The effects of aging and of food restriction at different times during life on rat adipocyte responses to glucagon and epinephrine were explored by studying hormone-stimulated lipolysis, hormone binding, and phosphodiesterase activity. The times of food restriction were: (a) from 6 weeks of age, (b) limited to early life, and (c) beginning in young adult life. Hormone-sensitive lipolysis is lost with age. Food restriction from 6 weeks of age prevents this loss, and food restriction started in adult life causes the recovery of this lipolysis. Hormone binding studies reveal that: (a) changes in glucagon-stimulated lipolysis parallel changes in glucagon binding; (b) glucagon binding and glucagon-stimulated lipolysis correlate inversely with cell size; (c) changes in epinephrine-stimulated lipolysis are not due to changes in beta-adrenergic binding; and (d) neither beta-adrenergic binding nor epinephrine-promoted lipolysis correlate with fat cell size. Phosphodiesterase activity is not influenced by diet, making it unlikely to be a postreceptor component lost with age.