Dealing with body image and dieting

As you have read I have lost 30 pounds on a famous diet plan over a period of 4 months. Many people whom I know have reacted to this with "you didn't need to lose weight", or "you looked great, you shouldn't have felt bad about yourself."

Well letsee my BMI, which is the standardized North American way of determining whether you're overweight was 28 - my BMI is now 23. Which falls within the appropriate weight for my height.

According to Health Canada this means of gone from being overweight to a healthy weight:

"Health Risk Classification According to Body Mass Index (BMI) Classification BMI Category (kg/m2) Risk of developing health problems
Underweight < 18.5 Increased
Normal Weight 18.5 - 24.9 Least
Overweight 25.0 - 29.9 Increased
Obese class I 30.0 - 34.9 High
Obese class II 35.0 - 39.9 Very high
Obese class III >= 40.0 Extremely high

Note: For persons 65 years and older the 'normal' range may begin slightly above BMI 18.5 and extend into the 'overweight' range. "
from: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpfb-dgpsa/onpp-bppn/bmi_chart_java_e.html

BTW this has a great feature that charts your BMI for you.

ANYWAY I am happy with this. I, however would like to lose 10 more pounds. (BMI would be 21 to 22). Now the question is why?

I have to say I look good, I can't help it I look in the mirror and think - wow I did that! Seriously I look at the picture of myself at Christmas and go geez I was fat. What's ironic is that I didn't actually think I was that overweight until I was weighed by my doctor. Although I thought my chest was ridiculous. I was starting to get major shoulder problems. But at the time I was thinking -maybe I can get a breast reduction. You may laugh, but I really thought that was my only problem. Hence I went to my doctor, hence he said if I lose weigh and still was having lots of problems he'll send me to a specialist.

Well with exercise and diet and lots of yoga I'm having way less problems, combined with less weight in that area I have way less problems.

Now here's the dilemma. I would really like them to be in better shape and smaller (much to my husband's dismay). Is it, however, looks. If I look good now, imagine what I'll look like when I'm 10 pounds less! What worries e is that I still won't be happy.

I think I just need to get through maintenance and then see how I feel.

The linked article, BTW is about young girls dieting. I had weight issues when I was 13 too, but I wasn't dieting. This is because I knew I was still growing. However the worry is that with so many obese kids teens are being told to watch what they eat.

I dunno what to say, but its something to ponder.