15 pounds in 8 weeks?

I am so sick of the back and forth and all or nothing mentality.

You still have that mentality.. let me guess 1200 calorie restriction, 1-2 hours a day in the gym... 15 lbs in 8 weeks is a difficult goal if you lost your water weight already.

Do you have a temporary goal of looking a certain size for one event?

Or do you have a life-long goal of being healthy and looking good?

If you just want to look a certain size for one day, it isn't terribly hard to lose 15 lbs. But if you want to be healthy for the rest of your life, then losing 15 lbs in 8 weeks is NOT reasonable for someone your weight and height. Personally, if you're motivated, try for 8 lbs. It'll be hard, but you can actually do it and then keep it off forever. Set your settings to "lose 1 lb per week." And follow that amount it gives you as closely as possible, including eating your "exercise calories" to bring your net calories back to your target calories. In the first week, you might lose a couple pounds. Then the weeks after that, it'll slow down to the 1 lb per week.

You will stress yourself out. One step at a time.

I'm 5'2", was at 150 ten weeks ago, now I'm at 135. It's not totally unrealistic, but you can't put pressure on yourself to reach a certain weight by a certain date. What's more important for me is slimming down and toning up, so if that means the number on the scales goes up, fair enough. Things that have helped me be successful:

1. DON"T SET A TIME LIMIT. Sure, I'd like to be 120 by September 1st, but if it doesn't happen, oh well. It's just like I'd like to be a millionaire some day. If I said I wanted to be a millionaire by a certain date, and that date passed, I'd be much more likely to give up and get defeated than if I practiced good saving/ investing habits to eventually get to my goal.

2. DON'T EAT JUST 1200 CAL/DAY. My weight loss increased upping it to 1400/day. I didn't deprive myself of alcohol, pizza, chocolate, or burgers (my vices), but I made sure it fit into my calorie "budget" for the day. But, avoid things that you can't stop from binge eating (*cough cough* garlic bread *cough cough*)

3. DON'T GO NUTS WITH EXERCISE. I used to, when I was in college. But that wasn't sustainable with my lifestyle. Now I go 30-60 mins, 4-5 days a week. It works for me and I've stuck with it now since the beginning of 2014. It's second nature now.

I am in a similar boat (height/weight wise) and started adding exercise into my schedule in August 2013. I dropped 9 lbs by October, but since then have been about the same...however, my measurements have gone down tremendously and I look much thinner and muscular. It really depends on how your body reacts to working out, too...for me I REALLY respond to weights, but less so to cardio, so I try to do a combination. All that weight didn't go on in a few months, so you can't expect to lsoe it in a few months, either. I mena, it is certainly possible, but you can't make yourself miserable over it.