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"Diet Face" - should we choose face over body or vice versa?

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Replies

  • jseams1234
    jseams1234 Posts: 1,216 Member
    Hmmm... I went from super skinny to super fluffy to relatively buff. My face went from gaunt (which was the "normal" for me) to puffy and round to thinner but fuller than my skinny face.

    I wouldn't call my initial facial appearance "diet face" because it's the facial shape I had most of my life as I was pretty skinny most of my life. Perhaps that "gaunt" look is just something you aren't used to seeing and is normal for a person at a lower body weight/body fat percentage?
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    My whole life spent overweight, I received many complements about my youthful skin/face (and wasn't that nice of people to find something about my appearance to compliment me on? ;) ) About halfway to goal, I suddenly looked my age. I suspect at goal this would bother me less, but in that in-between stage, I still had a flabby body and I lost my youthful look. :/

    I've run into friends from high school who are slim and fit (always were), and was shocked by how old they looked (my husband has commented on this as well). I am a low-maintenance woman and have never been vain. I will always prioritize health and comfort over looks (when I was a teenager, I came to school in the winter in a heavy storm coat & hat while other girls seemed bent on looking cool and not messing up their hair), but I will admit, it bothers me more than I would like. :(
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,721 Member
    pinuplove wrote: »
    So I guess that what I'm embarrassed about most when I gain weight is actually a blessing. If I gain 10 lbs, it all goes to my face first. And I'm not kidding. It's insidious. I don't even need to get on a scale, though I do. My wife is the opposite. She can gain 20 and her face looks the same. No weight gain.
    I always show weight gain in my face too. The curse of chubby cheeks! I've been forever envious of people who could carry some extra weight yet still look exactly the same in the face. That is so not me.

    Either the chubby cheeks or no change might be an improvement: At my age, with my face, I get a bit bulldog-jowly for a while after big loss.

    Yes, I did comment earlier that my face filled back out, and it did, very materially, and some of the droop improved. Judging from photos of close relatives who were always thin, I look about how I'd expect to look at 64.
    jseams1234 wrote: »
    Hmmm... I went from super skinny to super fluffy to relatively buff. My face went from gaunt (which was the "normal" for me) to puffy and round to thinner but fuller than my skinny face.

    I wouldn't call my initial facial appearance "diet face" because it's the facial shape I had most of my life as I was pretty skinny most of my life. Perhaps that "gaunt" look is just something you aren't used to seeing and is normal for a person at a lower body weight/body fat percentage?

    I think that's part of it, but as others observed (and I believe even offered illustrative photos earlier in the thread), I think for some of us there is some temporary (we hope) post-diet effect when glycogen is still low, skin shrinkage hasn't yet had a chance to catch up with fat loss, and that sort of thing. That, if it happens, can improve.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    pinuplove wrote: »
    So I guess that what I'm embarrassed about most when I gain weight is actually a blessing. If I gain 10 lbs, it all goes to my face first. And I'm not kidding. It's insidious. I don't even need to get on a scale, though I do. My wife is the opposite. She can gain 20 and her face looks the same. No weight gain.
    I always show weight gain in my face too. The curse of chubby cheeks! I've been forever envious of people who could carry some extra weight yet still look exactly the same in the face. That is so not me.

    Either the chubby cheeks or no change might be an improvement: At my age, with my face, I get a bit bulldog-jowly for a while after big loss.

    Yes, I did comment earlier that my face filled back out, and it did, very materially, and some of the droop improved. Judging from photos of close relatives who were always thin, I look about how I'd expect to look at 64.
    jseams1234 wrote: »
    Hmmm... I went from super skinny to super fluffy to relatively buff. My face went from gaunt (which was the "normal" for me) to puffy and round to thinner but fuller than my skinny face.

    I wouldn't call my initial facial appearance "diet face" because it's the facial shape I had most of my life as I was pretty skinny most of my life. Perhaps that "gaunt" look is just something you aren't used to seeing and is normal for a person at a lower body weight/body fat percentage?

    I think that's part of it, but as others observed (and I believe even offered illustrative photos earlier in the thread), I think for some of us there is some temporary (we hope) post-diet effect when glycogen is still low, skin shrinkage hasn't yet had a chance to catch up with fat loss, and that sort of thing. That, if it happens, can improve.
    I'm hoping as I get older, these chubby cheeks will finally work to my advantage :wink: I'm 40 and feel like I look my age. I'm settling into middle age and don't expect to look 18 any more. I do have a bit of neck flab that I'm still hoping will improve post-weight-loss, but overall not too bad.
  • janicemlove
    janicemlove Posts: 432 Member
    Back in HS when I was in my best shape (I was on the high side of normal weight for my height, but well within the range and a healthy BMI) my face was very long and narrow. I did still think it looked nice, got many compliments too, but I did not feel quite as...feminine, perhaps. A decade out I'm in the overweight BMI range, but I do like the shape of my face better. As I work to get back into shape, if I lose the look of it now, so be it. I'd rather be in shape overall and be less happy with how my face looks.
  • FoodBodyChanges
    FoodBodyChanges Posts: 29 Member
    Diet face is better than puffy eyes/hidden cheekbones! (At my heaviest, I always looked like I'd been crying, my eyes were so puffy.) The skin may tighten up a bit over time. If not, I'll go see my daughter's plastics/reconstructive guy. They can do amazing things these days.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    Hmm I look younger when I lose weight. An extra 20 lbs ages me because it pulls down my face and makes it look droopy.
  • mullanphylane
    mullanphylane Posts: 172 Member
    Heart/mind over body/face any day.
  • forestfreek
    forestfreek Posts: 5,770 Member
    As someone who’s always been told I have an attractive face, let me tell you it does you no good when you feel like crap about your body.
  • SisterSueGetsFit
    SisterSueGetsFit Posts: 1,212 Member
    I guess I would choose to have a pretty face and an "okay" body. There were huge changes to my face when I lost weight (see profile pic). At my lowest weight I was happy with my body, but happier with my face. I guess I'll work on them both. :)
  • forestfreek
    forestfreek Posts: 5,770 Member
    @SisterSueGetsFit - although it’s hard to tell due to you having sunglasses on, I think you look gorgeous and younger than the first pic 🤷‍♀️💕
  • SisterSueGetsFit
    SisterSueGetsFit Posts: 1,212 Member
    @SisterSueGetsFit - although it’s hard to tell due to you having sunglasses on, I think you look gorgeous and younger than the first pic 🤷‍♀️💕
    @forestfreek Thank you! The left is age 38 and the right age 41. We are all our own worst critics.

  • Buttermello
    Buttermello Posts: 127 Member
    At this point in my life, I choose face over body.