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My boyfriend's grandmother is 90 years old, and she now eats chocolate every single day, after a life time of watching her weight. She's explained that she's lived this long (and survived a large number of major health problems totally unrelated to weight) that she's allowed to make herself happy with chocolate. She is, in fact, even allowed to have a whole meal of nothing but chocolate. (Then she giggles.)

I say more power to her.

I'm nearing 50 and have changed my diet as I've aged. I just don't tolerate sugar, refined carbs, beer and greasy chicken wings like I used to. I try to avoid the gastrointestinal distress they cause and I know that I don't metabolize like I used to. My grandmother developed diabetes in her 50s. But she continued to smoke and swill scotch until her death at 85.

Ahhh, Karen! You bring back memories of a child's anthology of poetry w your cleverly updated version of one of my favorites--though I am not so sure the threat of being kicked down the stairs would go over that well in this day and age.

In any respect, I don't need the inevitable subscription to SUNSET magazine (how morbid!) that compels so many retirees to load up their shopping carts w fresh fruits and vegetables instead of the processed foods they used to buy when they were working parents. Many Baby Boomers went through the Back to Nature/Bread Baking and Vegetarian phases in youth. If we like to cook, chances are we won't need to convert to more nutritious meal-planning.

However, aging means you don't burn calories as much as you used to, especially if you're a woman over 35 and not a regular at the tennis court. Indulgences, therefore, are less frequent, but not denied outright. More soup dinners, fewer multi-coursed meals. A piece of fruit for dessert more often than not. Ten ricotta gnocchi sauced w butter and sage and blanketed in grated Parmesan means an extra 1/2 pound according to my scale this morning.

While I've long been skeptical of the benefits of vitamin pills, I have started to listen to the advocates of Vitamin D3-Calcium supplements at the same time that I've increased dairy consumption. I grind flax seeds and toss them into the jelly pan when it's time to make granola.

In late fall, it's hard to tell if colds are to blame for dulled tastes or if this year's Gold Rush apples are less flavorful than the ones picked two years ago. At least I have some control over weight gain, but what I fear almost as much as hip replacements is the diminishing sense of taste. Wouldn't it be nice if someone could invent a device that does what hearing aids and bifocals do for other senses?

Then there's what you hear about the venerable body's unpleasant reactions to spicy or acidic foods. At least one response to your question relates to this concern. Is heartburn a geriatric thing? Do old farts earn their sobriquet?

I find it amusing to read about the grandmother who loves her chocolates. All of us knew that my stepfather couldn't care less for sweets. Instead, his belly expanded because of a love of beer and roasts. After a medical scare, he gave up chips and carted the deep-fryer to the town dump. Once his thin horseshoe of hair turned gray, though, the best present you could bring him was a fancy box of chocolate.

I was raised in a very nutrition-conscious family that is prone to weight problems and heart disease. So, I eat pretty much the way I was raised and the way I've raised my kids, which is lower fat, lower sugar, lower "junk" with whole grains, lean protein, and lots of vegies, fruits, etc. But, moderation is the theme of our home. No good or bad foods. Just proper trade-offs.

My MIL and FIL, very wise, healthy 85-year-old Southerners who can run circles around me in my 40s, always say that a varied diet is the secret to good health. They insist that eating some of everything -- including desserts, fried foods, etc. -- is the secret to their families' generations of longevity. Of course, they eat very little meat and loads of vegetables, especially greens, so that's a good foundation!

I agree with the others on weight-gain being the biggest issue as I age. I definitely eat a lot less than I used to. But, years ago, I also decided that being at the heavy end of my recommended weight range, in order to enjoy my preoccupation with all things edible, makes me much, much happier than feeling deprived or starved in a vain effort to keep the figure I had in my 20s.

I'll spend my old age having some of my cake and eating some of it too!