40's? From 40 to 49, what's changed?

[thinkingisharderthandoing]

So from approaching the 40's to approaching the 50's. How's that decade been?
I'm 45 this year......still feeling like I have a youngish streak, but realising I'm not so youngish as I may want to be.
It's a weird age.
How have you felt and dealt with it?

44 this year & since I was 40 my
Eyesight - the same.
Weight - 10 lbs lighter but still a stone overweight.
Aches / pains - increased a lot
Illnesses - the same ( once or twice a year)
Digestion - struggling
Alcohol- gave it up due to the after effects.
Grooming - much the same ( dry hair being my biggest hassle)
Periods - very heavy but no massive change in four years.
Anxiety - probably better since I started taking Vitamin D & B12.
Attitude- care much less what people think of me .
Mortality- hugely aware of it since a close member of my family has been diagnosed with a life limiting illness.
Ageing - has slowed down again after a surge aged 40.

I'm 47 soon and I feel pretty happy. I have wrinkles and a few extra pounds but I don't really care. The highlights deal with the greys.
I do think that going to university in 2017 really helped with my positive outlook on ageing but I realise how lucky I am to be able to go because its my first degree and I can just about afford it. I'm privileged.

49 next month and its been a decade of huge change for me. At 40 I was still reasonably fit, coloured and cut my hair every 6 weeks, had some close friends and was involved in a lot of village groups.
Now a long standing back problem has swept me along to the point Im now disabled, no more gym so weight gain is huge. Ive let my hair go naturally to the white it now is and to be honest I dont really give too much of a shit what people think of me anymore. Children are away at Uni and college but we upped and moved 100 miles away last summer to a house Id never even viewed so we could be closer to my eldest and our granddaughter. My dream career has slipped away now because of the disability but I love picking up DGD from school and having them round for meals, Im helping DD and her husband both work as Im on call and after the nasty village people turned mostly against me, I keep my head down but live in a much friendlier place.
Ive fallen out with some family members but it all boils down to what I said ear;lier; I just dont give a shit. My kids are happy and by and large so am I. Need to do something about my relationship but havent got the energy just yet.
Im learning to accept that Im old. I think thats the key thing

I've always been fat and ugly so no change there! But at 47 I'm constantly hot, even at the moment. And I saw my aged wrinkled hands on the steering wheel this morning and nearly cried! I'm not doing bad for wrinkles, being fat and all, so my old lady hands were a bit of a shock.

Fatter and deafer. Eyesight deteriorating but at least I don’t notice the wrinkles / dusty house.

A couple of very close old friends have had serious health scares, which puts my nonsense into perspective 💔

I'm 50 in 10 weeks [eeek!] At 40 I had just gone back to work after mat leave. In the intervening years the baby is 10 1/2 and a joy. I have a good marriage to a lovely man. Could do with losing 1/2 a stone or so, definitely should be fitter. I have great friends, a job I mostly love and fairly comfortable lifestyle.
No menopause symptoms apart from crap sleep but that started from stress from my previous job. Have barely had a period since I got pregnant (ebf, minipill and mirena)
Yes I'm a bit grey, definitely tired looking and a bit more lined than I would like to be, but it ain't all bad 😀

50 with four DCs. My youngest is 5 I remarried at 41.

I've been losing and gaining the same stone and a half for the last 30 years - no change there.
Periods still regular as clockwork.
No probs sleeping.
Bit achey round the knees but, again that's been going on since my 20s.
Eyesight has gone to shit in the last 10 years.
Hands are looking a bit old.
My neck is a bit crepy (sp?) and my upper chest is a little bit red all the time (which i've fought against for ages using SPF all the time).
My face - however - has stayed miraculously wrinkle free seriously it's almost weird.

47 soon. Fatter than I was at 40 but that's partly through no longer caring rather than anything physiological - I just eat what I like. Much greyer, I quite like it. Have had a few bizarre knee pains that seem to come and go but otherwise apart from being slightly overweight and having IBS (had that all my adult life so not an ageing thing) I can't complain. Eyes still good, bit deaf though! I definitely feel that grey women are invisible but I quite like that; it's liberating. I feel quite wise, in that my instincts usually prove to be sound, so I am much more confident about saying what I think. I actually like having teenagers, which is a bit of a surprise. They're still my babies but they are so much more interesting and we have really good chats. Relationship is dead in the water but then it was when I was 40, really.

Oh and still having periods but they are much closer together. Last night on the coldest night of the year I was boiling hot. And like many other posters I LOVE my bed (but only when alone in it!).

I'm 44 in April and not accepted it yet, it looks so strange even typing it on here, how can I be nearly 44? I feel the same inside as I did in my 20's.

Physically though I seem to be ageing quickly, in the past couple of years I've developed crows feet and a little bag under one eye that looks awful, my face takes a good couple of hours longer than the rest of my body to wake up in the morning and I have the 'Just woken up' look until lunchtime.
I also find it harder to apply makeup because it doesn't look right any more.

I'm enjoying my 40's though because I have an almost 4 and 6 year old so I'm having great fun doing new things and going new places with them and also have more friends than I've ever had in my life that our meet through the kids.

Overall I'm grateful to be 43 as I've known a few people die young and they'd have loved the opportunity to be 43.

Loving this.

I think A LOT about my age. Will be turning 50 in a few weeks. At work it is A Secret (oldest in office by at least 10 years). Looking back I think I hit my peak at 45. Lost a bit of weight, looked ok. In hindsight it's gone downhill and I do think I am starting to look old.

I agree with others, don't get so wound up by things. One thing I do not like is a number of my pals are SO dull - loads have given up alcohol. Do not do much. Getting set in their ways. (Hence why I enjoy the energy of my younger colleagues).

I suppose there's nothing we can do about it so I am not going to dwell (other than on the amount I spend on any number of creams, potions & make up) - I have a rough 10 year plan to see me to 60 ... get the kids through school & onto their new lives, pay off mortgage and move to a place we love. Live a bit more simply. If it's dull, move back!!

46 going on 47 here and wondering how that is even possible!

I'm 3 stone lighter than when I was 40 though still 3 stone overweight. Awful anxiety and panic attacks which have impacted quite substantially on my life, they started at 41 out of nowhere. Cancer at 43 which fortunately wasn't a massive treatment program but still was traumatic and I could really do without the check ups and scans. And my marriage is in freefall if I'm honest.

On the upside while my vision in low light struggles a bit, I don't need glasses yet, my hearing is good and I've got loads of non grey hair still. My face is starting to slide a bit but again isn't too bad for my age - advantages of greasy skin.

So overall my 40s hasn't been amazing but it could have been much worse.

Interesting thread. I’ll be 46 in a few months. Placemarking to come back later.

I'm 44, I spent the year between 42-43 constantly rubbing my phone on my clothes thinking the screen was dirty....nope, took me a year before i twigged my phone was perfectly fine but my eyes were fooked. But quite like my funky reading glasses!

I fully intend on growing old-er disgracefully! The best thing about getting older is not giving a tiny rats arse what anyone thinks about me anymore, its so liberating!

Shortsaint , I love a wee drink myself but you’ll find that a lot of us in our 40’s lose the tolerance for alcohol. I used to be able to drink pints with the young lads at work and match them drink for drink, now I’d spent the day in bed if I tried. I’m happy to have a few sociable drinks now and not get hammered as the hangovers are too brutal.

One thing I’d like is some like minded and aged friends to come to concerts and events with. DS is 20 and we share similar music tastes. We’ve done quite a few gigs together ( I pay obviously 😂) but I can’t tag along with him all the time. Still love to dance too, but rarely get chance these days.

Interesting thread. 45 here and still in total denial. Reading this in a "oh this will be me in the future" type way. Er no, this is me now! 😟 Eyesight starting to get worse.. have always been very short sighted but now I'm struggling to thread a needle or read the small print. My face isn't too bad, but definitely look my age.. would always have looked younger. The weight gain is the biggest thing.. I lost 3 stone a few years ago (baby weight that took ages to shift) and maintained until a year ago. Now it's piling back on and I can't seem to halt it. I have no waist anymore. On the plus side, there's no sign of menopause yet and sex is good. I'm generally happy with my lot and care much less about what other people think. I also totally get wanting to do all the things but being just too damned tired. And I miss dancing.

45. My sex drive has vanished. It is sad and makes me feel.old. My periods come every 2 weeks but the bleed is fewer days. My anxiety is crippling I'd love to feel hope and excitement instead of my default fear and apprehension. White eyebrow hairs, in fact I have to pencil the eyebrows in. As my brows were beautiful, this is hard to take. My hair has darkened and home dyes are more unpredictable. Eyesight has always been shit, but now I have to remove my glasses to read books, labels etc..saddo. My glasses cost a fortune so I'm not adding a bifocals prescription to the mix! Sore knees. Feel tired. Crappy hair. Teeth ache sometimes Need lots of hot bubble baths Barrel belly but not mentally right enough to sort it. Job is not stable and I'm punching above my weight. I've never had a career no idea what I'd study. Dd is 12 so that's good.

A few fucks were still given at 40, definitely all used up now!

I gained a stone out of nowhere over 2-3 months just before by 45th birthday this year. Realised I could do no more than I was already doing with my diet, so started doing 20-30 mins fast walking every day and have lost 4 pounds in 3 weeks. So it's coming off v v slowly, so Wright is definitely harder to keep off now! Also, my body shape has changed and my hips have got wider and I'm not happy about that. Face and hair are ok though,good genes I think.

Weight not wright!

Oh facial hair, i forgot about that! Upper lip, chin and neck grrrrrr

This thread is making me cry. Just turned 48. Where did it go? Can hardly sit on a sofa any more as too uncomfortable on my back. Utterly droopy boobs, thinning hair which needs the roots doing every 5 weeks, can't bear certain noises, certain music or radio stations wittering on about inanity. Intolerant, about 4 stone overweight and in bed by 9.30!

I don’t mind getting older numerically.
I just don’t want to look old.
I have a demanding job, but I exercise five to six days a week, because I know that it would affect my self esteem if I put on lots of weight.
For me the hardest thing about being in your forties is that fact that older relatives are dying. I lost several relatives last year and that has been awful.
A good friend of mine died last year at the age of 44 , leaving behind five children. So to be honest, I am just grateful to be alive .

My mum has always moaned that my sofa back is too low my picnic bench should have a back etc.. now my back is hurting at 44 I cannot admit it and have her telling me I told you so

I'm approaching 48.
I'm with you all on the tiredness,sometimes it's all consuming & I can't be bothered to do anything,but I'm a carer for my nearly teenage severely disabled dd & I think over 10 years of that is wearing me out too.
I'm menopausal,with all the crap that comes along with that. But I am taking hrt,which is helping,apart from my libido,which is dead as a dodo & that is making me feel like a crochety old hag.
Onwards & upwards eh?! Maybe my 50's will improve!