face transplants!!!

Tay, I've heard that about Mexico, and also about Brazil - really elderly people in bikinis and Sportos! Heaven help us!

Coastergirl, don't get too comfortable! Last year I was 54, and things weren't like they are now... It's like in the past year, everything just went to hell - and I've been working out with weights for 20 years, and wear the same size I did at 25!

Thanks all for your comments - soooooooo glad to know I'm not alone. Thank God for you Sisters!

(((HUGS)))

JJ

PS:

Wow, Redfox, I love your Rumi quote! Beautiful...

(((HUGS)))

JJ

LOL! Nothing too terribly exotic! My dad loved gardening and all his flowers. When we cleaned out his house in August, there was just one flower left by the house. It was a very dark purple hollyhock, just hanging out there all by itself. I took a picture of it and brought it to my tattoo artist along with a picture of a hummingbird, which is my favorite. He put them together into a picture. I have my dad's initials in it too. I had come across a book he had when he was in the navy in the Korean war and he had doodled his initials in the front of the book. I thought they looked really cool so we put those in too.

I love it. It came out so pretty!

I think the next one is going to be of a chickadee sitting on a pine branch. Hubby and I are trying to think of one to do together. We're trying to come up with something to do with our kids but so far we're not having much luck!

Oh my goodness JJ......laughed out loud when I read this. I'm with you girlfriend. I don't think it matters how much you exercise or how much you cut back on your calorie intake. Without good old estrogen flowing through your body the elasticity goes to pot (literally). Genetics does have a role in it and exercise and diet do too but I have been post for 7 years now and my skin texture and my thick middle section have come on over the last 2 to 4 years. I'm exercising alot more now and it is helping but I truly don't think you can do anything about the texture of your skin.

Even my hair is different. It is much more coarse but I'm sure that is all the gray hair that I color so although I can change the color I sure can't change the "ONCE AGAIN TEXTURE" of the hair.

I must tell you though that my oldest daughter who is 36 is getting married in May. We are having a big wedding and it has been so much fun planning it. Sorry, got side tracked. Anyway her friends threw a big bridal shower for her on Saturday and all her friends (old and new) came. She has remained very close with a group of 8 girls that she has gone to school with since kindergarten. They were all there as well as their moms and looking at them I suddenly realized that we are ALL alike. Hair is a little thinner, a little coarser and of course more gray for those that don't color it, we are all fighting the thicker mid section, our skin texture is not as tight and the list goes on. But you know, if I closed my eyes when I talked to them it would be like it was 30 years ago taking our kids to kindergarten and laughing and sharing wonderful stories. Good old mother nature determines how the outside looks but we were still having a hoot of time on Saturday having a glass of wine, sharing stories and enjoying the moment.

Still wish I could fit into those shorts and have the skin and hair I did 30 years ago though!!

Gramz

I order some capris, never worn them before in my life but my legs or shall I say thighs are ugly!
Plus my upper arms, so will pass on sleeveless too!
3/4 sleeves are my new style!

JJ...Oh boy! I sure identify with the shorts thing. I am 63 years old and was really lucky in that I still had pretty good skin until I turned 60 and then boom! the little spider veins on the ankles, age spots on the legs, wrinkly knees,well, you know where this is going....It seemed like, overnight, I couldn't wear shorts anymore. Mine all went to the Goodwill too. Now I wear capris during the summer or long light weight sundresses. Bathing suit...hmmmmm, well I could wear a two piece until I turned 60...now, who knows what I will wear when my hubs and I go on vacation to see the kids and grandkids in San Diego. I still body surf so maybe a one piece speedo with a good sarong cover. I will go right down to the waters edge, throw my sarong off and run into the water....YIPES

Anyway, I know I was blessed with good genetics as my skin didn't take a turn until I turned 60. I agree with Armadillo about using heavier weights for the saggy flappy arms...since I stepped up my work out program, the sag is getting less altho it will never totally go away. And, the meno pot....well, Gramz is right about that one.....all the fat just settles in around the midsection after the hormones die off and even though I am still quite small weight wise, that little pot is kind of like an historical landmark....it's there for the duration

Thanks for starting this thread JJ!! I am glad we can talk about these changes with some humor

CG

As I watch my thighs sagging, dripping down to my knees to the tune of "McArthurs park is melting in the dark"

Thanks, JJ, I love it too. I have to give credit where credit is due... I ran across it from one of the ladies here... and if my wee witto meno brain thinks hard enough , I THINK I borrowed it from suzpaterson.

You girls are cracking me up here!!!! Some of the funniest "one liners" I ever heard.

I'm just counting on my genetic pool and my eating/fitness lifestyle. My mother is 79 and has a fab figure. She has always exercised too though and maintained a weight of 112 pounds her entire life...with the exception of 2 pregnancies that took her into the delivery room at 122 pounds.

She to this day has no vericose veins or spider veins or celllulite. Boy am I hoping I continue in those foot steps.

So, joliejacq....I sure hope things don't fall apart next year...as you said they might! LOL

LOL - this is funny thread.

I'm 45 and I have to say even at 45 things start rapidly declining. I am a fitness FANATIC and eat pretty good, nutritious food, take care of my skin, have little plastic surgery tweaks and I still feel like the snowball of age is closing in on me. I look at myself in the mirror and can see a dramatic shift in fat distribution in places I never had problems with. My stomach looks gross in spite of crunches, good food and TONS of cardio.

Forget the little plastic surgery tweaks, I need a complete overhaul!

Oh, dear, coastergirl - I so hope you got your mother's genetics!!! LUCKY THING!

I noticed that the Land's End catalog came today, and the cover has a model in a swimsuit and the headline: FLATTERING SOLUTIONS!



Looks like lots of us have body "problems" needing solutions! Obviously the baby boomers are STILL driving the markets.

BTW, I went to the fabric store today looking for a pattern for a long sundress. Do you believe patterns sell for $12 DOLLARS now?? Yikes!

(((HUGS)))

JJ

Yup, JJ, I too went looking for patterns recently and was blown away at the cost. Yipes I used to sew everything.

CG

I am happy to report I still have boxes of those old hippie skirts, most of which wrap 'round. Just the thing for an old, superannuated hippy chick....who's clearly become more 'hip' than chick. (no old crow jokes pleeeeease )

and the price of fabric! and its rubbish!!

Oh, I am going to COMPLETELY steal that line!!!

JJ

ok, but you owe me one!!!

LMAO!

I forgot how nice it was to hang out with people in my own age group who get my references. My mother just looks at me blankly and inquires as to whether or not I think I'm experiencing a senior's moment (nooooooo...but I might be on the point of spotting the cause of elder abuse...) And the kids look even more stupified.

I wonder if, for me, the change means going from slightly creative to eccentric or whether this altered state is a bi-product of not having slept for what? two years now?

It is a little scary tho, to think about our references being that time sensitive, don't you think?

Like when we little and our moms liked certain actresses like Rita Hayworth, and we had no idea who they were...

Now it's we who are old!

JJ

I think we should make a pact to become Mrs. Roper...remember her from Three's Company? She'd walk around in those flowing gowns acting like she was 20? Besides, there is good news about getting older, ya just have to look at it with a different approach. Like...well, come next winter, we can just let our beards grow like the guys do...

Tay, LOLOL!

Yep, won't be wearing shorts, and I'll be sure to comb my beard nicely.

JJ

Tay! well, if you can't have a laugh, what's the point?

JJ: I think God wants it like this. Every generation has time-unique stuff, as you pointed out, our parents admired actors who had little value to us, but coonversely, even as kids, parents didn't know who our icons were. Now we're the golden oldies, I have no idea who the earlier generation hold dear.

I just know, that it seems every generation has icons, and in particular, musical artists and styles with whom or which they deeply identify. And they always will. Now here's the thing. The parents of the young music lovers hate their teenagers' music. My parents hated rock and roll, and were absolutely apoplectic when music began to tie itself to pot and politics. I can't abide rap. I don't even know what the next generation does.

I figure God planned it this way. Around age 20 the kids have had enough of their parents telling them to turn down that rubbish music, resulting in the kids moving out. If that fails, the kids will drive the parents nuts to the point where the paremts chucking out the kids.

Then the kids are forced to get jobs and marry, and the world keeps kicking on.

Your theory aligns with mine, Duch.

I figure we go through menopause, become complicated, alternately weeping and raving banshees who don't want to take care of ANYONE BUT OURSELVES, effectively driving all those people we've been taking care of from the roost.

Do critters do this too? I do remember my momma cats getting increasingly fed up with their growing kittens' shenanigans, and cuffing them upside the head!

JJ

Interesting question.

With horses, in the wild, the young are kept with the parents until age three. The fillies are allowed to stay on with the herd as adults, but the young colts cum stallions are driven out of the herd. The batchelor boys join up as a herd, and spend a year or two together, play-fighting or practice fighting I suppose. About the age of 5, the boys are strong enough and skillful enough that they start raiding other herds for a mare or two to start their own harem.

I watch His Lordship with his daughters, and he's a loving playful and attentive father. Gone are the days when he believed his whole mission in life was to seek out and empty strange new lunch pails.

With the boys, he's a no-nonsense dad. I think it makes it easier later on, when they have to cut the boys from the herd, and it prepares the boys to be social with the ladies, plus gives them the rudiments of fighting.

As to the mares going through meno, they've got the system beat. Many mares never go through meno. The one mare that I had that did was an alpha, and they're the leader of the pack. Even the stud knows it. When she stopped cycling at age 34, a younger stronger one challenged her and took over being the alpha. I felt a little sorry for the old lass, but you know JJ, she adjusted quickly and seemed to enjoy her new role. It takes a lot of energy running the whole show and taking care of everyone and everything, 24/7.