20lbs or less to lose

Everyone is different. Some people can lose weight netting less than 1200 and some can't. You'll need to determine for yourself which you are. I'm one who can't. Since I couldn't cut calories or exercise more, I cut carbs and that works for me.

I just don't know what to cut, add or anything....stuck stuck stuck.....

I have...I eat less than 1200 then exercise between 200-700 cals. I do not eat them back. I"ve lost alot of weight and haven't stalled yet!!!

My food journal is open

I would definitely look at the QUALITY of those calories you're taking in. Those last few pounds can be tough, even with a caloric deficit and ample exercise. I cut gluten a few months back, because it was determined I had a slight sensitivity to it, and I dropped 10lbs almost overnight (ok, not overnight, but definitely in 7 or 8 days). Even though before then, I was still operating at a caloric deficit (I worked out HARD - I trained for triathlons and was working out 2 or 3 hours per day), those last few pounds were not budging. Once I cut the gluten (but maintained my very necessary for training carb intake through such items as fruits, vegs, legumes & nuts) it was amazing how quickly the pounds dropped (especially from the mid-section). Oh, and I cut diet soda also, I think that definitely helped with some bloating. Just do your best to figure out your own body and how it responds to different types of foods. Hope this helps!

Metabolically, at the stage you describe, you have to be careful. On one hand, you're right, you can't create as big a deficit. However, as your body fat drops so does the production of the hormone leptin which normally promotes high metabolic rate. The reduction in leptin creates a metabolic drag. (Everyone is not different on this point...it's part of how metabolism is regulated.) Thus, if you create too big of a deficit (for example, by eating very little) you can stall further loss by further lowering your metabolism.

The best universal advice (and I'm close to but not quite to the place where you are, so I'm speaking from professional knowledge and not personal experience here) is to set your goals lower. That is, max your rate of loss out at 0.5 lbs. a week. This allows you to eat a few more calories (thus mitigating the metabolic drag from excessively low calories) while still maintaining a deficit. Loss will be slower but it will still proceed. If you read what you wrote carefully, this is in essence what JM was advocating. If you eat 1300 to 1500 calories a day you are eating at or above your BMR (it is universally a health risk to gross fewer calories a day than BMI...there are no real exceptions to this) but will still run a deficit with moderate exercise.

Keep in mind a lot of the calories used by someone in your position is for central nervous system function, and you don't want to starve the CNS. If it were me, I'd follow the JM plan you laid out but allow myself to eat 100 - 200 extra calories on days where I exercise vigorously (i.e. > 600 calories burned in a day from exercise) to keep my metabolism fueled. And if you find yourself chronically experiencing fatigue, headaches, or other neurological issues then you would definitely need to eat more...these are never good signs as they indicate an under-fueled CNS.

I only have 10 lbs to lose (thanks birth control and senior year...), and as far as what I can tell so far, it's really those small "tweaks' that end up making a HUGE difference.

I already eat extremely clean and healthy, so that was difficult for me to do. Here are the changes I've made so far:

1) Consume more carbs at breakfast, and cut out the ones later in the day. I found that having a carb heavy breakfast (complex/whole carbs of course!) made me crave them less at night (when I would ALWAYS binge on them)

2) Make simple "swaps"-- instead of soy milk (I have a cup/day in coffee), use almond milk. An easy 70 cals a day gone.

3) Switch up your workout. Instead of ellipticalling 10 miles, I'm now running 8 and doing 2 on the elliptical.

These are obviously just a few things, but really small things can make a huge difference!

For breakfast, like you said, I listen to my body and eat only when I'm hungry. I also switched from carb-centric breakfasts to protein-centric breakfasts - and feel much fuller for much longer after a high-protein breakfast (i.e. - eggs - and lots of 'em). The more I eat at breakfast (again - my breakfast simply being when I was hungry - not necessarily at "breakfast time"), the stronger I am during the day. I've actually started simply calling breakfast - "Meal 1" - because eating at 7am sometimes just does not work for me. I generally eat my first meal around 9am or 930am ... when I've already been up for 3 or 4 hours (and have likely already done a workout). I tend to start getting a little "hungry" at this time - but certainly not "starving". My one main goal is to never allow myself to get to the "starving" point - or else I make some really poor food decisions. My body seems to do just fine with this. I never feel faint or hungry. I actually feel really strong in the morning and don't feel the need to eat (on the contrary, the thought of eating that early sometimes turns me off). However, if I woke one morning just starving, I'd listen to my body and feed it.

Because I'm in bed super early each night (because I train so early in the morning), I strive to not eat after 7pm also, when I can help it. But hey, life is to be enjoyed, right, so if I'm out with friends an it's 8pm ... I'll eat. ;-) Balance!