Critique my figure...pics included.

[PoosyCat]

Be honest...but not brutal, please! I've name changed for this and I'm a bit scared!

I'm 41, 5'11" and have always been a size 10/12. Just recently, over about the last year or so, I know I've put on weight. We don't have scales and I very rarely weigh myself, but I can tell just by looking at myself that I've put quite a bit on.

We're not long back from holiday, and when we got home, looking at photos of myself in bikinis, shorts and clingy dresses really upset me. I know I'm not huge, but in my head I thought I was a lot slimmer than the 'me' in the photos.

I've never done any proper exercise and I'm a bit lost about where to start. Going to a gym terrifies me. What sort of exercise would help with my 'love handles'? What else do you think I should be working on?

Also, what the hell should I be wearing day to day? I've always flung on skinny jeans or leggings as I thought I had good legs...but it seems like that was the old me. My good legs are hidden under the extra weight!

If Trinny and Susannah were still around, I'd be asking for their help! But please, lovely mumsnetters, help me to feel like the old me!

Well mazeltov to everybody who is in middle age and thinks they still have the body of a 20 or 30 year old.

Thanks for bringing a smile to my face fear.

fearandloathinginambridge

Very few women in their 20s and 30s have "ideal" bodies.

skin loses elasticity and so I guess some breast sagging is inevitable but it will depend on breast size which in turn is related to body fat levels.

at 50 I honestly dont find it any harder to keep a good level of muscle mass and low body fat than I did at 20 or 30, I dont have to train any harder

Suzanne I agree. Although I think a lot more of skin and tissue elasticity is lost due to obesity and yo-yo dieting than ageing.

I see women in their 20s at the gym who although have succeeded in losing a lot of weight have irreversibly changed their bodies. The skin never fits as well as it used to.

There are others I know in their 50s who have never been obese and are still taut. The only place my skin is a little soft is my abdomen due to pregnancy. Apart from that I have never weighed more than 9st 3lb, and mys skin is all firmly in place. My muscle mass is greater now in my 50s than it was in my 20s- I can certainly lift a great deal more weight than I could when I was younger.

Stomach Vacuuming

If you've always exercised eaten well and generally looked after yourself then there's no reason why you shouldn't be in as good shape at 40/50 as you were at 20/30.

If you've not taken care of yourself then there is probably going to be some metabolic and/or structural damage.

Your body reflects the life that you've had

My muscle mass is greater now in my 50s than it was in my 20s- I can certainly lift a great deal more weight than I could when I was younger

yy to this, imo strength training is vital for men and women

Nothing stealth about the boasting on this page

Lots of deluded women who think they're as hot as they were in their 20s
Very rarely true to the objectively critical eye!

who is claiming to be 'hot' verity?

I am just under 8 stone @ 5ft 2, I weigh the same as I did in my 20's and 30's I definitely have more muscle and so it follows that I have less fat

by my reckoning that means I've improved, body composition wise

Verity why so bitter?

Verity - I sort of agree with you.

Most of us are slim in our 20s - from 30 your metabolism slows down and you need to exercise/hit the gym.

I was between 7 and 8 and a half stone at 5 ft 4 in my 20s then 30s onwards it's gone to 9 and a half to 10 stone. I'm not a gym bunny and like my food so I've accepted this.

The people I do know who are slim in their 30s/40s work out a lot generally.

I'm 36, nearly 6 foot , blonde, size 8- 10 and run half marathons washbord stomach etc. and still get the attention of any hot young guy so no not bitter

But Im not going to say I am better or its just as easy looking like this now as it was when I was 21 because I'm not a liar, blind or deluded

Are you saying that you find it harder to stay in shape now at 36 than you did at 21 Verity?

For me exercise is just as hard or easy now as it was when I was 21, I eat more than I did when I was in my 20's and weigh the same, so staying in shape is just as easy, if not easier because I've had a couple of decades to experiment and find out what works best for me

I make no claims about being hot or getting the attention of men..I dont think anyone on this thread has, except for you Verity

I'm saying that the women who have said on this thread that they look the same as they did in their 20s now they were in their 40s/ 50s and didn't have to work harder at it in any way are deluded at best and fibbing at worst.
Your body will have changed that's simply a fact and you will not look the same in your 50s not have the exact same level of fitness as in your 20s. You need to work harder. This is not the same as saying after 40 give up why would it?
Someone accused me of being bitter at saying this suggesting I am somehow not happy with the way I look or my fitness- I am very happy with the way I look I am very lucky and I train relatively hard to stay this way although genetics always helps.

Verity it's true that maximum heart rate declines as we age so maximum aerobic capacity will decline, my maximum heart rate now at 50 is 190 ish which is plenty high enough for me to run.
(most of my running is done in the 150-160 zone)

I really dont find I have to work harder to get the same level of fitness.
Are you saying I am lying or am I an exception?

The potential for muscle strength stays good until you are 70 or so provided you keep training, or are you not taking strength into account?

How has my body changed exactly?
It seems the same to me, I dont have any aches and pains, all my organs and tissues work just as well as they used to

So by that are you saying Suzanne that you haven't changed your training since your 20s and you are now in your 50s and you find it no more difficult to stay in the exact body shape, presumably you've had children ? This in no way has affected your shape at all in any way , you didn't have to get back to a certainlevel of fitness after having them? You look the same ? Your skin and muscle tone is the same? Your knees , your hands your upper arms?
If this is the case You are not just exceptional you are miraculous !

2 children in my early 20's, never gained any extra fat while pregnant so nothing to lose after either birth.
My shape didnt change in any way after having children, why would it?

yes my hands look a bit older, but I have been strength training/body building consistently since my mid 20's and consequently am quite muscular, triceps are solid, as are biceps, quads, hamstrings, calves, abs and the various muscles in my back and chest.

I'm not miraculous, anyone who had done similar amounts of training consistently and avoided overeating/junk food would be able to be in the same or better shape from 20 to 50 and beyond

Posting just so I can see pictures.

My salutations Suzanne but after that last post yes I think you are lying if you say you haven't changed in any way body wise from 20 to 50 and haven't changed your exercise routine in any way.
I'm not just talkng weight but tone, skin, bounce , elasticity.
I day that as a naturally slim person size 8/10 5,11 with great muscle tone. I'm honest enough to say there have been natural changes to my body since birth, not all bad - bigger boobs etc and I need to do more and will do more to maintain fitness and generally looking good.
I think some older women are v touchy about their ages and fitness- "oh I look as good / I'm still as fit as I was when I was 21 after 5 kids there's no difference whatsoever " yeah right .. I'm sorry but that's simply not the case.

I guess you've no personal experience of the effects of strength training on a person's physique?
I don't train for 'tone'
I train for size and strength.

But if you refuse to believe me that's up to you, getting older doesn't have to be a one way ticket to lardarseville

also, what are these natural changes after having children?

I didn't get the impression suzanne meant she was the same as at 20 in terms of 'my face is in the first flush of youth and my breasts are as pert'. I read it as being in terms of muscle/ fat. Yes some peoples skin is more elastic, but if you've never gained or lost weight above normal small fluctuations, no reason skin would be looser at 40/50.

I think OP your figure is fine, but like me you have probably just 'spread' a bit as you've got older around the middle. No shame in that of course, but you could go to the gym to fine tune it if youcan be arsed. I personally can't be bothered.

yes I meant in terms of body composition and shape, my face absolutely doesn't look 20, my body does.

My partner is the same, 50, heavily muscled with no visible fat, neither of us have ever been over fat, both have always exercised, generally been very health conscious and avoided junk food.

we've all seen celebs who are in good shape at 40, 50 +