How does one look young?

You are right about the body fat thing. No one ever thought I looked my age. Then 10lbs snuck up on me. I immediately looked older. It does help that at 45 the grey has only started to show up.

This is depressingly true. I’m losing the weight now, but dammit, once you’ve had it it’s just not the same.

My trick: get rid of any facial hair. Every single time I let my beard grow out for more than a few days then shave it I hear that I look years younger.

I was about to start a thread with a somewhat similar theme. These days, while the Olympics are on, I see a well-known German sportscaster on TV almost every day. Here’s a picture:

http://www.monstersandcritics.de/downloads/downloads/people/Gerhard_Delling/images/group1/200746_191855_1_024.jpg

Guess how old this guy is (those who know him, please abstain). As far as I know, he hasn’t had any work done, wouldn’t be his style.

The deepset wrinkles in his forehead tell me 50s - 60s, but damn, he still looks really good.

After keeping hair (for a man) and coloring it if it’s grey, I think losing excess body fat is the #1 way to look younger. Fat just ages a person. You can be in your 20s and look 40, especially if you finish out the look by wearing an older looking style.

I dunno. I know several guys who’ve lost weight recently and their faces look older now, although of course the rest of them looks younger.

I agree 100%. I think a certain level of fat in one’s face is needed to look vital, healthy and most of all, youthful. Speaking as a bodybuilder, whenever I see guys lose a bunch of weight in their faces from dieting for a competition, it always looks similar: gaunt, ghostly, aged.

Yeah. A little (or maybe even a lot) fat does make you look younger, to me. Kind of, smooths out the wrinkles and imperfections in the skin, I guess.

It seems like a lot of women in their 40s and 50s try to stave off aging by working out obsessively. But then they end up like Madonna, etc looking like a jacked-up horse-faced scarecrow.

I’m almost 40 and still can’t grow a decent beard.

Honestly, I’m more interested in looking “healthy” than “young”. The fact is, I’m not “young”. While I can and do pass for early 30s, I’m just not interested in doing what 20-somethings and 30-somethings still clinging to the dream of being 20-something are doing.

Hmmm I’ve heard several people observe that in opposition to methamphetamine addicts which seem to age prematurely, heroin or other opiate addicts seem to look younger than they should.

I’ve never heard anyone observe that.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-396067.html

I would guess… 55-58. BUT…If you told me he was 70 I wouldn’t be surprised, either. Not sure why. I mean, aside from the fact that you said it might be surprising. :stuck_out_tongue:

When he was 50, Stallone gave an interview in which he freely stated he took daily shots. And ate nothing but … carrots, I’m thinking it was. He seemed to think it would keep him young forever. But personally, I’m thinking he is looking old. Arnie definitely looks old.

As far as how to stay looking young, well…being healthy helps. Nothing ages you like a sickness. And I agree with the upthread post about sleep, and the body fat. And, my own personal opinion: I think attitude really, really helps. That doesn’t necessarily show up in a picture, but…I think it does. I think grumpy people look older, happier ones look younger.

Well he’s gonna hate me now. If that really is Gerhard Delling he’s only a few years older than I am. :stuck_out_tongue: Sorry!

Um…yeah? And? What’s this supposed to support? :confused: Certainly not your claim that you’ve heard several people “observe heroin addicts seeming to look younger than they should”. All I saw there was a thread from someone asking if the rumor she’d heard was true. No one had posted about seeing any “youthful” heroin addicts. :dubious:

In any case I never made a solid claim one way or the other, merely that I had seen people mention it.(outside the thread)

I think that hair dye works a LOT of magic.

Chuck, if you took off all of the hair dye, and the beard, would look like a 70 year old in great shape.

Oh god, not hair dye. Seems like every Thai-Chinese businessman above the age of 60, if not 50, dyes his hair jet black, and so do their wives. Looks preposterous.