AIBU to think it’s ridiculous how much ‘extra stuff’ has been added to the average routine!

[TheGirlWhoLived]

So a decade ago I used to wipe off my make-up with a 3-in-1 wipe, pop on some cheap moisturiser and brush my teeth. That’s it, that was the extent of my night time routine.

Now I’m late 30’s and suddenly I brush, floss and use mouthwash. Apply a 7-step cleansing/toning/treatment/moisturising skincare plan, use bio oil and tightening creams, take various supplements (including biotin, turmeric, collagen, magnesium, apple cider vinegar, ashwaganda, cod liver oil, b12, k2, d3 ETC) - all before getting into bed.

This doesn’t even include the daytime additions of gut healthy seeds, low upf,7 fruit and veg, 10,000 steps, strength training, yoga for flexibility, fresh air, 30 different plants, kombucha, kefir and whatever else I’m meant to do to stave off illness, it’s exhausting!

Please tell me everyone’s routine has been embellished in the last decade or have I just been taken in by all this extra rubbish!?

Don't forget that you only hear the people who do do a thing talking about it. This makes you think that everyone is when actually most people aren't bothering, so aren't talking about it. Floss though; that's meant to be good for preventing heart attacks. And use an SPF.

@Bloozie "It does NOT feel bare minimum. I enjoy it all, but my own body and its future strength, flexibility and heart and bone health is a full time job."

you don't sound like you enjoy it

I agree that it's a full-time job if you look at it that way - less if you enjoy your exercise, but it really doesn't sound like you do

You say you are senior do you mind if I ask how Senior? If I look at senior members of the family, none of them have done this. Obviously, when they were younger, people weren't selling all of this. "get some exercise" is a good message, but I think some people are feeling very particular about it

Also depends how sedentary your normal life is

@TheGirlWhoLived YouTube bombard me with this as well I don't think you have to be on TikTok to see a lot of crap

That company you mentioned, I see their adverts all the time but I've never thought to look them upp

Interesting how many people believe we are peeing out supplements? I don't take many so I don't know. My worry would be that too many supplements would actually damage your body in terms of overloading your kidneys and stuff

it's interesting because I posted on here that I felt my usual workout was getting too much for me in my 50s

I didn't get many responses but there was a lot of "change your diet, you mustn't cut back on your exercise". I think if you're doing the same exercise in your 50s as you were in your 20s, that's great, but I'm not like that and it actually doesn't worry me that I feel the need to cut back in my 50s, I came to the conclusion that's what I needed to do - so I did it.

Older siblings have also scaled back their workouts

I think a lot of things are being sold as "don't get old"whereas the reality iswe're all going to do that

@minipiemy skincare is minimal and I have super problem skin - severe eczema where I have to take drugs to control it. The main side effect being spots. I found the more products I added the worse my skin got. Now I use rice-based Korean cleanser, toner and moisture and that’s it. Plus SPF.

Yes, but after trying them, if you don't look or feel better then why carry on?

And if you don't have good skin, it's unlikely anything will make your skin amazing. Some stuff will make it better, but some people are chasing an unachievable perfection and spending ££££ on it when the improvements are negligible.

@Huckleberries - I DO enjoy it, genuinely. The walking is with the dogs and that gives me pleasure, I am very sedentary during the day and work at a desk so find the pilates untangles me plus it's very mindful and I've made some good friends at one of the two classes I attend, and the weights... ok, I can't say that I enjoy the weights all that much, but they're worth it for the bone health and metabolic boost they give and I am enjoying seeing my shoulders emerge. It helps with my pilates and hill walking. I can rationalise it in lots of ways, and that gets me through.

I shaped my activity around things that I enjoy/don't absolutely hate. I don't go anywhere near the cardio machines at the gym because I've zero desire to jiggle about, have burning lungs and get sweaty. I avoid the jiggly burny classes that come with my gym membership like the plague. Doing the minimum of 150 minutes moderate cardio a week by fast walking really is the bare minimum I can do to keep heart and lungs in a respectable shape. My point is that getting the bare minimum of stuff in is a full time job, and it doesn't feel bare minimum. I feel like I do a lot - but I'm avoiding so much more other stuff other people do!

I'm not senior. I'm 47, so the only part of it I need today aside from general health is the calories that lifting weights allows me to eat (perimenopausal). But I am watching the old folk in my life deteriorate rapidly. My grandma is in her 90s, has never really exercised, and now her bones are like tissue paper and she can't stand up or walk any more because her muscles are gone. My mum has arthritis everywhere and doesn't have the muscle she needs to support her joints. It has suddenly hit me like a train that if I don't get into good habits now, I'll be like them when I am older.

@Bloozie good glad to hear you're actually okay with it

sorry to be negative, but I do think it's still unrealistic to expect to be well into your 90s

My cousin has had arthritis since she was young, so that's just bad luck

Grandparents - varying degrees of health but some were fitter and stronger and some weren't I did have one who was living a completely normal life in his 90s and another who was bedridden

I suppose we won't know what this generation will be like in their 90s until that time actually arrives but I think just being in your 90s is unusual never mind having strong bones and muscles. I don't actually know what Lifetime projection figures are like if you move forward from my age group though

YouTube gave me a clip of women in their 90s in Taiwan who are lifting heavy weights but I didn't click on it to see if it was an experiment or a test or something. It keeps wanting me to watch that so I suppose I'll get there eventually.

be warned if you're constantly looking up new exercises on YouTube, this is the content you'll get pushed at you 😂

Don’t do all of this. Cleanse, moisturise and waterpik and/or floss and brush my teeth and that’s it. I am not a dentist but my understanding is toothpaste has more fluoride than mouthwash so it’s better to not rinse and keep the fluoride from the toothpaste on your teeth rather than use mouthwash

It's not like I expect to be able to move well in my 90s. More - if I can't, I don't want it to be because I didn't give myself a half-decent chance, because when I become older and more infirm, it will be a million times harder/impossible to build baseline strength, bone density and fitness up from scratch. My grandma stopped moving during the pandemic, and now she can't start again. Her mind is pin-sharp, her physical health is otherwise excellent - she can't stand or walk, because she stopped standing and walking, and hadn't focused on her physical strength as an adult so has no reserves to draw upon.

A 2012 study found that your longevity and mobility is directly linked to whether you can you get up and down off the floor without using your hands - you're something like 5 times more likely to die within 6 years, if you score very low on the Sit to Rise Test. The better you are at it, the longer you will live an independent life. That's bare minimum for me - remaining independent for as long as I can.

I get served American women lifting heavy weights in their 90s and building bone density - the fitness algorithm is REAL.

This.

My DM is 76 and keeps getting these episodes of excruciating back pain that are now recurring less and less time since the previous time. She's been told its likely muscle degeneration, so I said she should look into a class, but she just seems to resign herself to having these episodes for the rest of her life. The only exercise she gets is walks a few times a week and don't think she's ever lifted a weight in her life.

There is so much around about avoiding UPF in food. Yet people are taking all these oral supplements like collagen where the jury is out about them being completely safe.

I know

ds is obsessed with fitness but eats such a rubbish diet

I posted on this earlier, and I see that I am in the minority.

I'm mid 60s and have always cared for my skin and use premium products. I am repeatedly told that I look late 50s. I at least serum, cleanse, and always always moisturise.

What is apparent now is that my siblings are significantly lined, as are many of my friends who haven't looked after their skin. Some of this may be down to sun damage, as we didn't have SPFs when I was a child. I mostly stayed out of the sun as my skin was very sensitive.

I was given a £100 gift voucher for John Lewis for Christmas. I spent it on skincare, and given all of the promotions and reduce christmas gift sets I got a years worth of serum, cleaners and top end moisturisers that will last me for a year.

I am not only saving face, but also have the enjoyment of blending beautiful products into my skin. It's a fabulous feeling and I continue to reap the benefits.

I note that there are many posters that don't want the hassle of keeping to a regime. It is my choice that I do, and it is gratifying.

I have to take medication (metformin and a statin) every day and that’s more than enough pills for me, so there are no vitamin tablets here. I once read taking vitamins can speed up the growth of cancerous lumps - I’m sure it’s not true, it’s definitely scare mongering - but that put me off them as well.
I brush my teeth and use interdental brushes morning and evening, wear a little bit of makeup every day and remove it with a gentle face wipe every night then I apply lashings of moisturiser before I go to bed.

You should also include slippery elm as well as a green smoothie for breakfast. Everyday including holidays, ideally 5-6 times per day, as if not, you’ll probably be dead in the next few years.

A 2012 study found that mobility is directly linked to whether you can you get up and down off the floor without using your hands - you're something like 5 times more likely to die within 6 years, if you score very low on the Sit to Rise Test. The better you are at it, the longer you will live an independent life.

There is no direct link. There is an association. These are vastly different metrics.

A 2012 study found that mobility is directly linked to whether you can you get up and down off the floor without using your hands - you're something like 5 times more likely to die within 6 years, if you score very low on the Sit to Rise Test. The better you are at it, the longer you will live an independent life.

There is no direct link. There is an association. These are vastly different metrics.

You’ve just been taken in by all that extra rubbish.

@Bloozie I understand, you want to do as much as you can

just thought some might be shocked when age hits

agree, the algorithm is real, full on and constantly showing me stuff i cant do like incredibly low pistol squats!

was it you who mentioned sit to stand test

thats not really valid, there are children who can't do that. It's more about getting up if you fall but that springing up from
the sides of your feet is not really a great test of that

That’s some very nutrient rich urine you’ll have!

Can I ask why you think it isn't a good test when there's studies sayings it's quite a strong correlation?

@TakeALookAtTheseSwatches I've just realised we might not be talking about the same thing

I'm talking about that thing where you sit cross legged on the floor and stand up

There was an actual test done wasn't there with seniors? That was based on standing up from a chair without using your hands. I can believe that that's an indicator of strength in an older person... or will flag up any frailty issues

We might be talking at cross purposes

The one from cross-legged on the floor is a very specific movement and honestly in my 50s I know some people who would have trouble sitting cross legged on the floor!

My mum is 95. She has never used anything but soap and a flannel on her face. Eats cake for breakfast. Loves life. Do what makes you feel good but don’t be a slave to it because: genes. It all makes fuck all difference.

Ooops! I made a significant typo, I am mistaken for late 40s, not 50s!. (but am mid 60s).

Also, I would be the size of a house if I ate cake for breakfast

And I would need some protein!

Seriously, has she always eaten cake for breakfast? I appreciate if I hit 95. I'll probably eat cake for breakfast. Because why not? But I definitely can't do it now.

Thread is full of sack cloth and ashes folk!