Anyone else stopping due to how aging losing weight is?!

[Hedgehogtimeagain]

I just wanted to see where everyone is drawing a line on taking wli (unless maintaining) as I have recently stopped after losing 2 stone.

I originally stopped in October last year at a bmi of 24.5 but then restarted in March as I had put on 2kgs, I feel in hindsight this was irrational.

I am now at a bmi of 24 and stopped a month ago as I felt it was really starting to age me. I’m now happy being between 24-25.5 and a size 12.

All the collagen in the world won’t prevent the loss of volume in the face that is associated with wli, and I look at photos 3 years ago and think how much better I looked with more padding in the face.

I just wondered how people are balancing losing weight and being at a lower bmi against the effect that it has on how you look? It’s been quite alarming in my case, and I don’t want to go down the route of fillers/ Botox but it’s that age old thing of solving one problem but creating another!

I'm planning on stopping at a BMI of about 26. I'm mid fifties, that will put me in about a size 12 in the places I shop the most on the High St, Hobbs, Jigsaw, Whistles, Cos, Boden. I'm currently wearing a size 14 in most places at a BMI of 28.5.

I don't want to look old or scrawny.

I wouldn't have any cosmetic work, not who I am at all, each to their own of course but not for me.

Oh I look much younger, my bmi is now 20. However my face was fat, with double chins and I never ever perceived that as youthful. In addition I find as we age, being overweight is incredibly ageing and people look at you overall. Now as my body is toned and fit, and my double chins gone, I look years younger.

That’s great, lucky you! Do you mind me asking your age, I am 44 so not sure if that’s something to do with it.

I have had two separate people that didn’t know me 3 years ago, say they wouldn’t have recognised me in a photo - and I don’t think they mean it in a good way 😂

Ive lost my double chin but also lost volume in the cheek area so it maybe looks a bit more saggy now.
Ive absolutely loved fitting into smaller clothes and not dreading not being able to find something to wear, but for me a happy medium is a slightly higher bmi but still in the healthy range.

Yes, I stopped at bmi 26 just as my face started to try and fall off. Can't afford a facelift so hitting the gym instead . Skinny when middle aged just looks like a scrawny chicken. Not a good look.

I’m a couple of years older than you OP and I am like @Wildgoat- I look much better overall, having lost the double chins and the moon face look. I now have cheekbones and a jawline. I have lost over 10 stone and won’t be stopping until I’m well into the healthy weight range with room to spare. BMI is currently 26.

Try maintenance for longer- the fat redistributes I think. I always end up with flat empty bust when I lose weight, but over time it seems to refill a bit. It’s an issue for me as I’m pear shaped. Losing weight exaggerates it!

So don’t panic too soon. And don’t feel obliged to get to a specific BMI. Depending on your frame, you will suit a different weight. Fine boned, tiny framed people need to be at the lower end of the BMI. Broad framed people need to be nearer the top.

I've read that being over bmi 25 is healthier for actual old people. I'm 71 and aiming for 26/27 . I'll be 72 by the time I get there.

I mean this gently but there is a long way between skinny and overweight bmi if 26. Healthy weight bmi is 18,5 to 24.9.

howver I agree, skinny at any age is not good, we should all be aiming for toned and fit appearance.

Being over 25 bmi when over 70, gives you bone health protection, yes, but it also comes with the exact same risks of being overweight, these risks don’t go away due to age, I’m afraid. So it’s plus and minus.

It’s unavoidable I think that being overweight pads out your face and makes you less wrinkly. When you lose weight you lose the padding.

I’ve stopped at BMI 23 and definitely look older, my face is more saggy. But I feel much better and my weight related health issues have resolved. If you lost weight only for your looks then yes there’s a trade off. In terms of health however there’s no downside.

Yes I’ve noticed the boob thing too, mine resembled squidgy balloons but have now padded out and look slightly better. I hated having big boobs for my frame as it makes clothes hang unevenly, so that’s one good thing that they have reduced.

I think for me, having done wli twice is that for me, the top end of a healthy bmi is where I want to be, I am happy at a 12 but always wanted to be 8/10, when I think about it, the only reason I wanted that is because it sounded ‘small’ but would probably look terrible on me.

I feel ‘healthy’ now in that I’m not out of breath, can bend without my belly getting in the way and just feel generally better now I’m smaller and no longer using wli.

Agreed, I have a very narrow frame, and suit my weight, but a lot of gym work means you can see muscle and I look toned.

i think your body does change when weight loss stabilises, it’s odd. I’ve been maintaining for 6 months, as much as I ate my protein, and worked out several times a week throughout the weight loss phase, I still loooked like I’d lost weight with my clothes off, and I had some loose skin, on my upper arms, under my backside and when I twisted by torso. Nothing hanging, but general crepyness. It’s now nearly all gone, just a little bit left on my upper arms. However I upped my protein and kept the training up.

my face ,,my jaw line looks defined, cheekbones visible, and where as I had a little turkey neck, that’s also now completely gone.

its a really odd thing,but what you look like when you stop is not what you look like once the weight stabilises and after several months, assuming you do everything right, weights, collagen, protein, skin care etc, it’s like everything just tightens up.

im mid fifties. But six months ago, when i got naked, you could see I’d lost a lot of weight, to the extent I thought i didn’t wish to wear a bikini on a holiday I have coming up in a couple of months, now I’d happily wear one as you wouldn’t look at me and think I’d lost a lot of weight, I just look normal, with muscle definition.

I think in a way I look younger (because people tell me I do) but I saw a photo of myself recently and thought maybe I looked older.
i’m 40, got my bmi from 35 to 21.5 in a year on WLI.
i did it for my health and not what i looked like so my face doesn’t bother me, i don’t have to look at it!!
I’m happy where i am, my health conditions seem to have reversed and im not looking to lose further weight but I am planning on staying on them to maintain my weight as it is now.
I’m wearing size 10 clothes and feeling fitter and healthier than I have done in 15 years.

I agree with you OP losing weight is usually aging so I’m not going to use bmi as my gauge I’m going to try to get to a place where I look and feel better. To be honest I am starting to feel better already, lower inflammation, just the the of my weight. I’ve about 30 lbs to go but I’m definitely feeling the improvements as I go.

I'm 68 and have lost 87kg since February 2022. I can confirm what a previous poster shared, there was a point where my face collapsed into jowls, folds and my enormous neck looked like something a turkey would be proud of, and the skin on my back, thighs, arms and breasts hung in empty folds. A year later most of the loose skin has been reabsorbed, and I have a jawline that I haven't seen since the early 80's.

So I would hate anyone to give up before getting the desired results because of superficial and temporary disadvantages, like hair loss and loose skin. The health benefits are huge, and far outweigh any temporary qualms about personal vanity.

I'm quite happy to look my real age, I had far too many decades of masquerading as a gigantic, morbidly obese baby.

Yeah I feel like a BOBFOC if you remember that from the 90s.

im seriously considering injectables

I absolute remember that 😂 I’m hoping what a pp says around it getting better once your weight has stabilised is true.

I don’t have loose skin as such, but do have the start of jowls, and when I look in the mirror especially downwards, I resemble my mother, more than a little!

I always passed for a lot younger, probably due to my chubby face, but now no one bats an eyelid when I mention my age, not that I’m particularly bothered by that it’s just the whole solving one problem and making another which irritates me!

That’s encouraging, and well done on the weight loss, you must feel great.

What is your bmi now if you don’t mind me asking? I’m at around 24.5 and don’t feel I should go any lower. The hair loss thing has stabilised now I’m off MJ but I wasn’t so bothered about that as I am my jowley, permanently grumpy looking face 😂

I’ve lost 5 stone in just over a year….diet alone for health reasons…got to a bmi of 20 but it’s aged my face 20years!! Makeup just sits in the wrinkles & instead of a double chin I have a scrawny neck and have droopy, hanging earlobes! Nightmare!

Yes it is ageing me. I’m 55. Lost nearly 2 and half stone and now have a BMI of 25. DH says I look skinny now but I’m trying to get to a BMI of 24 to give me some leeway. However all my clothes drown me and new ones are 10/12. My face has started to look drawn and my legs aren’t toned anymore- exercise is tricky as I have a prolapse. So I’m kinda slowly going to stop doing the WLis after Xmas.

I can honestly say the second time I came off, around 5 weeks ago, wasn’t nearly as bad hunger wise. I don’t feel like I’m binge eating again or anything.

I now feel happy the size that I am, knowing I’m never going to be a size 0 or anything, and think carefully before I eat, looking at the week as an overall rather than 1 day at a time.

I think as a pp said, any loose skin will reabsorb with time.

We are always sold this thing that smaller is better no matter what, and for me personally I connected my self worth to the number on the scale and bmi.

Now I consider myself to be healthier and much happier and that Is enough for me, despite originally me wanting to lose a stone more than I have, I don’t think I would look better overall if I did that

I'm planning on stopping around BMI 26/27 - I've been that weight before and know I looked good and felt healthy. I was around a size 14, but that was 15 years ago so probably a size 12 now.

That said, I don't mind looking my age. At the moment I know I don't have wrinkles because I'm fat (BMI 38) - that's not real youth.

I’m 63 and aiming for 80kg which would put my BMI at 25.1, just in to the ‘overweight’ category. But the recommended weight for my height - oof! I was that weight when I met my husband and was a size 10 at 5’11”! It was difficult to maintain. I did it by walking three miles to work, doing exercise videos three nights a week and not eating much. Not sustainable. I’ll be a size 14 I reckon at 80kg rather than 69kg and that’s fine - I’m not looking to be a bikini model I just want to get healthier!

Yep, size 8, 8 stone and it's aged my face, But i can now wear younger clothes that don't make me look like a matronly frumpy. At size 16 everything I wore looked awful on me and I wore clothes that covered me not the clothes I wanted to wear, I have also lost the 36 DD chest that looked awful in clothes, much happier now, but hungrier as I've stopped jabbing.

No. I had/have a hell of a lot more to lose. Currently 7 stone down and the way my face has aged is mad. It’s been rapid and dramatic but I am so much healthier in many ways. I rationalise it by considering had I never been fat I probably would have looked like this at my age anyway, it’s just would have been a more gradual build up. Padding out my face with fat until my late 40s really did keep it younger looking. I aim to get into the healthy BMI/weight zone regardless of how my face looks. It’s been life changing for me, but that’s probably only the case because I stayed with a BMI slightly over 50. For those like yourself OP, losing a couple of stone I don’t think the knock on effects would be quite the same. I don’t mean that in a bad way either, just in case it comes across wrong. I have had all sorts of health issues which have righted themselves since losing so much weight.