Aging badly unfit or ill?

What was your haemoglobin level? Even if it's slightly down, it can make you feel low in energy.
Have you had a virus, could you have post-viral fatigue?

If if continues for long then go back to your GP.

I feel for you.
I am often weary.
My bloods are good and I swim 3 times a week for an hour so not entirely static!

I know I need to lose some weight.
I think I'll feel better if I do.

Tricky one? Do we have unrealistic expectations of ourselves perhaps?

How about making a few notes over a week or two and then seeing a GP?

Some good sense in all these replies.
Another blood test to check for anaemia or thyroid deficiency would be a good idea, plus a general check-up. Optimistic I know in the current climate, but persevere.
Are you overweight? I know I am and that doesn’t help, but there is no point anybody nagging me about it, I get bolshie at eg my D’s insistence that I should walk more, do aqua fit or swim.
Like you I am considered by my family not to be all that fit - I admit, exercise comes way behind reading in my list of pleasurable occupations, - but I reckon I am healthy so not all bad.
I believe that ageing is not a gradual process but like a series of steps- you pootle along happily enough, then something, flu, even a bad cold, or if you are really unlucky, Covid, whatever knocks you for six and you never quite make it back to where you were.
Household chores are also overrated - you are not superwoman, does your DH do his fair share?
Don’t get demoralised and do not be intimidated by older women who seem to be Wonderwoman in disguise- laying crazy paving paths, hiking up Machu Picchu or dancing like they are on Strictly.
We are all different. As they say on Mumsnet, “you do you”.

I think what you eat makes a much bigger difference to the way you feel when you’re older, and you have to adapt your diet if you want to avoid feeling tired. If I have even one alcoholic drink or a fat-heavy meal in the evening now, I can’t get going the next day. If I eat too much sugar I can’t sleep. Also I think the less you do, the less you want to do, and the less energy you can muster to get up off the couch. Try overhauling your diet and writing yourself a daily list, to see if you can increase your exercise slowly - hopefully you will feel less tired than you do already, and if you don’t at least you’ll have done everything you can.

I know the feeling! I am a generally healthy 68 year old, but recently i have had major pains in my shoulder and knees, which has stopped me doing almost everything I love doing.
I cant walk so far now, without hobbling around like an old crone lol
I think even tho, we are good in mind and spirit, our bods sometimes let us down, and we have to put up with it. have fun, enjoy life, but rest in between when it gets a bit too much.
also, definitely ask for the thyroid test. I had that done 30 years ago when i was so lacking in energy i was falling asleep half the day, so its worth doing. and also a vitamin test. ask your doctor for both. they very rarely suggest them unless you ask.
wishing you well
and don't forget,
we can still dance like no one's watching, just a tad slower.

I do have major health issues that have come about in the last five years and I run out of steam after about ten min of gardening. I can walk about 100 metres to the mailbox but have to sit on a rock on the way back n have a breather and pause a couple of times going back up the hill. But when I do aquarobics in a therapeutic pool I feel as fit as a flea!
If you have access to a public pool with classes I really recommend it .
Has your dr listened to your heart and lungs to rule out any issues there?

Age has definitely caught up with me! I am 69 and have been retired for a couple of years now. However since then I have developed excruciatingly painful shoulder arthritis which affects everything I try to do. I’m waiting for an operation. I do my best, swim regularly, eat well, avoid alcohol and don’t smoke, but we can only do so much and our bodies, sadly, often tell us to slow down.

You can be unfit or ill when you're young. No one tells you what to expect as you age but I think it is adolescence in reverse-you have to get used to those changes in order to push through to returning to infancy at some point.

I think the answer is to make the most of each day, get out and when you feel tired, rest!

Some good ideas here. If I were you, I’d try (good luck!) and see your GP or Practice nurse and have more tests done. But also try and gradually build up your stamina - stretches first thing in the morning help to wake up muscles, then try walking for 15 mins a day for a week. Then increase to 30 mins every other day the following week.
#foreverfitwithmitch on Instagram is good.
73 is not very old these days!

Did the blood tests include vitamin D.

I think many of us can relate to how you are feeling. My advice;

Don’t compare yourself to anybody else, we’re all different.

Prioritise the jobs that need doing and write a SHORT list for each day. Happiness is a ticked off list.

Break those jobs down into chunks and take frequent short breaks. Eg. hoover one room instead of hoovering all through and then sit down and maybe look up a recipe or start your shopping list.

Eat a healthy diet and watch the sugar and fat levels. Make sure you drink enough.

Check with your GP. Keep a symptom diary to take with you.

When your DH tells you that
you need to get fit, smile sweetly, agree and ask him if he’d mind doing the ironing/cooking a meal etc. so you can do some extra walking.

Hope things improve for you soon.

I agree with RosieandherMaw that this happens in steps not gradually. Winter is a 'step'. The inactivity and indoors nature of winter slows me up and when the garden appeals in spring getting going is harder every year.

Where I live there are a lot of older folk and we all disappear indoors for a lot of the winter. When we all emerge again I notice everyone is a little bit fatter, slower and older seeming.

The days open up and we all improve, but I wonder if we ever quite get back to where we were before the winter.

Newage18 I could have written your post. I get cross with myself for getting so weary. My blood tests are all fine but I get exhausted after gardening in particular. We all hear stories about old people running marathons, skydiving etc but I’m pretty sure most of us feel the same way you and I do. Having written this I’m off to try another half an hour in the garden!

I’ve just done a walk with a group of people that I did exactly one year ago and it was frightening to find how I struggled with it compared to last year. I could hardly walk the last few hundred yards I think if it wasn’t so difficult getting to see a doctor these days I would have asked for some health checks ages ago. I feel as if I’ve aged ten years over the past two. Travelling home tomorrow and I’m going to ask for a doctors appointment. It’s very depressing.

I find I get tired a lot easier and that's only really over the last year.

This afternoon I shall probably have a nap as I've been out for the last four days.

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I am the same age as Newage18 and definitely feel slower and more tired than a year ago. During covid I did a long walk every day. If I do that walk now, I don't have the energy to do it the next day. I can still do quite a lot but a need a rest the following day if I have a very busy day. I am definitely unable to lift as much as I used to and am more short of breath.
I don't think I have any serious conditions but just can't do as much as I used to.

I would add "worry" and "loss" to the list of things that can make a person feel less than fantastic.

Some interesting ideas.

I am a bit younger than the OP and was getting fed up feeling like I have no energy because I am very unfit.
I have heart disease so have to be careful about over-exerting myself as it triggers an angina attack. However, my cardiologist and GP were not against me trying to get fitter so I started looking for a local personal trainer. Finally, one called me when she had a new vacancy and I've been having fitness sessions with her for the past 6 weeks.
Ironically, I feel fine for the rest of the day after my hour's session with her but feel very tired the day after the sessions so I never commit to going out.
I try to do at least two "homework" exercise sessions in between sessions that last about half an hour. I am just hoping that I will start feeling fitter and more energetic soon.

It's depressing isn't it? The feeling that things only ever get worse.
I'm 67 and have a lot of health problems. Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and lung problems. I push on but feel like it's a long slow decline. I look at women much older at my pilates class who are much fitter and more agile. I've never been overweight but when I was young I never exercised. I think that was a mistake.

After my knee and hip replacements I felt 100% better and had my life back. However, despite Aquafit 3 times a week I'm really feeling tired after quite moderate exercise ie a shortish walk. My Fitbit has made me a hypochondriac so I'm constantly checking up on myself.
I've sort of lost my oomph and often just can't face a walk for walking's sake although I know I should. I got so sick of all the walks round here during COVID that I sort of associate them with bad worrying times.

Have you been tested for an under active thyroid? such a condition really affects energy levels, although when that specifically comes up on GN as a topic, some of us who have the condition and are prescribed thyroxine for it, don't necessarily feel our medication is a silver bullet as far as giving a boost to energy levels, but maybe ask your practice to test you for that along with any other recommendations here. I drag myself off to the gym a few times a week primarily to go on the treadmill, I know I can build up more of a pace on that, it's really boring though, of course walking in the open air, especially in when the weather is nice is better, but I've been super cautious since breaking an arm on one such walk, I feel safer on the boring treadmill. I make sure I have air pods in and something to listen to, it makes it more bearable. I do a few load bearing exercises as well, I get no enjoyment out of any of this and don't particularly feel energised afterwards, I just feel it's something I have to do, I know also I need to lose a few pounds, weight gain was something that kicked in with my under active thyroid diagnosis and I've been fighting it ever since. I try not to eat bread before I go to the gym, I've always found there's a spike with some carbs in feeling really tired afterwards. My doctor advised a few years ago, that I was deficient in Vitamin D, so I religiously take one every day.
Your post resonated, some days I'd give my right arm to have a modicum of vitality, you're not alone, not much of a consolation I know.

I had the same problem, always feeling tired. I do plenty of exercise and sleep well, but still feeling weary. Did some reading - seems lack of vitamin B12 could be a cause. I've been taking the supplement now for about a month and feeling much better. Could be psychological, who knows, but it works for me. Oh, and magnesium too.