Hope this is the right place for this thread..

Is this happening to anyone else, too? I feel like the smaller I get, the more conscious of my body I'm becoming. I guess I never really paid attention to it much, and now that my body is changing I feel discouraged. I know what I'm doing is great, but I don't quite understand how to get past this. It's honestly making me feel less motivated.

Anyone else experience this? How did you get over it?

I think this is a common reaction when you are at about the halfway point. You feel like you've come so far, but have so far to go. You're paying such close attention to all of the changes in your body and the way it looks and you still feel like it's not what you hoped it would be.

Keep going! Give it another 20lbs when you are closer to goal and you'll feel better about it. Of course then, you'll have other things going on in your head, but you will at least feel more confident! lol

I have been going through that quite a bit actually. I just seem to be more critical of myself. I seem to notice every little thing about me...of course everything that I DON'T like.

So let's start with this:
first of all, you are a work in progress! As our body begins to change, things don't settle quite as we would like them until we start to "maintain". Sure we are thinner, but some things just haven't quite gotten to where we would want them. No worries...this too shall pass!

Second of all: This is beautiful you!!!! Find at least five things that you LIKE about yourself, and actually say it OUT LOUD to yourself. It means so much more when you say it out loud.

Third and last: Recognize that you may have had a slight confidence issue before losing weight that could be easily covered with a larger t-shirt and so on. Now, our bigger clothes don't fit, but we don't feel confident enough to wear the "skinny" stuff, so we're kinda stuck until our confidence catches up with our weight!

Keep it up chica! Life is awesome! You're awesome, and your doing something that millions of people find virtually impossible! You're just in that middle phase.....(wish I was there!!)

I know exactly what you mean. I am super critical and hate the way I look in almost everything right now, never mind naked. I feel ridiculous in public and hate having my picture taken. It's a phase. You'll get past it.

Just remember that while you're hating on yourself, you look AMAZING to everyone else!

So true! We pick ourselves apart more than anyone else. I've had to stop comparing myself to how my body looked before I gained the weight. Things have stretched, shifted and changed. I have to accept how I look now and do the best I can with exercise. My body could be a lot worse so I just have to be thankful for what I've got.

I agree with the great responses above. I think part of it (for me) has to do with the fact that when I was larger, I put on the clothes that I had that fit and that was that. Now...I try on 7 different outfits in 7 different styles and mix and match all those 7 different outfits to get the best looking outfit. It was so much easier when it was black pants, black shirt and black shoes. There were no other choices. Now that I'm thinner, I have oodles of colors and styles and it's overwhelming being in between so many sizes. But I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

Well, here's my thoughts:

You're actually paying attention to your body and successfully losing weight. Before embarking on this path, you weren't doing that. It's almost like you're "getting to know" your body, and maybe you're actually seeing some things that you don't like, when before you just didn't look. That's ok, we all have things about our bodies that we don't like.

Change what you can, accept what you can't, and have the wisdom to know the difference (thank you serenity prayer!). Look for things that you do like, be patient, forgive yourself.

Don't give up! Who knows what you'll look like in 20 more pounds? Who knows what you'll look like after maintaining for a few months? It's possible that the things you don't like now won't be an issue later on down the line.