weight loss hurdle: i'm afraid i'll look older

[foodmasochist]

Does anyone else feel this way?

i'm 36. But i look young. i don't know why, i just have a young face. i get carded consistently. i cannot buy alcohol if i don't have my ID with me.

This is all well and good but i am truly afraid i will look older if i lose 100 pounds. i'm afraid of lose skin but moreso, i'm afraid of how my face will look. i can only assume it's colagen keeping my face young looking and isn't that just a fancy word for face fat? LOL.

i realize this is utterly ridiculous, because i may look "young" but at 100 pounds overweight i certainly could look better if i lost weight and certainly would lose my belly and big butt. So i am not blind to the upsides....

i'm just wondering if anyone else feels this way.

-fm

[zoodoo613]

I guess I don't worry about it. I used to look young, although I think my looks are catching up to my age. What's looking young get me, aside from the occasional carding? Not much.

BTW, I"m 38.

[Prism21]

I've lost 45 lbs and everyone tells me that I look younger. I certainly feel so much younger and youthful. I'm 37 and I see lines in my face that I didn't notice before. But overall, I agree that I look younger.

[nationalparker]

Better to possibly look a bit older when you lose weight than have a body that is YEARS older than your true age as it struggles to work with the extra weight - don't sweat it. You're doing what you need to do to get healthy!

[bargoo]

I never have that problem , most people are suprised to know how old I really am.

[Jen516]

I worried about this too... I'm 33yo and I get carded all the time. I figured the fat in my face was filling up all the wrinkles. I've lost 70 lb (288 -> 218lb) and do notice new lines and contours in my face, but when I look at other people, I see the same lines there. I figure I just look normal now. I'm a teacher and I've had former students comment on how I look so much younger now... and the new ones can never guess how old I am anymore. I think the people I've seen that look really old have just gone too far and lost too much weight or they aren't doing it in a healthy way and that affects their appearance. All in all, the things I worried about (loose skin, looking old, etc.) just haven't appeared -- and I don't think I would care now if they did since I physically feel soooo much better at this weight!

[luckymommy]

Well, you could save up all the money you're not spending on extra food and use it later for collagen injections! I'm only kidding, of course. The truth is that aging is a GOOD thing! It means we're alive. The problem is that we live in a youth-obsessed society but you should think of yourself as a fine wine that gets better with age.

[Nola Celeste]

It's a trade-off. My mom always said that as she aged, she had a choice of preserving her *** or her face; she chose her face and gained some weight. She looked wonderful at 62. She weighed 130 pounds then and was a little shorter than me, but for her, that was a weight gain from her usual 105-110ish that she maintained throughout most of her life.

I'm 41 and have lost enough to start seeing the weight loss in my face--but in good ways. I might look a little more mature with the underlying structures of my face (cheekbones, jawlines) making themselves more visible, but I don't think "mature" is synonymous with "aged." If anything, the impression I gave of youthfulness was the false one; my face had a childlike fullness to it, but my overall health was farther away from the good health I enjoyed as a kid than what it is today.

I kind of lucked out in the weight-distribution lottery, as I never really gained much in my face, just enough to smooth everything out. I'm hoping that aging won't be much of an issue for me as I continue to lose. But so far, I've matured--not aged--in attractive ways. I like my face, I like my 13-inch neck, I like my jawline and my cheekbones and my more noticeable eyes.

I think we can strike a happy medium between *** and face and preserve both fairly well without resorting to surgery or injections. I don't plan on reaching the low end of my healthy weight zone for my height expressly because I want to retain a younger-looking face. That's the beauty of doing this ourselves--no one is going to tell us how to go about weight loss or where to stop. We can get off the ride at any time.

[Desert Rat]

As an aside to Lucky Mommy's comment, according to this months Money magazine, the annual medical expenditures for someone with a BMI of 45 average $13,327 vs. $1,938 for someone with a BMI of 25. That extra $11,389 will buy a lot of Botox and facial fillers! Or, as I'd recommend, really cute clothes and great vacations to wear them on.

[Cali Doll]

I'm 36 also!! I've never felt more youthful and alive!

I do understand your concern, though. I am here now and I can tell you - DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT! There is not one single moment that I wish I was back to my high weight so my face will plump out again. My face looks great, my body looks great, I'm healthier and happier and I have more energy than ever!

By the way, I don't think 36 is old at all. :-) I wish someone would try and keep me out of stores like Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe. lol!

[stacygee]

I am 38 and since losing 90 pounds I can't remember feeling this good. However, I think losing weight shows some lines that weren't there before and bags under my eyes. Other people say I look younger... but I don't think I do. I FEEL younger and that is really what is most important. I probably look my age.

[AZ Sunrises]

I prefer to look older than visit Omar the Tentmaker for clothing.

[ryeb]

Now I am only 27, but I noticed the healthier and better shape I am in, the better my skin looks = looking younger. I think my skin is so much healthier now and it is awesome! Good luck with your weight loss, I bet when you start rocking smaller hot outifts, people will still card you

[MiniMeee]

Since losing 60+ lbs, I have gotten the "you look 10 years younger" comment many times. I'm turning 50 this year and people think I am 35. So weight loss definitely will make you look younger. Plus, when you feel physically better, you carry yourself differently, your more flexible, more able and willing to do more things, start wearing cuter clothes, shoes, etc...

[caryesings]

I always thought my youthful look was because the fat filled out the wrinkles but not so! At least so far, the 100 lbs less has not aged my face at all and the body is WAY younger (until I get naked...)