I feel very old

[Anonymous]

Ok, turning 30 was a breeze to me. Even 40 I thought no worries, I will make it to 80, But I am getting ready to turn 50 and I am scared. I have terrible joint pain, I have survived Melanoma, and I have 3 young children (12,10, and 8) What the hell is my body going to be like at 65! I could loose maybe 15 lbs. Would that help?? Could being just 15 lbs over weight make my joints hurt so much?? I look like an 80 year old when I get up in the morning. This all started about 3 years ago.

[Anonymous]

YES! Lose the 15 pounds (start the Monday after Thanksgiving) I did by deciding to temporarily stop eating grains (bread, oatmeal, crackers, cereal, pasta all that). Have cottage cheese, carrots, hard boiled eggs, etc instead. And just decide to forgo alcohol. Just do it for a month to see what happens.

You can lose the weight and then incorporate smaller amounts of grains back into your life.

[Anonymous]

op here. Thanks I just stopped eating wheat. Not rice, or potatoes. I will try after TG. How much weight did you loose in a month

[Anonymous]

Can't make any promises about the all your aches and pains but I believe you will feel better if you exercise and improve your diet. It's tough to do with three young children, of course, but even a little bit will help you feel better. Good luck, OP!

[Anonymous]

I always feel worse if my weight is up, even just 5 pounds.

[Anonymous]

I just turned 50 and had terrible joint pain that went away when I eliminated gluten.

[Monikat]

16:27 here. Tried every (healthy) trick in the book to lose the weight--bottom line, it was the grains that was keeping my weight up.

I lost 20 pounds in 3 months. The trick is not to cheat and have a little grains. I suspect (but cannot back this up, but I believe this) that if you don't have any grains, you change the percentages (the distribution) of your gut bacteria, and it accretes weight loss.

I also exercise, OP. But I don't think it has to be hard-core. A brisk walk will do.

[Anonymous]

As a soon-to-be registered dietitian, I am horrified by the "advice" posted here, and the lack-of-science-based comments made here by what I generally assume to be an educated audience.

OP, if you want to lose weight, that is great. But PLEASE, for pete's sake, don't fall for the snake oil fad diets described here. You should NOT "give up gluten" on a whim, "stop eating grains," etc etc. That is dumb, dumb, dumb and yes, I do question these people who all of a sudden claim to feel so much better because they didn't have toast one morning. There are valuable and important vitamins and minerals that you will be missing out on.

Please take this seriously and consult with a PROFESSIONAL, not the arm chair nutrition wanna bes who populate DCUM. In the end, you may do yourself more harm than good.

(And by PROFESSIONAL, I mean a nutritionist or registered dietitian who is licensed and credentialed to practice in your state. I would say start with your doctor, but unfortunately, most MDs have very little training in nutrition.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a soon-to-be registered dietitian, I am horrified by the "advice" posted here, and the lack-of-science-based comments made here by what I generally assume to be an educated audience.

OP, if you want to lose weight, that is great. But PLEASE, for pete's sake, don't fall for the snake oil fad diets described here. You should NOT "give up gluten" on a whim, "stop eating grains," etc etc. That is dumb, dumb, dumb and yes, I do question these people who all of a sudden claim to feel so much better because they didn't have toast one morning. There are valuable and important vitamins and minerals that you will be missing out on.

Please take this seriously and consult with a PROFESSIONAL, not the arm chair nutrition wanna bes who populate DCUM. In the end, you may do yourself more harm than good.

(And by PROFESSIONAL, I mean a nutritionist or registered dietitian who is licensed and credentialed to practice in your state. I would say start with your doctor, but unfortunately, most MDs have very little training in nutrition.)

Good advice, pp!

[Anonymous]

Watch the simple carbs - sugars, grains, starches.

Eat as close to nature as possible. Drink lots of water. Exercise every day - a brisk walk. When I do this I feel really good, not old at all. When I don't, I gain weight and my energy level goes down.

Late 40's, 50's isn't old. So try to enjoy these years - we'll be old before we know it, bleh.

Aim for getting back on track by Monday. Do enjoy Thanksgiving though .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a soon-to-be registered dietitian, I am horrified by the "advice" posted here, and the lack-of-science-based comments made here by what I generally assume to be an educated audience.

OP, if you want to lose weight, that is great. But PLEASE, for pete's sake, don't fall for the snake oil fad diets described here. You should NOT "give up gluten" on a whim, "stop eating grains," etc etc. That is dumb, dumb, dumb and yes, I do question these people who all of a sudden claim to feel so much better because they didn't have toast one morning. There are valuable and important vitamins and minerals that you will be missing out on.

Please take this seriously and consult with a PROFESSIONAL, not the arm chair nutrition wanna bes who populate DCUM. In the end, you may do yourself more harm than good.

(And by PROFESSIONAL, I mean a nutritionist or registered dietitian who is licensed and credentialed to practice in your state. I would say start with your doctor, but unfortunately, most MDs have very little training in nutrition.)

Why do all these seemingly intelligent people around me fall for the gluten- free crap? And here's the kicker- many of these friends of mine actually will eat gluten, they just preface it with "I shouldn't be eating this" or " Just a little..." My feeling is if they really were emptying themselves into toilets as frequently as they say they are when they eat gluten, they really wouldn't be cheating on this diet. People with real celiac disease really do suffer with this syndrome. All these people do not have celiac disease. So now they claim they have gluten sensitivity? Really? And how have they figured it out? Most are self-diagnosed. One woman I know went to a naturopath and she placed her hand on an "energy plate." (!!!!) Even allergy testing only comes up with vague sensitivities to food. If everyone dropped these foods on the extensive lists of sensitivities they are given, they would be left with a total of 6-7 food items to eat...and interestingly enough, many of the foods on the list don't provide symptoms for them. I recently looked at the list of foods a friend of mine was given to avoid from a food sensitivity test- a blood test not covered by insurance, BTW. Realistically, she could not actually avoid all these foods- these are ingredients in everything! It would take a diet of home grown foods and everything would have to be prepared at home. And she wasn't feeling as if many of these food items were ever problems before!

I'm that it is the modern wheat which is to blame. Monsanto, GMOs, hybrid wheat.. etc. So, I did the research. Yes, wheat is different. But, so are most food crops, and modern wheat does not have any different or more gluten protein than wheat form 50 years ago. Joints are inflamed, and we turn to gluten? People may have some other problem such as RA- why doesn't anyone consider the overuse of antibiotics in foods over the last three decades as a culprit in all these maladies. Also, why doesn't anyone question food portions, too much processed food, and yes, wait for it, aging...We just don't burn calories the same way and, yes joints will be more painful. 50 isn't the new 30. It's till 50 with botox, so maybe we think we are 30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a soon-to-be registered dietitian, I am horrified by the "advice" posted here, and the lack-of-science-based comments made here by what I generally assume to be an educated audience.

OP, if you want to lose weight, that is great. But PLEASE, for pete's sake, don't fall for the snake oil fad diets described here. You should NOT "give up gluten" on a whim, "stop eating grains," etc etc. That is dumb, dumb, dumb and yes, I do question these people who all of a sudden claim to feel so much better because they didn't have toast one morning. There are valuable and important vitamins and minerals that you will be missing out on.

Please take this seriously and consult with a PROFESSIONAL, not the arm chair nutrition wanna bes who populate DCUM. In the end, you may do yourself more harm than good.

(And by PROFESSIONAL, I mean a nutritionist or registered dietitian who is licensed and credentialed to practice in your state. I would say start with your doctor, but unfortunately, most MDs have very little training in nutrition.)

Why do all these seemingly intelligent people around me fall for the gluten- free crap? And here's the kicker- many of these friends of mine actually will eat gluten, they just preface it with "I shouldn't be eating this" or " Just a little..." My feeling is if they really were emptying themselves into toilets as frequently as they say they are when they eat gluten, they really wouldn't be cheating on this diet. People with real celiac disease really do suffer with this syndrome. All these people do not have celiac disease. So now they claim they have gluten sensitivity? Really? And how have they figured it out? Most are self-diagnosed. One woman I know went to a naturopath and she placed her hand on an "energy plate." (!!!!) Even allergy testing only comes up with vague sensitivities to food. If everyone dropped these foods on the extensive lists of sensitivities they are given, they would be left with a total of 6-7 food items to eat...and interestingly enough, many of the foods on the list don't provide symptoms for them. I recently looked at the list of foods a friend of mine was given to avoid from a food sensitivity test- a blood test not covered by insurance, BTW. Realistically, she could not actually avoid all these foods- these are ingredients in everything! It would take a diet of home grown foods and everything would have to be prepared at home. And she wasn't feeling as if many of these food items were ever problems before!

I'm that it is the modern wheat which is to blame. Monsanto, GMOs, hybrid wheat.. etc. So, I did the research. Yes, wheat is different. But, so are most food crops, and modern wheat does not have any different or more gluten protein than wheat form 50 years ago. Joints are inflamed, and we turn to gluten? People may have some other problem such as RA- why doesn't anyone consider the overuse of antibiotics in foods over the last three decades as a culprit in all these maladies. Also, why doesn't anyone question food portions, too much processed food, and yes, wait for it, aging...We just don't burn calories the same way and, yes joints will be more painful. 50 isn't the new 30. It's till 50 with botox, so maybe we think we are 30.

Very well said. Thank you.

Here is my theory on why seemingly bright, educated people (usually women) fall for this crap. It's all a part of their fear of getting old and eventually dying. They want to believe (even to the point of completely fooling themselves) that they are doing "something" to prevent aging, something that is new and cutting edge and of course something that the masses could not handle. So THEY will be the exception because they didn't eat pasta and bread after the age of 50... all of a sudden, everything is fine and it would be for all the other poor fat slobs out there, if only they had this level of discipline.

It's sad, actually.

[Anonymous]

I think this is the "magic" of gluten.

Give up gluten and you also give up all sorts of crap -- like cookies from the machine at work, kit kats, Mac and cheese too often... You end up buying a salad instead of a roast beef and cheese with mayo sandwich.

We would all feel better if we did those things.

Yeah, some people really do have gluten issues -- they never say "oh, I shouldnt, ok let me have just one."

[Anonymous]

I had horrible pain until I started physical therapy. They taught me exercises to strengthen my muscles, and it really worked! I was suprised. Especially, it turned out that many of my pains, in my legs, were caused by weak back muscles.

Go to your doctor and tell her about your pains. She may suggest physical therapy for you. Much of my therapy was covered by my health insurance.

[Anonymous]

I disagree with the anti-gluten-free posts. There is a lot of science behind the problems gluten causes. Google it, and you will find loads of research.

Gluten does not leave your body for about nine months, and you have to be incredibly conscientious about getting every molecule of gluten out of your diet, which is very hard. It hides in lots of foods, not just wheat.

I gave up dairy and gluten, and I feel much better. I have not eaten gluten for several years. I lost weight so I continued. On the few occasions I've eaten gluten, I've felt very tired afterwards.

I'm not a particularly ignorant person, although I don't claim to know everything about gluten intolerance. I went to a licensed doctor and a licensed nutritionist, both of whom suggested I give up gluten and dairy, which I did. Some people are just more sensitive to foods. I come from a very allergic family, so it's in my genes, I guess.

Well, after that rant, I'd like to say to the OP: GIVE UP SUGAR!! It's inflammation that makes you achy, most likely. I gave up sugar (well, OK, cut back drastically), and all my morning aches disappeared. I'm in my 50s, and only feel achy when I eat a lot of sugar. Of course I don't eat gluten or dairy, there could be some synergies there making me feel better, but sugar, in my case, is the culprit. It has no nutritional value, so there's NO downside to giving it up. Try Stevia, xylitol as substitutes. Agave, honey and maple syrup are slightl better sweeteners -- at least they cause fewer problems for me than does white sugar.

BTW, I hate being over 50. Hate it hate it hate it until I consider the alternative, and then I'm thankful to be alive and healthy. Focus on what's good in your life and make small improvements as you are able, OP. GL