<human>: Can you give me a shortened version of the text?

I have been with my boyfriend for over a year and I'd say overall we're very happy. There is however one thing that has nagged at me throughout our entire relationship and has never gone away: how critical he can be of me.

My boyfriends quite often makes little comments along the lines of 'I like girls who do/are XYZ' that make me feel not good enough and just plain insecure. At first I just chalked it up to him being a little *too* honest, like saying he doesn't like what I'm wearing, but it just keeps happening. 

He says likes graceful girls, but I'm as clumsy as they come. He likes girls with straight hair, but mine is curly. He wishes I was more sporty. He wishes my stomach was flatter. It's just odd comments every now and then, but they add up. He has on occasion gone even further, scolding me for not going the gym enough or actively encouraging me to change my hair style, etc.

Whenever I bring this up and say how it makes me feel, he feels bad and counters and says that I'm pretty and cute and have great taste in tv/films and whatnot, but the list of my good traits usually stops there. He insists he loves me and would never want anyone else, but his comments just seem to say otherwise.

I should note that I'm his first 'serious' girlfriend and we have a pretty serious relationship (have talked of marriage in the future, etc). He has made comments in the past along the lines of 'I'm never going to do better than you', and in a way I just sometimes feel like he's settling for me. I don't want a guy who (although does love me) sees me as something he has to settle for, because I'm better than that. 

I feel the need to point out that this does not happen all the time, and he is otherwise a sweet and kind person. But should I be reading into how critical he is of me, or should I just ignore his silly comments and accept that he's just a bit too candid a person?
<bot>: My boyfriend sometimes makes comments critical of me or describing his perfect girl as having traits that I don't have, which makes me insecure.