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For me, it is trying to stand back up from a squatting position. This physical movement seem to appear rather quickly. I have to have the cat litter boxes right next to a waist high cabinet so I can push myself up. So weird, as I used to be a gym rat for decades until I had to stop to help out my parents.

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I actually had an employee at Kohl's, tell me where the clothes I may want , are probably on the other side of the store. I was in the teen section.

That was very insulting. sometime the pants in the younger section fit me better, sometimes,.

Golden that was great! I do admit I am not small chested and sometimes at 60 I still like to show the girl of a little. 😆

Not that I want to be large, but if I got them I might as well. 😂

I actually do quite a bit of clothes shopping at BJs , everyday tees and warm things.
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Golden, I am with you!

I bought a flowery pj set & I plan to wear the top as a top out to dinner tomorrow night. It has puffed sleeves with a frilly neckline. With some black elastic waist pants (I have several now) 😂. Add some jangly earrings.. Voila!

The ladies of this town (on a mini-break) have been spotted with pink hair, extreme green cardi, big earrings, super bright eyewear, campingwear, farmwear, everything. Love it.
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I guess you are right Golden. I've always been too self conscious.
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I guess I don't get the problem. Wear what feels good and looks good to you. Don't knock others or yourself down.

If you want to wear printed blouses and elastic waist pants - go for it,

If you want to be an Iris Apfel and wear tons of jewellery and bright colours - go for it.

If you want to wear jeans and t-shirts - go for it.

I've had cowboy boots for years - not because they were in style, but because they were useful and looked ok. Still do.

I don't care about what age you are. Wear what you want to wear. That may change as you get older. It's what you are comfortable in, in terms of how your look and how you feel. I don't care what the fashion mags say. or what is the latest fad. If you live long enough, they come around again anyway.
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funkygrandma59 Sep 24, 2024
AMEN Golden! My thoughts exactly.
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We need to dress like the TV show character "Elsbeth", minus all the tote bags she carries around with her. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwRIsL6r6lc
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Evamar Sep 23, 2024
Awful!
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Geez, I’m still wearing jeans, band and cartoon tees, flannels, hoodies and overalls. With high top sneakers. Same stuff I wore in high school. Only size 18 instead of size 4. 😭
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The judgement about what is age appropriate to wear.

I'm currently in a US western state. I met a woman in her 70's who lived and worked on a remote cattle ranch for 40 years. I was at her house and she has a nice pair of leather boots on display. I asked about the cowgirl boots. She said she bought them at auction and would like to wear them but she only sees the young girls in sundresses wearing the cowgirl boots. She did not feel like it would be age appropriate to wear the boots.

It mad me sad that a woman who had owned and worked on a cattle ranch for 40 years did not feel like she could wear cowgirl boots due to her age.

We are in a western town by the way.
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Anabanana Sep 23, 2024
Crazy! Life’s too short. She should wear the boots!
I have fun knit animal hats and have been twice informed that they were age inappropriate - meant for children. “My inner child’s head was cold.”

You know what I’m too old to wear?!? The fashion opinions of others! (And those funny one piece coverall pyjamas. Can’t get them off fast enough. 🚽)
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Moody, I get it when you say getting sick really throws you for a loop now. I find whenever I get sick I feel 100 times worse and it takes much longer to recover.

Plus it's true when people say they feel invisible. It's like once you hit a certain age you aren't considered important enough to even be acknowledged anymore. Maybe that's why some people get louder when they age. That and hearing problems.

I hear Tynagh about finding appropriate clothes. I can still fit into young styles but I never want to be that woman in her sixties who is wearing tight fitting sweat pants that say juicy on the bum. Where are the clothes for those of us who aren't quite ready to just wear printed blouses and elastic waist bands every day?
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Anxietynacy Sep 23, 2024
Gershun, I like Kohl's
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The amount of food I have started to wear
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freqflyer Sep 23, 2024
kellse, same here. Like, what's up with that?
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At age 63 I've outlived 3 friends.
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If I'm sick for a day or two, it feels like I've been down for a week! Huffing and puffing as I go up to the 2nd floor of my house. What the heck?

I NEVER do that, until after I've been sick!

I'm only 60, and I go to the gym 5 days a week! What's it going to be like when I'm 80? Gaaaah!
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"I just go for clean and not frightening."

🤣🤣🤣
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The sudden lack of balance is astounding. I was never coordinated but this is a whole new level of being uncoordinated. And the droopy face, though I'm not wrinkly, my face looks like it sort of melted. And the weight gain...I never dreamed I would be so large. I have no idea what to dress in anymore. I used to have certain styles that looked nice on me, but now nothing looks particularly nice. I just go for clean and not frightening. And I'm just generally achy and nearly always sad.
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So I was reading today that I'm not imagining that my teeth are more cooked than they used to be, apparently it's not uncommon that bone loss in aging can cause teeth to shift.
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MargaretMcKen Sep 23, 2024
I hope 'crooked' not 'cooked'! And yes, mine are too!
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For me, it was a sudden problem (balance etc) not obviously related to ageing, but clearly much more common as bits of the body wear out.

I’ve just been reading Oliver Sacks last book (Rivers of Consciousness), which has made me realise (all over again) how people of all ages have huge problems that they didn’t expect – tourettes etc sound just awful. It’s more common as you age, and there is less to gain than ‘curing’ someone younger. How do we cope with dignity as we age?
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Anxietynacy Sep 18, 2024
That's a good way to look at it Margaret, people of all ages can sit around feeling sorry for themselves, for there issues mental, physical, or Nero divergent, but it's how you deal with them.
I'm going to look up that book today.
My son has tourets, my other is Asperger's, me dyslexic, I wondered if there all related.
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Same for me. The loss of muscle strength and stability walking
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Another thing that surprised me was how the grown children now view us (we both are now 78). Well, both hubby and I each have a 28 year old Jeep Grands that we both love, and bought as used vehicles. The kids keep insisting on taking us to a new car showroom to buy a new car. Stop it !!


There is no way we want anything to do with the vehicles they make today. Way too much distraction inside. In our old vehicles we know where every button is blindfolded.


We don't need a car to talk, beep, or sound an alarm... we don't need to answer a cellphone via that screen... we don't need a backup camera...


we don't need google map because I know how to read a map.... and what happened to the gear shift??? sorry but turning a dial just doesn't cut it. Plus I don't want to dig out my reading glasses just to go from "park" to "drive".


Our old Jeeps are great climbers, we don't need to shovel our driveway (not easy at our age) as they can climb over what the street snow plow puts in front of our driveway. We don't need to worry about door dents in parking lot as we probably couldn't find a new dent from the old ones. Yes, the paint is peeling off the roof of one Jeep, but heck, easier to find in a parking lot :)
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cwillie Sep 2, 2024
I fell the same way. My corolla is an'09 and although I'd kind of like to upgrade I don't want most of the bells and whistles that come with newer cars, I'm hoping if I wait a few years the pushback against some of the more ridiculous options will result in some better designs.
(side note - why do they call them options when they're not optional?)
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Brandee again--

I learned eating the low inflammation diet really eliminated my aches and pains.

It takes a bit more cooking and planning but my results have been dramatic.
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Sometimes our restrictions are in our mind.

I'm currently in Montana. It is unbelievable who active seniors are here. People in their 70's and older mountain bike, ski, hike, walk.

I'm only 63 but people 20 years older than me are more fit. I was invited by a group of women to go kayaking. Most of them are close to 80.

We watched a bike race. There were a lot of finishers in their 70's who finished the 90 mile course or the 50 mile course. The course was high elevation riding on dirt/gravel trails.

It was inspirational.

I'm working on upping my game.
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Having to fear another infection. Until this year I never worried about it but now have been hit by them.
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Mine was how quickly things can change. How vulnerable our bodies are to something going wrong. I went to bed fine on Sunday March 3 this year, and woke unable to balance on Monday morning March 4. It still hasn’t come right, doctors can’t work out why. “Planning” now seems a lot trickier.
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KaciNC Sep 2, 2024
I had something similar and the doctors did heart test, etc. When my general doctor was talking about not knowing what to do, she ask me if she could try something... She quickly lowered the back of the table I was laying on , the said 'Yup!' Turns out it was benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Apparently, this is common. I just have to do an exercize where I lay down, etc. to replace the crystal that moved into the wrong area.
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I think the rather sudden change in body - always slim and suddenly it became an issue to lose weight and the impact on my self esteem. It takes work and monitoring bad habits - that cup of tea with biscuits - the sweet things. Also running for a bus found i was running but my body actually kind of wasnt - well - not with my mind anyway. Again - look at the stars. Those that look great actually take time to eat healthy and daily exercise. It can be reversed - just takes a bit longer so if anyone does have image and general aches and old age pains a little daily stretch - little thought into eating a bit more veg and maybe plant protein and before you know if you;ll be back to more or less your old self...or at least feel a bit better :-)
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As a younger person, I was quite extroverted. I loved to be around people. In my career, I always applied for offices in schools, hospitals, etc. As I have grown older, I find that I am becoming an introvert. Where I never wanted to stay home, I now love to be at home and rarely go out anywhere.
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KaciNC Sep 2, 2024
Same with my hubby and I.
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I can't believe how quickly "getting older " happens. Not that it's a normal part of aging, but for me, first it's Kidney issues and now some kind of flu-like illness that happens almost once a week or so.
At the same time I am taking care of my husband who has been diagnosed with Parkinsons disease and after reading these posts, he seems to have been diagnosed as a person with this disease quite advanced. He had no symptoms that I noticed, then he was diagnosed and he quickly went downhill.
I guess that is a "novel " of an answer but I got carried away..
By the way, I found that one good thing about getting older is that you can do stupid stuff and blame it on your age. Carol Marie
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After 18-months of Covid, I wanted to get out of the hell hospital I was placed in. I was walking with a cane before the illness and it is still a part of my everyday living. But, after all the physical therapy, I thought I would or could get physically stronger but it hasn't happened yet.
Also, most people assume that seniors can't ask for what they want and they need to be coddled. There's a big difference between helping and trying to take over a senior's life.
All seniors do not need caretakers. If I become physically unable to take care of myself, then I'll get a caretaker.
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cover9339 Apr 25, 2024
Well said!!
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Speaking of squats as the OP did - I was surprised that I could learn to do squats on my 80s and am still doing them at 86, I don't do many but I try to do a few each day, as I do other exercises.

Just because you are older it doesn't mean you can't learn something new.
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Employees in doctors’ offices, stores, and other places assuming that I don’t know how to use a computer. I bought my first computer in 1981 and taught myself how to use it. Computers have been a big part of my working life since then. I’ve used several versions of PC, various Macs, laptops, desktops, tablets and e-readers. Yet I still get the eye roll from snippy young know-it-alls who weren’t even born when I set up my very first computer (all by myself with no technical support).
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golden23 Feb 8, 2024
Fawnby - I so agree. I taught myself too, I have set up many computers - so much easier these days than it was then. I developed and taught distance courses using computers, I was assigned to teach a computer course at the the college where I worked on the basis of the way I used computers in my other courses. It turned out to be great fun. Then you get the "old person's treatment"... Hah! Mother taught herself to use a computer age 94 with a little distance help from my dd and me. She wore out the keys on her first laptop!

But I do make more typos these days between my eyes and my fingers. I need to proof read more!
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I was surprised that I turned invisible. Waiting in line and having the cashier talk over you to help someone behind you. Ignored/talked over in a group conversation. Assumptions made you are not competent to make decisions.
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NeedHelpWithMom Feb 7, 2024
I called out a doctor who did this to my mom. I told him to speak directly to my mother instead of me.

Mom thanked me on the drive home and said that she often felt invisible when people bypassed her.

I am sorry that a cashier treated you like you were invisible.
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At 83, I am the primary caregiver for my 100 year old husband, I am physically TIRED all the time and look forward to an afternoon nap most days. I keep forgetting that Im 83 and plan my days with much more activity than I have the ability to do without getting very tired. But probably the biggest problem I am having is that I have much more anxiety than is comfortable. I have always lived my life as an adventurous, free spirit. Now my anxiety makes me question everything I do in advance. That is a big change and makes me feel old. I live in a suburb within an hour of New York City, and on a whim would just take the train in to do something. Once a friend told me she was going to a museum and I decided on the spur of the moment to go with her, rushed home, changed my clothes and met her at the train on time to go. The day before yesterday, I met my cousin in the city for lunch. I checked the train schedule about 3 times to make sure I'd get there in time. I felt so anxious and out of breath walking to the station that I asked a woman I passed on the street and didnt know for a lift. (I was about 2 blocks away). I had a problem figuring out how to purchase the ticket from the machine as it was a new system. After all this, my train was cancelled, and I had to call my cousin to change the time. I was totally unrelaxed!!! I wound up sleeping on the train. On arrival, walking through the train station, which has been recently renovated was confusing and irritating, as was walking in the streets from the station to the restaurant because every street was undergoing construction. The noise and chaos made me feel anxious. Luckily, I had a lovely lunch with my cousin who perceives me to be in miraculous shape. Ha! On the way back, I felt the same anxiety. Then the escalator to the track was going at such a fast pace that I was afraid to get on. I decided if I made one false misstep I could see myself falling to the bottom, and at that point no one else was getting on. There was no elevator around, so I walked down what turned out to be 28 steps to get to the track. I have decided it is not worth it for me to make these trips, and will do more things locally. But as a person who in the past traveled everywhere in the world, and often on her own as my husband was not a passionate traveler, I have to accept the fact that I am feeling vulnerable and very anxious, and am no longer the free spirit I was. I know I am anxious, drained and tired from caregiving, but also I have to admit my age is probably the main contributor. I really feel OLD!!!!
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NeedHelpWithMom Nov 2023
Wow!

It sounds like you are staying active though, which is a good thing!

It is fabulous to have good public transportation. Subways and trains are easier than driving everywhere!

Naps are nice in the afternoon.
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I totally relate to trouble getting up from low places. People use to comment how they wished they could get down low like I did but knew they could never get back up again. It seemed like out of the blue, one day I found myself really struggling to get up from the floor. That is when I had to admit my body was aging.

What was frustrating was knowing my husband (with Parkinson’s 35 years) could get himself up from the floor if I was able to help him to his knees. He had been going to PT so I spoke to his therapist about it and he agreed my husband’s legs were strong from the leg exercises they had been doing for several years. Yes he still falls at times, but because of PT they have decreased. I got a referral from our geriatrician for PT for me and I have already seen an improvement. So now, we go together.

I highly recommend trying PT when possible for LOs and caregivers, for falls or concerns of getting up from low places. If you do, I recommend trying to find a smaller clinic. I recently learned that most hospital therapy programs will only do a limited number of visits no matter what because the demand on their services. A test case was won in 2013 that allows PT for ongoing maintenance for certain conditions.

https://www.cms.gov/center/special-topic/jimmo-settlement/faqs
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NeedHelpWithMom Nov 2023
My mom had Parkinson’s disease and mobility issues worsened for her in her later stages of the disease.

I ended up buying her a lift chair.
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