Are your parents fit and active in their 70s?

[Anonymous]

The last two presidents were both elected at 78. Most of the population voted for one or the other of those two - so most people must think that one is still very capable in their late 70s. That age was seen by their party voters as capable of running a nation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The last two presidents were both elected at 78. Most of the population voted for one or the other of those two - so most people must think that one is still very capable in their late 70s. That age was seen by their party voters as capable of running a nation.

Or we realized we had 2 choices and have to pick one or the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On vacation with my parents and they tire easily and aren’t the most fit. They weren’t really ever active (no regular exercise, etc.) and I’m thinking a lot about the future when I’m in my 70s.

If your parents are fit, what sorts of things have they done to get that way or stay that way? Did they eat certain things, exercise a certain way, etc.

Thanks!

My parents are 83 and 84. In general they are fit and active but my father has congestive heart failure (can be managed, but not cured). They both tire more easily, but my mother is still very energetic.

Truthfully, a good deal of it is luck and/or genetics. Neither one of my parents has ever had weight issues and have never had to really, actively work to stay slim. They eat fairly healthy, but have never had to watch/track what they eat to keep weight off.

They have always been pretty active, but neither participated in a lot of sports or anything. They walked a lot. I think both tried some strength training as they aged but didn't stick with it.

"Fit" and CHF don't go together.

Wow. I'm so glad you weighed in here. Please tell me more about my father's health.

[Anonymous]

The trick is to keep moving. Anyone with a sedentary job and lifestyle will struggle as they age.

Mine are in their mid-80s and just starting to slow down now.

But they’ve always been moving, walking, doing chores around the house, etc. They rarely sat during the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, we are the parents in our 70s. We use the gym. Avoid takeout food. Live in a city and walk 10,000 steps a day.

Do we tire more? Sure. Three ours in a museum can do us in and we need business class on long flights. Also my husband prefers uber to metro and I’d use metro more.

Now we have a close relative in her late 70s who is overweight, refuses needed knee surgery, takes no stairs, cannot walk more than a block, cannot roll her own suitcase, and drives across the street literally. This is ideally what I’d like to avoid.

I was really struck by what a difference this made for my mom. She lived with my dad in a house that had a flight of stairs to get into the house and a couple stairs to navigate throughout the main level and then up to her bedroom. Her mobility was OK, at least the stairs never seemed to be an issue. Then dad died and she moved in with my sister with a main-level bedroom. Never needed to take a step up. Her mobility seemed to deteriorate very quickly. A bout of pneumonia that put her into the hospital didn't help and she never seemed to get back to the earlier baseline since she could go through her day never doing more than walking from bedroom to sofa.

Chicken-egg. At some point, steps are a bad bad idea for a senior. I’m not convinced keeping steps is a net positive, and neither are most physicians to patients in that age.

We bought a house 5 years ago (after retiring) with everything on the main level. We can mostly avoid the basement and the 2 bedrooms upstairs, but for some reason, the builder made the family room 6" lower than the kitchen/hallway/master bedroom. That step up and down is going to be the death of me. The previous owner tripped once coming out of the bedroom and hit her head on the fireplace stone hearth. It is much better to have no steps at home, and if you feel they are good exercise, go to a gym or outside place with stairs. But no aging person is better off with steps in their house that they have to navigate at night or 20 times a day.

[Anonymous]

I think steps in a split level are great exercise for most people until they reach a point where their balance becomes an issue.

I know people who remained very active well into their 80s and I suspect it had to do with how active they were on a daily basis—walking and doing steps in their home.

I know two men in their mid to upper 80s who spent their entire adult lives in NYC, walking everywhere. Both remained slender and active with lots of walking. One lives in a fancy penthouse, but the other is in a walk-up.

[Anonymous]

My mom is in her 90s and still mostly mobile (uses a cane or walker for distances)/—never exercised but is a total worker bee and I wax surprised she’s still getting like 2K steps a day just puttering around her house tidying up.

My siivljmgw in their 70s are very active. They eat very well and are good cooks that cook most meals at home — lots of veggie and lean proteins and fish. They are also pretty healthy sophisticated so stay on top of things like getting statins and taking care of arthritis as it arises. One of them told me he walks about 18K steps per day. They do all drink wine daily which I guess is one thing that isn’t recommended. These siblings are all pretty naturally thin. I have one other sibling that inherited a different set of genes and I think it’s gojng to be much harder for her to stay active as she ages — her lifestyle choices are all basically the same but she’s always been overweight and her joints are very stressed as a result. I’m not sure why she’s not on GLP—I’ve wanted to ask but I don’t want to make her feel bad about herself so don’t. She just retired so I’m hoping she can now figure something out.

[Anonymous]

My mom was until she got oral cancer in her 80s and then now she is bed bound because she can only eat certain foods inliquid form.

[Anonymous]

No. Early 70s and horrible shape. Both. My mom has had Parkinson’s since were late 40s but still has other health conditions that would also put her in bad shape regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents are not very mobile at all in their mid seventies. Dad has degenerative disc disorder and is not a candidate for surgery. Mom broke her leg about 9 months ago, and is mobile again now but no stamina.

I have generative disc disease in my hips and I’m 48. I’ve been active my whole life. I just found out it’s not really bothering me much but now I know that it will in the future more than 50% of the population get it (degenerative disc disease) past 50 anyway.

A lot of aging isn’t a lifestyle thing. It’s just getting older thing; you can control some of it, but you can’t control all of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many people die in their 50s and 60's, so if you make it into your 70's you probably pretty healthy. All the smokers, alcoholics, diabetics are going down early.

My dad is 82, smoked all his life, still very active. I just met with him in Europe and he walked with me in a hilly location every single day for several hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The last two presidents were both elected at 78. Most of the population voted for one or the other of those two - so most people must think that one is still very capable in their late 70s. That age was seen by their party voters as capable of running a nation.

?!?!

It's like you're writing a movie review, but you only watched the trailer...