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50 - 60 year old Members

I just read the average age thread and was amazed that there are so few members in our age range. Do you think it's because our peers really aren't interested in health and fitness or because they aren't computer savy enough to journal on-line? I'm a 56 yo white female who has struggled with weight and eating disordered behavior/issues for many years. I'm fairly slim and fit now but am always looking for smart, easy ways to incorporate health and fitness into my very stressful work schedule and life. Journaling helps a lot and I've picked up some good ideas on PeerTrainer. I was just surprised at how old we are compared to the group! LC

Thu. Oct 12, 10:46pm

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Hi, I'm 52 and female. I, too, have wondered about the relatively young ages on PeerTrainer. I've also wondered why there are so few organized sports activities for adults who are no longer in school. I don't really know the reasons -- maybe the older we get, the more responsibilities take our time. I did find a great group of older active women when I joined a Ladies Express/Curves-type 30-minute gym. The Curves franchise believes that its unprecedented success with older women is due to the fact that it designed its 30-minute express workout with busy women in mind. Just my 2 cents.

Friday, October 13, 2006, 11:22 AM

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maybe the people in your age group have'nt posted their age? i haven't posted mine, even though i've seen the thread a hundred times...i don't get it...although i am not in your age group.

Friday, October 13, 2006, 12:02 PM

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Howdy-I'm 54,
There is no way I am going to wear Meme polyester stretch pants!
FYI - I don't see women our age in the gym. I would think if I did I would be inspired especially if they were in terrific shape.
My thoughts...I'm afraid that I think women our age put themselves last. Yeah our whole generation could be busy, but I work FT and have a 15 y.o., am a single parent and I get to the gym 4x's/wk and out dancing 1x/wk. It's all about priorities and I put my health and fitness way up on the top of the list.
Sure I struggle w/keeping the pounds at bay and fighting my wanting to chow down on chips and such-but I have no need to look further than my mother, sister or best friend and see the osteo, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity that comes from a "busy" but sedentary lifestyle and tell myself that's not the route I want to take. I want to stay healthy, attractive, active and fit.

Friday, October 13, 2006, 3:37 PM

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gee I am 52! i There seems to be alot of us involved in peer trainer!

Friday, October 13, 2006, 11:28 PM

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I agree with all the previous posters. I will be 49 at the end of the year and have been physically active all my life. However, I have gained about 10 pounds a decade since my 30's. I struggle to keep the weight off and each decade I'm working out more. I bench press almost 100 pounds, lat pull down of 95 pounds, cardio 4X/week. When I ask trainers (in their 20's and 30's) at my gym about alterations, problems, etc in this kind of routine for a woman my age they are clueless. There is very little research about weight training with significant weights for "older" women. I wonder what I will have to do at 80 to maintain weight if I have to keep upping my workouts to keep the pounds off. There is no info out there. I have seen guides which describe workouts for women by decades, they are lifting LESS weight, not more as they age.

We are the first generation of women who have weight trained in significant numbers. We are really on the fronteir, so to speak. I would be interested in seeing some research conducted on older women and body building/weight lifting. Any ideas??

Saturday, October 14, 2006, 8:29 AM

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I'm in a pt group where I (at age 54) am the baby. The eldest was just 64. We variously swim, lift weights, walk, exercise with tapes + DVDs, do isometrics, and climb stairs. I may have left something out.

There are some books aimed about exercise for women (or men + women) over 50. I haven't been able to check them out, but you might find them on Amazon.

Miriam Nelson, PhD, has written some good stuff about older women. I'll look for her website; if I find it, I'll post the link.

Saturday, October 14, 2006, 4:35 PM

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Here is the Dr. Nelson's site. I just looked at it briefly now; it's clearly changed a lot since I last looked at it. Hope it's still interesting.

Link

Saturday, October 14, 2006, 4:37 PM

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50-60 yr old members

Hello :-) I'm 59 and currently part of the Spotlight. Sharing successes/failures w/ others who know how you feel, helps me ....no matter what their ages. My first thought on the Spotlight ages was that I was way out of my league, but a week w/ them has proven me wrong :-) Sometimes our age is a blessing in disguise! nana

Monday, October 16, 2006, 9:16 AM

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I relate to the Sat 8:29AM poster and I have figured out that your body gets used to routines very quickly and I too feel that one has to keep increasing the weights and cardio to maintain. All the literature I have seen is for beginners not for experienced lifters like ourselves who do chest presses, squats and deadlifts... w/significant weight and who have been in the weight room for years. I work each body part once per week and I really do not think that's enough for me even though that's what the lit says as well as the trainers advise us all to do these days. Maybe I'll rethink that and try working my body parts 2 to 3x's per week for 6 weeks and see how that flies.

Monday, October 16, 2006, 11:19 AM

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Bless the poster at 4:37 who provided the link to Strong Women/Strong Bodies. I absolutely love it. It is just what I have been looking for. While I enjoy Peer Trainer I have noticed many if not most of the membes are younger and I have different issues now that I am 49. Thank you so much. GatorGirl

Tuesday, October 17, 2006, 9:00 AM

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We have lots of members who are in this age range- men and women and many of them are doing great!

It is important to note that many people in this age range have sort of given up on weight loss. However, we work to challenge that belief, and we have been very successful in helping people.

Here is a post about an email we got from a member:

http://blog.peertrainer.com/tip_of_the_day/2009/03/getting-motivated-to-lose-weight-over-50.html

-PEERtrainer


Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 7:42 PM

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Hi, I'm 66 and female, it does seem like most people trying to get into shape and lose weight are much much younger than I am. I feel being a normal weight and in good health is important at any age.

I've been doing WW SFT for the past 18 months and have lost 80 lbs but I seem to be at a stand still now so am looking for more ways to aid in my weight loss.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 10:38 PM

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Hi,
I'm going on 71. There are some older people who go to my fitness center but most are much younger. Some of my same age friends go to fitness centers but I'm more into it than they are. As you get older physical problems crop up that limit the amount you can exercise. For example foot problems like bunions, plantar fascitis, bone fractures from osteoporosis. Others have joint problems like arthritis in their knees and hips. Stress incontinence could be a problem. Balance problems. And some people just don't have the mentality of getting out and moving their bodies around. In any case, as you get older physical disabilities start setting in faster and faster and some of them can keep you from exercising.

Thursday, March 17, 2011, 9:02 PM

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I am 57. I go to a university gym and fortunately I have some good company (not huge in numbers but we are present) and I work in outdoor outfitting. Many of my coworkers are young and very athletic.

An open mind is what opens this world to me. I have moments when I wish I could take on what I used to be able to do but when I really think about it, I can do a lot. I am not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination and I carry extra pounds. My feet hurt after I have walked more than 5 miles but I have to say I enjoy moving around and staying active.

My young cohorts at the gym and at work are very welcoming. They seem to like the range and diversity of older people. It is great to awaken to that reality. So I'd encourage anyone of any age to get out there and find suitable ways to be active and enjoy your life.

Friday, March 18, 2011, 10:59 AM

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new to this site

I'm new... and you inspire me. Are people in this age range active on this site?

Monday, March 28, 2011, 4:24 PM

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I'm 55 and joined today. But I have a bit of a head start on my new journey. I started changing the way I eat and trying to wean off a few of my medications (that I feel aren't necessary) last Wed. Today when I weighed myself I was 6 lbs lighter. Tho so far I don't really feel better. The good thing is that I don't feel worse. I'm hoping for a lot better as time goes by.

I feel that doctors have been prescribing way too many drugs for my conditions that might be able to be controlled or eliminated by eating differently. Some of those drugs made me gain weight. Others make it very hard for me to lose weight. Most of them I don't see helping me in any way. The only benefits I see are to the doctors and pharmaceutical companies, because my insurance company pays them over $1000 a month ($150 a month for the doctor visits and tests, the rest for all the drugs).

maggiebea

Tuesday, March 29, 2011, 2:02 PM

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Hi 4:24!
Yes, we're here. You just don't know how old we are.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011, 2:02 PM

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Hi, I'm 55 and new to the site. Looking to lose 30 pounds as part of a lifestyle change... need new healthy minded conversations and friends to support me on the journey. Anyone here from Vancouver BC area?

Tuesday, March 29, 2011, 3:36 PM

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Hi 3:36,
And Welcome!
To find others from Vancouver, B.C., I suggest you use that question, "Anyone here from Vancouver BC area?" as the subject of a new thread.



Tuesday, March 29, 2011, 10:26 PM

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I am 52 and I must admit I tried one of the groups/teams for the mature age group and the site never got much activity. I believe our age group, me specifically is just looking for people to share the challenge. We need to log and comment consistently, and smile there are enough stresses for us to deal with. So if an experience isn't positive other priorities take the lead. I truly believe it is so important for us, mature women and men to actively comment, log and share.......

Friday, April 01, 2011, 9:57 PM

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I have been using Peertrainer for several years and I am 57. I have run across quite a few people from my age group over the years but our similar ages hasn't been the glue that has made for great group dynamics. Instead, shared interests and approaches to health changes has.

Food politics, nutrition approaches, or shared pasions like biking or some other sport has been the glue. Similar world view or work environment has been the starting point too. There has been both diversity and similarity in groups that have worked well. My best group (ever) has an age range and I seem to share the most with the youngest in the group who could be my daughter.


Most groups have their season too. There is good chemistry for a few weeks, or a few months, then we all go our ways. And this is fine. We are working on similar challenges and then the challenges shift. I have run across people I really enjoy later in other groups.

Ultimately, we need to build our communities at home with our flesh and blood families, friends and coworkers. But Peertrainer is a great starting place for focusing with a group and bringing about personal change.

It really happens if you keep at it!

Saturday, April 02, 2011, 7:59 AM

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Wow! This thread started in 2006 and was resurrected in 2011.

Saturday, April 02, 2011, 10:10 AM

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I think there are more 50 plus then you think!

Sunday, April 03, 2011, 9:59 PM

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I believe there are definetly more women out there of our age group. BUT, why would age be the issue. We are trying to be healthy, active, loose weight, AGE isn't a real factor in that equation.. We just need to make ourselves the best we can be, our age isn't a factor or an excuse......


Monday, April 04, 2011, 7:55 AM

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The human being is a composite of many ages - chronologic age, physiologic age, spiritual age, social age, intellectual age, the age at which one has fixated in one's psyche... There are other ages too. The only age set in stone is the chronologic age which goes up every year. And the overall meaningfulness of chronologic age is modified by multiple factors. The older we get, the more our chronologic age is modified by other factors. What is your chronologic age? But what is your modified age?

A woman in a store was making a purchase. The clerk said, "We'll give you the Senior Discount." The woman said, "Oh, thank you! I keep forgetting how old I am."

Monday, April 04, 2011, 2:23 PM

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59 years old here. i think for most people our age, the whole blogging/ogging thing is a turn off. i've tried to get friends to join me on PT and they start, but back out in a week or two. i do most of my exercise at a senior center (for 55+) that's in an old elementary school they turned to former library (two big rooms with huge windows) into a fitness facility. it's great -- i exercise entirely with OLD people. LOL! and the cost is $17 a year!

Tuesday, April 05, 2011, 5:19 PM

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