Do we look as old as them?

[Out of Steam]

OTOH, I have a friend who can cycle rings around me & 10x smarter. He's old enough to be my dad (in his 70's)...his wife recently took a tumble and now I can finally keep up with her on the hiking paths.

Falls have a psychological impact, too. I took a fall while hiking in January, but only scraped up my face, had a headache lasting a day or so, and a slight black eye.

It still took six months for my confidence to come back fully.

 

[iloveyoga]

I sometimes see my mom in the mirror when I walk past it. It gives me a jolted feeling.

My doorbell camera thinks that I am my Mom.

 

[Koolau]

thats really good. I have a friend my age, his wife is 10 pounds LIGHTER than the day they married! And it is not like she needed to lose weight. Always slim, very active.

I think this is the #1 thing people can do to avoid looking older is to maintain a healthy weight.

Oh and perhaps somewhat to your point, a hair style that doesn't scream "Im old".

DW used to color her hair. She eventually let it go to natural silver. She DOES look older but I think she looks great with silver hair. YMMV

 

[Koolau]

I've actually scared myself walking past the mirror in our guest bathroom thinking someone was in there with me, not realizing that's ME! Dam I look old! Ha! I also have noticed on videos that I move like an old man, hunched over, arm swing, shuffle, etc. I've taken steps to correct my posture and to take strides, not shuffle, when I walk now. I do feel a little better when we tell people we've been married 50 years and they look surprised we are old enough for that. What I don't tell them is we married at 18 right out of high school. I only say we married after we graduated and let them assume it was college. Ha!

Folks can't believe DW and I have known each other (and been friends) for 70 years. It just doesn't compute, I guess.

 

[skipro33]

I just hope that I don't age like Robert Redford.

View attachment 53040

too much time in the tanning booth!

 

[Walt34]

When I look at myself in the mirror I don’t think I look that old. But when I see a picture of myself……oh boy.

At the risk of being seen as a shill for photo editing software, there's a fix for that:

PortraitPro - Easy Photo Editing Software

PortraitPro is the world’s best-selling retouching software. Fast and intuitive, PortraitPro edits your portrait photos for beautiful results

www.anthropics.com

It won't do anything that couldn't be done in Photoshop or other editing software but it's a whole lot easier. It'll take 20 years off easily, more if you want to try but it can start to look a bit silly if you get too carried away with it.

 

[razztazz]

So, what exactly do I do in Photoshop that makes me look younger? Is there a drop down menu item I haven't noticed that says "Reduce Years" or something? WRT looking like mom or dad, I am starting to look like my maternal Grandfather.

 

[brett]

The reality is clear.

We are old as dirt. We look old as dirt.

We can however 'fool' ourselves to boost our respective egos should we so wish. Or just continue thinking that others are aging much faster than we might be!

Some of us have had easier lives. Toiling outdoors, serving in the military or in public safety roles vs dealing with the ominous threat of paper cut in a warm office.

Either way.....it changes nothing!

 

[Diogenes]

In my mind, I am 35. When I look in the mirror, I get reminded that I am 61.

In my mind, I'm 70. When I look at my driver's license, I realize that there remain many years, between the present, and the mental future. When I look in the mirror, the image suggests something in between.

It takes a long time to get older! Those of you who are already there, have nothing for which to apologize! Those of us who aren't yet there, better develop a sense of patience.

 

[Montecfo]

Regarding weight, I mentioned above my friend"a wife who is 10 pounds lighter than her wedding day.

That helps but she does have some wrinkles to hat are more prominent than they might be.

If you get very thin, that can age you I think

 

[aja8888]

I'm past my expiration date by 5+ years and still feel and look Ok (compared to my same age friends). But I had a health scare last July and that was a HUGE wake up call. Looking younger would not have been in my mind if the health issue was not caught early by me.

 

[youbet]

An elementary school classmate organized a 50 year reunion (class of 1961). What a hoot! Growing up in "da hood" in Chicago, we all lived within a quarter mile or so of one another and several of us were together in school from kindergarten through high school. Two of the guys were neighbors who I saw and hung out with daily for years but hadn't seen for decades.

There were a dozen of us at that first gathering and, all in our late 60's, I thought everyone looked and acted pretty good. 13 years later at this year's meet-up, all in our late 70's, people (including me) were limping in and showed quite a bit of "wear and tear." There were six of us left. Five have died and one lives in Italy.

We take a pic each year and thumbing through the stack seeing people disappear is a bit sad. And we definitely look like the senior citizens that we are.

 

[TheWizard]

Genes play a part. Mom spent her entire life sunbathing and getting as tan as possible. She even had a rotating platform for her chair that would automatically keep the sun in direct line so that she didn't have to get up and move (and possibly spill her martini)

When she was 40, people would tell her that by the time she'd be 60 that she would look like a prune. Never happened. By the time she died at 93, she could easily pass for 70-75 and strangers would confuse her as my wife when we'd be together. Her brother was pretty much the same.

I like the part about spilling her martini...

 

[Walt34]

So, what exactly do I do in Photoshop that makes me look younger? Is there a drop down menu item I haven't noticed that says "Reduce Years" or something? WRT looking like mom or dad, I am starting to look like my maternal Grandfather.

No, there's no menu selection but here's a book on how to do it:

Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers using Photoshop

There is an update of this book coming out soon so you might want to wait, but this one is a lot cheaper. He just goes over common sense items like reducing (NOT eliminating) wrinkles, eliminating red veins in the eyes, brightening the iris, general skin smoothing, eliminated stray hairs, whitening teeth, and a bunch of other stuff. Any one of those things by itself won't stand out but collectively the differences can be dramatic and the person depicted knows that the photo flatters them, but they can't point to one single thing done that makes the photo look better than most others. The trick, really, is to not get too carried away with the retouching. You can get away with taking ten pounds off a lady's figure; but if you try for 20 lbs. then you've gone too far and it starts to look silly and frankly, insulting. And you never, ever, admit to retouching the photos, especially of women. He says that in the book and he's right. Don't ask how I know.

 

[robnplunder]

I knew a man who went through a hard bout with cancer. He still smokes and drinks heavily. The dude looks 10 years older than his peers.

 

[Koolau]

I knew a man who went through a hard bout with cancer. He still smokes and drinks heavily. The dude looks 10 years older than his peers.

Yes, smoking is a known factor in aging the skin. Not sure why, but you can really tell it in long term smokers. Glad I never smoked. I need all the help I can get at my age.

 

[Out of Steam]

Yes, smoking is a known factor in aging the skin.

Sun exposure is also a factor. My wife and I were in Arizona last month, and my wife said that she could tell older tourists from locals because the desert residents looked more weathered.

 

[rembrandt]

Sun exposure is also a factor. My wife and I were in Arizona last month, and my wife said that she could tell older tourists from locals because the desert residents looked more weathered.

Yes. Look what happened to Keith Richards!

 

[Involuntary Retiree]

I sometimes see my mom in the mirror when I walk past it. It gives me a jolted feeling.

I see my mom's body when I look in the mirror but not her face. Pretty sure I don't like it. I'd be OK seeing her face but not her body. Ha!

 

[W2R]

I'm 76 years old and dealing with breast cancer. I lost all my hair last year due to chemo. Lately it has started to grow back ! 1/8 inch so far.

 

[DrRoy]

We think that we look better than average for our age, but then, something like 80% of people think they are better than average drivers.

 

[mystang52]

Young grandchildren can often put perspective on how we look. My 4 currently range from 6 to 13. Over the years, I've overheard various comments from them. They think we are absolutely ancient. They all know that I exercise. My 10 year old granddaughter recently told me how she is amazed that I can do any running at all.

 

[reneeh63]

I have various security cameras around our property that arm at dusk, off at dawn. If I'm outside, finishing up a task, like checking mail or taking trash cans to the curb, I'll be picked up on one or more
When I go to review and delete those videos, lately I see an old man. Mostly in body shape, posture and walk. It's very depressing as I didn't think I looked that bad until I saw those candid camera videos. I turn 68 in a couple of weeks

So true - I think when I look in the mirror I'm "prepared" for what I see and even do a little perceptual "magic" in how I see or judge myself. But when I see myself on the various trail and security cams I have out it's shocking! I thought my posture and gait were good but when I see myself shambling about, often with my mouth half open I have to shudder! Objectively my health is good and I do strength training - it just doesn't seem to show on the outside like it should.

 

[street]

I don't want to think how bad I will look at 80 plus if I live that long. have spent most of my working years in the outdoors and any time away from work I was under the sun. Mid to late 60's now and my time in the outdoors has been more since I retired.

Those wrinkles and gray hair just give me character. lol I see gray hair in women and men as beautiful. All that facial aging makes a person interesting and who they are.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

When I was in my late 50s, there was a period where women I had never met before would remark to me out of the blue that I looked like Sean Connery. I'm sure I'm well past my Connery phase, and I have to say I miss that a bit. Now my DW says I look like every other old man.