Losing weight and looking so old!
 

Hi, I'm relatively new here. I'll be 62 in a couple of months. I've been doing really well with my weight loss program, but I am starting to look so much older! I've always had good skin that I've taken care of, and I don't have a lot of age spots or fine wrinkles, but since I've lost the weight I have developed truly alarmingly saggy jowls and turkey neck. It looks like my face is slowly melting down my neck. I know it's just the extra skin that was formerly stretched by fat, but it's so depressing when I look in the mirror.

And it's not just my perception. I never used to get offered seats on the overcrowded bus, but now I get one every time!

I did get an updated shorter haircut which helps a little (at least I got compliments on it).

Is this something that will get better or will my face just continue to "melt down" as I lose more weight. I never thought I'd consider a face lift and I wouldn't do it until I've reached my goal, but I'm starting to really seriously consider it.

Is anyone else having this problem?

Yes, it will get better. I show weight loss first in my face but in a little while that fixes itself. I don't know what happens but the remaining weight seems to redistribute itself and you will look much better.

Hi Annieway-
I know it is kind of freaked me out too when I started seeing wrinkles that I did not notice before! I was started Collagan drink and taking Vitamin E and Omega.
Àlso I plan on going in for some Laser resurfacing and if need be getting 200'000
Tune-up, LOL!!
My Coach told me not to worry , so I have to realize these are things that can and will be addressed just keep you eyes on the prize.
And know you deserve the extra pampering.
keep up the good work!
Roo2

Thank you Roo and Bargoo for your encouraging words! I am no less committed to the weight loss program, and now I hope, as I go along, that my appearance will improve. I'll look into the Collagen drink and the E. I'm already on Omega 3.

you're face will look better Annie :) when mine started to sage and look funny, i was so depressed cause I was always know for having a pretty face but over time it has filled out and looks so much better.

When I lose weight I start to see my mother when I look in the mirror. She lost weight when she got older and started to get the saggy look. I thought of her as old, so it didn't matter to me. I do look exactly like her, but moreso when I lose weight in the face. Obviously, that has happened over and over. LOL

I've been concerned about wrinkles and sags but I don't want to be overweight so I figured I had to just deal with them! lol! I'm hoping that my skin will kind of tighten up as the weight loss and exercise continues.

YES !

I'm 55 & have always recvd compliments on my looks. OMG ! you dont look it ! Well I don't I'm now seeing an older looking face in the mirror. WHAT THE HECK ! I don't like it ...so do I stay fat & filled out ? :(

Yes, I look EXACTLY like my mother. I do hope it gets better, but I still have a long way to go with weight loss so I guess it won't be for a while yet.

I always lose weight first in my face - and I hate that because I have a long "horse face" the way it is. Thank God my daughter got her dad's round face :)
When I get to my goal weight there is no doubt...facelift, here i come!

OMG, this is something I didn't think about. I'm only 7 lbs in, but really I don't want to look older. I do notice more of the jowls. It does get better, really? You aren't just saying that - LOL!??

Kris

looking old and wrinkled
 

I'm down 20 lbs, 20 more to go. I just turned 60 and having a hard time getting used to the excess skin that used to be filled in with fat! I've been told that after a "certain" age, the skin will no longer go back the way it used to...loss of collagen and elastin. Is this true? or does it just take longer? Anyway, I've been doing facial exercises and they seem to be helping a bit, especially the neck area. Any advice is welcome.

I've lost a little. I'm turning into an new creature; Turkey neck, Bat-wing arms. Skin apron that I can't take off!! I really love muffin tops; to eat!. We used to go to Mrs. Lee's hanging gardens, now I have the hanging gardens. I'm ready. Bring it on.

I'm already worried about this. I'm used to people telling me that I look 10-15 years younger - my favorite was the x-ray tech who asked if I could be pregnant and did a double-take when I told him I'd been through menopause - and I know it's because the fat has filled up any wrinkles I have. It has also hidden my cheekbones too, though, and I'll be glad to get those back. Extra skin on my body torso is a concern too. I should've watched what I was eating all these years!

It will fill in again to an extent. If you tend to lose weight in the face first, like I do, it can seem scary. But then when you get to your goal...which might be slightly heavier than you may have been shooting for in the past...you go onto maintenance and eat a little more and the face fills in first...for me anyway. But you also have to make friends with it a little bit and use your sense of humor because we can't go back. I'm gonna shoot for healthy, happy and pleasantly plump. That rocks! ;)

I'm looking for a really good facial moisturizer for women over 50. Does anyone have one they especially like?

Netters61, I'll be glad to be pleasingly plump.:)

Perhaps try adding a vitamin C serum


.

Three points, annieway:

(1) Even if nothing changes, isn't it better to feel younger than to look younger?

(2) I've always heard that you lose fat in a top-down direction, so it affects your face more than your breasts more than your hips and so on, but that over the course of a year, the fat re-distributes in a bottom-up direction, so that gradually your legs lose fat which re-distributes to your hips and so on up to your face. So don't make any conclusions about what you're going to look like until you've gotten to your goal weight & have kept the weight off for a full year.

(3) You should seriously consider doing facial exercises (which include the neck). There are a lot of free demo's of facial & neck exercises on YouTube. I went ahead and shelled out the bucks for Carole Maggio's DVD of facial exercises. After doing the exercises twice a day for just two weeks, I noticed big improvements in my jowls and neck, and after doing them twice a day for six weeks, I looked ten years younger—no bull. I think the DVD is called Carole Maggio Ultimate Facercise, and is available at Amazon. What I like about how she teaches the exercises is that after you get the technique down pat, she has a fast-paced 8-minute version. For me, at least, those two 8-minute sessions every day are really worth the effort! (And no, I have no vested interest in promoting her DVD. I'm just a happy customer.)

Good luck! Oh, and by the way, I'm 58.

I have been using the Strivectin Firming creams. I buy them at Costco. They are pricey but I swear I see a difference. Thank you all for your suggestions.

D

Yes, I am worried about the same thing. I am 59. I had lost down to about 159 a year and a half ago or so and I noticed the same thing (I've regained a lot of that since then - sigh). I do think it was worse at 159 than it was when I was at 205. There was less fat filling in my face so it looked more saggy.

Another thing is that when I start losing weight it really does hit me that I'm not going to look now like I looked when I became a WW lifetime member 23 years ago. That is, getting to goal won't make me look like I'm in my 30s any more. And, that is OK.

I also think that some people have more saggy skin on the face than others. People used to think I was younger than my chronological age. Part of that may have been that I didn't have a lot of wrinkles mostly because I didn't have a lot of sun exposure so didn't damage my skin.

But in the last few years the sagging has been much, much worse than the benefit I get from not having a lot of wrinkles from sun damage. The worst thing is that my eyelids sag a lot.

DH went to see an ENT recently and he recommended that DH have surgery for sagging eyelids (that wasn't why DH went in). What was notable to me is that my sagging eyelids are way worse than those of DH.

Anyway, I told DH a few months ago that once I get to my goal weight and the weight loss settles I want to have my eyelids done and possibly a face lift. I never really thought I would do that, but I seriously don't like the sagging.

I see people talking about getting tummy tucks to removing loose skin. I would way rather do eyelid surgery and face lift surgery.

I know not every approves of cosmetic surgery. And, I'm not at all unhappy to be the age I am. I just don't like the degree of sagging that I have which seems to be more than that of most people my age. I've gone from looking younger than my age to looking older.

I am just beginning my journey,(again) but I have let the extra weight hurt my self-image; after I lose, I hope that I will feel secure enough to realize I am almost 60, and my self image should include some sagging and wrinkles. Really, there is nothing prettier than happy, and that's what I plan on looking like, happy. And, I own my body, if I decide to get a string lift, I will. Life is short, I have spent 20 child rearing years ashamed of my baby fat. I want those years back!

I always seems to lose weight in my face and neck first. I feel being thinner and maybe a few wrinkles is better than having the fat.( always had a fat round face). Sounds like the new hair style is good. I find that a good moisturizer helps with the wrinkles. pamper yourself, it always does wonders for my self image.

I wondered...
 

You hit on a fear of mine.....that, as I lose the weight, my face will sag even more. I too am signed up for a laser treatment - Erbium Fractional- in March, so I hope to stave off the worst of it. I will have my face and neck done. I only expect to have a week downtime while I heal enough to go out of the house. I also get filler injected in my face... marionette lines, under the eyes at the top of the cheekbones, folds from nose to mouth, and my lips. It has all helped so much.

Take care... Ranch Girl :wave:

Good Facial Moisturizer
 

I really like Oil of Olay, 7 in One, Anti-aging. I don't breakout, it is non-greasy and absorbs into the skin very well. My skin feels plumped up after I use it.

Dr. Perricone has wonderful products too, to help repair and rebuild the skin. I like the Advanced Face Firming Activator. I use it before I use the Oil of Olay.

Let me know if you try them!

Ranch Girl :wave:

I like the oil of Olay 7 in one moisturizer. it feels good.

Lose Weight/Look Much Older
 

Last year, at 64, I got down to my target weight of 125 lbs.

Then, I got sick and didn't eat for a week. At 118, you start looking old and fragile, even though you don't feel any different.

I gained back the 7 pounds this winter, but the "damage" is done. This is both frustrating and discouraging!

I am 56 and don't look my age, had knee surgery in December and my ortho kept asking me my age, because he didn't believe me, this is from a man (they don't notice too much. lol) I gained the weight pretty quickly, post-mono and then hypothyroid. I have a "full" face even when I am thinner. My Irish grandmother always said that I would age well, we will see after I lose the weight!

I make sure I drink 64 oz of H2O per day. I always use suncreen. Exfoliate 2x/week and I use a good moiturizer. I use Dr Denese with SPF30 during the day and in the winter I use Philosopy's When Hope is Not Enough. I use a lighter night cream in the warmer months: Oil of Olay, Isomers or MyChelle.

Someone wrote on another blog: When we are in our 50's ( and up) we have to choose between our face and our ars. lol

I'm 53 and my face also is the first place I notice weight loss. But only if I get really low in weight will my face, or I should say around my mouth , that I have the "horse face" but without the wrinkles. But I'm not trying to get down to what I did 11 years ago. I'm just trying to get in a smaller pair of pants :D

Losing weight is great but........
 

I'm almost 65 and have lost 70 lbs. I hate the wrinkles I'm getting get worst every day. Age spots and saggy skin. I need more coverage for my face and freckles, wish I could find a good makeup. I am pleased with weight loss, but hate getting older.

I agree, facial exercises are so important! I've been doing them for around 2-3 months for jaw pain, but I've definitely noticed a positive difference in the tautness of my neck.

Jamie, which exercises do you do? I've got the FlexEffect program and still need to learn it, which I keep putting off. But I do believe it works and just need to set aside the time.

Now I'm scared because I already have a saggy face with jowls starting. I hope they don't get worse as I lose weight!

Anybody have ideas about ropy necks instead of saggy jowls - that seems to be my problem, I've noticed in a couple of pictures if I'm not totally relaxed in the head/neck area or awkward angle for the shot - it's scary! Sternocleidomastoid yikers! Also front edge of trapezius where it joins clavicle.

(sorry, it's my physio background, lol- must be precise...)

Liana:yikes:

NewMary, I have this issue also and I'm only 48. I don't typically wear make up but asked my daughter to give me a makeover. Honestly it made me look worse. I never thought about my face changing on this journey but it has.