Is this what they mean about choosing between arse and face? Weight loss.

[SorrelSoup]

Almost 40, have recently lost weight and am the slimmest I've been in 6 years since having 2 kids. Still one more stone to go. The thing is that this week I've noticed the skin hanging down on my eyelids. It's never been there before and like I need an eye job. One eye in particular looks very hooded. The rest of my face looks older too. I guess I'll get used it but it's quite a sudden change. Does this mean that before the fat in my face was propping everything up?

[retainertrainer]

Yeh I think so. Just focus on the health benefits though.

[SorrelSoup]

I am. I'll probably look 20 years older after the next stone!

[mayhew]

I wanted to go from 12 stone to my pre baby 9st 7. Which looked perfect at 30.
As I reached 10 st, the face collapse started. 10st 7 looks much better and younger. Yes the fat offsets the collagen loss in older skin.

[HildaOg]

Yep, I look mid twenties with an extra stone, when I lose that I age very quickly!!!!! Ten years overnight... So I eat doughnuts and crossaints now. My body would look better slimmer but my face looks great and that's what everyone looks at.

[ToastyFingers]

Also, some people just get a bit gaunt looking when they lose weight, I always look really hollow and peaky when I've lost weight even when I'm right in the middle of my healthy bmi range.

[SorrelSoup]

This is depressing!!!

[Libitina]

If my MIL gets down to her WW groups ideal weight she looks dreadful. Ill, old and gaunt. If she puts on just another half a stone she looks an awful lot healthier.

[TheStoic]

This is depressing!!!

I think it's the opposite of depressing.

Pass me another donut, it's doing my face a world of good.

[ShowMePotatoSalad]

I would choose my body every time over face. Having wrinkles on your face doesn't increase the risk of heart disease - having a waist measurement over just 32" or over (as a woman) does. 35" waist or over puts the risk of heart disease as "severe" (info all obtained from British Heart Foundation).

[Piratesandpants]

Pass me another donut, it's doing my face a world of good.

[MrsDesperado]

According to the BHF website ShowMe, I'm almost in the severe category and I'm 5'4" and 9 stone 8! My waist measurement at the midpoint between the bottom of my ribs and the top of my hips - which is exactly where they suggest to measure - is 34.5". Is that right??! I always thought for women you were supposed to measure your waist at your slimmest part? (27" for me)

[SingaSong12]

Is part of this that you are looking for changes and now you are noticing something that was there before?

[ToniMumsnet]

We'll be moving this thread to Style and Beauty soon.

[MaidOfStars]

I'm the same OP. I dropped a stone last year, to the bottom of the BMI range (so by no means overweight in the first place). 40 years old.

My skin hasn't coped at all. I'm embracing new wrinkles on my face, never been bothered by this. And my face shape is miles better. But the skin on my arms/armpits/upper chest I'm trying to fill with muscle

[SorrelSoup]

I accepted the sunken face but the droopy eyelid thing has happened overnight. Mind you, my skin has become really dry too which is emphasising things.

[Keepingupwiththejonesys]

I always think that being overweight when you're below around 30 makes you look older but as you get to around 35 or more a little extra weight makes you look younger. I'm not saying everyone should be overweight once they hit a certain age, just that maybe the higher end of healthy bmi is better for looking younger. Of course though everyone is different and this doesn't apply to everyone. Also everyone can be whatever weight they want!

[Oblomov17]

Depressing. I don't want to lose weight and end up looking wrinkly and haggard.

[Maverick66]

There are no wrinkles on a balloon ;)

[specialsubject]

As fat means a high risk of dead earlier, I think looking normal for your age is probably worth it.

[Notagainmun]

I lost a lot of weight ten years ago and my face aged but I did lose it fast. It soon went back on though. I have lost a lot of weight again but I lost it slower and my face isn't as bad as last time even though I am older. I have read that it can take up to two years for your skin to recover as much as it is going to.

I have made sure I eat less carbs, eat twenty five grams of almonds a day, have at least five a day, mostly dark green veg, and eat salmon twice a week. I think this has helped.

[QuimWilde]

A decade ago I was 34 and weighed under 8 stone. I looked awful. My skin was loose, I had hollows in my cheeks, my eyelids were saggy and my arms were like deflated balloons as were my tits. Illness and medication means that now I'm around 15 stone. People are always telling me they can't believe I'm the age I am. I have not one wrinkle and my skin is firm and smooth.

I'm making a concerted effort to lose weight by eating sensibly (no fads or anything). Two months in and I've dropped two dress sizes. I feel better already but I know that if I go too far, I'm going to look even more gaunt and aged than I did ten years ago. So I've decided to only go down to about a size 14/16 and stop. I'll still be only slightly over my ideal BMI but I'll look so much better than if I was a 10 or 12.

[Rockaby]

I was out for dinner with someone recently and everyone was saying how great she looked.

Turned out, she'd been on holiday and gained a stone! She's still a healthy weight, as she was slim to begin with and a little more weight suits her better.

I suit a happy medium. I'm 5'8" and 10st 7lbs is my best weight I think. I've been as light as 9st 3lbs (aaaaages ago) and my face never looked good with it tbh. I'm fat now and trying to get back to something reasonable.

[HildaOg]

You don't have to get fat. I weigh just under ten stone now after being 8-8.5 from the age of sixteen to thirty. I look mid twenties in my later mid thirties. A stone or so makes a huge difference to the face without causing any health or serious looks issues to the body. I really think women should avoid being purposely thin after a certain age because its very aging. Better to have a few extra pounds (or stone) on a healthy, active body then to look twenty years older on the face. I think you are healthiest at whatever you look your best and youngest at.

[wickedgamestoplay]

I would choose the body.

Then once all the weight is off look at my face. I'd happily go under the knife when my eyes get too hooded for Botox. But for the time being Botox

[MaQueen]

Yes!

I have recently lost nearly a stone, and gone from a generous size 14 back to a size 12, and have noticed my neck is starting to look the tiniest bit gaunt.

Not sure what to do, as I still would like to lose another 7lbs