This is something that has been bothering me for a long time and that is I think I've gotten uglier as I've lost weight.

So I see pictures of myself at my highest weight and I definitely don't like how my face looked. I see pictures of myself in the upper 200s and I think that is where I looked best. My face was a bit plumper and I actually liked it.

Now, I see a lot more angles/lines on my face and neck. I love my collar bones but above that, it kind of annoys me. I notice it more when looking at pictures of myself. I started to think maybe it is just me getting old(er). Maybe I'm not used to seeing lines/angles on my face. I don't know.

I just wonder how I get used to it without avoiding looking at myself in pictures or possibly the mirror.

This breaks my heart. Give yourself time to grow into the new you you've worked so hard to get in to. I bet you are radiant.

Two things from someone who felt exactly the same way:

1. Part of this is mental - it's just shock. You aren't used to seeing your face looking the way it does, and it is odd. This portion does fade over time. But some of it is physical, too. I find that post-weight-loss faces look different immediately post-loss, or even during loss, than they do after a year or so of maintenance. Things sort of "balance out" over time.

2. It is totally normal to think it's weird, not recognize yourself, be frustrated with elements. Think of it this way...if you had certain nose, you'd have been born with it. You would have had a lot of time to see it, adjust to it, think about it, accept it, whatever. Your "new" face has emerged much faster, and you've got less time to deal with it. I've found that my thinner face is, from certain angles, very masculine. Slowly I've adjusted, but you've got to take some time!

So give yourself time to adjust...I bet in a year, you'll be much happier with your face and how you look in the mirror and in photos.

Hey Nelie
There are two main things I have noticed. I have some serious cheekbones. My face definitely looks different and I am often take aback when I see myself in a mirror. Also I have a lot more wrinkles than I would have predicted. They are laugh lines, so I am trying to love them for what they are, but there are times I feel like I suddenly look older---and I was carded up to 3 years ago. Anyone who comments states I look younger, but in my eye, I see the lines.

I think the others are correct. It will take some time to get used to our new looks. I am certain you look beautiful.

LOL - I had to answer your post because I have some of the same issues. Plumper, I had a LOT fewer lines in my face. The fat DID plump them out. People pay a lot of money for injections to do what my face did naturally. While my face was DEFINITELY fuller while fat, it was still - mostly oval shaped and "I looked like me". As I lost weight, I actually became alarmed - what were all those WRINKLES on my cheeks when I smiled????? UGH - I looked so OLD!

I can tell you, that things are getting better slowly. Some of the wrinkles were loose skin and are starting to disappear. Others ARE me being 50+ and are gonna stay. But, I am getting used to this new face - and I am liking it more. I am becoming more particular about the products I use on my face.

So - it WILL get better - it IS worth it - but - I soooo understand how you are feeling!

Hi Nelie- one of my biggest fears. A women I knew lost at least 100 lbs a few months back and I hadn't seen her during her journey. I was shocked at how different she looked and older. It worried me that I would be the same. Then I just accepted that I will look older- my face won't be as plump but neither will my body. I will be more limber, able to walk better, be healthier for my family. So to get used to a new older face- c'est la vie. The other thing is I think it is just that initially few months shock then everyone/you are used to the new look and it is not that different from everyone else. It is like people telling you you are too skinny and you at not even at ideal BMI. Also I told myself I doubt anyone every walked away from me previously thinking boy does she look young- they thought boy has she gotten fat.

Thanks for the comments. I know it'll take a bit of time to adjust. It helps knowing others have gone through the same thing.

Ha! Sometimes I think my face is too round/full/"fat" and then other times I am horrified to see how angular my face is.
It's a mental thing. I am convinced. And I am not so so sure it is 100% to do with weight loss--- I just think that there is always going to be a certain degree of mind/body image disconnect. We don't always (ever?) see ourselves objectively and so our self-concept can just shift like that.
Everyone that has ever commented on the shape of my current face seems to think that it is sharp and angular. So when I am feeling like I have a full moon face I think about that and when I feel that my face is too razor sharp I try and image some of that fullness back into my self-view.
Ah, our silly self-voices!

Nelie, I understand where you're coming from. For a while, I kept focusing on my face and seeing how sharp and pointy my nose suddenly seemed, how bug eyed my eyes felt, how hollow my cheeks looked. It was just so different from what I was used to that I couldn't take it all in at one time and I would focus on individual parts of my face instead of seeing it as a whole, a whole that actually goes together pretty well.

I think time will help mentally and physically. It seems like my face has "shifted" in the last year and things aren't as sharp as they once were, or perhaps I am just used to it now.

Yeah it can be weird. I've always been overweight so it is really weird to see a different face emerging, although I really like where it's going. I agree, when you look at your face and everything put together, it really makes a difference.
My cheeks are slimming down, though still chubby, I can see the angles coming out. It is a shock but I think it takes some time to love. I actually really want a more defined face but I'm starting to really love my facial structure, even my chubby cheeks which I think will still be chubby when I'm slimmer, but it will look better with an overall slimmer face. And yes, like Shrinkingchica, I have weird perceptions of my face, not to mention body overall. Some days I think I'm cute, other days I think I just look plain fat, some day's average, other days huge (all while staying within the 148-152 range). Sometimes I think my face is huge and other days I feel like it looks "average" and other days I wish I had sharper features b/c I'm convinced that 18 lbs from now, I'll still have a baby-face look. It is weird though, my roommates think I look older in person and younger in pictures.. (or maybe it was the other way around, idk)..
Ugh, your mind can really play tricks on you!

My face still has its roundness, but sometimes I'm shocked at the parts that are angular! I agree that it does settle down a bit after awhile. My chin never seemed this pointy before!

Nelie: Thanks for posting this question. This was something that I struggled with too. I think that I really do look older in my face since the weightloss. This was perhaps a disappointing aspect of my loss. It didn't help this summer when one of my neighbors remarked how "tired" I looked one afternoon.

I really don't have a good grasp on how my face may appear to others either. Not that it should matter I suppose but I feel like I look about ten years older than I really suspect that I do to others. The reality is that today I look like a healthy forty year old woman when before I appeared like a burned out thirty something.

I'm only just now beginning to accept how my face appears. It's still a little weird for me at times. I see other family members in my face too. Usually when I glance in the mirror while doing upper body work in the gym I'll see my dad staring back at me.

It does take time to become familiar with a changing body and face. The collarbones, hip bones, emerging muscular definition, a strong lean neck, cheekbones, etc. You know it's a good thing we really don't lose all of this weight in two months. It really does take time to recognize and embrace all these new parts and we slowly peel off the layers.

I know what your talking about, though I have liked the change thus far. I have lost 31 lbs and when I started my face was extremely round. I have lost alot of face weight right under my cheekbones and around my jaw. I have looked at pictures with angled side view and I have what I think is the biggest Jay Leno chin I have ever seen. I have a very prominent jaw line as well. Maybe with the more weight I lose Ill see stuff balance out. Until then my either actual or imagined Jay Leno chin is there.

In 2003 I lost 80 lbs. and a "friend" said that she preferred my previous face. She said I looked gaunt. That stopped my weight loss journey in its tracks. This fall I am finally on a roll and I realize it is "my" face and if you don't like how it looks now look somewhere else.

I remember when I was 240 with some major health issues strangers felt it was their business to say "You have such a pretty face...if only."

I am so happy now about how things are going and will not be derailed by peoples opinions. Its better to be healthy and at peace with myself.

At times I do look older than my years but other times I am startled at the thinner me looking back from some store window. I do an inner Fonz then!

Take care,
Cie