South Beach

yeah, Big City! I was born to eat cheese, pasta, bread, fruit - those things are all i really want to eat!

So happens I am Italian too! Plus, that region has more people who live over 100 years than most other areas, so the Mediterranean way of eating is more than a fad.

...and I also think if we learn how to eat them in the right portions - that is the key. Problem is, most of us have to stop eating them and resume only if we can really control it.

Neecee,  I lived and worked in Italy for several years and still work there today in the spring and fall.  I gotta tell you, the Italian diet really agrees with me - I never had a weight problem when I lived in Italy.  And I was never on a "diet."  Today when I go there, I eat normal Italian food and do miles of walking every day and I come back a few pounds lighter each trip. 

About long life, I have an Italian aunt (lives here) and she is 97 - her sister, my other aunt died last year at 98.  .  She has been obese or MO since childhood.  She is the only one in that generation to have had a weight problem.  My grandfather owned a bakery and my aunt was the "helper" starting at a young age.  Of course, the doctors would tell you that you never see any fat old people but she defies all odds.  And she doesn't have any health issues today - BP and cholesterol normal, not a diabetic.  One grandmother lived to be 101 and the other lived to be 95.  The experts say it's the olive oil (as opposed to saturated fats), low red meat, high fish and lots of veges that are the key.  And of course exercise.   My 97 year old aunt never owned a car until she was 50 - walked everywhere and used public transportation most of her life.  She still walks today. 

As for portions, when you order a meal in a restaurant in Italy, you order (and pay) by the course.  The primo (first course) is pasta or rice.  And it's a small portion.  Not the giant portions you get in American restaurants. 

I've been called worse

I have not seen Bill C, but at a certain age, it just ain't that fun to lose too much.  I always like a little meat on bones, just a personal thing.

We already lose muscle tone, so most of us tend to get kind of squared looking anyyway, even if we hold weight in other parts. My face has changed..for the better...not so baby faced anymore, more chiseled! My arms don't look so squishy anymore, one can see muscles there, not all fluff! Even my belly fat has kind of relaxed and hangs more than pooches out! LOL

I am reminded of Ethel Kennedy - we call her Skeletor! I'm sorry, just not the look in my book!

You're right about poor Ethel.  Those Kennedy women sure lose lots of facial fat in older age.  Maria Shriver needs some fat transferred back into her face . . . by whatever means possible!