Women Are Sharing The Physical Changes That Have Shocked Them As They've Gotten Older - buzzfeed.com

I'm Adriana, an NYC-based freelance writer for Tasty and BuzzFeed Shopping.

Oh, the woes of aging. Particularly for us women, a lot changes as we get older, and it's important we know what might be in store.

Recently, a thread on r/AskWomen asked, "What’s one thing your 40s taught you about your body that your 30s didn’t?" Another on r/AskWomenOver30 wanted to know, "What are ways your body changed that you didn’t see coming?" Hundreds of women wrote in about their experiences. Here's what they had to say:

"My body is resilient as hell and remembers what to do, so I give my body the time and rest it needs when I'm sick so I can recover. Although I was already active since my teens, now I need to be more conscious to move in some way every day, as my body does not like to be sedentary or still. Movement is life. And sleep is now a free-for-all. Some nights I'll sleep all through the night. Other nights I'll wake up briefly and go back to sleep. On some nights I'm wide awake at 2 a.m. and need half a sleep aid to get back to sleep. There's no rhyme or reason; it's just my body pranking me."

"Slowing metabolism. Even though this is a well-known fact as you age, I still wasn't prepared for how much a slower metabolism would impact my weight, and the need to make so many changes to my diet and exercise habits to maintain a lower weight. I think the consistency is the hardest part. It has been the most disappointing thing as I've aged."

"My periods are so much more intense — mentally and physically — after having children. They like, basically run my whole life now. Also, I don’t know if this was always the case or if I’m just noticing it now, but I feel like I’ve gotten grosser — smeller, sloppier, and just all around yucky. I fantasize about grooming myself, and it feels good to do it in a way it didn’t when I was younger. Next, the skin on the bottom of my feet is so thick, I have to debride it with razors mounted on debriding tools. And finally, my hair is thinner, and I’m balding."

"I am 40. I can no longer just 'power through.' My body has limitations, and no amount of 'digging deep' will let me push past them. Sleep is the number-one determinant of how my day will go. If I sleep like shit, the whole day is a wash. I have three autoimmune conditions and a spine injury, and if I let the follow-up on any of this drop, I will totally mess myself up. I have to be on top of it at all times. It's exhausting, but absolutely necessary."

"In my 30s, I exercised for hours — I would go for a long hike or play basketball and felt great. My weight was never a problem. In my 40s, the weight and joint pain both crept up, despite me not changing my diet or exercise. Now, my body needs short bouts of high-intensity exercise like sprints 3–4 times a week, alternating days with weight training three times a week, and then just gentle movement the rest of the time. I am consciously not exercising for hours anymore, and my joints feel so much better. I need rest and smaller quantities of healthier food."

"My hair is dulling and more dry/greasy at the roots. My skin is also less elastic. I feel stupid in hindsight because I think I’d heard of these things from much older women via movies, TV, and work, but I didn’t really understand the slow process of it. I didn’t have women close to me in my family who taught me what happens at different points of your life, so everything always feels like a shitty surprise that probably should have been more obvious."

"I was a big drinker back in my 20s, and one day started throwing up violently every time I drank. I mean, my body wanted everything out of my stomach, including water, for 48 hours. You would think that after all of that, evacuation would help with the hangovers, but it didn't. Then it happened almost every time, and especially when I drank a lot. I stopped almost 8 months ago and feel so much better."

"My hips widened! I remember trying to put pants on one day and struggling. I weighed myself, and I was the same weight, but my hips had significantly widened, and I was not prepared for that. I believe I was 26 or 27 when that happened. Also, I gained ten pounds, tried to lose it, then gave up. I’ve always been very thin, and the extra weight actually looks good on me."