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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think once I am 70, I will just eat what I want, when I want.

47 replies

Happymum22 · 30/06/2013 15:36

I am currently battling with my latest weight loss efforts! I am not large, just on the top end of my BMI and, having had a 'bingey' few months, am keen to get back into healthy routines and diets.

Was chatting to DD20 who said 'When I'm old and retired I'm just going to eat whatever I want, whenever I want and enjoy all the amazing food out there. By then I really won't care about the impacts on my body or being fat'

Thinking about it, this sounds a rather nice plan. Anyone agree?

OP posts:

exoticfruits · 30/06/2013 17:11

If you do live longer you might as well be as fit and healthy as possible. I intend to be still running, skiing, dancing etc if I get to that age.
I have got used to eating less and exercising more and feel so much better for it.

Scruffey · 30/06/2013 17:13

Have to warn you that my 71yo MIL is still obsessed with clothes and how big her bum looks in things . And she puts my FIL on a salad based diet if she thinks he's getting too porky!!

yamsareyammy · 30/06/2013 17:16

expat. I used to think about full nursing homes etc.
But when I looked up the figures once, it is only 1/7 or 1/10, I cant remember which, of people that end up in them.

propertyNIGHTmareBEFOREXMAS · 30/06/2013 17:25

I shagged a bloke who at 32 was looking forward to retirement and getting fat. Needless to say I dumped him.

LastTangoInDevonshire · 30/06/2013 17:30

No, OP, you won't. Because you might be 70 in age, but inside you are still 33. Believe me, I know

timidviper · 30/06/2013 17:34

Some of the latest evidence implies that the people who live to old age may be slightly larger in their younger years than we are told is healthy and slim down naturally as they age. See here

There are no guarantees however. My Dad was fit and healthy until he succumbed to a rare and unpredictable cancer at a relatively young age. If we all had an expiry date we'd be able to plan better but we can't and I would hate to spend my life dieting and being miserable only to die young anyway! I think the key is to enjoy your life as much as you can every day without prejudicing your future.

whiteandyellowiris · 30/06/2013 17:42

hi expatinscotland

personally I can't understand why people waste their lives planning what they are going to do when they retire
you might be dead by then
or virtually dead by way of not wanting to do anything ever
the most exciting food you may get is fortsip drink

thegreylady · 30/06/2013 17:43

I said that when I turned 60 and usually keep to it though I do feel obliged to diet occasionally.

maternitart · 30/06/2013 17:50

I eat what I want, when I want. Which involves quite a bit of cake, but loads of veg too. I guess I'm lucky to be slim.

GW297 · 30/06/2013 18:18

I know of a lady who is in her mid eighties and still wears anti wrinkle cream!

BikeRunSki · 30/06/2013 18:20

My mum decided to do this at 60, after a life of poor eating habits, yoyo dieting etc. She is now 70 and has Type 2 diabetes.

yamsareyammy · 30/06/2013 18:24

I have always been intrigued by your name BikeRunSki. Do you do that, and is that the reason, because of what you have just posted?
Dont answer if you dont want to, no problem.

marriedinwhiteagain · 30/06/2013 18:28

Yes I will eat exactly what I want when I want it and am hoping that might include smoked salmon sandwiches and champagne in bed on Christmas Day before strolling round to see the DC somewhere or another after they have had a big blow out lunch with all the trimmings. DH and I will also have calves lives gently sauteed with a little butter and sage with crispy spuds and curley kale (DC won't eat it). Mmmmmmm looking forward to having all the things we like and half the shopping and washing up.

SacreBlue · 30/06/2013 18:52

I do that now - not waiting til 70 cos i mightn't make it that far

I also don't have things kept 'for good' it I've bought something lovely I use it/wear it/eat it whenever, I don't want a cupboard full of gorgeous things that I don't get the benefit/enjoyment from.

aldiwhore · 30/06/2013 19:23

When I'm 70 I will still look after myself but my focus will be more on health and how I feel than weight and how I look.

If I reach 85, I will smoke dope all day and procrastinate fabulously.

70 has always seemed old, but my Mum will be 70 in a couple of years and is still busy (hate the word 'active') and needs to stay healthy for the energy required for all her social events.

hmc · 30/06/2013 19:33

I don't think that anyone has suggested that a healthy lifestyle guarantees a long healthy retirement - am failing to see what point you are making Expat, since the incontrovertible facts are that obesity and eating crap increases your risks of morbidity whilst healthy lifestyles decreases your risks. Nobody has suggested that it is a cast iron strategy however

TattyDevine · 30/06/2013 19:48

Life is short...do it now

Okay it might make your life shorter

Sod it. Lol.

apostropheuse · 30/06/2013 19:51

I believe in living for today, because tomorrow may never happen.

My maternal line seemed to have been blessed with living long lives. My great, great grandmother lived until she was 95, my great grandmother lived until she was 86, my grandmother until she was 86 and then to everyone's shock my mother died at 62.

My maternal ancestors were very poor and had a terrible diet, with no healthcare whatsoever. In fact my grandmother was the first generation that could read and write. (Bearing in mind they were born in Ireland in 1902, 1885 and 1860). They lived to these ripe old ages when others around them were dying in their forties and fifties.

I every intention of enjoying my life for now and what happens in the future will happen.

You're a long time dead.

Jan49 · 30/06/2013 19:51

I think it's an acceptable plan for when you're 85, unless you have an illness which is made worse by a particular diet. But a bad plan at 70 when you hope to have 10-15 years of being able to get out and about, because being massively overweight might stop you having the retirement you want. You might also find when your old you no longer desire those "forbidden" foods or they have unpleasant effects. Surely it's better just to have them occasionally now.

Jan49 · 30/06/2013 19:52

I did of course mean "when you're old" not "when your old".

yamsareyammy · 30/06/2013 19:59

apostropheuse. To me it is not so much about a shorter life.
It is more to do with the quality of life while living.

You say youre a long time dead.
I say you are a long time living if your health is not good.

aldiwhore · 30/06/2013 20:01

I think balance is the key.

Live, really LIVE but think that you maybe around for a while.

I watched my MIL die of cancer about a month after she should have had a retirement party and years of happy procrastination ahead. I am watching my FIL die a little bit every day thanks to Alzheimer's, yet, being a man who always denied himself the good things in life, and exercising regularly, he's destined to die very slowly.

I'm not saying that's a reason to actively harm yourself, but it's certainly a reason to savour every bloody moment you can.

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