Warren Buffett, 94, eats all the wrong things

When I was young and dumb, vs. now being still dumb not young, I mistakenly thought that healthy living was the way to live a good, long life. Of course, I was still young, so I knew I could live an unhealthy life for at least a few more years.

Too much alcohol, cigarettes, too much food, I was into almost everything life had to offer when it came to having a good time.

Then in my mid-40s, I started getting serious about my health. My mom had already died a month short of turning 65 (ALS), my father-in-law already had two strokes, so I knew what bad health looked like, and I was 100 pounds overweight, which is why I wore oversized Hawaiian shirts all the time that hung outside my belt.

So I started counting calories, lost the 100, and have kept it off for the past 25 years.

Inside me still resides the stress eater who could easily add 30 pounds in two weeks, maybe less, if I didn’t hold back. Meaning, during the stress-free times, avoiding excess foods, desserts, is relatively easy. When times are tough, though, stress up the wazoo, every fast-food place on every street corner calls to me as I pass by:

“Yo, bro, why not stop here and have a 2,000-calorie special for lunch, followed by a 900-calorie shake for dessert? Maybe pick up an apple pie for mid-afternoon?”

A Rich, Bad Eater

If Green Bay, Wisc., is the bar capital (my opinion), with one, two, or three on almost every downtown street corner, Hidalgo County is the food capital with at least two restaurants on almost every corner, not counting the food trucks, or the ubiquitous convenience stores that sell breakfast and lunch tacos.

Don’t know how many years I have left before St. Peter either says “yay,” or “nay,” but I figure that keeping off the weight for at least the last 25 years, eating relatively healthy, will get me to at least 95 in decent shape. A hundred if a little bit of luck gets added to the mix.

Obviously, that comes with the ability to still think and hold a conversation with the TV. My mother-in-law developed dementia, and I’ve seen that train ride by, and I’m thinking, no thanks. If my mind ever quits working, I want my heart to follow suit. Sooner, rather than later.

Cheery topic, I know, but, hey, it’s the new year.

Which brings up the topic of Warren Buffett, the billionaire stock investor who turned 94 last August.

An article published in August 2024 by Fortune Magazine (fortune.com) explains Buffett’s eating/drinking routine, which seems to fly in the face of every bit of health advice we’ve been fed:

“I eat like a 6-year-old,” the CEO famously told Fortune in 2015, describing his love for Utz potato sticks and daily intake of five 12-ounce Coca-Colas. “If I eat 2,700 calories a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola. I do it every day.”

Wait a minute. I remember not long ago reading an article that said drinking just one soft drink a day, just one, takes minutes off our life.

Really?

Buffett just turned 94, and it looks like he drinks at least five of them a day.

Then there was the story, documentary, about how eating at McDonald’s isn’t great for our health.

Really? Buffet has been eating breakfast at the Golden Arches almost every day of the work week for the past approximate 60 years:

“In a 2017 HBO documentary called Becoming Warren Buffett, the billionaire revealed he stops at McDonald’s every day for a $3.17 breakfast made up of one of three items: two sausage patties; a sausage, egg, and cheese; or a bacon, egg, and cheese. Which he, of course, enjoys with a Coke.” (Source: Fortune.)

So much for tofu and health advice.

Of course, I’m not sure about his genetic DNA. His dad died at 60 from a heart attack. Not sure about his grandparents.

Or he’s just been blessed by God, luck, who knows, and has been rewarded with a long life.

All I know is, I hope I’m in his mental shape at 94.

I also wish he’d gift me a million or two. For a billionaire, that’s nothing.