looking for guidance please

Quick look at your diary suggests the usual reasons.

- you are not measuring and recording your food accurately. E.g. using "cups" and teaspoons rather than grams.

- you are (perhaps) over-estimating the number of calories burned in exercise. E.g. 218 calories cycling at a moderate pace for 20 minutes.

However, am I right in thinking you have a Fitbit or similar which adjusts for the number of steps you take in a day?

Read the sexypants thread.

im 52 female 5'2 wt 210 light exercise 5x wk MFP 1200 cal and not losing .
open to veiw log

According to BMI, at your height you should be between 105 - 130, so a goal of 120 (1200 cal) is reasonable.
Don't go below 1200 unless you've talked it over with your doctor.
Maybe you should start with a goal of 130 (1300 cal), and see if you want to tweak it down slightly once you get there.

At your current weight, you'd need 2100 to maintain, so you should be losing a bit under 2 lb per week because you're just under 1000 cal down from what you need.
This also is reasonable.
You're 8 lb down & joined a month ago, so you're on track for losing just under 2 lb per week.

So what do you mean you're not losing?
You're doing fine, losing at a reasonable & healthy rate.
As you get closer to your goal, you'll be closer to the calories needed to maintain your new weight, so the rate of loss will drop - possibly to as little as 0.5 lb per week.
This also is reasonable & healthy.

Looking at your food diary for the last week:
Fri. 15 1419 cal
Thurs. 14 1240 cal
Wed. 13 1229
Tues. 12 951 [!!!]
Mon. 11 1521
Sun. 10 1342
Sat. 9 1223

There are 3 days you're pretty much on target, 3 days you're well over, and 1 that you're dangerously under.
Don't go below 1200 calories.
Don't eat back exercise calories; ignore "net", just pay attention to having your overall intake at 1200. (Both MFP and gym machines overestimate how much you burn, though machines where you can program your weight & it pays attention to your effort do a reasonable job.)

You need more fruits & veggies.
Also, you've got a lot of frozen dinners. Lose those. You can get better nutrition, more food, and lower sodium by cooking for yourself.
And the treats are pretty regular. Make them treats. With so few calories to use, you need to focus on things which are nutritious.

"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake.
However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity."

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html

So start walking, or increase what you're doing now.
Increase the duration, the intensity, or both.
Add some weightlifting. Look on youtube for videos of body weight workout if you don't have access to a gym.
Cardio burns more calories per minute, but weight training will increase muscle, which burns more calories all the time than fat does, and once you lose the fat you'll look fabulous.

If you have $10 a month, there's a Planet Fitness in your area:
17 Long Pond Dr.; South Yarmouth, MA; 02664
508.760.2300
It's not 24/7, which is surprising because most of their clubs are, but the hours are very good.
http://www.planetfitness.com/gyms/south-yarmouth-ma-236

Oh, and take measurements.
Sometimes (esp. for people who are exercising) the scale won't change but measurements show that the person is shrinking.
This is because fat is fluffy & muscle is compact, so if you lose 1 lb of fat & gain 1 lb of muscle you're going to be thinner.

Your food logging is likely not accurate, and you're inadvertently eating more than you think. Instead of lowering the calorie goal, or this "calorie cycling" thing, I suggest getting to the root of the problem--inaccuracy and underestimating.

This post is incredibly helpful for tightening up your food logging. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=logging+accurately&page=1

Also, get a digital food scale. It is a godsend for finding the "hidden" calories caused by using cups, spoons, and eyeballing.

helpful yes but also even harder

Is this response for me? If so, I resisted using a food scale for a long time; I thought it would be fussy and difficult, too. But, "peer pressure" (and, oh, I'm so glad I gave in) gently persuaded me to start weighing my food.

I actually am SO surprised how much EASIER it is than using a bunch of different measuring cups and spoons (oh, and far less dirty dishes, ). A digital scale can be "zeroed" out.

Place your bowl or plate on the scale. Zero it. Put a food on it and record its weight. Zero it. Repeat with each food until your plate is complete. Done.