losing weight will make me look old???

AllonsYtotheTardis

Being fat made me look old. Losing weight took years off my looks.

TeaBea

stellabest99 wrote: »

Ok, this probably sounds weird, but someone mentioned the other day that when I lose all the weight I can expect to look old, as the fat is helping make me look younger! This is a scary idea coz I look a LOT younger than my actual 42yrs, as you can see from my photo. It was taken last year after a really nice haircut, on a rather nice, flattering angle (and I have lost some weight since then). I'm not particularly vain but I do like the confidence boost of being mistaken for up to 10 years younger brings me!

Please share your thoughts and experiences with this...

IMO the shape of your face is going to be a factor. I have a long face, and look horrible when I am "skinny." Round, heart shape, and square faces can pull this look off better.

kes840

I assume you mean your face, and it's true you might or might not like the look. However, there's nothing more aging than that matronly body, IMHO.

MorganMoreaux

I looked a lot older when I was heavier. When I first lost the weight I did look even older because it looked like someone let all the air out of my face lol. I lost over 30 pounds in a months (not intentionally) and it took a little while for my body to adjust. I now get mistaken for early to mid 20's, and I'm almost 40. Personally, I'd rather be healthy than look young.

azulvioleta6

Most people look much older when they are heavier, I think. I don't actually know anybody who has become thin and wrinkly.

I've lost nearly 100 pounds. I get carded constantly. Yesterday someone guessed my age as 27. Recently, someone wrote down my DOB as 1995...nope, I was in college in 1995. I am 40.

In other words, people are extraordinarily bad at guessing the ages of others. Do what makes you healthy and happy and stop worrying about it.

lorrpb

Please don't listen to such nonsense. Weight loss does not give you grey hair! You will feel younger and stronger, especially if you're also exercising. Isn't that what matters? I feel better now than 20 years ago!!

soulofgrace

I guess you'll just have to wait and see. I don't understand what's so bad about looking older anyway. I am 48 and owning my greys and laugh lines...which did become more prominent when thy weren't filled uip with fat.

CollieFit

Take a look at the threads in the "success stories" section of the forum. In my opinion most of the people look YEARS younger after losing weight, than they did when they were overweight/obese.

fatboyslimRP50

There are a lot of gaunt looking 45-50+ out there - very healthy but looking older and all very similar, look what my trainer and I have been doing..etc
Do the training and weight management to suit your age - if you're over 40 try not to run/cycle so much, more yoga/pilates/strength training to maintain muscle mass and tone. The he/she must be a runner look is not so good, in my opinion,
R

JustMissTracy

I have heard that running isn't good for your wrinkles, but I think I'd rather age, seeing as it's going to happen anyways, than be fat again. I'm 46, but have been told I don't look my age

karmelpopcorn

I'm 43. I think we just have to come to grips with aging. Being overweight stretches the skin, losing it kinda leaves it there. But aging is certain and being overweight isn't. I agree though, it's hard to deal with being over 40. My 40th was the only birthday I dreaded, and I'm still barely over it! Your hormones start to decline little by little in your 40s too, leaving you with a less youthful look. Whaddya gonna do?

bendyourkneekatie

I'm 32. I've always looked young for my age, but since I lost weight I've started being regularly id'd again when buying alcohol. The legal drinking age here is 18.

robingmurphy

Go look at the "success stories" before-and-after pics. In my opinion, the vast majority look younger after losing weight.

Abby2205

I am 48. I was not overweight and lost 20 lbs to put me near the low end of a healthy BMI. When I'm not smiling I think I look younger now because I have a more defined bone structure, but when I'm smiling, yikes the crow's feet. Oddly it took a few months at my goal weight before I really noticed that it was worse, like gravity caught up or something, although I lost the weight slowly over 10 months.

emmycantbemeeko

I think this is so variable, dependent on how you are built, the shape of your face, and the rate and way you lose the weight, but even if it turns out to be true, "fit 42 year-old" is generally a better look than "out of shape, overweight 32-year-old."

tkphotogirl

I'm 43, my face looks younger but my neck looks older. Win some lose some!

jemhh

emmycantbemeeko wrote: »

I think this is so variable, dependent on how you are built, the shape of your face, and the rate and way you lose the weight, but even if it turns out to be true, "fit 42 year-old" is generally a better look than "out of shape, overweight 32-year-old."

This exactly. I think I looked like a pretty haggard 35 year old. I'm now 5 months from 40 and think I look healthy and fresher. I may look a bit older due to gray hair peeking through at times or maybe a few more lines on my face, but I feel a heck of a lot better.

Slashnl

Yeah, I think that the person who said that was meaning your face may show more wrinkles/lines. But if you have a fit body, with muscles showing rather than fat, I think you look younger overall.

niniundlapin

I think it all depends on genetics and how we interpret a "young looking," which is, in my opinion, a smooth facial outline with full (or even slightly chubby) cheeks and no (visible) wrinkles nor under-eye sacs. These are just what I see in general from a young-looking face and the criteria (not a set standard but usually formed unconsciously in our mind) may be different due to different cultures or societies.

What I want to say is, this may explain why someone would look younger after weight-loss while the others got the opposite results. For example, a person's facial outline became more defined like how he/she used to look like at the age of 20, and thus this person might look younger after weight-loss, whereas another person also lost the volume of fat pads on his/her cheeks plus some lines now started to show after weight-loss, and that might make the face look more matured (I like this phrase than aged) than the "before" stage.

The definition of a younger look really varies among individuals and thus many might not agree with what I just described. Sense of fashion, hairstyle, health status, or activity level could all make a person look younger or older. My granddad was in his 80s when people still thought he's in his 70s. Of course the hair dye he used helped a lot, but the most important thing was his energy. While less visible white hair can definitely make him look younger than his actual age, his overall health status was what makes him look younger at that time (the amount of wrinkles might probably be the same based on my observation).

tomteboda

Getting older makes us look older. I'm occasionally still mistaken for a college student and I'm 37. Losing weight has not adversely affected this. I think there's no predicting genetics.

If I look older, I cannot tell. But I do know it was 100% worth it.