Has age decreased your appetite?

I ask because I find myself (neither middle-aged nor in the Girls Gone Wild demographic) with less and less of an appetite as I age. Once upon a time gargantuan sandwiches followed up by a three-course meal was no problem, but these days I tend to have either lunch or dinner - the consumption of one guarantees I won't feel like eating the other. It wasn't but ten years ago that I was proudly characterized by a friend's mother as "a good eater".

I have heard this is a hallmark of aging, and I have to say I'd rather have the wrinkles and sagging, not that I have a choice in such matters. There seem to be some "good eaters" here - has age slowed you down? Or do you still sport the mighty consumptive powers and iron gullet of a teen?

No way in hell.

I'm not sure my appetite has decreased, but my tolerance for large sets of flavors has decreased- meaning I'd rather have 6 single bite plates than most sandwiches.

Thanks, David - I kept trying to answer Granted, I've got the metabolism of people who ate a dozen eggs at a sitting and wore it proudly...Yes, you get old, you get fat, and your kids drive you crazy.

Life is good.

Yes, although I still eat too much and need to cut back. I've developed diverticulosis and my intestines just can't tolerate as much food anymore. Some things don't agree with me....when I was younger I had a cast iron stomach and could eat anything. I really feel much better if I don't eat at night after seven. Also I drink copious amounts of water.

no, my appetite is still the same or larger for food and alcohol.

I find that a big burger and fries just about makes me sick anymore. OTOH, I can scarf down a big-ass bone-in ribeye at Gibson’s without a second thought.

I almost fainted from a food OD at Sweets & Savories last week when I tried to complete the tasting menu.

So I guess it's situational.

I can still drink copious amounts of scotch and/or bourbon...so I got that going for me, which is nice.


I'm 49, btw.

I think I'm in the same demographic as you, suzycreamcheese, but I have the opposite problem. I used to eat like a bird, bringing home doggy bags at every meal. Now I can polish off a whole meal all by myself and when at home, sometimes go back for seconds. I nosh a lot too, I'm more of a nibbler. (Worst Batman villain ever). That's bad for eating out; sometimes I get full but then after I get home I'm hungry again. I occasionally have the problem of waking up starving and can't get back to sleep, which once led to an especially frustrating night of getting up every two hours and eating a cheese sandwich.

David Hammond wrote:No way in hell.

Ditto. Sadly.

Me three on the sadly, no. But even though my appetite hasn't decreased, boy has my metabolism decreased in my mid 40's and does that ever suck. I work out 5-6 hours a week eat mainly veggies, fruits and lean meats (well under 2,000 calories a day most days) and can barely drop an ounce.

Hellodali wrote:Me three on the sadly, no. But even though my appetite hasn't decreased, boy has my metabolism decreased in my mid 40's and does that ever suck. I work out 5-6 hours a week eat mainly veggies, fruits and lean meats (well under 2,000 calories a day most days) and can barely drop an ounce.

damn metabolism, when mine switched a year or so ago, I have had to start cutting back on some things I like, just to try to head off weight gain(im not cutting back on butter, pork, beef, etc). So it was goodbye to my much beloved 2-3 can a day pop habit, and my also much loved non-lite beer diet.

Yes, which is perhaps unfortunate, because I'm skinny as a rail and could probably use every calorie I can absorb. (I'm only 35, but could easily pass for 25, based on appearances.) The way I used to eat, people would wonder where the hell it was all going, like I must have been feeding a worm or something. I always cleaned my plate, unless the food was just god-awful. But I've definitely slowed down. I also feel like I have less of a tolerance for salty and oily foods, (though I still enjoy Harold's wings, Chinese and Indian food... [drool]).

On the other hand, age has increased my appreciation for Scotch and Bourbon!

I can't tolerate salt or oil nearly as well as I once did, either. This past New Year's Eve I had a few (too many) glasses of wine, but the next day I was suffering not from that but from the hunk of bleu cheese I had eaten. That was when I suddenly started to understand what older folks had meant when they said "I can't eat such-and-such, it disagrees with me."

It seems rather unfair that my decreasing appetite hasn't been accompanied by weight loss. How fortuitous that my metabolism slowed down at about the same time.

off topic: Nice greyhounds! If I were to become a dog owner, I'd seriously consider one of them!