Over the decades I have been offering our weight control program, we have had tens of thousands of patients’ visits, and the age range of our patients has been as young as 12 years old and the oldest was an 87 years old woman. Currently, I have a number of patients actively being seen in our program that are over the age of 80.
I always ask patients when they enter the program the reasons why they want to lose the weight. The replies to that question include:
- Wanting more energy
- Lessening pain in the lower back, hips and/or knees
- Lowering the number of medications being taken for weight-related co-morbidities
- Looking younger
- Fitting into the stylish clothes that are not fitting
- Reducing the risk of serious diseases such as diabetes, heart attacks, strokes and/or cancer
Let’s get back to our 80-plus years old patients. One would think that all of the reasons/motivations would revolve around the health issues. Nope! The majority will tell me that the “aesthetic” factor to losing weight…i.e. looking younger/more vibrant, fitting into clothes, etc are some of the major motivations. In fact, the oldest patient that entered our program (87 years old female) came into our program because she was going to be in a generational fashion show with her daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter. She wanted to look “hot” in her dress for the show.
The point: Age is just a number and no matter what a person’s age, if he/she (I don’t think anyone over 80 would get offended if I did not put “they” or some other term that I am missing from being politically correct) wants to shed weight there is nothing “wrong” about having as reasons to look younger and have more confidence from being at a healthier weight. This does NOT need to be all about the health/medical ramifications, although these are certainly a great byproduct.
If you are over 60, 70, or even 80, do NOT feel embarrassed about wanting to look (and feel) younger. We are as old as we feel (and look).
Me? I am now on the hunt for finding the Fountain of Middle Age (stole that one from Rodney Dangerfield).
This post was inspired by one of our Williamsburg patients that recently entered our program and has lost over 20 pounds in 3 weeks. He is losing weight at a clip exceeding what we see in our 25 years old patients. Kudos!
And an inspiring song for the older crowd (including me)? Here is Old Blue Eyes singing about what is in front of us (The Best Is Yet To Come)
