Before turning 40, I had friends that tell me that it’s a big structural change in term of physical body. I was skeptical but who was I to know. Now that I’m 41.5, I find aging a gradual process.
Things that are changing:
- I need more sleep to function well. In my 30s, I can recover quickly after few late night meetings. Now, it takes me 2-3 days to recover, and the degree of misery I go through is more intense. It didn’t just happen at 40 years mark, but gradually.
- Dry eyes. It happened as early 2011 when I was climbing Kilimanjaro (I was 30 at the time) But after 40, it got worse quickly. I wore contact lenses since I was 16 everyday. Now I can only use on non-dry days for few hours for running. Also, when I am under the sun, wind, hot weather, it gets bad. I was suffering from dry eye during our trip to Cebu. I’ve seen several doctors and all tests to confirm that it’s just part of aging. Sigh…. just keep putting eye drops. I’ll try acupuncture next. I really don’t do well with daily “medication” for anything.
- Lipid profile? As I mentioned my LDL increased substantially relative to a year ago. Still trying to figure out the why. Is it related to aging?
- Face shape. Comparing to my 20s and 30s, I can see that my face is changing. Don’t know exactly what. Less fat? not too many wrinkles yet, but looks different.
- Mentally, I’m calmer and wiser. Less impulse response to situations, and can easily change perspective to focus what matters.
Things that aren’t changing:
- I still feel energetic enough to exercise 60-90 min most days of the week. Some days are more intense combining running with strength training, other days are more gentle like yoga. Compared to many of my peers, they don’t do any physical activity and can barely walk 5km. I want to continue being active so I can keep running with my girls. 🙂
- Good metabolism. Maybe due to active lifestyle, I get hungry before meal times, signaling that my body is working. My weight hasn’t changed since my 20s (+/- 2 lbs), but I think I am gaining more muscle now that I focus on strength training. I want to do a body fat scan to confirm this. Muscles are more important as we age from everything I’ve read.
What about you? what things have you noticed as you get older?
Our New Journey 
Interesting post! And brave. lol! I probably wouldn’t want to list out all the ways I’m feeling like I look older. I’ve been thinking about this topic more lately, too….I feel like there’s a definite shift from 20s to my late 30s now. Sometimes I get a little worried, because I’m not even 40 yet, but I feel like certain things have already started changing. So then I worry, well what are my 40s going to look like?! hahaha. Could be worse, I suppose. I guess the best thing is to just accept it and not dwell too much on it, which can be hard for me. I spent 10 minutes scrolling on Jennifer Lopez’s Facebook page for her new skincare line the other night….she looks so amazing!! And she’s 50 something. It was kind of depressing. I’m way younger than her and don’t look anything like that. 😦 I told my husband, “Welp, there’s 10 minutes of my life I’m never gonna get back” as I put my phone away. lol!! I think you look super young and you seem to have great skin. I’m so jealous of people who don’t need any makeup. I have always had dark circles under my eyes, even as a kid! So I don’t think any magic eye cream is going to make them go away. I definitely need concealer, all the time.
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