It's just not happening!!!!

Are you eating (grossing) 1200 or netting 1200 calories?

Are you just eating 1200 calories or are you exercising and eating those calories back? ( Netting )

Yeah around 1200 but I've been trying to aim lower as my weight seems to come off so slowly! So how do I know how much to eat?

You are not eating nearly enough. Find a TDEE calculator online and enter your info. Then subtract 20% from that number and eat that number of calories.

What is 12st 10?

Yeah around 1200 but I've been trying to aim lower as my weight seems to come off so slowly! So how do I know how much to eat?

12st and 10 is 178lbs right? and you're 5'4".

You maintain your current weight at 1956 calories per day with zero exercise

To lose 1lb per week with zero exercise you would need to subtract 500 calories from 1956.

1956-500=1456 calories per day with no exercise.

This means if you exercise, you need to eat 1456+ those exercise calories to keep the same 500 calorie deficit. Having too high of a caloric deficit is counter productive to fat loss.

If you set your calorie goal to 1200, then burn 300 calories exercising in one day, you should actually eat closer to 1500 calories for that day. But 1200 calories sounds pretty low in general. It makes your body metabolism slow down to adapt to getting less "fuel" in the form of food than it actually needs. I was doing 1200 when I first started exercising and wasn't losing anything. But then I increased it to 1450 and also started "eating back" my exercise calories, and that's when I started losing weight. It doesn't seem to make sense but that's how bodies work. :-)

You have to be sure you're eating enough protein as well.
It also sounds like you're doing a fair amount of exercise and those days require you to eat more food.
I lost 32lbs in 6 weeks and one key is to NOT EAT ANY CARBS after 3 pm.
If you have a late night craving, air popped popcorn is a great, fiber filled, filling snack.
The Dairy Queen fat free sugar free fudge bars are only 60 calories and have 6 grams of fiber. They are a very
satisfying snack without the guilt. Good luck!

(1) add some weight lifting
(2) eat more.

I'm 5'5" and weigh just 2 pounds more than you (I think...not 100% on that whole "stones" thing). I workout 5-6 days a week - *heavy* lifting 2x a week for 30 minutes, running 2x a week for 35-40 minutes, biking once a week for an hour, and doing a "brick" workout (swim/bike/run) once a week for about 2 hours (I'm training for two triathlons), plus one rest day...sometimes two if one of my other workouts gets "rained out". I eat about 1400 cals on my rest days, and I eat 1400 cals PLUS about half of my workout cals (ie if I burn 500 cals on a run, then that day, I will eat 1400 + 250 for a total of 1750 cals). I only eat back half of my workout cals because I have a high working heart rate, so I know my heartrate monitor over-calcs my calories burned because of it. I am also hypothroid (controlled by meds, but I have to fight for every ounce lost). And doing the above, I am losing just under 1 pound a week.....it's like a pound every 10 days or so.

Oh my god thank you guys, I have always eaten fewer to try and lose weight and always struggled!!!!! I will definitely try a few more and see what happens! Thank you

You will start to eat more and it will begin to come off!!! You will be AMAZED that you didn't discover it before now!!

Good luck to you...