Question for the men over 45.

[JoBa]

The older you get, the more sense the word "Moderation" makes.

-John

[old grunt]

At 49 and doing a job I hate..I need to find some direction and soon. I'm grayer, have a MUCH lower bullshit tolerance and find alot of things that used to interest me no longer do. On a positive note I did save money on my car insurance by switching to GEICO.(LOL)

[kenlavine1]

The older you get, the more sense the word "Moderation" makes.

-John

This and a hobby or two.

[Para-327th]

At 49 and doing a job I hate..I need to find some direction and soon. I'm grayer, have a MUCH lower bullshit tolerance and find alot of things that used to interest me no longer do.

Finding myself in the same boat on both counts. I was hoping I'd mellow out more as I aged, doesn't seem to be happening.

[Eagle9294]

At 49 and doing a job I hate..I need to find some direction and soon. I'm grayer, have a MUCH lower bullshit tolerance and find alot of things that used to interest me no longer do. On a positive note I did save money on my car insurance by switching to GEICO.(LOL)

Some good responses. They're appreciated. I can relate with some of your issues. I tend to walk away and ignore most BS these days, and I no longer find enjoyment in alot of the things that I used to.

[Zimmy]

At 44,

The bad:

I'm fat and probably 75 pounds overwieght. Too much booze, stress, and eating out when working on the road. I'm guilty.
I'm bald. Just like all the other men in my family. Women over 25 seem much more interested in income and attention than my hairline.
I have arthritis like a bitch in my hands. Thai massages (these are not the "happy" kind), acupuncture, and chiropracty help a lot.
My back is disgustingly hairy. See Baldness. Thanks Grandpa Kee!
I can't seem to remember numbers or symbols for even 10 seconds without writing it down. Spelling also getting worse. Could be from drinking, shift work, old-timers....who knows?
I absolutely cannot stand uncalled for rude, lazy, stupid, or hateful behaviour that affects others. I guess I'm getting crabby because violence seems the right answer much more frequently than it used to. On the other side, if someone I didn't know well wanted to drink Drano I wouldn't stop them except maybe delay them long enough to verify that A) they knew it was stupid and B) to ask them why out of passing curiosity.


The good:

I'm stronger than I might have ever been due to a lifetime of hard physical work (see arthritis),
I have great amounts of endurance at steady paces (no sprinting or marathons).
I see the big picture better than ever. Tactically, and strategically
I stretch a lot and have avoided most of the injuries that plague guys as they get older.
My doctor is amazed that I am healthy but attributes it to the working, stretching, and a good diet.

My advice:

Stretch a lot, every day a couple of times a day. Don't wait until you are about to workout. Yoga is awesome but easy to quit because A) it seems gay, and B) it's embarrassingly hard to do when you start out and that makes you feel stupid.

Eat healthy stuff: Organic, veggies, fruit, fiber need to be added to your diet. Make junk food a treat instead of a staple part of your diet.

Exercise: You should, I don't. I'm too fucking tired from working hard while 75# overwieght. I know, excuses....excuses....excuses


Find something to think about. If your gears start slipping in your head, you don't make up lost ground well. Take a college course, find a hobby that is challenging, get a second job doing something mentally stimulating, read books and put what you read into practice. As you guys know, I am constantly blathering on about some shit or another that interested me and got researched that nobody else gives a fuck about.


Do everything you can to stay off presciption meds. Those fuckers will kill ya with the side effects.

Fuck more hot supermodels. It can't hurt and soon you'll be too old to die from most of the venereal diseases before something else gets you.

[zuluzerosix]

I am 44.

You will need to eat, shag, shoot and fight more often to maintain.

Carry on.

[zuluzerosix]

I'm fat and probably 75 pounds overwieght. Too much booze, stress, and eating out when working on the road. I'm guilty.
I'm bald.

My back is disgustingly hairy

Zimmy,


I know just the gal for you.....

Do everything you can to stay off presciption meds. Those fuckers will kill ya with the side effects.

You don't leave a man much to live for, do you?

[Kilted Heathen]

I'm 50.

I've seen every rank through E7 at least twice.

I subsist on a steady diet of hate and discontent.

I'm in physical pain daily which I simply view as atonement for past sins.

I'm in a unit that for NCODP conducts Krav Maga (4 hrs of that shit will put you on the fucking floor) and, most recently, a three hour cross-fit session.

I resist they urge to choke the piss out of government officials on a daily basis.

In the evolution of a Scotsmans' life cycle I'm tracking accordingly.

[Bell]

I'm 60 and worked 11 hours today digging ditches. I'm on my fourth beer and watching Hatfields and McCoys. I don't take medication for anything and I'm eating Doritos.

I don't think I'm the typical 60 year old guy.

[Mortarman11c]

V-I-A-G-R-I-A....even if you don't need it. Hell with a 4 hour hardon, you'll tell everybody!

[Gato Rojo]

Take a knee, Brothers, this will take a couple of words or more...

I turned 73 on the 10th of this month. I'm undergoing chemotherapy (2-1/2 hrs in the chair with an IV in my arm) every thurs for three weeks, then a week off (Confer with Oncologist on Chemo-thursday that week.) Rinse and repeat indefinitely. I still lift weights Mon, Wed and Fri.

On my last chat with the doc, he asked the usual, have there been any changes since the last time. I told him that I've noticed that I get exhausted very quickly at the gym. He almost fell down, laughing. He said that in over 20 years of practice, he'd never had a patient whom it would even occur to use the words "gym" and "Chemo" in the same paragraph!

The first time I was diagnosed with Cancer, in '09, I got the trifecta of Surgery, Chemo and Radiation. Because I was already Stage IV, they were very aggressive and the chemo used was at the very top of the chart in power, which also means at the top of the chart in the damage it leaves in its wake. You can trust me on this one; it cost me my sense of taste (supposed to return slowly, but take 5 years to do so) and probably 50% of my hearing. When I say that this was serious shit, I'm not exaggerating.

It was so serious that the doc informed me that he was going to put me in the hospital for the first 5 days, and 5 days for every subsequent application of the chemo (only three times, three weeks apart.)

I was the care giver for my 90 year-old maiden aunt at the time and simply could not take 5 days off and told him so. Needless to say, we had a serious chat about the subject, but in the end, he gave in because I simply was not going to go into the hospital and saddle my wife with caring for Bessie.

I quickly learned why he was so adamant, for the next 3 months I was so sick that most days, I couldn't keep more than a single bottle of Ensure in my stomach long enough to get any nutrition from it; and I lost 38 lbs.

Two things kept me alive during that period; pot, which was the only thing that would give me any relief whatsoever from the nausea; and the fact that I was in superb physical condition going into it, I was 192 of pretty solid muscle at about 13% body fat. I was constantly having people come up to me in the gym and ask me how old I was, and when I told them, having them remark that they couldn't believe that I was over 50!

So my message in this is, no matter what it takes, get your ass into the gym, or find another way to bring your body back to the shape you once were at your peak. The net is full of DIY sites to help you do that, but no single investment will pay you more dividends as you age than taking care of your body as if it was the most valuable thing you possess.

Because it is!

It probably won't make live any longer, but it will ensure that however long you live, you will enjoy it.

I watched my dad (a former Minnesota Golden Gloves Champ) go through hell for the last 20+ years of his life because he failed utterly to take care of his body; and it punished the living hell out of him for those 20+ years. My step-dad was the same way. Not for me. Statistically, nobody in my condition survives 5 years beyond diagnosis, so according to that, I'm outta here in something less than 4 more years. Ain't gonna happen (but if it does, meh, I've had the greatest life I could imagine and have no fear or regrets.)

Get your ass in shape, brother. Don't fuck around talking about, just do it.

One last thing (he pauses to allow the cheering to subside...) get a partner to work-out with. Very important. And pay attention to form, it's way more important than the amount of weight you use (but challenge yourself. And don't stretch until you have warmed-up the muscles you are going to stretch. Lots of injuries happen when you stretch cold.

[zanshin]

I was in good shape until about 35 and saddled with a desk job I kept for 17 years. A decent salary allowed me to go out and eat all the shit I shouldn't rather than watch my weight. Woke up on my 50th birthday as a fat fuck (225) doing windshield tourism as a hobby. Wife got into Weight Watchers at her job, and I piggybacked on that program and started walking. Got down to 165 doing nothing more than watching what I put in my mouth and walking... no gym, no exercise machines. In the end, I had a rucksack filled with 40lbs of weights and used hiking poles, and would go to the local city park track and knock out 30 minutes of aggressive fast-paced walking on my lunch break. On vacations, we started hiking instead of just driving through the areas we loved in the big mountains. One vacation in Canada, we knocked out over 50 miles on just day hikes in 7 days.

Every body is different. With age, your metabolism slows and you simply can't process the calories like you used to. So be conscious of what you put in your mouth, and keep moving instead of sitting in front of the TV with a beer every night. Do not wait until you're 50 or 55 to start being concerned about what shape you'll be in then like I was.

Be very careful of how you exercise because the human body at 40 doesn't repair as fast as it did when you were young, so little injuries can throw you for a loop. I had a damn inguinal hernia at 55, and it kicked my ass for a while -- still hurts like a bitch some days, and of course, my torn knee ligaments and cartilage keep me from doing ignernt shit like running. I've put some weight back on since my work is from home, sedentary, and too damn close to the fridge. I gotta get back to walking 5 miles or more a day, consume less calories, and get the belly back down. My goal now (at 60) is to get back to where I was at 53, so you got a long way to go before even starting to get old.

Finding myself in the same boat on both counts. I was hoping I'd mellow out more as I aged, doesn't seem to be happening.

It's why I won't get a CC license and carry a firearm all the time. Do not want to go to jail, and the way I react everytime I see some jackass throw up a finger on the road, I just know someone would get shot. Already got arrested once for felony menacing; not gonna happen again unless it's a "do or die" scenario.

[zanshin]

I'm fat and probably 75 pounds overwieght. ... I'm bald... My back is disgustingly hairy... I can't seem to remember numbers or symbols... I absolutely cannot stand... I'm getting crabby... I stretch a lot... I am healthy but I'm too fucking tired from working hard... I am constantly blathering on about some shit or another...

Fuck, every once in awhile, it just seems to me there are times it would be great to be gay...

[Zimmy]

We can be pen pals, but that's it.

You need to stay in Missouri. Try to focus on super models, not super millwrights.