those on 1200-ish a day - typical days menu?

Banana in the morning.
Soup, Slice of turkey/ham/beef or some tuna + sweetcorn, small yoghurt
Reduced sugar jelly in the afternoon or fruit.
Chicken or Fish plus couscous in the evening

Sometimes that can be over, but normally its close to 1200

I feel the opposite - I can't get mine over! My diary is open btw.

What's your average meal combo?

H

I'm the same way. my goal is 1,200 but I tend to get to around 1,000.....and I'm not hungry. I don't want to eat just to reach a calorie goal...

You aren't eating 'just to reach a calorie goal'. If our bodies do not get enough energy (a calorie is a unit of energy) then after a while it starts thinking something is wrong and will stop burning fat, eat into our muscles for protein and start storing the fat and carbs you eat. And your metabolism will start slowing down. That's the amazing thing about our bodies. They adapt to change very well.

The baseline number is 1200 - MFP will not go under that number. You eat at least that then eat any calories you burned during exercise. Your body requires that much fuel to function

I had a very hard time at first because I would go all day without eating. Now my tummy starts to rumble right before breakfast time, right before lunch time and in time for dinner.

I find little things help reduce your calories for the day. My diary is public, but hasn't been filled much recently... if you are really bored you can go way back and find some good days

I usually do cereal with 1/2 cup low fat milk, I measure it to make sure I'm not going over and have cereals like Special K, Sultana Bran or Weet-Bix. I ALWAYS have a coffee as well I just need it haha - instant coffee + 1 sugar + 50mL or 2 tbsps of milk.
I have a piece of fruit when I start to feel hungry again later - apple, nectarine, half a banana or something.

Lunch varies, today I had wholemeal pita bread pizza - it was absolutely delicious and what I had for dinner the night before as well. Loaded up with sauce, spices and vegies + chicken or ham, plus a little bit of cheese... pop it under the grill, and tah-dah! Can make a couple at a time and have them cold later. Mmmm so good.
I often have a salad + chicken, ham or tuna. I just keep an eye on my meat portions. I don't like salad dressing, so that helps. I mung down on carrot sticks which are really satisfying and make my meal last for ages. I will pile up my plate with snow pea sprouts, spinach, beetroot, carrot and cucumber, plus about 50g of meat. If I'm looking light on for the rest of the day or I have done a big workout, I'll also have some nuts and some fruit, like some grapes or strawberries. It's nice having something sweet to kinda round of the meal, I find that helps a lot. I make open-faced sandwiches a lot as well, halving the amount of bread you have will work wonders on your calorie count.
Another good one when you can't prepare meals first I had low-fat Greek yoghurt with some dried apple or something else, or fresh strawberries or blueberries. I add to that some cereal too, whatever is at the bottom of the packet - the smushed up stuff. Mix it all together and it is so good and so satisfying! I love the crunch of the cereal... mmm

I'll usually eat an apple when walking home from work as well, and have a cup of tea somewhere along the line - it keeps me feeling satiated.

Dinner can be tricky, but like others have said, that's what I plan first and then work around. There are a million things to choose from, like homemade pizza which is what I had last-night. I'm always looking up different recipes to try, but I'm quite picky. I just change things around a bit so they suit me.
The other night I did a home made chicken schnitzel with green salad and lemony-mayonnaise dipping sauce.
I do stir-fries sometimes, I usually google those ones and use tonnes of vegies.
A favourite of mine is spaghetti bolognaise. I use store bought base (yes, naughty) then add lean beef mince and every vegetable on the face of the planet! Especially tomatoes, carrot, onion and spinach. It makes the sauce really solid and wholesome, so you don't need as much pasta and you can use it for leftovers for lunch, dinner or breakfast for ages!
I am naughty quite often and buy frozen, grilled, sauced fish - with salad or mixed frozen veg. It's a good chance to have some dessert for a treat, if you make a small meal, or have some mashed potatoes.
I get store-bought sauce and add to it, with the chicken tonights and stuff like that. Adding vegetables and a bit of quick rice, it's a quick and yummy meal that can do leftovers as well (though I'm only feeding two, more like two and a half with my weight-lifting boyfriend, but still.)

Most importantly, I drink water. It encourages me to get my exercise done early (I hate exercising when I've been drinking water, I need to leave for a bathroom nearly every minute... it sucks) and makes me thirsty the rest of the day, not to mention fills me up. I have full 1 L bottles of water in the fridge and a at work at all times, I just sip from them almost constantly. I try not to drink too much immediately after eating, I've heard that can make you hungry again later and your food starts it's digestive journey asap.

Oh, I also have treats sometimes my favourite is a skinny Chai latte from Gloria Jeans, a chain coffee store - so good for 73 cal! I have hot chocolates quite a few nights, you can get lots of low cal ones - most say mix with just water but I always add milk - so I can drink it straight away and it makes it just a bit thicker and more satisfying. I also bake things when I can - freeze some stuff for later. I love baking around events/birthdays/going to people's houses - because I offload as much as I can off to them! As long as you plan ahead and enter the recipe in MFP, and make any modifications you can, there's no reason you can't.

1200 can leave me a little peckish some days, but that's usually from a psychological or wasting my calories thing. Like others have said, swinging over a little still means you're losing (at the least maintaining) which is so much better than the path you were on not that long ago! This is life, it's meant to be lived, so give yourself the most of it you can.

Sorry about the long post, hope you find some things to help

I try and eat my carbs in the morning usually.
So for example today
Breakfast- porridge made with water & and a grated apple in it, with a bit of cinnamon & 1/2 teasp syrup
2 white coffees
then
lunch was-large salad with lemon juice & balsamic dressing, 200gms roast chicken breast
then
Dinner will be-boiled egg & tuna salad
I have sugar free hot blackcurrant juice in between, it really fills me up, or tea