Anyone else feel better about themself before they lost weight?

I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem... I was very self confident and outgoing, until I lost 132 pounds. Now I'm self conscience and for the first time in my life, I REALLY feel unattractive. Has anyone else felt like this? What did you do to over-come it?

first of all, congratulations!!!

second, my sister only had about 30 lbs to lose, but once she did she starting feeling more self conscious.   she told me that now that she was classified as "skinny" more people were comparing her to the other skinny girls.  before people didnt bother because she was chubby.   then again, my sister is 15 years old so all her friends are obnoxious teenagers.

try to remember how much you've accomplished, how hard you've worked and how much healthier you are.   remember that you are a strong person.  try to take the focus off of your body and put the focus on your accomplishments instead.

Why do you feel unattractive specifically?

Maybe it's not that you are feeling more ugly, just that you are being judged more often, and thus feeling insecure. People stare and strike up conversations with me much more often now that I've dropped 20 lbs, and that alone makes me more aware of the constant evaluation of my physical appearance that goes on in the minds of strangers.

Suddenly finding yourself treated like a potential mate by men and competition to the girls can make you more self-critical than when you were too heavy to even be on their radar. Suddenly people are paying attention to you, so you can't get away with having acne or messy hair or no make up. :(

I have to admit, it's kind of depressing.

EDIT: Oops, jessicasbc beat me to it. :P

What was your main reason for losing weight?  Was it to get healthier or to look better?  If it was to look better then maybe you had a preset image of how you'd look.  You should be very proud of how far you've come and not be self conscious.  You need to embrace the way you look and be confident in yourself.  If you can lose all this weight then you can do anything! 

I've lost 34 lbs so far.  My stomach still sticks out future then i thought it would and my already small chest has shrunk even more.  But I still feel that I look great and that's because I know what it took for me to get here and I'm not gonna let anything get in the way of feeling good about my hard work.

If it bothers you that much make a list of what it is you feel self conscious about and see if there's anything you can do to improve it.  But you have to learn to love yourself just the way you are, what you consider flaws and all.

Good job on all your hard work.

Thanks ladies. You gave me some things to think about. -Men do look at me differently. Hadn't thought about that. Very good point.

I am, of course, proud of what I've accomplished. I've lost, basically, a whole other "me". I don't even recognize myself. lol

To answer your questions... I lost weight mainly for health, but also to look better. And I think what makes me feel unattractive is that over-weight I was still smooth and young looking. Now I've got saggy skin, and I look older.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Actually, yes.  I never really noticed my body before, but now I'm aware of every last little flaw.  Before, I just knew it was really, really bad, so I ignored it and got really, really good at that.  Now, any little fluctuation captures my attention and keeps it for far too long.  I spend time thinking about how I'm going to fix that little spot right there that isn't right; I spend more time than ever reflecting on how many "not quite right" spots there are, because I'm aware of my body now. 

But we've worked hard.  Why should it be this way?  I don't know.  Maybe it's just a phase?

I agree with sarah.  Before I lost weight, I thought I looked good!  Now, I am very critical of myself.  As women we sometimes think, we have to be perfect.  Having such an accomplishment can maybe make us feel that we can do it. 

Think of how much you've done.  You're way healthier than you were before.  Maybe your mind just has  to catch up with your body.

OMG! I thought I was going crazy. I've only lost 26 lbs so far (Still have 100+ to lose!) but BEFORE I stared my weight loss journey I felt much more comfortable in the skin I'm in. Now that I've lost a small chunk I feel WORSE about myself then before I started! (What's up with that??) My situation's different then yours in that it sounds like you might have outside comments/etc. contributing to how you feel about you whereas I'm really the only one who knows I've lost any weight at all. I think Sarah might of hit on it... Before I started losing I just "ignored" my fat and now that I'm working on losing it's something I'm cognisant of... Like constantly. Plus I get "mad" at myself... This is going to take awhile and I wonder how/why in the world I let myself get SO bad off in the first place...

Congrats on your loss, hon. You should be so proud! Just think about how much healthier, etc. you are and about how hard you worked to get to where you are. I think you're amazing! Great job and thanks for sharing!

I know I look better now and I certainly enjoy seeing photos of myself more, but yeah, I was never so damn critical when I was overweight. I never compared myself to skinny girls, they were basically another species! Now I am not skinny, but I am slim, and so comparisons get made. It is really stupid.

Also - I was not a dieter, ever, when I was overweight. I don't think I believed it was possible to lose weight, as I had always been on the bigger side (I was not dramatically overweight - briefly touched into the obese category once). Now I know it is, knowing when to stop can be problematic.