# 40 Somethings....
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 28, 2003, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048 "2003-06-28T23:28:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2003, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048/61 "2003-06-30T12:28:52Z")
I needed reading glasses when I hit 42.
My waistline is beginning to show signs of…fatness. I guess this means I’ll have to start exercising (shudder!).
I go to bed early and wake up early. On my days off! I was up at 4:10 yesterday. Utterly disgusting…
---
### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048/62 "2003-06-30T12:48:55Z")
Sorry, **Eilsel** , that did come off unecessarily nasty. I’m just in one of my “omigod, I’m goiong to get fired” moods.
---
### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048/63 "2003-06-30T13:13:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Ummm, yes. I used to be a senior editor; I’m now a copy editor. And after this job ends there is no way I’m going to get another magazine postion, at my age
Age discrimination is illegal, is it not? And how can any employer not want to hire Eve Golden, the doyenne of film scholarship, a terrifics writer with a stunning resume?
I’ve certainly been on the emotional downswing because of my current unemployment, but that’s due to the economy, not any inherent unworthiness on my part. I know I’ll find another job eventually. And if a schlub like me can do it, how can someone with your prodigious talent not do even better?
As far as being in my 40s, no significant problems. I work out, but then I’ve done that since my 20s. I feel much the same as I did in my 20s, although I am having trouble reading with my current glasses. In addition, I still look babyfaced, and the grocery store still cards me when I buy booze.
---
### Author:  [@Eilsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eilsel)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2003, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048/64 "2003-06-30T13:15:43Z")
It’s okay, Eve, I guess I snapped too…my excuse is PMS and concerns about money too. I truly hope it all works out for you.
Go, Age discrimination is difficult to sue for, there are lots of things you have to prove in addition to lack of good faith, et al. Hopefully Eve won’t have to come to that.
---
### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048/65 "2003-06-30T13:31:55Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Early Out \*
> \*\*
>
> At the gym, I’ll see some ripped 20-something using one of the weight machines. If I use the same machine right after he does, I suddenly realize that I’m pumping _half again or even twice as much weight_ as he is. So why don’t my pectorals look like they did when I was that age?
>
> Bummer. \*\*
I began seriously working out at 30 y.a. and always noticed that I was a “hard gainer”. I got a lot stronger, but not much bigger. And like you, I often find myself using he same weight as some big buff dude but not looking nearly as big. Now after 15 years it’s still the same.
---
### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2003, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048/66 "2003-06-30T13:43:17Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I began seriously working out at 30 y.a. and always noticed that I was a “hard gainer”. I got a lot stronger, but not much bigger. And like you, I often find myself using he same weight as some big buff dude but not looking nearly as big. Now after 15 years it’s still the same.
Just as a suggestion–How much do you eat? If you want to gain mass, you need to be chowing down on protein and whole grains–egg whites, tuna, chicken breasts. Here’s a diet plan for mass gaining that a bodybuilder friend of mine gave me that works.
7:30 am
10 -12 egg whites
1 cup oatmeal
1 Tbs flaxseed oil (available at GMC)
1 Tbs peanut butter
10:30 am
1 can of tuna (plus 1 Ttbs fat-free mayo)
1/2 sweet potato
1 piece of fruit
12:30 pm
4 oz grilled chicken breast
1 cup brown rice
1/2 sweet potato
2:30 pm
4 oz grilled chicken breast
1/2 sweet potato
1 protein shake / 1 Tbs flaxseed oil
4:30 pm
4 oz grilled chicken
1 protein bar
7:30 pm
Grilled steak or chicken
1 large baked potato
Steamed vegetables
Green salad
1 Tbs flaxseed oil
1 gallon of water daily
Of course, this also assumes that you’re lifting weights on a 4-day split routine.
Gaining mass may not be as easy in your 40s as it is in your 20s, but you CAN still get big, it just takes more discipline and attention to your lifting routine and diet. There are any number of well-known bodybuilders who continued to compete into their 40s and 50s.
---
### Author:  [@Pelleas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pelleas)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048/67 "2003-06-30T14:44:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by olefin \*
> \*\*Maybe you are doing the wrong exercise? LOL 🆒 \*\*
Hey, you may be on to something there.😃
---
### Author:  [@plain\_jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plain_jane)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048/68 "2003-07-01T03:52:08Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eilsel \*
> \*\*See, Jane, that happens to me but I’m afraid … what will happen if I wake up one day and all of a sudden they both catch up to each other (my outside and inside) ?? O … M … G that could be preeeetttttty scary. \*\*
I think about that, too! 🙂 One day, if my stupid health problems don’t get lost, I’m going to look my age. I’m going to look older than my age! It’s not a huge deal, but I’d rather look younger than my age if it’s an option!!!
I can’t remember where I read it (it might have been here, even) but someone said their grandmother used to lie about her age–by tacking on a decade or so. Then people would rave about how great she looked for her (supposedly older) age. I think I might adopt that tactic when the time comes. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@Eilsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eilsel)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048/69 "2003-07-01T12:58:20Z")
LOL at your grandmother. That’s too funny. I may have to consider that one…
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/40-somethings/185048.md?page=3)