When did you begin to really feel like you was ageing?

[Themadcatparade]

I have just been sifting through my hair for the twiney greys that have sprouted suddenly over the course of the last week. I found two in the same spot this afternoon.

I’m fairly young but this year has taken its toll on me. It’s like my body is catching up now but it has happened, somehow, all of a sudden.

Over the past year I now have noticeable bags under my eyes. I can’t seem to lose weight no matter what I do now. My knees hurt daily. My boobs are noticeably lower down the grid. The whites of my eyes aren’t white anymore, they look more red with a bluesh hue. They remind me of my dads.

I’m 31 years young. I know this is young. I know I have my life to live. But I just feel like ever since I turned 30 I’m just watching my body slowly give up before me and it’s happening all at once.

When did you start to truly notice the changes of age? I feel like I’m going out of my mind here but its very apparent.

Do you wear sun cream on your face op? Might help. I'm sure you look lovely though.

I’m 31 but I feel like the glow has just gone in the last 2 years; my body is fairly similar to how it was but I just don’t seem to have that kind of youthful glow that I think used to make me look more attractive. I also feel like having kids have aged me a lot!

@LimitIsUp

I remember my dad having quite a real chat to me about one of his mates passing away years ago. He said he’s just realised he’s at that age now where more and more of his classmates from school are passing away and it’s more common to go to a funeral
now than to a wedding. That really panged me because he’s such a spontaneous live for the now kind of person who embraces life and fun and doesn’t seem to worry about the future at all.

To the poster who said it’s the youngest they will ever be, thank you for the reminder. I guess I should be so grateful that I am alive and well, it’s just been a difficult year where I’m seeing most things through a grey (haired!) filter

To be honest at 30 I felt older than I do now at 40! As I had my son quite young (he is 20 this year) I now have a lot more time for myself. I have lost almost 20kg, weight train 5 x per week meaning I am in the best shape of my life, I've invested in a good bra and do chest exercises which have stopped my breasts drooping so much, I eat clean and drink lots of water so my skin has improved. My hair was quite thin and snapped off easily so I have a root touch up to cover the greys (have to do my own obviously at the min) and have had extensions fitted so it looks shiny and full.

If you can my tips are:
Increase daily steps
Drink tons of water
Slowly adapt your diet to eat more fruit and veg
Weight train (completely changes the shape of your body)
Grey hairs just need either allowing to come through and this really suits some people or regular root touch ups. I love my extensions but appreciate they are not for everyone.

Yup I’m 31 too and just had lots of blood tests done because I have so much wrong with me, but the results all came back fine. My joints are so painful 😭 I exercise everyday and eat well so I am doing what I can. That’s all you can do! I want another baby but feel so old so trying to get in better shape before hand but as you say no weight ever seems to come off.

@Gigia wow thank you for such a positive response this really makes me more hopeful!

I have a 100% plant based diet so fruit and veg are very staple for me, has been for years and we eat a lot of whole foods. At the minute I’ve cut down any juice or ‘pop’ for the month of March and I’ve been living off water and coffee so a lot better than it was.

I’m glad you are feeling really good in your body you sound like you put a lot of work in!

SPF I’m very paranoid about not wearing sunscreen (used to work in oncology so skin cancer is a fright for me!). My skin doesn’t look too wrinkled or unfresh it’s everything else really.
My certainly felt a massive change when I had my Lo(I was 21) but the way I’m feeling now I might as well just have had another baby

I won't feel old until I can no longer jog/jump/leap over rocks on a beach.

I'm early thirties, started getting grey hairs in my early twenties. I have a few lines on my forehead now. But they don't make me feel old, it's just normal for early thirties. I pull out the obvious greys on top, but in a few years I'll stop doing that too.

People do so much to themselves now that you forget what natural is! If everyone let their hair be natural, went out without makeup, and skipped the botox, you'd realise that a few wrinkles and greys are normal in your thirties if you're white or asian (if you're black I think it's normal to start greying in your forties). Staying fit and eating well definitely helps though.

I've been getting twingy knees and a grumpy elbow since I was about 22! I assume it's because I have used them a lot When my body stops working properly I'll feel old.

37-- i noticed my face had lost youthful volume.

I have extreme dark circles under eyes.
Very ageing. Doesn't seem to be a cure.
I'm also 31.

Mid 60’s when I was diagnosed with viral myocarditis and consequently severe heart failure 😢
Until then I was happily grey haired and able to do pretty much anything I wanted. Now it’s a very much restricted and slower life, and it’s not easy.

@YanTanTethera123 I’m sorry to hear that certainly puts it all in to perspective

I turned 40 last year and all of a sudden I feel like I've completely aged! I looked mostly the same through my 30s but the last year I look terrible.

There was a bit of a bad patch at 35 when I seemed to have a lot of little things wrong physically.

But really not till into my 50s. I really feel I've aged in the last year. people always used to be surprised by my age because I looked really young (I'm short and lucky genetically, nothing i actively did). But nobody has said that for a couple of years now so I'm guessing I've caught up 😂

Agree with a couple of pp that my 40s were better than my 30s. I looked better, felt better, was more confident snd had grown into myself.

Now gravity and menopause are working their evil ways on me 😂

Some of the things you describe, like hair thinning, sound unlikely to be related to ageing in your early 30s. I'd be looking for another cause tbh.

But to answer your question for me it hit around 44ish. My skin changed texture. My boobs were no longer quite as perky. Weight started to stick to my middle and be really hard to shift.

I've only started to feel old this year. Mostly because I've got aching joints but am seeing menopause specialist to get that sorted.

Also my friends' parents are all starting to get ill or die, mine are already dead. And I've just realised that I've lived most my life, had a bit of a tearful moment when I realised I will never meet my kids' grandchildren.

Hopefully I'll get to meet my own grandchildren, but who knows? My mum didn't.

When a couple of aunts die, that's it, I'm the oldest generation in my family. How weird is that?

Anyway I may realise I'm old, but I'm not acting it! Once my aches and pains are sorted and the kids are at uni, I'm selling the house and back packing around the world again.

Spending my kids inheritance ;)

I am getting more wanky with my likes and dislikes and couldn't care any less.

Now at 33

Aged 35 when I looked down and saw the backs of my hands were all vein-y like I remember my mother's being growing up! Admittedly, it only really shows while I'm bathing DS (who likes trying to scrub them off ), but I imagine it's going to get worse over time...