Why am I NOT losing weight?!?!

Are you weighing yourself every day?

Try doing that only once a week at the same time and look at the weekly trend rather than the daily fluctuations and adjust accordingly.

Maybe you are at the weight you should be at or have hit a plateau.

1200 is too low - especially if you're close to your goal weight --- and double if you're exercising too and still not even eating 1200. Not sure how tall you are but I'm 5'4 and 160 and my resting BMR is 1680 so my daily is 1430 to lose 1/2 pound a week. Maybe you just need to relook at your numbers? Also, more protein is a good thing! I changed my goals to 45% protein, 25% carb, 30% fat. It's frustrating I know.... but I was stalled for months at 1200 and finally started losing little by little again when I upped the cals.

PS I just reread your post --- you're not even eating the 1200 and you're working out? You need to get more food...your body is holding on to every thing it can because you're starving it! Can't eat more? Drink it! Bring a protein shake to the gym instead of plain water and get some calories and protein that way. I drink 2-3 protein shakes a day - they keep me feeling full all day.

I know how you feel, it took two months of working out and eating right to lose even a pound! But I've actually found lately that if I lower my sugar and sodium intake then I can get rid of the water weight. Also, I went back up two pounds this weekend, and discovered it's from drinking too much water and retaining that water. I've started trying to keep it at a max of 2 liters of water a day, which seems to be a good balance. Also, have you tried measuring yourself? I mean, I've only lost 4 pounds, but I've lost almost six inches off my body because muscle weighs more than fat (actually, it's denser, so it makes you look smaller, but usually at a bit of a higher weight). Hope this helps!

Change your work-outs: type, duration, and/or intensity. Most people do steady cardio. Interval works best and weight lifting. Do shorter work-outs, but more intense. I too, have improved my diet and am working out more and haven't lost anything, but I am not lifting enough weights!! So, I need to follow my own advice!!

1000 calories plus exercise is starving yourself, and your body is holding onto the weight. YOU NEED TO EAT MORE. As others have said, hit between 1400 and 1600 NET, that means if you burn 400 exercising, YOU HAVE TO EAT most of that back. If you're not hungry, try some nutrient/calorie dense things like protein shakes, nuts, nut butters, etc. Trust us, it works! You can also try zig-zagging or calorie cycling. Best plan I've found is at freedieting.com. Your metabolism needs to be kick-started again. Rest days are important, too.

My body stays at the same weight for weeks (3-4), then I will drop 5 pounds within a few days... stay at that weight for weeks, and drop another 5 pounds, and so on. Just be patient, you're doing all the right things!! Add in a bit more high intensity cardio? That will increase fat burning and maybe get your body going again.
I don't particularly agree with eating back excercise calories until you are rather close to your goal weight, but once you figure out what your body needs... stick with it. It sounds like you keep changing what you are doing every couple of days because you aren't seeing results immediately? If you are, try sticking to one way for 2 weeks and see how it goes. By that I mean, if you are going to try eating back excercise cals... do that consistently for 2 weeks and see how it goes.

A couple things you can do:

Take a look at your portions and make sure you're getting it right. For example, I've seen the size of a chicken breast vary from a deck of cards to larger than my fist. It should be a deck of cards.

Take a look at hidden calories. If you've started a profile here, then the friends you've made on MFP can give you feedback on what you're eating.

Adjust your level of activity on MFP. When you first set up your profile, take into account that the level of activity does not take into account exercise activity. A nurse or lumber jack are going to burn more calories at work than a nerd like me, sitting at a desk in front of a computer all day. my level of activity is set to "sedentary." It will affect your calorie target.

Anyways, I thought I plataued after two weeks. Keep it going and push through it.

I FORCE myself to eat at least 1250 a day, sometimes I'll even eat up to 1400 calories a day. But usually once I hit 1000 calories, I'm full and make myself eat a LUNA bar or something, or drink some protein powder smoothie.. anything so my body doesn't hit starvation.

May I see your diary? I'm on your friends list, so even if you just open it up to friends? If you do I'll pam you if I see anything I think I can help with.

I did the first 6 months of my journey to health the conventional way (cutting calories and doing lots of exercise). I lost 9.6lbs and reached 120.4 - and still had a belly. At then end of April I stopped counting calories and dropped my carbs by cutting out grains, flours, sugars, starches, beans, and milk (most cheeses have no carbs). I also cut out most fruit - I stick with berries because they are low-sugar. I stopped eating foods from a box. I increased my fats. I eat lots of whole eggs. I found Mark's Daily Apple and Primal Blueprint and decided to do an experiment since I had reached my goal and I was happy. I did not expect what I got in return. Since that time I have dropped another 8.8lbs (now 111.6lbs) all body fat with maybe a little more water weight gone (carbs cause water retention). My body fat % is now 19%-20%. I keep my carbs around or below 50g - every so often I go high-carb with more fruit; I eat about .7-.8g of protein per pound of body weight. I eat unlimited fats. This includes lots of saturated fats. The only oils I use are olive, coconut, avocado and real butter. My energy levels are through the roof. I feel amazing. All my digestive issues are gone and I had a lot of them. I don't have to do as much exercise (I follow Primal Blueprint Fitness). The body sees excessive cardio as stress and will protect itself from that stress. I get my carbs through fibrous veggies. Since going Primal my natural waistline has gone from 31" to 26"; below my belly button went from 34" to 29". I have nice muscle definition. My sugar addiction is still an ongoing battle.

Yes this is all anecdotal evidence but that works perfectly fine for me. I see this same story all over Primal Blueprint (along with people that are reversing diabetes, infertility, PCOS, IBS, autism in children, etc.) and in MFP's Paleo Support Group.

open your food diary, sometimes we can help by seeing what your eating!
I have been bouncing between 3 lbs for over 3 weeks now, however I have
drooped 8" use a measuring tape it can really show what the scale
doesn't

Two others have already said it but it bears repeating - give changes at least 2 weeks to show up on the scale, not just a few days. You've tried several methods in 2 weeks time expecting immediate results and that's just not the way these things work. The only immediate results most people see with weight loss is water weight (unless they're severly obese then actual fat loss happens quickly)

Not sure what your diet consists of besides chicken but if you're having a hard time getting the calories in, cut out any "diet" foods you're currently consuming (low fat, low calorie) and go back to the regular version. Also, eating a couple of fruits each day can easily up your daily total by a couple hundred calories.

I would also suggest eating more. I don't know how many posts I've seen lately saying, "I was afraid, but I did it and ate more and lost". I've decided to start saving them. Here's the one I saved so far.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/319124-finally-broke-my-plateau

I am 152, I average about 2000 NET calories a day and have lost 7lbs in 2 months.