Anyone else scared of looking older when they lose weight?
 

I am so scared that once I get down to 150 my face will look older. Right now I get compliments on how young I look (I'm 36 by the way), but I am afraid that will change after I am at goal. I have seen before & after pics of lots of folks, some look wwwwaaayyy younger while others look older. :dizzy:

im hoping to look younger when i lose the weight im 22 ( will be 23 this year ) but i feel like im wayyyyy older i feel i look that way too im hoping when the weight comes off some of the mature look about me will too ....

I have a feeling I will look a lot older too. I'm 34 but get carded all the time. I guess we'll see.

I think about the everytime I look in the mirror - I am turning 49 this year and get compliments all the time that they can't believe I'm a grandma - I am worried to death about it, but I have convinced myself, I'd rather look older than feel like crap! I can make up for it with my bubbly personality ;)

I am 43 and am terrified I will look older when I lose the weight. Most people tell me I look more like 33 now...

I think I would rather just have a face that looks my REAL age and a bod that looks way younger!

I have come to accept that I am going to look older. I'm not happy about it, but I would rather be healthy. I think part of it will be that I won't have that round face that has made people clueless about my age.

ha, I guess I'll have to try to think this way! I'm 47, almost 48, and have always looked much younger - in my early 40s, I had people in their 20s think I was their age! I've had a child since then and still haven't recovered from the sleep deficit! lol! I definitely do look a bit older now, but still easily pass for mid 30s and shock people when I tell them I'm not.

However, I just noticed a week or so ago that I now have some lines along the sides of my mouth which were not there 35+ lbs ago. I suspect that may be just the beginning and my face is going to catch up with my true age as I get thinner. Right now I have no wrinkles at all (weight plus good genes plus staying out of the sun) but I kind of doubt that will be the case in another 70 lbs.

OMG, *stop it, y'all. Nothing says *young like size 4 jeans. Nothing says young like the attitude you have in size 4 jeans. If all else fails, do what I do about my age..LIE. *laffin'.

Yes, I worry about this all the time!!!

But I already look about 25 instead of the 35 I am (even got carded in the liquor store twice in the past year, and drinking age is 19 here!) so even if I end up looking older, I'll most likely look my age. Whatever. I'd rather have a nicer body.

I stay out of the sun, don't smoke and don't drink - that seems to work pretty well for me.

~CGH~

I'm glad I'm not the only one who worries about this. I'll let you all know how my face turns out when I get to goal. LOL!

Wait until you are in your sixties, wrinkles will be the least of your worries. Our Pop Culture has taken all the joy out of being a women!!! The Media has ruined our pleasure and turned everyone shallow. I'm losing and maintaining for health reasons, in the end, if you don't have your health, it doesn't matter how skinny you look lying in bed, unable to do anything.

I'm 37 and people tell me I look much younger quite regularly (drives my oldest daughter nuts when they ask if we're sisters, because she thinks I look my age, so she doesn't take it as a compliment to me, but as an insult to her, lol) .I have to agree with my daughter, I think I look about my age. Although I've thought about it, looking older isn't a big worry. My worry is whether or not my skin will be able to shrink back especially since I am getting older and skin naturally looses elasticity with age.

lol, results! Ever so true!

I am adjusting to the changes in my own body and skin, of course we all wish to hang onto youth just a bit longer, but there is a sad lack of support for women to age gracefully in this society.

I refuse to dye my hair, wear clothes that so not suit me and will be working on a new style that I like, not what current fashion dictates. I want to blossom, not wither away because someone else thinks I am too old to be bothered with.

If it is a matter of looking younger vs older, you may look a bit older when you lose weight. However, overall your appearance will probably be better and you most certainly will feel younger, lighter, healthier.

While you are in your 30s your skin is more elastic and will have a much better chance of adjusting than if you wait until you are older.

Also, as you age, weight is very hard on your joints and mobility. I am in my 50s and I can tell you that with the extra weight I was hobbling around like an old woman--now I can get up and move like someone twenty years younger.

Judge for yourself in my pictures posted here

It was a month short of my 46th birthday in the 'after' pictures and I was 42 in the 'before'. Loads of people have told me I don't look my age - if fact last week one girl at one of my fitness classes asked me if I remembers the 80s. When I told her I was 18 in 1982 she was gob-smacked. BTW I am not wearing any make-up in those photos either.

Kitty

I have seen women who have lost a lot of weight who look really good, they exercise regularly, moisturize and use lots of sun block when outside.

So I guess it depends on how old you are, how well you've taken care of yourself, skin-protected from the sun damage and all that.

Plus, it's also a toss up, do you want to look younger then you are and fight all those problems that obesisty makes worse? Or be healthy, active and able to do basically anything you need to do pain free?


My mom and I did south beach diet together a few years ago. we talk on the phone and email a lot but she lives several hundred miiles from me and I only see her once every year or so.

She lost like 30 pounds and was really proud of herself. She was 79 at the time. She has always been very sedintary. She also grew up on a farm and never used sun screen until recently when they started talking about sun and cancer.

Her face care is washing it with what ever bar soap she finds on sale and never moisturizes after. I bought her a bottle of good moisturizer and she said "Honey, I'm too old for the high falunten stuff" ???? Oil of olay is high faluntin? (And just how do you spell faluntin anyway?)

Her idea of excerisce is to get on one those old belt vibrators for 30 minutes. She still has 2, a small one and a super duper one. They must be 35 years old.

When I saw her after she lost the weight I nearly started crying because she actually looked her age. It made me appreciate how old she is and how I won't have her around forever.

I have a sil who's smokes like a chimney-she's a chain smoker and always has one in her hand even in the bathroom! She lost about 50 pounds when she was in her 50's and she looks absolutely horrible with all the wrinkles around her mouth. She's also very sedinatary, she doesn't do anything that requires physical exersion. She's circle the parking lot for 10 minutes waiting for a parking spot in the front row by the store so she doesn't have to walk very far. And she's still a size 4 and proud of it at 60 yo, she still chain smokes and looks like she's been sucking on lemons all her life.

Oh dear, did I just completely turn you off from losing weight? Really these are extreme examples of what not to do really.

Sarah in MD

I saw a picture of myself the other day--in spite of what folks tell me, I DO look older----BUT I FEEL about 20 years younger. I'll take it.

I do worry about it. I'm 38 and one of my best features is my skin - no wrinkles or blemishes. I've been told I look much younger than I am. I get that my body skin is going to be loose, but I sort of thought my head/neck were going to survive the loss without issue.

The other day I was looking in a compact and happened to be leaning over a bit and was holding the mirror below my face looking down (remind me never to do that again!). I noticed that my lower neck looked crepey like my grandma's skin got and sort of loose. I was so upset! My first aging skin sign brought on by having stretched my skin out so much combined with the fact that my older skin isn't going to snap back like it would have years ago. Who knew a person who allowed themselves to get so fat could be so vain... :o

I felt so old at my heaviest. I don't care nearly as much about what I look like as what I feel like.

That said...I already look younger. ;) I see more and more of my college self in the mirror every day. (I'm 35)

I would much rather be thin and look healthy. I am 45 and have pure white hair (not gray, but white) and have for over 20 years. People have always thought I was older than I was - strictly because of my hair color. I go in cycles where I color it, but most of the time I just let it be white. It's so much easier. I am lucky that the color of my hair is pretty and not dingy. I get a lot of compliments on my hair color and have even had people ask me how I get my hair this color. I usually just smile and say "God did it, I can't take the credit." I am about ready to color it again, but I usually end up regretting it.

I think I am actually looking forward to looking older, just a BIT older though ;) I have always looked much younger than I am which has been a problem up until now but I am told I will enjoy it when I am older. My mom also looks very young and has been mistaken for my sister so I guess it's genetic. She is a thin and very petite woman though. I got my big build from my dad..darn LOL

I am going on 29 but I am frequently taken for 16-18. I get carded for buying scratch tickets that you have to be 18 to buy. when I had my daughter at 20, I am sure I looked like a 13 year old with a baby. I feel like I don't get taken seriously and get ignored because I look young. If I end up looking 29..well maybe 25 :D I think I will be very satisfied. I hope I don't end up looking younger :o

I'm not worried about really looking older, but uglier. (I know that's terrible.) I see a lot of people on tv who lost a lot of weight and yeah, their bodies are tiney but WTH happened to their face?!?! I have a great face right now and I don't want to lose it. (Sniffle.) I also have to wonder what is up with all the people who lose weight so they feel like they have to cut their hair short and tan till their orange. SO many commercials show short-haired, weird faced, orange, now skinny people it freaks me out!

KforKitty- You look great. Congrats on your weight loss!

MikoMarcia- "So many commercials show short-haired, weird faced, orange, now skinny people it freaks me out!" LOL!

Some of these comments are cracking me up! You all are too funny!

I'm afraid of looking older, and REALLY hoping to look younger. I'm 24 and people often mistake me for 30. I don't understand why. I don't smoke or tan; I'm just starting to get a couple fine lines under my eyes (but people have been mistaking me for older for years). But clearly I can't afford to look any older!

*snort* lol

So true! :hug: