Paula Deen, the celebrity TV chef, has lost a lot of weight since being diagnosed with diabetes a few years ago. The "stick of butter" queen's slim-down shows the good, bad, and ugly of weight loss after 40. Here's more on losing weight, living healthy, and getting comfortable in your own skin, Paula Deen style.
Paula Deen weight loss: the good
After being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, Deen decided to lose weight by creating lighter versions of her recipes. By eating healthier you can outrun Type 2, otherwise known as, lifestyle diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the kind you give yourself by eating too much sugar, starch, and fat.
The precursor to full-blown diabetes is prediabetes (metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance). If you ignore the prediabetes warning signs, Type 2 is right around the corner. But, if you have your sugar tested regularly, heed your doctor's advice and amend your sugar intake, you can avoid diabetes. "Big Hoss" Corey Harrison of "Pawn Stars" reversed diabetes with massive weight loss.That's one of the good parts of weight loss--taking out killers like high cholesterol, hypertension (high blood pressure), liver and heart disease and diabetes.
Weight loss: the not-so-good
After you've shed a lot of weight, one of the negatives is saggy skin. Losing weight after 40 tends to give you "falling face syndrome" (not a real thing, but if you look at Paula Deen post weight loss, you'll see it).
Your skin appears to be melting off your face, like that guy in "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Your skin isn't wrinkled, but it looks that way. Because when you're chubby, your face fills out and your skin stretches. When you lose weight, all that skin hangs in folds. Younger folks don't have that problem so much. But as you age, your skin loses its elasticity.
So it can really age you to lose weight, unfortunately. With toners and exercise, you can tighten that skin. Paula Deen looks more comfortable in her own skin now, but still saggy in her lower face and neck. And that teaches a valuable lesson --lose weight sooner rather than later. If you need to get weight off, do it when you're younger rather than older. That worked for Raven-Symone who has retained her youthful skin.
