A little worried :(

Stress can be detrimental to our goals in many ways. From what I understand, stress can contribute to not losing weight, something to do with cortisol that your body releases during stress which prevents weight loss.
You can do some research on that yourself and see if that is affecting you.

In the meantime, keep eating at a calorie deficit and give it time. I dont know enough about you to know whats the matter, and neither am i a doctor, so maybe thats the first step - to get a checkup to make sure where you stand.

Other than that, keep on logging in to MFP, making sure you are logging in your calories accurately, you may be eating more than you realize. Weigh and measure everything.

I find the longer I do it, the more relaxed I get. It's been 3 weeks back on the "eat healthier" wagon, and the first two weeks I was obsessive, but now I'm a bit more lenient. I still eat within my calorie range, but I've gotten more used to it - my body's no longer expecting to get 500-800 more calories a day. Exercise is almost a habit now.

Just give it more time. Also weight loss is weird. I've lost 3 pounds but today I was back at my starting weight, which was annoying. But logically I realise it has to just be retaining water.

It's a lifestyle change. Once you get used to the new lifestyle, it won't be so scary. Also it's not a race. if you lose 1 pound a week or less, it's still a loss,. and it'll all add up. Maybe it'll take you a year to lose the weight. So what? You have the rest of your life :-)

I have read several studies pointing to the possibility that stressing and over obsessing about weight loss can actually hinder progress. I have also found that when I just relax and stop over thinking things but still make healthy food choices and exercise regularly, I then lose more weight than usual. It's all about making it a lifestyle. Also, patience is key, but I understand how frustrating that can be. People tell me I have an enormous amount of patience, but it has definitely not come easy. I had to learn and practice it.

hang in there. you are doing the right thing by expressing your frustration, you have come so far to give up.

Keep going! You're doing so well. I think sometimes its easy to become hung up on how far you have to go, instead of how far you've come. I know I myself am very guilty of this at times.

I am so with you on the obsessiveness, it gets me to, I'm currently trying my hardest to not spiral into under eating again. Add me if you like

That's the kind of rate of loss I'm getting.. I'm happy with it!

^^^ this is the right attitude

what do you want to lose? Fat? Or bone density, lean mass, water, glycogen? I'm assuming that you want to lose pure fat and nothing but fat. Well the human body simply can't burn fat that fast. It's our long term energy store, and it gets burned off slowly. If you lose weight quickly, it'll mostly be water and glycogen (our short term energy store) and if you eat too little over a longer period you'll start to lose muscle and bone density along with the fat. So, be happy with slow, steady and sustainable fat loss. The fact you lost 1.5lb slowly without feeling deprived is excellent news. That's 1.5 lb of fat burned off, and likely never to return, because you'll be able to sustain your new healthy lifestyle and keep the fat away for good. So look to the long term... if you're losing weight slowly the healthy way, then there's a much better chance that what you're losing is fat, and nothing but fat, and that it's gone for good.

I certainly understand where you are coming from. I am 50, and a few inches taller at 5'6", but my maintenance level right now is only around 1500-1600 and I still have 27 lbs to lose. It took me 9 months, averaging around 1200 to lose 45 pounds. Then I hit a plateau. Eating more didn't help. Exercising more didn't help. I looked at other women over 50 that were still losing, even slowly, and they were averaging around 1000 or less. The thought of having to eat that little for the rest of my life just sounded wrong.

After 3 months of maintaining, I finally tried out the 5:2 fasting plan. Basically you pick 2 nonconsecutive days a week to only eat 500 cals. The rest of the week you eat at maintenance. That means for me, that I only have to obsess over weighing and counting every little bite, 2 days a week, then the other 5 days I can eat more like a 'normal' person.

I wasn't sure that it would work for me, but over the past 6 weeks I have lost 4 pounds. I had an ice cream sundae at Sonic last night and the scale was not up this morning. I haven't had any sonic ice cream in over a year. and it was awesome! Of course I can't do that every day, but I was able to do so because on thurs I had only 500 cals of mostly protein and veggies.
Yesterday I didn't even log my cals til the end of the day. Just noted what I had eaten thru the day. I felt like I was eating all day long, but when I totaled it up, even after the sundae, I was only at 1500 cals. So I maintained the one pound loss I had from the low cal day before.

The reality of it is that for most of us women after we hit our mid to late 40s, our metabolism really drops. There are the exceptions of those that stay very active, or just have great genes, but most of us have to accept the fact that we simply cannot eat like we could in our 20s and 30s.
So I have learned to make the most of the calories I have. I focus on proteins and healthy fats, to preserve as much muscle as I can, and to keep my hormones level, and I bulk up my meals with lots of non starch veggies.

This does mean limiting starchy veggies and grains, and sugar, to keep carbs lower, giving more room for the protein and healthy fats, but I quickly found out that cutting way back on sugar and grains had an amazing effect on my pain levels, energy levels, and moods. If you have any type of inflammation in your body, like arthritis or fibro, or autoimmune disorders, then processed sugars and grains can cause more inflammation, resulting in more pain and fatigue. Wheat seems to be the biggest culprit of them all. I have found SO many women on here that are seeing the same results when they cut processed grains and sugar out, or at least restricted them severely.
If you are at a higher risk for Diabetes, you may already be insulin resistant, and therefore eating a lower carb diet will help with weight loss.

Many of the younger and healthier people on here will proclaim very loudly that you don't have to cut out any foods, you don't have to 'starve' yourself, it doesn't matter what you eat, or when you eat it, that calories in vs calories out is all that matters.
For them, that may be true. But for many of us 'more seasoned' ladies, our bodies just respond differently now than when we were younger, and we sometimes have to get a bit creative.

But it is SO worth it. I feel amazing today compared to where I was a year ago at 228, (down from my highest of 237).
Now at 181, I can wear 12/14 jeans. I can walk without my cane. I don't wake up in pain every single day. I have so much more energy, and hope for an even better life ahead.

Heck, last night I took a bunch of teenagers to a Christian Rock concert, complete with pyrotechnics and lasers, and I rocked it out with them all!

Then went for ice cream!

Hang in there. I know it sounds impossible, and at this point, maybe not even worth the effort. But it IS worth it.

YOU are worth it.

We're all scared to see things slow down, because when they slow down or stop for a bit then we worry that we won't be able to lose any more. After all, we've failed so many times before. When we don't see a certain rate of loss on the scale we overthink everything...and we want to give up because why obsess if you're not seeing progress?

I've was stalled for 2 years doing what you're talking about. Trying something for two or three weeks, and getting frustrated. This time, I got back on and have stayed for 2.5 months now. Stuck with the plan even when the scale was not moving...or even going up. For days straight. Now? I'm not as obsessed. I don't like to see a bigger number on the scale when I step on - none of us does. But I am learning to trust this plan because it's working. I know I'm doing this the healthy way. I know that I am going to reach my goal, and that I will be able to maintain when I get there...because this is healthy, and this is a lifestyle change - which doesn't occur in just a couple of weeks.

You have already lost 60lbs...is this the first time things have slowed down? If so, look around the forums here. You are blessed. I don't think I've seen anyone else who has lost that much without major frustrations somewhere along the way.

Just be patient with your body....you're making HUGE changes. You want something you can sustain...you have to give this time.

It will happen. Also, maybe your goal weight is a little low. You could make it 20 pounds higher and still have a normal BMI. How you look at a particular weight has a lot to do with how much muscle you have. Are you doing strength training? More muscle will allow you to eat more too.

Thanks for posting because I have just gone through the exact same experience. Logging every little tic tac, keeping well within my target number (1200), feeling confident, staying off the scale so I wouldn't be stressing over every little ounce….and in two weeks I lost .4 pounds! Not even half a pound. I could not believe it. So frustrated and discouraged.

But all these responses here are helpful. I know weight loss is not linear and it is easy to think I am doing something wrong (and maybe I am!) when results are just not happening. Its easy to just give up in massive wave of depression and hopelessness, but where does that get me? No, there is only one real alternative and that is to continue eating as healthy as I know how to and let my body do what it does. I don't want to be at war with my own body. Today I am going to pet myself and say "Nice body, good body, I love you body, I'll take care of you, body, don't worry, body." :P

this is one of the biggest problems with only weighing in every couple of weeks. You have no idea if that particular measurement is a high or low for you (home scales are inherently inaccurate and need to be averaged), and you don't have nearly enough data to properly calculate your real TDEE. 1.5 lbs in two weeks when you need to lose 60 *is* low. I don't want to be discouraging, just being honest. Your body can very safely tolerate a much larger net deficit than what you're probably giving it. If you want to lose weight faster, eat less and move more. Generate a higher deficit through exercise if you can't eat less. It *will* come off, and faster.

I don't necessarily think 1300 calories is a small amount of food, especially for someone 5'3". I'm 6'6" and if I was completely sedentary, I'd be just fine at 1300 calories. If you want to eat more, just exercise more. Calories in versus calories out... you can do this!

oh, and read this... it holds the secret to weight loss: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/

If you lost 1.5lbs every other week for a year you'd lose 40lbs! its all about consistency over time.