Does losing weight make you look older?

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  • KCtoCapeCod
    KCtoCapeCod Posts: 17
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    I have been told that I look much younger since I lost weight. I feel like I look more youthful now than a couple years ago for sure. On my recent trip home to KC my nephew said I looked like I did in high school.... 11+ years ago
  • SparkleShine
    SparkleShine Posts: 2,001 Member
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    Well,crap! I hope not!:laugh:

    I had to add...yes, I think it can. Depends on how old you are and how thin you get.
  • campi_mama
    campi_mama Posts: 350 Member
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    It can, especially if it's a lot of weight and you're older already. Because fat makes your face look younger - kinda puffs out the wrinkles. And if you lose weight your skin sags. Again, it would depend on how old you are to begin with and how much weight you lose.
    This^^ exactly
  • iamkass
    iamkass Posts: 122 Member
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    It can, especially if it's a lot of weight and you're older already. Because fat makes your face look younger - kinda puffs out the wrinkles. And if you lose weight your skin sags. Again, it would depend on how old you are to begin with and how much weight you lose.

    I agree 100%. Someone losing 20lbs might actually look younger, healthier. It's the people who have always been 100lbs overweight who look older when they lose. But who cares? I would much rather look old and grow old than look young and die young.
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
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    When you lose fat from your face wrinkles become more visible. True story. I didn't have eye bags before losing weight, one year and 3 dress sizes smaller I have eye bags. Bleugh....
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
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    It depends on the person, but usually losing weight makes people look younger. One of my siblings is almost 10 years younger but people think I'm the baby because I'm thin.


    Chanel famously said:

    A trente ans, une femme doit choisir entre son derrière et son visage.

    When a woman turns thirty, she must choose between her butt and her face. (In other words, to be slim makes the face look gaunt as a woman ages.)

    I don't think that's true for everyone.
  • LaurenAOK
    LaurenAOK Posts: 2,475 Member
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    I think it varies from person to person. A lot of people actually look a lot younger after losing weight! I think the thing that makes some people look older is when their face thins out... a round face has a very youthful look to it, so if your face shape changes a lot it might make you look older.
  • Kimdbro
    Kimdbro Posts: 922 Member
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    The opposite.
  • dakitten2
    dakitten2 Posts: 888 Member
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    For me personally, it did make me look older. But then again I'm already 58 and started my journey at 290 pounds. All that face bloat left no room for facial wrinkles. Now that I've lost down to 149 pounds, the wrinkles definitely appeared. But that's OK, cause I know I am healthier on the inside and I'm certainly past the point of ever looking "hot" again.

    FYI, I'm the one in the middle. The other two are my sisters who are 5 and 6 years younger than I am. They've never had a weight problem and they definitely look much younger than I do.
  • _AllieCat_
    _AllieCat_ Posts: 515 Member
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    I look much younger than I did 2 years ago. My family members tell me I look younger every time they see me.

    I have noticed that sometimes older people look older when they lose some weight. My theory is the fat puffs the wrinkles out and when they lose it sinks back in. However, they are healthier and healthy looks good on everyone.
  • jenjen828
    jenjen828 Posts: 58 Member
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    Never heard that, but for me--who cares if I look a little older as long as I feel younger and can do all of the stuff that I want to do!! :smile:
  • Coyla
    Coyla Posts: 444 Member
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    I noticed wrinkles after losing about 64 lbs (a few years ago). I had never had them before. But it also depends on how quickly you lose, if you keep hydrated, etc. My third shift job probably doesn't help matters either.

    Now that I've begrudgingly gained back 32 of those 64 lbs lost, some of my wrinkles and eye bags are gone. But it's at a price. Give me the eye bags and the thinner body.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    I've never heard that. I've heard people say just the opposite, actually.

    Ditto....

    Everyone tells me I look younger now...I certainly feel younger....

    Before:
    DSC02328.jpg

    Not completely after, but my most recent from March:
    20130425_181051.jpg
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
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    Actually I think it does, for SOME people. I think it has a lot to do with genetics and facial features and so forth.

    I think the VAST majority of people will have younger looking bodies when they lose weight. But I do think many people wind up looking older in the face when they lose weight.

    Me personally, I have changed so much over the past 15 years it's nuts, even when I was at my heaviest weight I still looked pretty "thin" right in the face, and as I lose weight I like the way I look but I do look older. Especially now that my collar bone, neck, etc, is not covered in as much extra flesh it makes me look taller, leaner, but also older.
  • Pixilox
    Pixilox Posts: 51 Member
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    The only thing I have noticed is that my neck has wrinkles now (where there used to be fat filling it up into a double chin, which is gone now). My face has more wrinkles from the same thing, the fat that was filling them up is gone.

    But I don't care, I have went from a size 14/16 to a 6/8 and I love that.

    Huge congrats! I have more wrinkles too, but I am healthier, smaller and happier so I don't care :).
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
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    For me personally, the more weight I lost the more the skin on my face sagged, now it has smoothed out and I do look younger.
  • sleepingtodream
    sleepingtodream Posts: 304 Member
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    When you lose fat from your face wrinkles become more visible. True story. I didn't have eye bags before losing weight, one year and 3 dress sizes smaller I have eye bags. Bleugh....

    ^^^^

    This! Some days I feel my face looks older. I guess I'll take it though because my body looks younger and I feel better!
  • Jeneba
    Jeneba Posts: 699 Member
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    I once read that Catherine Deneuve prefers to keep a few pounds on now that she is older because she thinks she looks "drawn" when she is as thin as she used to be.

    I recently gained 10 pounds due to Sandy, injuries, and my last year of seminary.... When I look at photos of my face before the gain, I now think I look kinda haggard.... BUT I am not going to stop my efforts to lose the ten pounds - I will just be concentrating more on nutrition than I ever have before.
  • agdyl
    agdyl Posts: 246 Member
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    I had someone tell me the other day that I look younger lately, which is great! They were talking about my face - but I think I have more of a healthy glow now because I'm eating better food, avoiding things that I'm sensitive to, and feeling much better in general.

    But I will say - there are places on my body that I tend to think look better when I weigh more - my upper thighs/butt look a little more dimpled when I weigh less and the skin looks smoother when I weigh more, which is a bummer, but it's not the end of the world and it's not drastic. I've been losing weight at a moderately slow pace and don't have too much loose skin.

    The other thing I've noticed is my knees - I've had 5 knee surgeries and arthritis from various knee injuries and my knees were swollen for so long over the years that the skin feels a little saggier than the rest of my body. Totally annoys me and it only gets worse as I lose weight, but overall I look better in clothes, and I acknowledge that I'm probably being more critical of myself than others would be looking at my knees. And bottom line - I feel better, so it doesn't really matter.
  • 9jenn9
    9jenn9 Posts: 309 Member
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    I think my face looks older but my body looks younger. I'll take it.
    Exactly. If you're young, weight loss will probably make you look younger. I think part of that is the choice of clothing styles you can fit into when you're smaller. Lots more fun, young styles to choose from. Once middle age hits, weight loss can make your face look older. But, it's a trade- off I'm willing to make.

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