Sunken cheeks
 

After losing over 130 pounds, I find that I've gone from having a perfectly round, plump face to one that looks overly hollowed out. And I'm still not finished yet... I still have a spare tire that I'm working off, and I'm worried that by the time I'm finished I'll look like I've spent a few years in a war zone.

I'm sure plenty of you have experienced this too. Does anyone have any tips for dealing with this? Does it improve over time? Have you tried facial fillers or anything of the sort?

I don't care for perfection, but I really hate that my face bears so much evidence of my massive weight loss.

Sorry I dont have any advice, but I wanted to congratulate you on your 132 lb loss! You must have worked so very hard!!!!

You look great, you're just not used to seeing yourself with cheekbones!
Spare tire, I didn't see that in the pictures, but if you were hiding it well I'll take your word for it.

I approached my weight loss the same way--changed one habit at a time until I arrived at a healthy plan that I think I can stick with. Not the quickest way to lose but it worked for me.

I'm wondering when I will notice this - and also when enough fat will go away that I have my first wrinkles. I guess I'll have to trade one for the other.

You look perfectly normal ~ your cheeks aren't sunken at all. You just have to get used to your new facial shape. You were pretty at your high weight but you are a knockout now.

I saw your pictures.Your face is beautiful.I definately dont see what you do.

I agree with the others!
Your face looks beautiful and not sunken in at all!
When I look at old pics of myself I am shocked at how round and puffy my face was-- I never noticed until I lost weight. It was the first comment people made while I was losing weight too.

You are lucky to be younger than me though. Now I see wrinkles and extra skin that the fat had "puffed" out....

Hahah, yes I hide it (many thanks to the makers of Spanx!) though I figure another 10-15 pounds will minimize it. As for my cheekbones, yeah, I'm not used to them yet, and I'll definitely give myself time before doing anything drastic. But lately I've gotten so many comments about how thin my face is compared to the rest of me, and some people are actually worried. I don't like these lines either!


Thanks DCHound and harrismm :) Though I have to admit that the picture I have on my progress page is a good one... my face definitely looks more sunken in person. Actually, my face was the first place to see a big change, and while I was losing the major pounds, my face became "normal" when the rest of me was still overweight. It stinks.

Michele, it's shocking to go back and look at old photos of myself --even ones that I've seen hundreds of times. Like you, I never really noticed how big I was, it's amazing!

As for the wrinkles/extra skin, even though I'm still in my 20's I'm definitely not immune. I have some surgeries in my future, for sure. Right now, though, I'm more concerned with what people can see --my face. I just want to know if there is anything that can help in the meantime.

Hee you are beautiful - perfectly normal face. Let your brain catch up to the mirror :)

I second what Glory (and others) are saying. I don't see a sunken face at all; I see a beautiful, glowing, healthy young woman with pretty cheekbones.

I honestly didn't expect so many compliments (and I wasn't fishing for them, Scout's honor...) so thank you. But I'll leave my question open, if anyone has any tips for dealing with weight loss-related skeletor syndrome, please let me know! :)

Drina - Everyone told me they didn't see it on me, but my mom saw it and others who were very close saw it. I think that over the next 6 months to a year, my body sort of "evened out" and that gauntness went away. At the same time, my eyes adjusted so I started seeing myself as more normal. Both moved me toward a happy medium of not being bothered by the gauntness now (and my mom thinks I look tons better).

Drina--you look beautiful--the pic of health! If you look like you've been in a war zone, i wish someone would draft me!

Drina, you are so gorgeous!

I don't think you look gaunt, but I see why you might hear that. Like Mandalinn, I heard that from those close to me and like her, it's something that "evened out" over time.