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Home › Style

Liz Smith | 09/26/2008 12:00 am

Liz Smith: The Pros and Cons of Aging

By Liz Smith RSS
Alert me to Liz's new posts
In response to: What are the biggest changes, positive or negative, your body has been through in the last ten years?
Liz Smith

NEGATIVE: Well, this old body which remained 118 pounds for thousands of years, suddenly, after about age 60 grew to be a bit fluffy around the middle. And though I try, I don’t seem to get rid of that. My belt size went astronomical. I have minor but irritating arthritis and there is no cartilage left in my right knee, but I refuse to give in to it. I keep on dancing and climbing stairs and trying to work around it and to ignore it.

POSITIVE: Well, they say the legs are the last thing to go and I admittedly still have those and they don’t look too bad. But my arms aren’t in sync, so I usually wear long sleeves which my friend Mary Tyler Moore did not do at the recent Emmys, much to observant dismay. I would say I look better now than when I was much younger, except for my wrinkles. Becoming a "natural blonde" and learning a little bit about how to do my own makeup, after years of observing how the TV artists do it, has helped me a lot.

Click here on this text to read my New York Post column.

Read more about: Aging, Beauty, Biology, Body Image, Health, Humor, Lifestyle, Style

4 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

gulliver fourmyle
do ya think the Greek’s were wrong? saying there’s only one real surprise in life—-Age. got me. never really expected it—-still ‘late-middle-age’, hardly at ease, not anymore. try explaining this a ‘20-tear-old’—-who may never see such for 40 years—-no way—-
By gulliver fourmyle on 09/26/2008 1:23 am
Ms. Dee
I still think you’re adorable, Liz. It’s not about whether or not age will come, it’s just what you do with it.
By Ms. Dee on 09/26/2008 9:12 am
DeBúrca obj
My mother’s legs remained great throughout her life. I know people with bad legs in their 30s.
By DeBúrca obj on 09/26/2008 10:31 pm
Kathryn Marion
An amazing, surprisingly-delightful thing happened to me just before I turned 45. Completely on its own, my body decided that sugar was no longer appealing. Until that time, I couldn’t walk past a box of Russel Stovers without snatching one or two, and a cola in the afternoon was the only thing that quenched my thirst. But suddenly, I didn’t want anything sweet anymore—no cookies, no brownies, no ice cream, no soda—they just didn’t scream at me anymore. I didn’t need to lose weight, but within a couple months of this new no-sweets routine, I had lost about 12 to 15 pounds. Before this time, if I had tried to cut out sweets, I wouldn’t have lasted a week—just the thought of the sacrifice would have driven me and my tastebuds batty. But this was my body making the decision for me, not my mind. When I told my new DO about it many months later, he said it had probably been something hormonal. Go figure. It’s been almost two years now and though I do eat sweet every once in a while, the weight is still gone.
By Kathryn Marion on 09/29/2008 7:57 am