No matter what I do, I simply can't lose it

I have just looked up height and appropriate weight which says at 61 kg someone of your height will have a bmi of 22 which is very good.

Where lies the problem. Were I in that range. Had I been able to be in that range. I would have been so very happy all my life. Am I missing something??

^^^ this

Looking at your profile, it appears that you consider yourself "a whale". You're not a whale.

I think that is more of a problem than your inability to lose weight.

^^^ this

FFS no way you are "a whale" at a BMI of 22. It's possible to have a high body fat percentage at this BMI, but only if you've been undereating a lot. (i.e. persistent under-eating for months or years) - this results in loss of lean mass while the body fat percentage stays quite high. If your body fat percentage is 35% or higher (at a "normal" BMI) then that's "normal weight obesity" - and the cure is to build up your lean body mass, i.e. by eating a lot more, lifting heavy weights and rebuilding the muscle that's been starved off. If you do have normal weight obesity, you'll be at risk of osteoporosis, and the weight training + eating properly will also increase your bone density, thus reducing your risk of osteoporosis.

Anyway, even if your body fat percentage is not that high, as your BMI is 22 if you really do have quite a lot of body fat still (i.e. it's not just in your imagination or you exaggerating in your mind some tiny little bits of fat to whale-like proportions) then eating less and doing more cardio isn't going to help. You need to gain lean mass (which means gaining weight) by eating well and lifting heavy weights. This should firm up your body and reduce your body fat percentage.

Have a look at this success story, if you don't believe me that people with lowish BMIs can end up looking a lot better by gaining lean mass, rather than trying to lose even more weight: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

Also, learn to love yourself and appreciate what you've got, and try to see the world as others see you, as in they don't see the tiny flaws that you see. They see a beautiful person. Don't take a magnifying glass to your flaws. Everyone has them. And no-one looks like an airbrushed magazine models, not even the actual models (because if they looked like that, no-one would airbrush out all their flaws... the models' bodies still have all the flaws they airbrushed out of the pictures......)

Wow, I'm truly overwhelmed by all the answers! I'd never thought I'd get that many responses. I appreciate all your opinions, although I must admit I found myself getting a bit offended by some of them. But hey, that's how it works in the public. Anyway: some of you noticed that I don't keep a fooddiary, nor do I track my exercises on this page. I used to count my calories, weigh all of my food etc, but stopped when I didn't see results after a couple of months. I don't see how my diet isn't cutting it though - everything I ever eat is oatmeal, chicken, tuna, cottage cheese, avocado, nuts, quinoa, lots of veggies and salads etc. No sugar, no white bread, no potatoes or pasta, no read meat, yeah you get the picture. I thought of going back to counting calories, that's part of why I turned to you guys, wondering if that really is the only way since it's sometimes hard to do that because I have lunch in school (I live in Finland, free lunch you know, and I eat salad only, but still) and don't have access to a scale. How do you do with the counting part?

As for my weight, I am, like I said, quite satisfied with it. I know it's a good weight for my height. The thing is that I have too much fat. I want to slim down and tone my overall look, and that isn't going well. My measurements haven't gotten any shorter since I first measured myself many months ago.

And also, since I haven't been tracking my food on mfp I haven't checked my page either. I realize I have a few changes to do in the description .. my age is wrong as well!

Someone who feels they know what I should do next? Feel free to message me as well! I appreciate all of your support!

Lift heavy weights and eat more. You need to reduce your body fat percentage, and that's how you do that. i.e. what Staci did in the success story that I posted. Be prepared to get heavier, but to have a firmer, leaner more "toned" body. That's what you want, right? Well that's how you get it...

Could be a few reasons. muscle weighs more then fat. 18 you still may be growing. Water retention.

Muscle does not weigh more than fat. It's just more dense and takes up less space. I disagree with water retention because it sounds like she's maintaining but wants to lose some body fat and inches.

You are an 18-year old with a healthy BMI who says she has never been comfortable with her body, considers herself "a whale," and wants to be "some sort of model" (which isn't necessarily an attainable goal for the vast majority of us no matter what we eat or how fit we get).

I think working on your body image issues, at this point, would be more beneficial than getting even more neurotic about calorie counting. What about taking a break from focusing just on aesthetics and setting some fitness goals, like increasing the number of pushups/pull-ups you can do or training for a a race, for a while? That may increase your overall level of self-esteem more than trying to perfect certain "problem areas," etc.

I sadly don't have time to go through this whole thread. I read some of it and some points were very good.

You are young being in your teens. You will have muscle gains in that period of life that people older than that will not have. Not to mention you are still growing, so weight is not a good measure of progress. I would suggest at the very least get a measuring tape that a tailor would use to measure at least your chest, waist and hips; but probably also your upper arms, and thighs as well as that will give a much better measure of progress than weight. Also, taking pictures every couple of weeks can help you see changes you would never see normally.

I would also suggest based on your height and weight that you need to focus less on losing weight and more on body re-composition. If you have a gym available to you start a weight lifting program like Stronglifts 5x5 or New Rule for Lifting for Women. Do this while eating at a very small deficit or even at maintenance for a few months.

I never thought you could eat too much of the right food, but obviously you can. From now on I will eat the same, healthy food as I already do, but weigh and log and track and make sure that I don't go over my daily calorie goal intake.

Thank you everyone for your support and suggestions. It means the world to me!

Calories are calories whether they're from avocado and chicken or ice cream and pizza.

If your body receives more calories than it burns, it stores them away. If it receives fewer calories than it burns, it taps into those stores. Period, end of story.