this is one thing that sure has changed. all those spicy foods i loved to make and eat are no longer an option though i tend to forget that sometimes and shortly after remember quite painfully .

Ah yes...good ole acid reflux.

Time does march on, sad to say. As I kid, I had the proverbial "cast-iron" stomach. Even though I ate like a glutton, I was as skinny as a rail (one time, I attended a PAL roast-beef dinner in Paterson and ate heartily, went home and had a Tree-Tavern frozen pizza, and then, as we drove my aunt to Newark Airport, had to have my father stop the car so I could vomit by the side of the road). It qualified as either gluttony or an eating disorder. No more though. The Tree Taven Pizza alone would probably be enough to send me to the intensive care ward these days. I find myself buying more and more rolls of Tums instead of candy, and, while hardly obese, I'm no longer skinny as a rail. I still love Italian and Mexican cuisine, as well as spicy chili, but now have debates with myself beforehand as to whether the pleasure of eating that food is worth the night of discomfort that is sure to ensue. Bland chicken salad and cottage cheese are starting to look more attractive to me (or at least safer). Things aren't quite yet bad enough that I require a prescription antacid, but who can say where I'll be in 10 years (provided I'm still here at all, that is)? As someone once said, getting old is not for sissies (or for guys with formerly cast-iron stomachs)...

there are a lot of foods I pay for when I eat them. do not know why I still insist on torturing myself when I know i will pay somehow for eating it. i try do try and cut back on those nasty foods that wrecks havoc on my stomach, and other areas.

Man I loved junk food when I was a kid. I lived on the stuff and barely ate any home food as I hated it. NOW, its very rare you'll catch me eating so much of it, the most I can handle is small portions every two weeks. It doesn't digest the way it used to and the metabolism is not exactly speeding up as I get older.

Especially if you eat and drink something late at night and go to bed soon after.

Me and my friends used to end up at a local Mexican restaurant after an evening out. I'd order things on the menu with the word "picante" in the title, then go home and sleep like a baby. Not anymore.

I have Crohn's disease, almost nothing ever agrees with me. I've learned to eat smaller quantities of my favorites for this very reason.