Aibu to think as you get older being a bit fatter looks better?

[ywllowcomercio]

Im 5’6, weighed between 7.5-8stone until I hit mid thirties. Now I’m 40, I think I look awful under 8.5 stone, and actively have to work to keep my weight up to avoid looking gaunt and older.
aibu to think being excessively thin makes you look old and haggard? Also I love having tits again 😂 never had any until I was pregnant the first time ha

I'm 5'8"and look best at a bmi of about 23 or about 140 lbs.

Now I'm in my 60s I have to run twice a week to stay at that weight but I also feel so much healthier when I do.

Barbara Cartland once said ‘After forty a woman has to choose between losing her figure or her face. My advice is to keep your face, and stay sitting down.’

I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that people over 60 should aim for a bmi of 23 to be healthy - any less is underweight as you get older, apparently.

My GP said a bit of extra weight. I guess if it’s just a few pounds then the risks are pretty low.

It's not the case for me. I don't like the look of my bigger cheeks and I hate my disproportionately big stomach.
I'm still a normal BMI but I wish I was like a tube of toothpaste and could squeeze a lot of my abdominal fat round to give me a curvier bottom.
I hate not being able to wear pretty much anything I like because I'm always trying to disguise my stomach these days.
I got asked if I was pregnant twice in my mid to late 50s, so perhaps I do look a bit younger 😄 but I'd rather have the ability to eat what I like and not put on weight, that I used to have up to the menopause, than have slightly fewer wrinkles.

Everyone’s different. Some people do look better with a bit of chub and they genuinely look like chemo patients when they reach a certain age and are gaunt looking. Other people manage to rock it just fine and actually being overweight ages them. Peter Kay looks absolutely awful since he lost weight.

It's not just about weight though as you get older. Muscle tone is important. If sarcopenia sets in then you can lose a lot of strength in arms and legs affecting balance etc. Being slim and exercising along with a healthy diet should be the norm and keeping a healthy weight should be about this and not about looks.

Behold, a man has arrived.

🤣

Advice to you lad, follow Jameela Jamil

At least it was phrased better than "I like a woman with a bit of meat on her"

I have always had quite a chubby face and oily skin. Ive always hated it, but I think those 2 things potentially make me age slightly better. (Im late 40s) I am trying to do strength training regularly to help keep stronger, in old age.

If it's specifically looking at geriatric outcomes, it would be interesting to know to what extent cause and effect are in play. That is - lower BMI - statistically more chance of dying - but is that because many terminal conditions result in a loss of weight before you die?

My mum has combined dementia, she's in her 80s and her weight has fallen to about 5 stone (she's 5' 1) because she's lost all interest in eating due to the dementia. She's in full time care and they try to get nutrition into her but without force-feeding there's only so much they can do.

No. Now I’m gaining muscle my face looks far better than it did when I was overweight. It’s changed shape almost.

I think we're all different. I'm tall and look dreadful if I'm carrying extra weight. A lot of it is down to posture as well - there's nothing as ageing as stooped shoulders. Fit, active people generally look younger, whether they're skinny or not.

Urgh, what horrible misogynistic drivel that BC quote is.

I am petite build but my weight goes on my boobs and belly. I have always looked better at the low end of the bmi scale. That is my natural weight though and even at 55, I don’t have to work v hard to stay slim. Beauty is subjective and I am not sure one rule can apply to all.

My muscles show; sometimes veins too if I’ve just finished a workout. I’m not skinny though, just lean. I would probably look younger in the face if I was a bit fat but I don’t want to be a bit fat, I like being strong and muscular. I’m also trying to ‘future proof’, ie mitigate against osteoporosis and make sure I can get up of the floor if I ‘have a fall’.

The trouble with Barbara’s advice is that if one isn’t doing anything to maintain muscle mass, ‘sitting down’ will become somewhat permanent, without the option to do much else.

I’m 5’9 and 131 pounds. My face is fine. Even if it wasn’t, if I put on weight, it’d never go to my face - it would head straight to my belly. No thanks.

Well a healthy weight generally looks better than underweight yes

5 '8' and 140lb is a BMI of 21, not of 23.

Don’t forget weight looks different on people.
I weigh that and wear size 10 and 12- I need to be 9 stone for an 8

No, its not as simple as this at all.

The best way to look youthful as you age is to retain MUSCLE and that means not being too thin and not being overweight. Working out (resistance training) and increasing your protein is so important as you age.

I dont agree that being overweight as you age makes you look younger at all. It places extra pressure on your joints, it increases inflammation in general and after a certain age men and women typically hold extra weight around their waist which not only makes you appear older, it also poses higher health risks.

Hilarious how so many(slim)posters rush to threads like this to tell everyone their height and weight 🤣

Agree. I'm mid 30s, 5 ft 4 and normally around 8 stone. My face isn't round but has quite sharp cheekbones, it does look older than my years! I'm six months pregnant now and weigh about 9 stone but my face is still gaunt. If I could try and keep my weight to around 8 and a half stone I think it I would look better.

Yes it’s Mumsnet competitive thinness bingo.

Actually, there’s an undertone of misogyny in all this stuff. It’s vanishingly rare for anybody to worry about whether or not a man’s face might look better if he gained a few pounds here or there.