Are girls ever happy with themselves?

I think they are both right. In highschool I wasnt fat, more curvy and athletic. i thought I was as big as a house. I thought I was ugly as sin. I did all I could to make myself be pretty even though I was told all the time I was very pretty. I wouldnt leave my hair color or style alone, wouldnt settle with wearing just jeans and a tshirt. I always had to wear tons of makeup. I wasnt ever happy with me no matter what i did. im hoping that I dont have that issue with this journey i am taking for weightloss and health.

No, and honestly, I don't think it's limited to just women. We live in a culture obsessed with appearance. I could be a size 5 with nice 34C breasts, lips like Angelina Jolie, and able to complete the Ironman Triathlon in less than 14 hours and I'd find something to dislike about myself: being shortish, string straight fine hair that nothing can be done with, the fact that my skin can't hold a tan. You get the picture.

I would have to agree with you on this one!

Overall, I think most women are just too critical of themselves. If we're a bit overweight, then we want to lose that weight. Once we hit goal weight, then it's toning up. What happens once we've hit our goal weight and are toned? We want bigger boobs, a smaller butt, longer hair, smaller nose, etc. I think it's wonderful that we constantly push ourselves to become a better person, inside and out, however I think we need to cut ourselves (and each other) a break sometimes and just say "I'm pretty hot", and continue to strive to maintain that feeling. I honestly think it's more mental than anything. Once we can accept ourselves as we are, but continue to try and be better (physically, emotionally, etc) we'll be ok. Oh and we all need to learn to accept compliments. I've had the exact same conversation you just explained. We need to just say thank you, and allow ourselves to be proud of what we've accomplished!

My 2 cents!

I love me - the now me, not the before "twig" me. I could stand to tone a bit more, get a bit more defined, but that is by competition standards, not mine. For me, I think I've done an amazing job at getting here - gaining healthy weight and all, so yes, girls CAN be happy with themselves. Are there things I'd change? Maybe, but that doesn't mean I don't love who I am now, as I am.

I think we have chances to be happy with ourselves, but they don't necessarily coincide with how we look. When I was anorexic in college I was definitely down to my "ideal weight," but I couldn't see it at all and thought I was still obese (of course *now*, looking at pictures, I can see that I was quite thin). Then when I started eating again and gained about 75 pounds, I was happy with myself for a while because I felt like I was at a better place in life...my boyfriend was treating me better, I was eating and not having dizzy spells, etc. Then came the spring formal and the pictures that followed...I know I felt beautiful in my stunning emerald green strapless dress, but when I saw the pictures all I saw was a fat girl. And, as a result, my self esteem dipped again. It's a vicious cycle.

Oh man, this is exactly how I feel. *Le sigh*

i think weight loss will make me happier; but i dont expect that i will ever be happy with how i look because even after i get to losing the 145lbs, ill have excess skin and then be horrified of my body in a different sense... will i be happy after skin removal surgery, breast lift, etc... i think so. ive always thought i was very pretty in the face but have always been way over weight; so if the weight is gone, then i cant see myself ever being like "omg, my belly sticks out a tiny bit nooooo" because it will be the best i have ever looked. why would someone who has always been obese care about minor little things like that? i dont get that. ive lost 67lbs now and already enjoy looking in the mirror and clothes shopping and posing for photos, etc so id only imagine that in another 80lbs will be 20x better. but ill need the skin removal surgery in order to ever feel 100% confident in myself and my looks.

In my experiences...NO

Answer: NO! Honestly we try to be or look "perfect", reality is no one is or can be....

I ask this coming from a girl's perspective. I feel I have done a decent job in the last year and a half first losing and then maintaining. However, I still feel that I would be happier if I lost about 20lbs more. I was discussing this with the checkout lady at our mini mart here on base (the store was really slow at the time and she is sort of a friend). She congradulated me on me weight loss and I said thank you, but I still want to lose a little more. She said that I looked great and the problem with most girls is we pick our selves apart and basically beat ourselves up mentally. My husband says similar things to me when I say I want to lose more. He says I could lose 20 or 30 more pounds, but I still wouldn't be happy about myself. Is it just ingrained in us to continually make our selves better.

What do you all think?

We're all doused with messages that we could be better - media, friends, parents, etc. I think this affects men as well as women. Though I do think women get a whole lot more pressure about an "ideal" - at least a physical ideal. More so in different countries, but it exists all over the world.

I'd like to think that most people are happy with themselves sometimes. I don't spend time with people that are *never* happy with themselves. Most of my friends are pretty happy with themselves. I've spent too much of my life either being unhappy or trying to "fix" someone else's unhappiness. Both are a waste of time.

Are you talking about strictly weight loss? You say you want to lose 20 more pounds. But your ticker says you have lost 106 pounds. Are you saying you weren't happy with yourself when you crossed the 100 pounds lost mark? Or are you saying you just aren't satisfied?

I wish more people could celebrate the process. I wish that for you.

I try to tell all female clients start with my sig line "I like myself unconditionally". You can have the greatest bod, the prettiest face, the perfect smile, and if you don't like yourself then it's perceived as not good enough ever.

Depends on what mood I'm in...

If I've got PMT then I hate myself and I feel like ****e. The rest of the time, I reckon I'm ace

I suppose I never was fat but throughout middle school, I felt bigger than everyone else. All of the popular girls wore Abercrombie and had pencil thin, lean bodies. Then there was me, braces and awkward body type. I have never felt good in my skin. In high school, I made a decision to lose all of the weight I thought I had. Influenced by a mentally abusive boyfriend, I managed to weigh an unhealthy 94 lbs by the time I got to college. Even when I was that thin, I was not happy with my body. There was always something wrong and every time I looked in the mirror, I found the ugliness everywhere I looked. After getting help from a support group and learning not to be afraid of food again, I was able to gain weight healthily.

It will always be a struggle for me. My relationship with food will never be normal and it often makes me sad. However, I can say that when I am happiest in my life, I feel happiest about my body. When things are going well for me, when I am with someone who makes me feel beautiful, I FEEL beautiful inside and out.

So, in short, I don't think that we are ever happy with our bodies but being happy with our lives and the things we can do with our bodies can make it a bit better.

I'm happy with myself. I've had many miserable years before I chose to be happy now rather than wait for some arbitrary point in time or standard I had to meet. For me, I'd be minimizing the significance of all the things I've done if I still couldn't be happy with myself after all of that.

It's a choice. Granted, it's not a quick choice, but in the same way you dedicated yourself to working out your body, you need to work out your inside as well. It's important. Why would you settle for making those lifestyle-changing habits just for appearance's sake? Why take steps to change your life if it's not actually going to change your life?

Awesome post. There is so much good truth in here. Read it again. Soak that in.