Eating like a geezer

cashflo2u2 · 05-17-2008, 02:44 PM

My wife and I have been retired about 6 years now. Many of our friends and relatives now eat their main meals at midday and don't eat much of anything after 5PM. We still eat a robust meal anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 PM, put on the music and enjoy home cooking together. I like cooking with wine (sometimes I even put it in the food). We still go out to eat often. They don't even like going out at night. Are we going to die? Should we be eating like geezers now?

Notmuchlonger · 05-17-2008, 02:52 PM

Great thing about this. There is no right way. You are retired and can do whatever the heck you want

My in laws are in their mid 80s. Both in good health. They get up really early around 4 to 6. Eat lunch earlier than most and eat dinner earlier than most. Get to bed early. They must have been doing something right in retirement.

SteveR · 05-17-2008, 04:27 PM

We tend to eat less per meal and are starting to split meals because of the huge portion sizes in most resaurants. I have GERD so I don't like to eat a large meal after 7 PM unless I am not going to bed until pretty late. DW eats very little so a full meal for her will be lunch the next day or maybe two.

Some older folks like to catch the Senior discounts at some places so tend to eat 5-6PM to get it. Others just don't want to deal with the screaming kids and cell phone chatter of the younger crowds so eat early to avoid them.

I think a lot of the eating early phase of retirement is more related to age than anything else. Older folks tend to go to bed earlier so eating earlier makes sense. I guess they just run out of things to do other than eat and watch TV before they go to bed at 9 PM. My FIL gets up at 6 AM and has a very very regimented time schedule for eating and other activities....heaven help you if you upset his schedule. Dinner IS 5:30PM...everyday. Be prepared of pay the price of his wrath.

I hope I don't get that way when I am 80+.

OAG · 05-17-2008, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveR

We tend to eat less per meal and are starting to split meals because of the huge portion sizes in most resaurants. I have GERD so I don't like to eat a large meal after 7 PM unless I am not going to bed until pretty late. DW eats very little so a full meal for her will be lunch the next day or maybe two.

Some older folks like to catch the Senior discounts at some places so tend to eat 5-6PM to get it. Others just don't want to deal with the screaming kids and cell phone chatter of the younger crowds so eat early to avoid them.

I think a lot of the eating early phase of retirement is more related to age than anything else. Older folks tend to go to bed earlier so eating earlier makes sense. I guess they just run out of things to do other than eat and watch TV before they go to bed at 9 PM. My FIL gets up at 6 AM and has a very very regimented time schedule for eating and other activities....heaven help you if you upset his schedule. Dinner IS 5:30PM...everyday. Be prepared of pay the price of his wrath.

I hope I don't get that way when I am 80+.

Steve, I think you may - IMO kind of goes with age, I think. I have to really work at not getting upset when stuff does not happen as I think it should have. Takes a concerted effort to just "go with the flow" and not let things get under my skin. I think it started at about age 60 (now almost 68). Fortunately, it helps to have a DW that just puts up with me. I wish you good luck.

SteveR · 05-17-2008, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R Wood

Steve, I think you may - IMO kind of goes with age, I think. I have to really work at not getting upset when stuff does not happen as I think it should have. Takes a concerted effort to just "go with the flow" and not let things get under my skin. I think it started at about age 60 (now almost 68). Fortunately, it helps to have a DW that just puts up with me. I wish you good luck.

And I thought it was just because I don't like to be around people.

**REWahoo** · 05-17-2008, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashflo2u2

Are we going to die?

I'm afraid so, better chow down while you can.

TromboneAl · 05-17-2008, 05:48 PM

The key to eating like a geezer is to open you mouth and stick your tongue out as you start to move the spoon from the plate or bowl.

**REWahoo** · 05-17-2008, 05:55 PM

Al, sounds like you've been practicing...

Moemg · 05-17-2008, 06:38 PM

The key to eating like a geezer is to show up for happy hour promptly at 4 so you can throw a few martinis down while the little woman has pink chablis before you get the all you can eat fish & chips from the early bird menu for $6.99.

Notmuchlonger · 05-17-2008, 06:41 PM

Thats it. Im going to stop aging right now.

Moemg · 05-17-2008, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notmuchlonger

Thats it. Im going to stop aging right now.

Why you don't like two for one martinis ?

Notmuchlonger · 05-17-2008, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg

Why you don't like two for one martinis ?

No thats good. The whole tongue thing Al did...

cashflo2u2 · 05-17-2008, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg

The key to eating like a geezer is to show up for happy hour promptly at 4 so you can throw a few martinis down while the little woman has pink chablis before you get the all you can eat fish & chips from the early bird menu for $6.99.

Hey, you make it sound nice. Maybe the geezer route ain't so bad afterall.

Walt34 · 05-17-2008, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notmuchlonger

Thats it. Im going to stop aging right now.

I've been trying to do that too. I think that in most cases it's fatal.

Nords · 05-17-2008, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashflo2u2

My wife and I have been retired about 6 years now. Many of our friends and relatives now eat their main meals at midday and don't eat much of anything after 5PM. We still eat a robust meal anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 PM, put on the music and enjoy home cooking together. I like cooking with wine (sometimes I even put it in the food). We still go out to eat often. They don't even like going out at night. Are we going to die? Should we be eating like geezers now?

We eat a light dinner because we have taekwondo workouts three nights a week. Not much fun getting kicked in the head while you're burping up pepperoni pizza.

As for that "going out at night" thing, my FIL had a lot of problems with glare and loss of night vision. I started driving them to evening events when they were still in their 60s. I think it's the next aging betrayal after presbyopia and getting up six times a night...

Khan · 05-17-2008, 10:41 PM

Now that Spring has arrived and the farmers' market is open, I am working on reconfigurating what and when I eat.

Eagle43 · 05-18-2008, 08:57 AM

Take a trip to the local Nursing Home. You'll see what eating like a geezer looks like. At 5 pm, the food trolley rolls around to my mother's room. By 7pm, she's ready for bed. The highlights of every day involve eating.

We still eat the evening meal sometime between 6-7 pm. Two glasses of wine are a necessity. Restaurant meals are almost always too large, so the takeout becomes lunch the next day. I usually have that before my nap. Life is good.

Being able to drive at night makes you an attractive male geezer to the female geezerettes. As long as you can drive at night, you've got sex appeal. I guess I need to buy some of those night vision goggles.

OldGuy · 05-18-2008, 10:00 AM

In one small step toward geezeritis, we've started eating lunch, rather than supper, in restaurants - smaller portions, lower cost, and usually the same amount of take-home for another meal. One local Japanese restaurant even offers different bento boxes each weekday - miso soup, salad, 4-5 pcs tempura veggies, meat/fish & tea for $6.99 (!). We stop about 2pm after the w#rking class has clocked back in & things are more relaxed, enjoy lunch, and are back in the barn before rush hour.

cute fuzzy bunny · 05-18-2008, 10:16 AM

Dont let Al kid you. Spoons are expensive.

lsbcal · 05-18-2008, 12:03 PM

The French tend to eat late and they are doing OK by life expectancy stats: Image:Life Expectancy 2007 Estimates CIA World Factbook.PNG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

DW tends to want to eat very early since she has the kind of stomach that gets sicky if not fed on time -- or so she claims. It was hard to hold off until 7:30pm when we were in France. The claim is you can tell the Americans in France by who is eating in the restaurants at 6:30pm.

05-17-2008, 02:44 PM	#1
cashflo2u2 Recycles dryer sheets Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 177	Eating like a geezer My wife and I have been retired about 6 years now. Many of our friends and relatives now eat their main meals at midday and don't eat much of anything after 5PM. We still eat a robust meal anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30 PM, put on the music and enjoy home cooking together. I like cooking with wine (sometimes I even put it in the food). We still go out to eat often. They don't even like going out at night. Are we going to die? Should we be eating like geezers now?

05-17-2008, 02:52 PM	#2
Notmuchlonger Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,986	Great thing about this. There is no right way. You are retired and can do whatever the heck you want My in laws are in their mid 80s. Both in good health. They get up really early around 4 to 6. Eat lunch earlier than most and eat dinner earlier than most. Get to bed early. They must have been doing something right in retirement. __________________ Call the troops out in a hurry. This is what we've waited for. This is it boys, this is war.

05-17-2008, 04:27 PM	#3
SteveR Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 2,675	We tend to eat less per meal and are starting to split meals because of the huge portion sizes in most resaurants. I have GERD so I don't like to eat a large meal after 7 PM unless I am not going to bed until pretty late. DW eats very little so a full meal for her will be lunch the next day or maybe two. Some older folks like to catch the Senior discounts at some places so tend to eat 5-6PM to get it. Others just don't want to deal with the screaming kids and cell phone chatter of the younger crowds so eat early to avoid them. I think a lot of the eating early phase of retirement is more related to age than anything else. Older folks tend to go to bed earlier so eating earlier makes sense. I guess they just run out of things to do other than eat and watch TV before they go to bed at 9 PM. My FIL gets up at 6 AM and has a very very regimented time schedule for eating and other activities....heaven help you if you upset his schedule. Dinner IS 5:30PM...everyday. Be prepared of pay the price of his wrath. I hope I don't get that way when I am 80+. __________________ Work? I don't have time to work....I'm retired.

05-17-2008, 05:48 PM	#7
TromboneAl Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 4,162	The key to eating like a geezer is to open you mouth and stick your tongue out as you start to move the spoon from the plate or bowl. __________________ - Al -- Always serious, never joking. No, wait. Never serious... Always... I forget.

05-17-2008, 05:55 PM	#8
REWahoo Administrator Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Texas Hill Country Posts: 11,606	Al, sounds like you've been practicing... __________________ [Closed for renovation]

05-17-2008, 06:38 PM	#9
Moemg Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Sarasota,fl. Posts: 3,088	The key to eating like a geezer is to show up for happy hour promptly at 4 so you can throw a few martinis down while the little woman has pink chablis before you get the all you can eat fish & chips from the early bird menu for $6.99.

05-17-2008, 06:41 PM	#10
Notmuchlonger Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,986	Thats it. Im going to stop aging right now. __________________ Call the troops out in a hurry. This is what we've waited for. This is it boys, this is war.

05-17-2008, 10:41 PM	#16
Khan Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Greater Dayton area Posts: 3,152	Now that Spring has arrived and the farmers' market is open, I am working on reconfigurating what and when I eat. __________________ "Candle wax and red wine can do interesting things to a keyboard."

05-18-2008, 08:57 AM	#17
Eagle43 Thinks s/he gets paid by the post Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,653	Take a trip to the local Nursing Home. You'll see what eating like a geezer looks like. At 5 pm, the food trolley rolls around to my mother's room. By 7pm, she's ready for bed. The highlights of every day involve eating. We still eat the evening meal sometime between 6-7 pm. Two glasses of wine are a necessity. Restaurant meals are almost always too large, so the takeout becomes lunch the next day. I usually have that before my nap. Life is good. Being able to drive at night makes you an attractive male geezer to the female geezerettes. As long as you can drive at night, you've got sex appeal. I guess I need to buy some of those night vision goggles. __________________ Resist much. Obey Little. . . . Ed Abbey Disclaimer: My Posts are for my amusement only.

05-18-2008, 10:00 AM	#18
OldGuy Dryer sheet aficionado Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 36	In one small step toward geezeritis, we've started eating lunch, rather than supper, in restaurants - smaller portions, lower cost, and usually the same amount of take-home for another meal. One local Japanese restaurant even offers different bento boxes each weekday - miso soup, salad, 4-5 pcs tempura veggies, meat/fish & tea for $6.99 (!). We stop about 2pm after the w#rking class has clocked back in & things are more relaxed, enjoy lunch, and are back in the barn before rush hour. __________________ Those who were seen dancing were thought to be crazy by those who could not hear the music. Friedrich Nietzsche.

05-18-2008, 10:16 AM	#19
cute fuzzy bunny Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ... Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Losing my whump Posts: 22,527	Dont let Al kid you. Spoons are expensive. __________________ Many an optimist has become rich by buying out a pessimist

05-18-2008, 12:03 PM	#20
lsbcal Full time employment: Posting here. Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 519	The French tend to eat late and they are doing OK by life expectancy stats: Image:Life Expectancy 2007 Estimates CIA World Factbook.PNG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia DW tends to want to eat very early since she has the kind of stomach that gets sicky if not fed on time -- or so she claims. It was hard to hold off until 7:30pm when we were in France. The claim is you can tell the Americans in France by who is eating in the restaurants at 6:30pm.