"Did I seriously just eat that whole cheeseburger in front of him?" "Okay, I know we're going jogging, but if I don't wear makeup, he'll see how awful my skin is!" "Hmm... If I just run the water, he'll never know what I'm really doing in here."
Sound familiar? Join the party. When you start dating a great new guy, everything changes. You happily RSVP to Evites with "2" rather than "1," and you no longer fear that you'll "never find a boyfriend." But if you're like most women, a steady date on Saturday nights doesn't mean your worrying days are over. Not when you're haunted by the most common question of all new relationships: Will he still like me when he finds out that I'm not perfect? Yep, the fear of dying alone has been replaced by obsessing that your one-of-a-kind quirks will drive him away.
And you're not the only one. Though there's nothing like that new-romance rush, the flood of good emotions often comes with a touch of insecurity that it won't work out. Unfortunately, this fear can be taken too far. Ever known someone who lost perspective and worried that her real
But the fact is, you can probably stop worrying about most of your idiosyncrasies. After all, your new boyfriend has plenty of his own, and you can rest assured that they don't keep him up at night. According to Los Angeles-based relationship therapist Suzanne Lopez, MS, MFCC (suzannelopez.com), women are constantly scrutinizing themselves for so-called flaws, while men are mildly, if at all, self-critical. Lopez says, "He doesn't notice that there's hair growing out of his ears or that he snores. And those little things you obsess about [regarding yourself] don't bother him either. The reality: He either wants you or he doesn't. You won't change his desire because you have a little stomach flab."
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