Doing everything 'right', not losing weight?! Help!,

Being inconsistent with calories is best in the short term when you hit a plateau. And, yes, there is such thing as confusing your body. Our bodies adapt very well and then adjust to a calorie level and become inefficient. That's why when you hit a plateau you need to change things up a bit by exercising differently, varying our calorie level, etc. However, when you are at the beginning stages of lowering your calories to lose weight, you shouldn't vary your calorie level too much as your appetite needs to adjust to a lower calorie level. That is why the first week or two is so hard because we have adjusted our calorie level down to what we are not used to. If you eat 1200 calories one day and 1700 the next, your appetite is not going to adjust to the 1200 calorie level and you will be hungry. Just some thoughts.