To think it’s possible to stay fit and healthy into your 40s and 50s without ailments?

[ForGreatMintDreamer]

I’m 31, fit and healthy, and have always been active. I hope to stay this way after having children and well into old age. However, many people tell me it’s unrealistic and that it’s inevitable I’ll experience health issues as I get older. Some even say if I do remain fit, it’ll be down to genetics (for context, both my parents are in their mid-50s and are fit, active and healthy).

Is this really true? Or are there others here in their 40s, 50s, or older who have stayed very active, fit, and healthy despite what everyone says?

You are overconfident and tempting providence. Also there's an element of 'blaming' the sick. Somewhere deep in a body that is very healthy, there's a tiny cell that misfires or otherwise misbehaves. It could eventually cause cancer or some other disease that's already at work. It isn't anything you did wrong. Nobody knows why yet because if they did fully know why they would have fixed it by now.

I am not saying you shouldn't try to keep your health at the best it can be. But at the end of the day it's just chance. The person in my friendship group who was most serious about doing everything to the letter on health died far to young.

BMI is a range. For me, at the top end of the 'normal'/healthy BMI, I am definitely slightly overweight. At the bottom end, I am very slim. BMI is a very blunt instrument trying to capture an entire population of different ages, heights and builds in one chart. What is healthy at 20 is not going to be the same as at 60. Body composition and shape does change with age except in the most extreme of circumstances. So my view would be that a young adult should probably be at the bottom end of the range for their height. By later years, the top end is probably more realistic.

It's not a question of either genes or lifestyle. It's a mixture of both.

Absolutely possible unless you are unlucky. And crucial to keep moving - even things like Alzheimer’s are hugely less likely if you stay active. Risks for almost all cancers reduced by eating well and maintaining a sensible weight.

Life is so much more enjoyable when your body works optimally - I wish more people took better responsibility for looking after themselves.

both my parents are still working part time, cycling about + volunteering in their mid 70s

of course there are people who are unfortunate with unavoidable chronic conditions or who have accidents. But there are very few people for whom life isn’t better when they make good choices about looking after themselves.

Early 40s now - I don’t feel old. I have to stretch properly after a run. It takes a little longer to recover after ‘big’ workouts. I don’t need as many calories as I used to. But I don’t feel like I’m slowing down! In fact many of my friends are feeling really energised as they come out of the intense physical stage of child rearing and have a little bit of breathing room again!

BMI isn’t a great tool you are better off just using waist to height ratio to look at risk factors.

Yes of course it is - but some of it is luck
I’m now 60 and my health and mobility fell off a cliff 2-3 years ago
Im now under the ME, CFS, long covid teams, awaiting seeing neurologist and rheumatologist and feel like I’m 80
Thankfully it’s not affected my cognitive ability or made me depressed but I’m very unhappy that I still feel young but cannot do what I want to do!

For me, at the top end of the 'normal'/healthy BMI, I am definitely slightly overweight.

I see this because I'm the opposite. I'm a classic hourglass with back so I look very thin at the middle of normal. Because it's all boobs and arse weight. But my friend who's an apple, and carries everything around her waist, still looks bigger.

Hip-to-waist ratio is still a better indication of a lot of common health outcomes. I wish we used it more (obviously I would say that what with the big arse!).

I’m 49 and in general my friends/peers are fit and healthy. That’s not to say people haven’t struggled with health issues along the way including cancer but everyone remains active and relatively youthful. I will say that anecdotally the people who haven’t taken care of themselves over the years do appear to be “older” now - unable to walk long distances, complaining of various ailments that are more likely to be associated with much older people. I have plenty of older friends and coworkers who are health and active into their 60s and beyond. Mumsnet tends to have a lot of posters who struggle with health issues, maybe because they have turned to this board for support and I think that can skew the view of aging and scare younger posters. 40s isn’t old and you aren’t going to fall apart the minute you turn 40!

Great minds @TheLever

Ok so I'm 48 and extremely fit and active, however I'm also having treatment for breast cancer.
I've always exercised and eaten well, and the cancer is just bad luck I think. However I feel that had I not gone into this so healthy treatment would have been so much harder, I'm going though chemo now to prevent a recurrence and although it's tough I've been strong enough to cope so so far.

It's possible to be fit and active but once you get to your 50s a lot is out of your control. DH was running still at 55 but within a couple of years things went downhill.

I’m nearly 50 and in good health, fit and with good muscle mass.

I am rarely ill, even colds and coughs. I have never been admitted to hospital, never needed to go to A&E, never broken a bone. No long-term health conditions, no meds, except HRT and that is a choice.

I’ve been really lucky so far (I’m touching wood now!) But my parents were in great health until they weren’t- they died in their mid 60s- very unlucky.

But for me, keeping fit and well isn’t really about longevity, it’s about actually feeling well, here and now.

I teach fitness classes- a weights class and a yoga-style class. I have people in their 70s and 80s in some of my classes who are in excellent health.

@Drawfulofbitz What I mean is that life expectancy is calculated as an average, but due to some incredible medical advances, the number of people who die on the younger end will perhaps start to decrease when such treatments (like gene therapies) become the norm.

Just a thought, it may not translate into anything.

I think the overweight people live longer is confused with other factors.
overweight is not obese firstly they are not the same. Being overweight or obese does not prolong your life on its own as a factor

Slightly overweight may be better when you are much older for your health - we are talking when you are elderly, not when you are in your 40-60’s, because it has a lot lot more risk factors to be overweight during middle age. And I believe it’s the extreme end of very frail and skinny vs slightly overweight for elderly people. You have more risk factors being overweight, but you may live slightly longer with an illness if you are overweight as you are not already frail. I am not composing this very well but if you are elderly and frail and small you have less body fat to lose if you get unwell, you can hurt yourself more easily if you fall etc.

Men should aim to keep their waist below the known risk levels during middle age and women should focus on keeping their muscle mass and looking after their bone density

Life is so much more enjoyable when your body works optimally - I wish more people took better responsibility for looking after themselves.

@anxioussister Yes, it does drive me up the wall when someone doesn’t take care of themselves and you can see the medical problems looming. We have a family member like this, it drives me mad as she definitely has the time and money to look after herself properly… I’ll stop before I start ranting!

I think just being ill can make you lose weight particularly when you are older so having a bit more weight helps you not get too weak if that makes sense. Although I don’t believe that you are healthy at the top healthy BMI and being one or two pounds over suddenly makes you unhealthy.

Also not forgetting that anorexia is one of the most fatal MH conditions for young women especially, and being very underweight isn't great at any age.

I'm 65 and the only medication I take is Omeprazole for gastritis. I've had gallstones for around 20 years, but they cause few problems. I walk every day, don't eat as well as I should, but consider myself reasonably fit and healthy.

I've never been in hosptial, and the most serious illness I've had was pleurisy, verging on pneumonia, in my 30s. I usually have one cold a year.

No guarantees though. I know an 86 year old still completely in the pink.

@MrsTerryPratchett yes and unfortunately you can be left with a lot of issues related to bone density, low weight is not good for health outcomes. I do worry though that the obesity paradox has been twisted to something that people seem to think that being overweight has better health outcomes, when it doesn’t statistically. I also do not agree with the BMI as a measurement of someone’s weight it is not relevant for anyone who is fit as it has no differentiation between fat and muscle. You can be very lean body fat and it is not good for your health either. Being a few pounds overweight is not going to increase your risk factors very much but it depends where the fat is. If it’s stored on your legs it’s different set of risk factors to if it’s stored in your abdomen

Kay sera sera Op

What I've noticed is that the people who didn't give a thought to limitations (other than a sizeable number of 'it's all in your head', 'just lose weight', 'just take a magic vegetable juice and drink vinegar on a full moon and then run a marathon every other day' comments) are the ones who are absolutely stunned after 40 when something suddenly goes very, very wrong for them.

Part of this would be due to their diet, whether it was mostly takeaways, fizzy drinks and chocolate (but 'fine' because they weren't overweight) or restricting hugely without sufficient nutrition because slim was the only acceptable aesthetic and developing arteriosclerosis/ osteoporosis / T2 diabetes. Some never gave a thought to posture or biomechanics and wondered why after twenty years of wearing ballet pumps that their ankle or knee has given out, their bunions are agony, that lifting and twisting with their back has resulted in a horrible injury or that they've now got the most awful frozen shoulder and cervicogenic headaches due to slumping forward on desks with shit chairs. Others have actively rejected medical intervention 'because all you need is a bit of sun, vitamins are just a moneymaking scam' and found themselves at 45 with osteoporosis and/or skin cancer. And some have developed autoimmune diseases just because they were always going to, it was just a matter of time, not anything that could be prevented. They aren't taking any of this particularly well, so I don't want to think of how they'll react when things like hearing loss, macular degeneration, Parkinsons or other things begin to affect them.

Because of my conditions, I've had to be aware of nutrition, I've had to be aware of ergonomics and posture, I've had to be aware of the importance of footwear and orthotics to keep the kinetic chain functioning properly. And as such, whilst I have the conditions I always had, I haven't added anything particularly spectacular to the list since, other than some hearing loss (despite wearing filters, these things do just happen to some - and I don't think Covid helped much) and I just go between flare and remission as I've always done.

The relevance I think is that you don't assume it can't happen, so you make sure that you maintain core strength and flexibility, wear good shoes instead of pretty/cheap ones, make sure you get your vitamin D, folic acid, floss your teeth daily, get your eyes tested and take a calm but proactive approach where physical health and strength is maintained more than concentrating upon appearance.

In my 40s and also have never been admitted to hospital (except when giving birth), I’ve never broken anything. I moved to a new area a couple of years ago and have never met my new GP. I don’t think it’s that unusual as I know several people who never seem to suffer health issues. I do think good health is genetic in the same way a predisposition to alcoholism is.

I’m not super healthy but I go to the gym several times a week and try to watch what I eat (although my diet can be appalling at times). I have the trait for an inherited blood disorder as do my DC. It doesn’t impact us and would only be an issue for my DC if they met someone with the same trait and wanted to have kids.

My friends of my age who struggle with their health are a mix of really unlucky and a few who have never taken care of themselves. They have always eaten unhealthily and refused to do any exercise at all, e.g. they will drive to a shop a 5 minute walk away.

One is pre-Diabetic but refuses to accept it and says, without a trace of irony, that you only live once and she is going to continue with her unhealthy lifestyle rather than depriving herself of treats. The processed crap and sweet treats we eat are literally created for addiction though, so I don’t blame her at all.

Well I hope you’re not telling me I’m old because I certainly don’t feel it! Approaching 50 - exercise 5-6 times a week a mix of running and strength - doing a Hyrox soon and should get a respectable time. Ran my last marathon last year and planning another next year. I am very lucky I am never ill. I can’t remember the last sick day I had work. I’ve never had a hospital stay and have never taken anything other than paracetamol and a course of antibiotics a few times in my 20’s for urine infections. I don’t think that is due to my lifestyle though. I think it’s genetics. My mum is also never ill although my dad died young from cancer. I’m hoping the exercise will help with menopause though - so far no symptoms - most of my friends are on HRT already.

Late 50s here. Not on any medication and didn't take HRT. Stayed in hospital for a couple of nights when I had DS and one night when I needed minor surgery for an injury. No regular aches nor pains. Not particularly fit, as in don't do classes or run, but walk with friends, still working and love 8 hours sleep a night. I think a lot of luck involved.