A lot of that later years “decrepitude” is allowing long standing habits and dietary trends to continue. You’ve got to keep pushing hard against the aches and the desire to eat like you did when you were 20, 40, etc... and get up each day and push yourself.
My dad had his .300 RUM accurized with a new process a little while back. While it shot crazy groups, it added a lot of weight and his comment was “it’s worthless now, I’m not humping that thing all over the Rockies hunting elk at my age (73 at time) so I got a .300 WIN mag...”. The note there being “humping a rifle in mountains at my age”.
I shoot with a lot of guys that are on the downhill side of the aging process and it’s a shame to see people, friends no less, that could easily look and feel 20 or 30 years younger if they could change some habits that they consider irrevocable at this point. I’m a believer, I merely dropped eating shitty foods (anything with added sugar, simple carbs etc) and it was a sea change.
The #1 thing a “modern” blood sugar load facilitates is inflammation and inflammation is the root for the vast majority of ailments of the older years. You decrease your inflammation state and the next thing you know you start wanting to do more, you do more and your attitude improves. It’s a positive feedback loop. While a certain small percentage of people will have underlying genetic problems that might not be amenable to this I believe the vast majority are subject to these improvements.
Before I run Ccleaner, I’d like to add: Nice post!