On Aging and Food Intake

It is a source of wonderment to me how the human body's nutrient needs change over time. I don't really know about nutrients per se, but certainly sheer needed or potential bulk of intake changes with age.

During the childhood years, we grow fast. Teenage years, as I recall, I could eat tons of food and not get larger. Then the early twenties hit, and a small downsizing of needed food intake takes place. For most of us, the downsizing of need occurs first, then the downsizing of actual consumption eventually follows, but not without us first gaining weight at that time.

Roughly at every ten year periods, more or less, my body has started requiring less and less food. My appetite is still there. The ability to insert the same old massive amount of food into my body is still there. But instead of all those calories going into energy expenditure, roughly at age 30, then age 40, and again in the late 40's, my weight goes up.

Right now, if I eat as much as I wish, then my belly fills up, and it gets very uncomfortable. It can even hurt. This wasn't a problem when I was younger. It may be all that adipose tissue is getting in the way (weigh?) and interfering with my natural consumption. But probably I'm merely over eating. But with an amount of food that would not have hurt or been otherwise injurious when I was younger.

Three good meals used to be entirely possible. Now-a-days, one good meal, and a snack to tide me over is about all I can handle.

Having to learn to downsize portions is hard on a body. Desire to finish the last of the pie, all the turkey, the mashed potatoes, and especially the gravy burns strong within.

Sigh.

I gotta go eat now.