hot dogs, beer, milk, ice cream, hamburger, tuna fish sandwich and potato chips

A lot of sugar, apparently. She has never eaten healthy. She's 91 and while a bit unsteady on her feet, totally there mentally.

Anonymous wrote:Cigarettes, soup, everything from scratch

Your relatives ate cigarettes?

Fried chicken, cigs, food from boxes. Lots and lots of food from boxes. My maternal grandma died a few months shy of her 95th birthday. Her siblings all started dying in the last two years, also in their 90s. One of them is still alive and moving about with little trouble and still eating from boxes, and smoking cigs. My dad's (much) older sibling is 100. Interestingly enough, my parents who eat better and exercise have had health issues none of those old folks dealt with.

My aunt lives with me. She's 97. She eats everything. Always something green. She eats very little. One cup of coffee a day with stevia. She hardly ever eats desert, but likes a little ice cream from time to time. She never ever drinks.

My great aunt who lived to be 99 and a half was just eating chocolate in the end.

I aspire to such greatness.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you.

My father was born in 1930 in the USSR.

Started working in a factory age 13 because the war effort required it.

Smoked a pack a day all his life. Drank moderately. Never exercised. Ate whatever we all ate - not unhealthy but certainly not cooked with any kind of diet in mind.

Died at 91.

Both my grandmothers lived long lives - one until 89 and the other until 99. The 99 year old had daily, strong cocktails. But otherwise was a light eater - portion control was key for her and she was never overweight. The 89 year old was a good cook, grew some of her own vegetables, didn't drink much, but was overweight most of her life. She liked her carbs. Neither did much exercise, and neither smoked.

A lot of corn and potatoes, some radishes. Also casseroles that involved canned cream soups.

I’d eat Basically nothing. Some iceberg lettuce, chicken once a day and a few saltines. My relatives who lived to close to 100 all barely ate. Skinny as rails throughout most of their lives.

I did not get those genes…

Both sets of grandparents had working farms. Breakfast was always eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, grits, fruit, ….sometimes a steak with the eggs. Lunch was the big meal. They called it dinner. Always meat, starch, vegetables, bread, dessert. Supper was smaller. Often leftovers. There was always home baked desserts. Most of the food was farm to table. What they didn’t produce themselves, they traded for.

They worked so hard on the farm. That definitely kept them active and fit. They all lived to their late 90s. One lived to be 103. She was still sharp as a tack at 98. I have such great memories of my summers in the farm. We still own the land, but it’s not the same.

Anonymous wrote:I would eat whatever struck my fancy -- including, after 1970, some processed foods -- IN VERY SMALL / MODERATE AMOUNTS.

There were no "never foods." It's just that they were sensible and not gross gluttons like current Americans.

(they also got a huge amount of incidental exercise by walking to daily Mass, cutting their own grass, doing their own laundry in the basement, etc)

Same here. My grandma lived to 95 eating plenty of fat and salt, homemade ice cream, drinking wine. But nothing to excess, and she was a fast, frequent hill walker.

Anonymous wrote:107. Tea with sugar. Fruit, often with sugar. Potatos almost every day. meat. Butter. White Toast with butter and jam. Dessert every single day, typically twice a day, usually home made. Not large portions of anything.

107! Wow. I am the PP with two 100-year old grandmas and I think portion control (and good genes) are the two biggest factors.

Both grandmas lived to almost 100.

Maternal grandma smoked and drank excessively most of her life and ate only restaurant food. Never exercised.

Paternal grandma was a teetotaler who cooked, baked, and canned everything from scratch. Worked on a farm and did other manual labor jobs.

The only thing they had in common was they were very concerned about their weight so they both ate very little.

Cigarettes, soup, everything from scratch