How are we Aging now

[Mysterio]

I have been looking at various people in life and wonder why some people look younger than others. Take away dyeing hair or if someone is balding.

 

I am 47 and I feel like my peers and I look younger than my parents did in the 80's when they were my age.

 

Are we all aging a bit slower now. I saw Richard Chamberlin in a interview and to me he looks more late 60's than early 80's.

 

Its almost like everyone is looking younger now than at an older age than before, now in history.

[carhill]

Evolution, pre-natal and post-natal health care improvements, health care improvements in general, lifestyle education, movement from agrarian and industrial lifestyles to information lifestyles, more free time to focus on health.

 

WW2 and Korea and Vietnam were horrible on males.

 

I remember my mom telling me she stopped smoking while pregnant with me but I grew up in the blue haze of a two smoker household, something exceedingly rare today.

 

More focus on image and maintaining image. Plastic surgery, products, prosthetics.

 

My dad was essentially on his way out at my age now. I just got over a four day bout with flu and fever and OK, that sucked but it's back to being healthy, haven't been sick like that in over a decade. No biggie. Dad was full of cancer at my age but he did die with a full head of hair, something I'll never know.

[stillafool]

Considering all the botox, plastic surgery, hair replacements and weight loss options available now that weren't around during our parents age it just looks like we are aging better but really we are not. If all of those things weren't available you'd see a lot of old looking people. TBH, even with all of the work people are having done you can still see the age shine threw. It's in their eyes. They've seen too much and it shows.

[Woggle]

I am 40 and still get carded on a regular basis.

[major_merrick]

I wish the "looking younger at an older age" thing held true for everybody. Must be nice, but I think it depends on the genes. I haven't been carded for alcohol in several years, and I'm in my early 30's. My little sister is many years younger than me, and when she was a teen I was getting asked if I was her mom.

I just had a baby two weeks ago, and I think the pregnancy aged me. I feel like I've got that "middle aged mom" look now and I'm not happy at all.

My husband is similar. We are the same age, and he dyes his hair. I've seen him a couple of times without the dye - horribly, horribly gray. His hair is supposed to be dark, so it shows up significantly. I've got gray too, but it hasn't shown up enough to make me dye it yet.

Some people get all the luck. My GF#1 is a couple of years younger....still looks like a teenager and gets accused of having a fake ID at liquor stores.

[treehugger12]

I am 48, I personally think genes play a factor but mostly it’s all about how your taking care of yourself, body, skin, hair, exercise, drinking lots of water and eating right. I’m not a smoker, since I was 30 yo I’ve faithfully moisturized my face day and night, not overdoing it with the sun. I’m very proud of how I’m aging, I’ve also worked hard for it. Never had Botox or any work, nothing wrong with it, just not for me. I think it’s sad when I see some woman letting themselves go. I want to look and feel good forever?

[Mysterio]

I think looking at my brother and I at our age of 45-K. Mysterio-47. We look way younger. Mind you my Bro and I are both single and childless.

 

I think that ageing is great in the sense that your not trying to prove yourself anymore to the world. I think some people look great with grey. To me its all about the face. I think Denzel looks great and young looking at 63. Tom Cruise with grey hair would be jaring.

 

I think Grey looks better 70 plus.

[snowboy91]

I am 48, I personally think genes play a factor but mostly it’s all about how your taking care of yourself, body, skin, hair, exercise, drinking lots of water and eating right.

 

Definitely this - although I think in terms of skin aging sun exposure plays a huge role. When I go back to visit friends/family in the country it astounds me how people in their 40s and 50s have so much more severely aged skin compared to their city counterparts. I also notice when I go to Europe or some parts of the US that people generally look a lot younger for a given age than my Australian counterparts - which I assume is partly due to lower sun exposure and partly genetics.

[todreaminblue]

people used to throw on coconut reef oil and cook themselves in the sun for hours years ago.....those people now look a bit prunish.....outdoors people tend to show more age evident by sun exposure and hard living....drugs alcohol etc..... as another poster has mentioned.....i also feel sun exposure is huge on the aging factor....deb

[treehugger12]

Definitely this - although I think in terms of skin aging sun exposure plays a huge role. When I go back to visit friends/family in the country it astounds me how people in their 40s and 50s have so much more severely aged skin compared to their city counterparts. I also notice when I go to Europe or some parts of the US that people generally look a lot younger for a given age than my Australian counterparts - which I assume is partly due to lower sun exposure and partly genetics.

 

Yes, very much agree, I grew up in a state with little sun exposure. Sun does a lot of damage to the skin. I recently met an 89 yo man that came from the same state I grew up in, I was amazed how good he looked, he looked remarkably younger. He was an absolute cutie pie.

[carhill]

Yup, as people moved from subsistence lifestyles and lots of outside work to more sheltered lives, exposure to the elements lessened, markedly so in those arid sunny areas of the planet, and a persons largest organ, their skin, aged more gracefully. I saw it as a young man going from driving open tractors, basically a seat, to totally enclosed, climate controlled tractors with UV glass, air conditioning, filters for the air, you name it. That's one example from agriculture, a holdover from the old days.

 

When I started in industry, there was no such thing as PPE. As example, an open back flip helmet and leathers was my welding gear. Now there's climate controlled welding suits, full helmets with filtered air supply, interior environmental controls for the welding area, etc, etc. Heck, it's not uncommon to find us old timers doing simple welding jobs in shorts and a tee shirt. I've even seen some run the plasma cutter without a full helmet, just goggles. Kids wouldn't be caught dead doing that. That's why they'll live longer and age more gracefully

 

I bought where I'll retire in a low sun state that gets 70 inches of rain a year. Love the cool, humidity and lack of blazing sun. Hopefully that'll make up for decades of working in a desert.

[Veronica73]

I am 40 and still get carded on a regular basis.

 

I’ll one up you. I’m 45 and still get carded on a regular basis. It’s crazy. I’d like to remember the last time I ever get carded, but I probably won’t. Because I won’t know that it’s the last time. People I’m with are incredulous when it happens. Some of them actually act annoyed. Lol! Just two years ago I was at a fundraiser picnic with a guy who I was casually dating who is about 10 years older than me. And somebody who was sitting next to us asked me what I was studying in school, lol! My date got pissy about that, but he is very vain.

Edited October 1, 2018 by Veronica73

[Eternal Sunshine]

People that don't have children tend to look younger than those that do.

[elaine567]

I am 47 and I feel like my peers and I look younger than my parents did in the 80's when they were my age.

 

Clothes and hairstyles can make a big difference as to how old we perceive a person to be.

Dress in those clothes and hairstyles from the 80's just like your Dad wore and then gauge how "young" you really look.

Everybody sees themselves as "young", but ask a person who actually is that age and they will usually laugh in your face.

They can see the subtle ageing changes that we miss in our "quest for youth".

[No_Go]

Ah aging hasn't changed in 100s even 1000s of years!

 

What changed is the number of deaths from infections diseases.

 

But our bodies amortize equally and will keep doing so for reasons that are obvious (genetic) and surpass the scope of the thread.

 

However - people that *think* they look young - well, it's wishful thinking. Age is obvious even after heavy plastic corrections. You can't hide tired eyes.

 

Carding - c'mon people, it's not a 'compliment' it's a law. No one gives a sh*t how the carded person looks they do it by inertia and for 'just in case' reasons.

 

Age is the singlemost indicator for remaining years on this planet, remaining fertile years, and remaining time before our looks take a nose dive...

 

I'm all for dressing to impress, make up, and all the jazz to keep looking presentable, but I don't lie to myself that I look young, just try to keep at the upper end of 'good looks' for my age

[coolheadal]

I have been looking at various people in life and wonder why some people look younger than others. Take away dyeing hair or if someone is balding.

 

I am 47 and I feel like my peers and I look younger than my parents did in the 80's when they were my age.

 

Are we all aging a bit slower now. I saw Richard Chamberlin in a interview and to me he looks more late 60's than early 80's.

 

Its almost like everyone is looking younger now than at an older age than before, now in history.

 

Secret to staying young looking it is this..

 

1. Don't smoke anything

2. Don't drink hard

3. Don't take in so much coffee or tea

4. Don't take in so much process foods

5. Keep away from fast foods

6. Eat less red meat

7. Exercise or just have fun!

 

But again if your family ages quickly your going to age the same it's in the blood. While on that subject if you ever need blood then lets say the person who donated the blood was old and then you can show that too. Like my late father he looked young in his 50s but once he had to get blood for his operation he rapidly age quick.

 

I keep myself looking young I feel that way.. I have friends who look older than me still they look old LOL. But that's them..

 

If I can turn back time, if I can find a way! I would reach for it!

[central]

Several factors may affect this. Genes, obviously, play a big role. Fewer people smoke, and smoking has a very negative effect. Fewer people bake in the sun, or they use sunscreen, which helps prevent aging of the skin - and skin is the most obvious indicator of aging and health.

[thefooloftheyear]

A lot of it is genetic....For example. that Christine Blaisey Ford woman looks older than my 77 year old mother....yikes...and my mother has led a more dreadful life I am sure..

 

Anyway...

 

I have beaten my body to death over the years...But the things I do, I believe, have helped me...I've never smoked, drank, or did drugs, don't even take prescription meds..Maintain a regimented training program, and while my diet is pretty tight, I do binge from time to time...

 

I had a recent full body workup...One thing that the Dr mentioned was that people my age generally show a varying degree of interconnective cartilage/tissue degradation, while my scan shows almost none..He said, if someone showed him my scan and asked what the age of the person was, he'd surmise late 20's....I am 53...The scan also showed zero cardiovascular plaques/blockages...All clear there..

 

My physique is hard and muscled and no typical gut of most guys my age....Everything works 100%....Never had an incident of ED...No joint troubles..No knee or hip issues...My skin is tight,no turkey neck, no jowls, eye bags, nothing...Again, my family/culture generally has good skin tone..

 

All that said...I am starting to feel the process kick in...I need more rest..,Small issues that would normally go away in a day, now take a week or two...I wake up sore at times and need a bit to get loose...Kind of like an older dog does..I got a recurring shoulder issue from an old sports injury...Dr keeps telling me to fix it, but I don't want the down time, so I deal with it...Maybe ill fix it later when I finally stop working....or maybe I wont...

 

My dad has passed a while ago, but when I think of my dad at 53....he was an old man...Already had open heart surgery, diabetes and a few other health issues, and looked very old...He'd drop dead in less than a half hour if he did what I do on a daily basis at that age...he wasn't overweight, but he was a heavy smoker and had horrible eating habits..

 

 

No one gets out of this game alive...But if you take care of yourself, you can make the best of it...

 

TFY

Edited October 1, 2018 by thefooloftheyear

[SolG]

My brother and I were having this conversation just the other day. I'm 49 and he's a bit older, and we look remarkably better than our parents did at our age. And indeed a lot better than a lot of our peers. Folk are always assuming we're way younger than we are. I don't necessarily think we look massively younger than our ages... but we 'are' a lot younger... if you know what I mean. We put it down to general health and fitness and overall lifestyle.

 

While I smoke semi-regularly, and we both have the occasional drink, neither of us have any real excessive vices. And we both lift almost every day - heavy - in conjunction with regular HIIT cardio. I don't think you can understate the impact of both of these types of exercise on general well being! The effects are generally well documented in terms of warding off wrinkles, staying hard bodied, and even delaying menopause and reducing the symptoms.

 

Oh, and also a largely plant-based diet with smatterings of fresh organic meats. Love our food! While I don't count calories like I did when younger before it became more intuitive, I know I eat around 2200 per day at the moment.

 

We both are also big on family, travel and never plan to retire because we love what we respectively do.

 

I think living life holistically in a way that is meaningful for you lends a certain youthful vitality that shines through actual age.

[Mysterio]

I have said this before. I have gotten 24/27/33/36 in the last 5 yrs.

 

My voice is soft. My complection is more coco as a black man. I am 5'9. I shave my head and face with a bic shaver, no electric. My parents look late 60's. Even though they are late 70's.

 

Basically it just feels like my 70's generation comes off as more younger. Or we have more play in our lives.

[vla1120]

It's genetic, too. I look younger than my 57 years. My 34 year old gets carded more than her 22-yr-old baby sister (the youngest takes after her father's side. He was totally gray by 30. I call my oldest "Mini me".)

[Mysterio]

I also think that most of us are 10 to 12 younger, socially. When I look at say Tom Cruise. He comes off more like he is 46, than 56.

 

I turn 48 in March 2019. I never get 40 something. Mostly 30 something. Like 33 lowest. 36 the most.

 

My theory is that for the most part. Until reach 10 or 12. You really have no major say in your life. You're under parental control. So a 20 yr old is more like a 10 yr old when it comes to viceral emotions. A 30 is 20. A 40 is 30. A 50 could pass as 40. Just socially. Physically its a different thing.

Edited October 14, 2018 by Mysterio

[beowulf44]

^ look at Brad Pitt in Troy. He was 40 in that... WTF?!?!?

 

So amazing

[Vesna]

Interesting topic. I'm in my early fifties and many people don't believe me when they ask my age. I had severe cystic acne in my teens to late 20s which with the help of Roaccutane put it in check. I was left with pretty bad scarring which with the help of Dermapen treatments, has diminished a lot. Because of its collagen-inducing properties, my facial skin looks plump and dewy. My chest acne scars, I have left alone and they are ugly but covered up from the sun.

 

Because of the acne in my youth, I have spent 1000s on serums, etc and it has been worth it. Lots of water is important as well. Because I never had kids, I have slept whenever I want/need to. My jobs involved lots of manual labour and in my youth I covered up from the sun as much as I could while working outdoors. Female colleagues told me I was a 'princess' who was 'precious'. I would love to have that conversation now, 30 odd years later.

 

Staying single has kept me young. I don't need to BS that a high-maintenance lifestyle of being coupled-up entails. Women try to set me up with single men, to my dismay. I have made it clear that I am happy as I am but they don't want me to be, it seems. Misery loves company. Or is it jealousy? If I am to be harsh, they could have taken better care of themselves.

 

Now I have silver hair coming through and it looks great. It doesn't make me look 'older' but it indicates my bio age. As a teen, I looked like a child and my husband was told by his mates that I was jailbait. He set the record straight.