Weight and Aging

My mom passed 3 years ago and one of my nieces took the photo album I had given my parents on their 25th wedding anniversary which contained pictures of me till I started taking pictures of my own after marrying my husband at the age of 27. I, literally, had no photo history. Well my husband found some photos in the attic that weren't put into that album so I now have some photos of myself from childhood through college as well as a few from my 20's and could barely recognize myself in many of them. Ironically, I looked alot like the niece who took the album LOL

There is one photo that I had taken at my heaviest weight just before I started exercising and dieting in my early 20's and I couldn't believe how toned I looked. Pictures afterwards really made my face look gaunt even though pictures were supposed to make one look even heavier? Looking at these photos, I really didn't need to diet but I guess the number on the scale made me think I was overweight. I was never really thin, smallest size being a size 12 at 5'2" since high school. Always was large boned and muscular. My sister who is fine boned dieted and exercised her whole adult life and always seemed too thin. She developed early osteoporosis and macular degeneration. Both of these conditions could have been affected by nutritional restrictions. Yes, I was way heavier on the scale than I looked and still am even today. Always was but am glad I didn't let the scale control my health. The excess weight I slowly accumulated through my 30's after two pregnancies and 40's with early menopause was greatly reduced in my 50's when I rediscovered regular exercise. Now I am finally plateaued in my 60's at a healthy weight in spite of BMI charts. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.