staying within the calories MFP sets for me and...???

First off, nice job at sticking with it. I have two ideas:

1) You could be calculating your calories incorrectly or your portion sizes. Are you measuring everything? It's obnoxious but so important. It's so easy to underestimate the amount of food you're eating.

2) I don't know if you're eating your exercise calories or not, but you could be over estimating the amount of calories your burn, thus eating too much in order to lose weight. However, you're not gaining weight which means you're at leat taking a small step in the right direction. You also could be eating too few calories in general. You might want to try bumping your calories up at least 200 calories. 1200 calories is way below your BMR, an amount you should never eat below in order to safely and healtily lose weight.

I hope this helps. We also have similar goals if you want to friend me.

Theoretically speaking, you should be able to eat what you want as long as it's within your caloric goals. However, everyone's different. Try eating differently and see if the scale budges? You have to find what works for you. Personally, I feel better eating a healthier diet, however, when it comes to losing, as long as I eat the proper amount of calories (and watch salt intake) it doesn't make a difference.

rome wasn't built in a day. stick with it, be dedicated, and see where else you can improve. btw, track sodium if you aren't already. that can affect weight.

Just stay within ur calorie goals and u will see results. Also 1200 calories is fine it won't be unsafe, I'm 213 lbs and lift heavy 4 days. Week and have been eating 1600 calories a day with no problems, my wife has been eating 1200-1300 for a few weeks now and she has been fine. Give 1200 about 3 weeks and if your not seeing results than knock it down by 100-200 cals I wouldn't go lower than 1000 cal tho. 1200 should work fine for u. Good luck and just stick to it

It is never okay to go below 1200 calories. This is BAD advice. to OP it is quite possible you are not eating enough. What does your protein intake look like? How much weight do you want to lose?

It's been ten days.

I had that happen to me... and it turns out that I was WAY over my sodium goals!! High levels of sodium keep the water weight from dropping off. Start tracking your levels and drinking lots of water... that should help

You say you are staying within 1200? Are you ever going under that amount? If so you could be putting your body into starvation mode which will stop your weight loss because you body thinks there is a famine going on. Try eating a few more calories, closer to 1300, for a couple of weeks and see if that helps. Also, sometimes when you plateau a shock day can help, were you eat like 1500 or more so your body knows food is not scarce and it is ok to burn the stored fat.

You nailed it; she's too low by not eating back exercise calories.

And where did this "1200" come from?
That's not what MFP recommends. The ideal is 1 pound of weight loss per week.
Remember, this is not a race.

i think it depends what OP means by "food she loves" if shes have 1200 calories of cheeseburgers, fries, chips and ice cream everyday shes not going to see a weight loss. Im at 1200 calories as well, doesnt leave me hungry, and Im losing, all people are different so this is just my opinion, but maybe the loved-too-much-to-give-up foods are the problem. if i didnt give up any of my favorites i dont think id be losing anything either.

I think you need to stick with it and vary it up so that you see results for you. Everyone is different.

Just a note: If you exercise the same every day like 30DS, you can plan for your exercise calories. I wouldn't eat them all back but at least 50% of them to make sure that you're getting enough nutrition. 1200 net calories is a number that is touted not because going below that will put you in starvation mode, but because at 1200 calories, you're just getting the basic building blocks of nutrition that your body needs to function. Those micronutrients will help you be healthy and make sure that you're optimizing yourself. By optimizing yourself, you'll help your body turn on the processes that it needs to increase your metabolism.

If you're using up part of your basic calorie allotment on junk food, just be aware that you then should be keeping an eye on all of your nutrients (macro are the easiest to track - carbs/protein/fats) since you probably will be lacking. At the very least with that level of calories you should be supplementing with vitamins. They aren't as efficient as our naturally sourced ones, but they're better than nothing.

My favourite saying is Substitution not Elimination. So figure out what it is about your favourite foods specifically that you find crave-worthy and then find something that is healthier but gives the same experience. So for example: I went through a phase where all I wanted was chips. It was the salty crunch that I wanted. I figured that saltine crackers were baked, not fried and still offered a salty crunch. I was able to fit it into my planned meals and I comboed them with PB for a protein hit as well.....so they ended up being WAY better for me than a bag of chips

The key here is learn about yourself and your needs - everyone can give their advice, but the truth is that this is about you and your lifestyle - you have to be able to live with it.

All of that being said, the first week should result in some losses even if it's not fat. Another poster mentioned sodium. Make sure to watch that plus your water intake - you should be getting half of your body weight in ounces on a daily basis (no more than 24oz in an hour though). So if you weigh 160lbs, you should be drinking 10 glasses a day (80 ounces). That will help ensure your body is well hydrated and that you have enough liquids in your body to remove toxins and excess, stored stuff like sodium.

Eat more.