Losing at 1200 cals??

I've done close to 1200 and have lost 30lbs since the beginning of May. When I started to stall for a couple of weeks, I upped my carbs substantially with chicken breasts and egg whites, and i cut out as much sugar as possible, and the scale moved again.

MFP assigned me to 1300 calories and when I began a year ago, it took 5 weeks for me to start losing. I hung in there and lost 17 pounds by mid-November. Then in January I fell off the wagon. I gained eight back and I climbed back on. MFP does work. LOG EVERYTHING! Even when I have really, really bad days it helps me to see exactly what I am doing and it holds me accountable. Drink 8 glasses of water daily. MFP definitely works. Best of luck to you!

Just a little advice to those only doing cardio. Add weight training. There is a lot of information out there on how to incorporate weight training into your regular exercise program. Research some and do what fits into your schedule. Also, if you are doing the same cardio (always running) you might want to change up what you are doing. Your body gets used to the same old routine. You need a challenge! To those not eating the calories that are burned...You need to make sure you eat those calories. Its especially important if you burn a lot of calories. You cannot lose weight in a healthy way if you are starving your body. And although the scale is a convenient measuring tool, the inches lost and the reduction in body fat is more important (just my opinion!) And NO DIETING!! It's a LIFESTYLE CHANGE Eat as clean as you can most of the time and treat yourself every now and then!! A great DVD program for weights is The Butt Bible. It has 3 levels of upper and lower body workouts and is great if you are one that needs the direct instruction

I've been successful at 1200. My best days are little/no breakfast (I don't like eating breakfast), light lunch and "caveman" dinner.

I eat out for lunch, so I eliminate everything that is "high cost", like salad dressing, cheese, bread and starches. So, I have things like grilled chicken on a salad, chicken sandwich with lettuce for bun (or no bun), turkey burger with no bun, or steamed veggies/tofu with a small serving of brown rice (PF Chang's Bhudda's Feast for example).

For dinner, my favorites are lean protein and loads of veggies - things like grilled chicken, fish or shrimp with grilled squash and zucchini, maybe a baked butternut, spaghetti or acorn squash.

I also try to keep a big tupperware filled with cucumber spears, celery sticks, baby carrots, mushrooms, radishes, snap peas, cherry tomatoes and other fresh vegetables to supplement when I have the munchies.

I use my exercise calories to allow for dealing with bread, ice cream and other treats.

All that being said, it takes a lot of discipline to hold 1200, but when I do, it works. I figure if I can hit 1200 2-3 days a week, 1400-1600 3-4 days a week and eat without guilt 1 day a week, I'm on the right path and either maintain or lose 1-2 lbs. On weeks I actually do 1200 net the entire week, I'll drop 2-4 lbs.

Explain to me why I need to eat the calories burned ...

If your car gets 25 miles to the gallon, and you travel 100 miles a week, you need 4 gallons of gas per week, right?

If you decide to drive 10 miles extra each day, and you don't add more gas, you are going to be stranded on the side of the road sometime on Thursday.

Does that help?

I'm losing about a pound a week -- some weeks it's more, some less, but that's the average. MFP set my target at 1,200, but I increase it with exercise, and I eat most of the calories added for the exercise (at least half and sometimes as much as all). So I'm usually eating between 1,300-1,500 calories a day.
I also drink at or above 64 oz a day and try to eat more fiber than MFP recommends. I'm doing light aerobics (sometimes just walking or yoga) and light weights (will probably work my way up some more). Following the MFP guidelines seems to work for me.
Almost everyone I've seen post about problems with plateaus, hair loss, etc., has either not tracked consistently or has eaten under the recommended amounts. So I'd suggest you not go below the 1,200.

1250 cal per day, 12.2 lb weight loss in the last 12 weeks.

That's pretty much what's happening to me, averaging a pound a week so far on about 1200 cals, plus I eat back most of my exercise burn off. But then I increase on the weekends to around 1400 cals - because I don't want to be a slave to a diet.

its working for me, slow but sure. Some days I do more but most days I stick to 1200

1200 worked for me for about 5-6 months and then I plateaued for weeks. I raised my calories to over 1500 and stayed the same for another 3 weeks and then started losing again. I also increased protein. I don't care if it's slow, I am *so* much happier eating a little more! It looks like most of the people 1200 is working for haven't been doing it very long...

I started doing 1200 calories a day in late March of 2011 and as of today September 2nd 2012 I am 204 pounds lighter. It has worked for me but I think my body has gotten use to it and I am struggling to lose a pound.