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"Diet Face" - should we choose face over body or vice versa?
Replies
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The petulant child in me wants both....
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Interesting. When I was younger and had no need to worry about it I would definitely have chosen face over body. Now it's the other way round.
That said, I have no desire to get to a very low body fat level, and my interest in my body is functionality and fitness rather than looks. So I am unlikely to get the very gaunt look. I think what surprised me about Jenni Murray's view was that she is happy to be overweight in order to be happy with her face. Up to her, obviously, but having gone to the trouble of having bariatric surgery it seems to me a tad perverse not to get to a healthy weight. After all, as someone else has pointed out on this thread, there are any number of facial procedures available to improve a gaunt face, and they don't all cost a bomb.2 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »what is diet face
Hahaha....my question exactly!!4 -
middlehaitch wrote: »Ok, the what is diet face.
It’s the gaunt, sunken, wrinkled look you get when you initially lose weight.
Here is an example.
Left is mid 40’s pre weight gain, so same weight as I am now.
Centre was a year or so ago with my mid 60’s face. Nicely settled into its lack of fat and multitude of wrinkles.
Right is my mid 50’s face just after I had lost weight. Gaunt, angular, hollow eyed and wrinkled.
Cheers, h.
(I couldn’t get the whole article either. I did google her and found she is 3years older than me, just to give the aging face as well as weight loss context)
Wow, that is a truly great example! Thank you for sharing.
I'm up about 11 lb from my lowest weight in 2014, which is great with me as I'm pleased with my maintenance level...but I do think at that point I had a worse "diet face" with my eyes looking more hollow and teeth seemed crazily prominent. Apparently my face has settled a little bit, looking much more normal, fuller, and after seeing this example I think maybe it's time that has helped & not just from the extra 11 lb.3 -
I did not know this was a thing. I prefer my "diet face" to my "pre-diet face." Yes, I can see a few more wrinkles, but I couldn't stand the way I looked when I was overweight. Then again, I find angular faces more attractive than round ones. Personal preference, I guess.
@middlehaitch I think you look beautiful in all three pictures!16 -
Mouse_Potato wrote: »I did not know this was a thing. I prefer my "diet face" to my "pre-diet face." Yes, I can see a few more wrinkles, but I couldn't stand the way I looked when I was overweight. Then again, I find angular faces more attractive than round ones. Personal preference, I guess.
@middlehaitch I think you look beautiful in all three pictures!
Me neither... learn something new and silly on this site every day :laugh:1 -
I have a tiny head. So weird but true. I have to buy glasses in the children’s section, hats in the children’s section, my headset for the plane is pink because it was the best quality we could find that fit me; children’s sizes. At a lower weight this is more pronounced by my cheekbones sticking out and my chin looking more pointy. At a higher weight(just 10-20lbs above healthy bmi) I don’t really have a defined chin, just a neck transition to head. It is weird. Anyway, I am of the mindset that living long and being strong is my preference. So I lift heavy things, get some heart pumping workouts every week and roll with it all. Once again losing slowly, and I can deal with my “looks” changing, so long as my body is healthy.5
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Chef_Barbell wrote: »Mouse_Potato wrote: »I did not know this was a thing. I prefer my "diet face" to my "pre-diet face." Yes, I can see a few more wrinkles, but I couldn't stand the way I looked when I was overweight. Then again, I find angular faces more attractive than round ones. Personal preference, I guess.
@middlehaitch I think you look beautiful in all three pictures!
Me neither... learn something new and silly on this site every day :laugh:
Definitely. I've never dieted in my life and apparently I have diet face. In my case, it's a familial tendency to facial thinning with age. My grandmother had it and my dad had it. Although I've gained about 15 pounds since my early 20s, my face is considerably thinner.0 -
cbstewart88 wrote: »The petulant child in me wants both....
(This is not a criticism of the post I'm quoting, just to be clear.)
For my own self, I'm kind of on the opposite end of the scale. I'm not very appearance-motivated at all at this point. I care about being healthy and strong, but not much about the appearance side of face or body. Function matters. That probably leads me to prefer a relatively lower healthy weight than some might choose, in a similar body. (It's a range, after all.) I'd admit I like looking kinda strong, but I think that's mainly because I like being kinda strong.
I'm more side-jowl-y now that I'm not obese; but I think I might have been so at this point (age 63) even if I'd never been overweight, based on how my parents/grandparents looked. OTOH, I have more of a sensible chin and neck than when I was fat.
Like @middlehaitch, I did feel like my face looked better a few months or so after hitting goal weight - even at the same weight - less haggard, less loose skin. I don't have photo evidence, though.
I'm assuming skin shrinkage and glycogen replenishment have something to do with the post-goal improvements, but there's also the more difficult to pin down "lengthy weight loss is stressful" factor.5 -
I still have a fat face anyway after losing 50 pounds so it hasn't been an issue. My face is less fat, but still fat. Just in case, though, I've been microneedling in case things start sagging.2
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Like @AnnPT77 and @middlehaitch I found my diet face improved greatly about a year after I was done. I had hollow eyes for a while. But my face still looks better thinner. I have small features and being obese looked terrible on me.
I don’t want to be super lean in any case because I don’t think my body looks good like that. The words ropy and stringy come to mind. Not to mention being underweight with super low body fat isn’t any healthier than being overweight!1 -
cbstewart88 wrote: »The petulant child in me wants both....
(This is not a criticism of the post I'm quoting, just to be clear.)
For my own self, I'm kind of on the opposite end of the scale. I'm not very appearance-motivated at all at this point. I care about being healthy and strong, but not much about the appearance side of face or body. Function matters. That probably leads me to prefer a relatively lower healthy weight than some might choose, in a similar body. (It's a range, after all.) I'd admit I like looking kinda strong, but I think that's mainly because I like being kinda strong.
I'm more side-jowl-y now that I'm not obese; but I think I might have been so at this point (age 63) even if I'd never been overweight, based on how my parents/grandparents looked. OTOH, I have more of a sensible chin and neck than when I was fat.
Like @middlehaitch, I did feel like my face looked better a few months or so after hitting goal weight - even at the same weight - less haggard, less loose skin. I don't have photo evidence, though.
I'm assuming skin shrinkage and glycogen replenishment have something to do with the post-goal improvements, but there's also the more difficult to pin down "lengthy weight loss is stressful" factor.
I feel the same way about function and actual health and not caring personally that much about the appearance of my face or body (I mean, I don't want to send small children screaming in terror ...).
However, I am not yet retired, I hope to continue to receive pay in exchange for my labor for at least another decade, and I work in a field where periodic layoffs have become pretty routine. Ageism in employment retention and hiring is a real thing. I can't do much about the retention side (my employer knows my birth date and is no doubt aware that if they don't get rid of me in the next few years, I will be vested in a retirement health savings account that they could otherwise sweep back into their own coffers), but I can at least hope to carve a few years off my appearance if I find myself facing job interviews. People don't equate a little extra body weight with age the same way that they equate hollowed cheeks, neck hollows, or sunken eyes with old age, so I do feel like I have to err on the side of a fuller face for career/economic reasons. (No, I can't wait until the situation presents itself to worry about it, as the most likely new employers for a comparable position see me regularly in the conduct of my current job.)6 -
I’m ok with my diet face. I am sad about my diet boobs.33
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born_of_fire74 wrote: »I’m ok with my diet face. I am sad about my diet boobs.
Quote of the day!3 -
Looking at what “procedures” are available, dermal fillers are less risky than abdominoplasty. Although tummy tucks are one and done, whereas dermal fillers will be an ongoing thing for the rest of one’s life.
A tummy tuck wouldn’t help me much anyway, I’m still hanging onto visceral fat, and that’s what’s currently driving me to go below my previous goal weight, despite my gaunt face. So health first.
If I didn’t have the amount of visceral fat that I do, I think I might choose face over a flat stomach.
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I just want to be healthy so I can live a long happy life, don’t really care if people think my face looks too thin9
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My goal BMI range is roughly 23-26. I doubt I’ll get “diet face”, but even if I do it’s better than double-chin.
What I *am* worried about is my spare tire turning into an apron. Seen and heard too many horror stories of the health problems it can create, especially for women who work in conditions like my own work environment.4 -
Screw that... god invented facelifts and wrinkle treatment for a reason. I’d rather have a good body and all the benefits from exercise and weight loss. For all those in your 40’s, you are going to wrinkle anyway. So the real question should be...do you want to be heavier and wrinkled in 10 years time, or fit and wrinkled.
Losing weight now gives you a couple more years chance for your skin to recover before the collagen levels start to nosedive after menopause (for women).
Honestly, I see nothing wrong or unattractive with the far right picture. You look beautiful!7 -
SnifterPug wrote: »https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jenni-murray-warns-of-diet-face-8k2pkd0h0
Dame Jeni Murray has lost four stone following bariatric surgery and diabetic symptoms have gone into remission. Good for her!
She has now announced she is happy to weigh 14 stone because she does not want to develop "diet face". At her height (6 foot) she's still overweight by BMI standards and she doesn't strike me as a gym bunny who is carrying the weight as muscle.
So long as she's happy how she is, that's great, of course.
But I'm interested to see how others view the issue of diet face. Would you prefer to have the physique you want, at the possible expense of your facial looks? Or would you compromise on the body in order to keep your face looking better? Would you prefer your significant other to have the perfect body or the perfect face (assuming they can't have both)?
I'm sorry, what the *kitten* is "diet face"? Sounds like another invented thing for people to be insecure about so that other people can sell them stuff to make them feel better about themselves.14 -
Middlehaich--sorry I can't really discern what you are talking about. To me those just look like pics at 40's, 50's, 60's. Also, you have a cute face, lucky you, work it gurll!9
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