At what age would you or did you start feeling old?

[Namechangedforthis25]

im 39 and in the space of 4 years and 2 pregnancies I’ve gone from someone agile and young looking/feeling to things hurting when I sit up too fast. when I tried to show my daughter a bridge, well my wrists were about to snap.

my weight is fine.

But I suddenly feel like my mind is decades younger than my body.

anyone out there feel physically young into their 40s/50s/60s etc

Know what you mean - I realised I have less lifespan ahead of me than behind me, and that was a bit of a jolt.

I’m 60. No aches and pains. I have noticed that running, which I took up again after a five-year break, is harder but I can lift higher weights than I could five years ago.

HRT was the game-changer for me.
I am fortunate in working part-time from home, though. It isn’t as physically tiring as commuting to full-time work.

Well, after reading through this thread, i think i'm doing pretty well!!

I have my children to thank for this i think. I have 5. The 5th was born when i was 40 and i also childminded other little ones til i was 47 (then i switched to school aged children only)

So - though i never went to exercise classes/gym/did any sports and have always been overweight with a bad diet, i think the very active nature of my job must have been what has kept me fit for so long.

It also makes sense as to why i am just starting to feel aches now at 57 - i have slowed down!

Though actually, the first sign of aging for me did come in my 40s - my night vision went so bad i no longer drive at night. That doesn't happen to most people but for me it did and it has been the worst thing to happen so far. Luckily, i work from home with my childminding.

I could see fine in the dark til i was about 42. But it declined rapidly throughout my 40s.

Once menopause had finished, so 42.

51, exercise 4-5 times a week plus 15-20k steps daily via dog walking. Very sociable, can still do a cartwheel!

Ok so my back might twinge a little but not so much that it bothers me. Still have regular periods and no peri symptoms at all - although I must be there.

The most annoying thing is that I now have the dubious pleasure of being very short sighted AND quite long-sighted too.

In the last year I'd say (49)
Periods have stopped 2 years ago so almost certainly menopause related
Joint aches and pains
Weight gain on stomach especially despite same food and exercise habits
Poor sleep
Poor temperature regulation
Wrinkles and greying hair are getting to a noticeable level
Can't pull an all nighter at work like I used to without it impacting me for a week

My DC are teens and DD off to uni and very independent so generally I have a feeling that it's their time now and not mine. Sort of handing on the baton. My mindset is all about how to save up for them rather than thinking of myself now. Giving them a good start is the only reason I still work

Started feeling creaky during lockdown aged 52 so took up daily yoga. No more creaky body. Feel and look better than I did ten years ago.

I'm 47 and I know this sounds silly but I always felt kind of old. I feel the same as i always did. I wasn't an energetic person when I was younger and had some health issues in my 20s that made me tire quickly. I spent most of my 30s in a sleep deprived achy fog. I admit I feel a bit better about myself because friends and DH complain they are lower on energy and tired and for once I feel like I'm on the same level as everyone else. I always felt a bit inadequate like I was struggling to catch up.

Please try HRT. It’s a gamechanger as other posters have said.

I'm 48 and honestly feel better than I did 20 years ago.

As I've got older I've really prioritized my health and fitness, eat better; live better, workout a lot more.

Ageing is a mindset. Professor rose anne Kenny has a lot of scientific research on this and she speaks regularly on podcasts about it.

For me at 50 I was still ‘slim, young’ and attractive but by 55 I looked and felt old. I had always been fit but started with a few health problems, put on a bit of weight and my face started to hollow out and sag.

I had a few tweaks for a while - Botox, filler and peels but realised nothing could halt the march of time, grieved a bit for the loss I felt and finally just accepted it as part of life.

Now I’m grateful to be alive and have survived longer than both Grandparents on Mums side, be reasonably healthy and ‘look ok for my age’. I am happier than ever.

Younger than most but 25/26. I was diagnosed with 4 chronic conditions though soon after so that explains that. I’m only 27, but my body is broken already 🙈 can’t imagine what I’ll feel like in 10 years!!!

Being completely honest I'm 35 and I feel old. Since having my baby a year ago my body aches all the time. I also have quite a few grey hairs already

It was mid to late thirties for me. At 32, I was super fit and could have easily hiked all day or done twenty minutes of pushups. At 38, I was a regular in the rheumatology department of the hospital and barely able to open a tin of tuna.

I think a lot is mindset and how you are physically, rather than a particular age.

Although working with Czech colleagues who were born after the fall of the Berlin Wall and are proper adults - that was a bit of a mental shock about a decade ago.

Im 50 and I feel both old and young at the same time.

My body is knackered and I'm in a lot of pain. My knees are fucked. i have wrinkles on my face, everything's sagging and I have old hands.

But my mind still thinks I'm 15. I feel like a kid playing grown ups and am half convinced that scooby doo and the gang will pull up outside my house, rip off my disguise and reveal me. 🤣

How old is old isn't a fixed number. You're old when you're old. You know it when you reach it.

Mid 70s.

My moment of realisation came yesterday when I pulled a muscle just opening a can of baked beans.

However I always try to avoid looking in mirrors so that the 20 year old who still lives in my head doesn't get too much of an unpleasant shock.

A few months ago, at 47. Went to my GP and was prescribed HRT and told the pain in my hip is osteoarthritis and I need a hip replacement. Made me feel ancient.....but HRT is working and I'm sure the new hip will give me a new lease on life!!!!

Yes and no.

It's anchoring bias for older people.

If you were able to buy a good quality top for £10 and a top of the same quality is £20 pre-COL and £25 post-COL, your mind still thinks £10 is the "right" price for that quality of top.

If you've experienced a longer period of inflation, the worse the effect is.

My FIL thinks my husband and I are paid vast sums. He's only guessing salaries, but also inflation means that he was actually on very similar at our age. So he makes snippy comments about affordability when he thinks we're rolling in it.

I've just turned 40.

Day to day, mostly fine, but if I do an unusual level of activity, or move around in a way I don't normally, then I feel it that evening/the next day.
I work with little kids, and do a lot of getting up and down from the floor. I think that helps a lot with my general mobility.

I'm hoping I'll be like my mum as I get older. She has osteoporosis bought on by total hysterectomy at 44, and no one even thought to tell her, and she never thought to ask, that she might need supplements as she got older. So she's got a weak back and a couple of dodgy joints, but she's fitter than I'll ever be. Always on the go, moving and exercising, hiking at least twice a week (year round), and swimming and line dancing weekly.

Early-mid 60s. Bounced back from a hip replacement, but suddenly can’t do quite as much or stay awake quite as late. Balance and flexibility are deteriorating even with exercise.

Mid 40’s, things really started to nosedive for me. Health & looks have both deteriorated massively. HRT has helped a bit.

39 for sure. I’m 41 now. Looking back it was start of perimenopause for me. Going to see gp next week hoping for hrt.

I'm in my 40s and don't feel old at all, no point wasting these years thinking I'm old and one day looking back thinking wtf.

Go for it. You'll know when you start feeling old so have plenty of fun while you're feeling good.