Bike accident (utterly self inflicted), 1000's of all-nighters, too little exercise (which I guess you can always point at, I bike a lot but that's not balanced exercise), diet, overstressed joints/muscles by doing too much physical work beyond my ability (usually when remodeling houses or constructing stuff). Coupled with a nice assortment of genetic heritage and some regular diseases (COVID, kidneys, gall bladder, bad lung) and it starts to really add up, the comparison between when I turned 50 and today is really harsh, it's not so much a gradual descent as it is a drop off a cliff.
Sorry to hear.... I'm a fan of your work and your writing. Hope you can put as much focus into improving your health (sleep, diet, mobility) as you do your work. (I have had the same tendencies so I know...)
Was really helpful for me to read this comment. I'm entering my 40s, have young children, and am still relatively healthy but I start to notice old age stubbornly pushing for a foothold. The aches and pains take longer to go away and some of them never quite do. I'm terrified of an irreversible "drop off a cliff" as you mentioned.
The most important thing for me now is to preserve my health for the next 30 years so I can see my kids grow up and hopefully have their own children. Seems exercise, diet, and sleep are things I need to prioritize.
Yes, please do. And - my big mistake - don't think your body will be able to do the tricks that you could do yesterday and get away with it. If you are used to taking risks scale that down before you meet a risk that is not easily recoverable. Case in point: I like to tinker with bikes and I owned a whole bunch of experimental ones that I'd take down for rides, one of them a low racer recumbent. I'd fallen off that thing many times and never as much as a scratch so I figured it was pretty safe, even at speed. Cue my surprise when I ended up with a right leg and ankle broken in many places after being launched from something as exciting as a speedbump... If i could re-do that day I would be so happy.
For me 47 to 52 has been like a steep drop as well. I have neither been great or awful in taking care of myself, but it has clearly added up.
Now facing open-heart surgery with all its risks and complications sometime soon. I knew that was always a possibility due to a congenital heart defect but five years ago it seemed unlikely and suddenly in the last 18 months it became a clear eventuality.
Trying to reframe that in the most positive way possible in my mind and also stop blaming myself for not taking better care of myself. It’s hard.
I'm similar. You might try swimming if it is practical for you, it has made a world of difference for me. It is close to a perfectly balanced exercise, involving nearly all muscles, low impact, cardio and breath control, and above all it is fun (at least for me and a significant percentage of people).
Thank you very much, that might be just the thing for me. I really need a way to balance all this out and it has to be something that I can do on a schedule and indoors so it isn't weather dependent. The best so far was a trainer bike on a stand.