Definitely. It is probably subconscious for me almost. WhenI was a kid, I remember my mom talking about the "good old days" when she had an 18 inch waist in her 20s. I have never had that. My mom is a consumate pear shape, so in adulthood for her, her waist was pretty much mid 20s. Even into her 60s.

I think I got the message that having a small waist is good! Unfortunately, I never had one. My pot belly showed up when I was 7. At some point in my 20s I went through what I am going to call puberty 2.0, and somehow my shape changed a bit, I proportionally had bigger boobs and a smaller waist with minimal change in weight. Gapping at the waist became a much bigger problem.

To be honest, I get really jealous when I see people with waist measurements like mine who look great with little flab and flatter tummies. Looking at my waist, I need to lose another 5-7 inches or more to look like that.

If my torso loked better, I could probably stop the whole weight loss thing right now. I am really waiting out my waist. I've always had big arms. I've always had big legs, and they have pretty good definition about 10-15 pounds lighter than I am now. So for now, I am estimating I have another 40-45 pounds to go, and I am crossing my fingers on how I will look.

jaded, I completely agree with the torso comment. If my torso looked better I'd be less anxious about losing those final 15-20 pounds. Even though I've gotten smaller, I still have a big pot belly and a fattier back. Here's to hoping those will go away with the last of the extra weight!!!

I never had a tiny waist, but it was a lot smaller when I was young (I'm middle aged now). I'm a little above my goal weight now, but even at my goal, I still had a tummy bulge. It was very annoying and did/does affect my self-image.

In addition to self-image, it adds concern that the reason my waist (and waist/hip ratio) are larger nowadays could be due to visceral fat, which is the unhealthy kind. I eat healthy and exercise pretty regularly, so I'm not sure I'm willing to up my game much beyond where I'm at.