By PATTIE MIHALIK

newsgirl@comcast.netAhhh, I miss the good old days when I ate whatever I wanted instead of what is supposedly good for me.The older I get, the more concerned I am about healthy living. I look around at all the infirmities that set in as we age and get determined to do what is in my power to stay healthy.I try not to pop pills for medical issues. Instead, I first try lifestyle changes to stay healthy.It's been a long-held belief of mine that people go to a doctor wanting a pill that will make them better.Seldom does a doctor say, "Well, you can improve your physical condition if you lose weight and start to exercise."I partly blame doctors for not educating people about what they can do to help themselves. But the doctors I've spoken put the blame right back on the patients."If a patient walks out of the office without a prescription, he or she feels cheated. Everyone wants a pill to make them better. They don't want to hear about lifestyle changes," said one family physician. I've heard that same story from other doctors."If they don't get a prescription from me, they will go to another doctor who will give them pills," said another internist.I now have a new internist who is short on charm but high on patient education. He talks about the importance of exercise and diet to maintain good health.One thing I don't like about him is that he verbally assaults patients without knowing much about them. During my last visit, he said in an accusatory tone, "I bet you don't eat enough kale and green leafy vegetables."I eat green leafy vegetables for every meal except breakfast. I do it for two reasons: Because I love greens and because I know it's good for me.My husband says I'm the kind of person who would eat a cardboard box if I were convinced of the health benefit.He's right. But I'll tell you this, I'm having a hard time keeping up with what's healthy and what's not.For decades, I served meals that included a protein, a starch, a vegetable and a salad. I thought that was healthy living.Unless you've been living in an Amazon forest, you know that starches have now gone out of favor. No potatoes. No pasta. No bread, the diet gurus say.For me, giving up all that is like giving up sunshine. If it were up to me, I would declare the four food groups to be spaghetti, macaroni, linguine and ziti.But in the interests of better health and a little bit of weight control I have bypassed excessive pasta, rice and potatoes in my at-home cooking. Eating out is another story, but I do aim for a healthy approach to diet.Or, so I thought.After joining boot camp and taking a nutrition class, my daughter Andrea has declared war on chemicals and preservatives in food.Her simple way of doing that is in her three word mantra: No processed food. Whole foods only.No frozen vegetables, no packaged food. With three active kids, a demanding job and an active lifestyle, I have no idea how she can stick to eating no processed food.When I listen to her, I start to think about how much processed food has sneaked into my diet.I also started thinking about how women like my mother used to prepare meals every day. My mother wouldn't dream of buying macaroni in a box or buying canned chicken broth. She made everything from scratch.I used to be like that. But the older I get, the more I want to spend my time outdoors. That means I often rely on frozen food and those wonderful supermarket rotisserie chickens. I'm a master at creating dinners from those chickens.But now that I'm listening to Andrea talk about the sodium and chemicals in prepared foods, I started paying more attention to labels.It's been educational but it's also more frustrating than I can bear.This week I spent an hour in the supermarket reading labels of everything I reached for. After reading the sodium count in frozen vegetables and those wonderful Lean Cuisine dinners I use in a pinch, I walked out of the story buying next to nothing.Listening to my doctor's pitch about the benefits of kale, I bought some fresh kale for recipes. Again, it's eating what's good for me instead of what I like.I used to love to cook and entertain. But with everyone's limited food preferences, it's getting too hard.Even serving iced tea is hard. More and more of my friends won't drink anything with artificial sugar. But some won't drink anything except diet.Many of my friends are "counting carbs." They want to know what's in everything and even refuse to eat some vegetables, claiming they are "high carbs."In total frustration, I've started to suggest we go to a restaurant where they can have their every wish catered to. But I also know a lot of restaurant food isn't good for you.I miss the days when I ate what I liked, when I liked. That was a simple meal plan I liked.Somewhere there is a compromise between "eating healthy" and enjoying what I like. But I'm struggling to find that balance.