How old were you when you stopped trying to hide your gut and stopped caring about your bulging biceps or stopped trying to combat hair loss? I’m 34 and have a decent physique but my metabolism has slowed to a crawl and as a result I’ve put on 25 lbs in the last 5-6 years. I’m starting to lose the drive to fight it. You?
Even though I was going to the gym regularly, stuff started to head south about the time I hit 45 years old and I ballooned up horribly. This past September I started a new nutrition plan,started a new Body Sculpt class, and lost 42 pounds.
So, I gave up at 45 then changed my mind at age 50. 
I have never cared.
I used to be skinny, now not quite so skinny, though not really fat either. Just saggy, really.
I’ve been going grey and losing my hair since my late 20s. Don’t really care, though I am somewhat jealous of those who have full heads of hair.
I’m 55 and it hasn’t happened yet.
Sure, I am not as buff as I was at 25. Now it is pretty much trying to keep as much as I can as long as I can.
Besides, it’s kind of fun to have some smarty-pants 25 year old who wants to work in with us aging gym rats, and him having to drop out twenty five pounds before the pump set.
My hair I don’t much care about. Don’t want to waste money on Rogaine or hair transplants, so BFD.
If I can move, I can exercise. If I can exercise, I can improve. My current goal is to live long enough to be a burden to my grandchildren.
Regards,
Shodan
I’m with Shodan, although I’m 85 years old. I still exercise at Curves for Women, and I’m not the oldest one there either. I eat carefully. I drink lots of water. I keep pushing myself.
I have lost 65+ lbs. since 2000, so now I am in a normal weight range. Why give up?
Age is just a number, or so they tell me. Let’s live as long as we can, as healthfully as we can. And let’s keep smiling at the world!!!
8 or 9.
Don’t know. Through HS, on V tennis team, I was always trying to gain weight, and also build bulk in my wrists. I was drinking whole milk every day and pumping iron, I was so scrawny. At 35 I don’t care that much – just modulate the waist-line by not (a) being a fatass and (b) drinking as much beer.
I’ve never cared. My body is just a conveyance and life support system for my brain as far as I’m concerned, its appearance doesn’t mean much to me.
I’m 51 so I have at least another 49 years before I give up. Doesn’t mean I’m winning, though. 
For many years I was extremely underweight and gawky-- I did everything I could to put weight on. Now (at 36), I have to fight the gut. But for about seven years I was a glorious specimin (at least in my own mind’s eye). I think I really gave up caring about my hairline, trendy clothes, being tan, buff, etc sometime around 2007. The year I got married. My wife knows I’m going bald and we both battle the bulge together. It is what it is. At least she knew me in my glorious-specimin stage.
So to answer the OP: 32.
You sound like a nice guy, but how’s your wife?
I’m near 55 and still in okay shape. I am less than 10 lbs over weight and try to walk almost every day. All I want is to look good in clothes and be healthy enough to care for myself. I never want to end up needing to use a power chair at the grocery store. I hike too. That helps.
I also really want to be around for the grand children I hope to have someday. So it isn’t just about looks. It’s about trying to stay healthy.
Uh…nice?
My 79 year old father still works out with his free weights. He has a stationary bike and a treadmill in his basement, but I’m not sure what he’s including in his routine at the moment.
Years ago I called my grandmother to wish her a happy 88th birthday. She spent the whole call bitching about her diet and how she needed to lose weight. When I hung up the phone, I turned to my friend and said, “If I’m still bitching about dieting when I’m 88, just shoot me!”
That said, I’m impressed, JoThrive. If it’s making you feel good, there’s no reason to quit.
This is very inspiring. I hope that I am as active as you are when I’m your age!
If anything, I’m more concerned with my physique at 50 than I was at 40. After losing 30 lbs of the weight I put on in my 40’s, I now have the kind of body that turns heads at the beach.
I’ve never really cared. I’ve been fat from age 12 or so and my hair has been thinning from age 35. I often sport a shaved head so that doesn’t bother me.
I used to do 100 sit-ups and 30 push-ups once or twice a day. Then back problems and two shoulder surgeries put an end to that by the mid- to late 40s. Possibly related, “middle-age spread” took hold suddenly in my early 50s.
I don’t care as much about how it looks as how well it functions. I work out and eat well so that everything works better.
When I went through a 3-year plus sedentary period, I felt like shit. I used to get knots in my shoulders and neck that wouldn’t go away for about a week. I had gas, my knees and hips hurt, I’d get out of breath walking fast—hell, I’d get out of breath going up and down stairs. I’d get sore from helping someone move. Or riding a bike. Or walking more than a couple of klicks. I’d gained over 30 pounds. I was just over 30.
A few years ago, I decided enough was enough, and got my act together. Now, I’m in pretty good shape; I’d be in great shape if I could get enough free time to work out more regularly. Even so, I could probably kick my high school self’s ass at most things. I feel a hell of a lot better. I don’t have chronic aches and pains, my digestion is better, I have more energy. You even think better and concentrate better when you’re physically healthy.
I’m never going to let myself get lazy again. I plan on being one of those middle-aged dudes who look 20 years younger from the neck down, and an old man who could beat the crap out of your average snotnosed college student at just about any activity. I’m going to do my best to still be practicing martial arts, hiking, and even rock climbing until I’m goddamned old.
Other people can sit around on their asses preparing to be sedentary 50 and 60 year olds. I’m going to be running around lifting weights while they’re pushing walkers. Fuck getting old. Age can kill me when it’s able to hit a moving target.
It’s not so much a matter of “giving up” as accepting the inevitable. Since I started taking insulin a couple of years ago I have gained about 45 pounds. I watch what I eat and walk every day, plus do a half-hour set of exercises for my lower back. But other than that, it’s just not worth it to worry about strictly cosmetic issues.