The Old Lady

I know you have all heard one version or another of a joke about the old lady staring back at you from the mirror, right? Who IS she? Or more sanely, when did THIS happen? I had a long phone chat with my sister yesterday and this was the main topic of conversation, brought to the forefront by her impending birthday tomorrow. I let her rant and rave because I know exactly what she is talking about. She is mid-forties. I am latter forties. I have been there, the early to mid-forty point where you first start noticing an old lady replacing your image in the mirror. She also jumps in front of you whenever a camera snaps your picture. Annoying old hag.

This is all new for my sister. She is devastated that her size 2's no longer fit no matter how much she diets. Do I sound bitter? Well, I try not to be, but the fact is that I have never fit into a size 2 even during the thinnest times of my life. My bone structure alone is bigger than a 2. But its all relative. A larger size IS a larger size no matter how low the number. I know what she is talking about. I feel her pain.

I try not to interject even more misery by warning her of even worse things to come.
I KNOW the weight gain and the strange things happening to skin and facial features and body parts is awful. You think its the end of the world....you know you do.
But whats worse than that is the aches and pains that start to creep in. Now you not only feel UGLY, but you HURT! Bones creak, joints ache, stiffness changes the way you walk....Oh wait, Christ almighty, I am starting to depress myself....LOL!!

Anyway, its an uphill battle. You can't win the war. I am starting to make peace with that. You have to figure out how to make peace with it or it will kill you. She is depressed right now, but I have faith that she will find a way to accept what is and just move on with it. Diet and exercise are extremely important. These things can do a LOT for how you feel, and how you handle the aches and the stiffness. But no amount of obsessive compulsive work out will stop the clock, so.....? My advice to her is this: Do what you can to insure your health and after that? Just be kind to yourself. Love yourself and love and accept what is. Yes its new and different. By the time you get used to it, there will be something else (maybe worse?) to face. Its a never-ending process and no amount of food deprivation or surgery or exercise can ever make any of us look like we are in our 20's again. Its a fact. Either its going to kill you or you can find a way to get over it and let it be whatever its going to be. I am trying to take my own advice. Its simple, really, but it is NOT all that easy.