Time has a way of moving on.

"It's not my fault," complained one of my childhood friends recently. "As I've gotten older, my metabolism has slowed down, so I've put on a little weight."

This is undoubtedly true. When your metabolism slows down, you burn fewer calories. On the other hand, you also NEED fewer calories. If you take in more than you need... the difference has to go somewhere. Now he's got eighty pounds more than when we were in college. He has back problems, hip problems, ankle and knee aches. And no wonder. He's carrying the equivalent of an eight-year -old child around with him, all the time.

And yet... he doesn't walk anywhere, he still doesn't eat vegetables, he goes through a box of cookies at a sitting, he drinks soda and beer incessantly...

When you're twenty, you can abuse your body shamelessly and pay no price for it. At forty... it starts to add up.