The gaunt look has to do with the type of fat deposits we tend to lose first when calorie restricting, which is the structural, subcutaneous fat. Those temporary stores get depleted and we end up looking a bit gaunt, but as our diets reach maintenance and we essentially 'refeed' for a few months those deposits get back in good shape and fill out a bit again. That is some of the maintenance, five pound bounce many people see
When I look at pictures of myself in high school, I always think, "Oh my god I'm so skinny!" I was 160 pounds back then, so I wasn't thin by any means, but it was odd to see my cheekbones, collarbones, neck, shoulders and so on sticking out so prominently. I looked like any other slightly-overweight teenager, but to the 300-pound me, I look TINY.
I've mostly lost my weight in my face and shoulder/neck area. Its great. And it makes it a whole lot easier to look in the mirror.
But I do wish I would lose a bit more thigh and butt soon.
People have told me I look older... but in a good way. Let me see if I can find good pics. I used to be frustrated about how young I looked, so I'm glad!
1. from HS (about 10 years ago).
2. from about 7 years ago.
3. A couple months ago after about 18 months on maintenance.
Four years ago I went from weighing ~160 to ~130 and the difference was amazing. I can't wait to see that change again, I loved my face thin like that. Another girl told me that I looked better unhealthy (she didn't use this term but same thing) but I wholeheartedly disagree.
What's crazy is when you don't even realize how much it's changed until you look back at pictures. My avatar picture is from when I was around 206 and I made a little picture collage from 275 down and I looked like a completely different person back then. I'm pretty darn happy with how my face looks now so I'm hoping the rest of my body will keep catching up. =)
I've lost 4 stone and am 4lbs from my goal and I have been getting a lot of comments of how gaunt my face looks.. I really hate it and it's making me very self concious as I have high cheekbones anyway :-(
My husband lost well over 100 lbs and at the very end of his loss his face looked very gaunt, although now about a year later it doesn't and he hasn't gained anything back.
I've heard this from others as well that the "gaunt" look is temporary.
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I believe that the gaunt look is temporary as well.
It's really amazing how much a person's face changes after weight loss. At least with some people, you can't even recognize them anymore. I usually feel like the change is for the better, a slimmer face is closer to what we perceive as an "ideal face shape" which is oval. People with round faces do appear younger than they actually are, but there's a difference between having a round face and just being chubby.
"I just took progress pics for another post and I found an old face shot just for your thread... "
You look a lot younger in your second picture. I love your haircut too, I tried a style like that and it just didn't look good with my pudgy face, lol.
