How much you eat seems to be more important than how much yo

Not likely. Probably what you experienced was more water stored in your body during the times you were exercising.

just living and breathing you will burn around 1200 a day, and so if you add walking and cleaning you will burn plus what you eat,

that being said I will say 1700 is kinda a lot for losing 1500 is better and also if you are excersizing you will gain muscle and that weighs way more then fat, and the muscles help you be more healthy there is such a thing as fat skinny and thats where you are skinny but are flabby cuz you have no muscles so it is better to excersize, and I would say 1200 is pretty low

I've been losing pretty consistently for over six months by netting 1500 to 1700 a day and exercising for 30 to 40 minutes, 5 days a week. In fact, when I was netting less, I was losing less.

I've been having problems trying to reach my calorie goal of 1200 per day while eating healthy. It says that if I don't, my body will go into starvation mode which will slow my metabolism *sigh*

The people on here will tell you anything under 1200 calories is "no man's zone". Obviously, a couple hundred calories under won't hurt. Healthy weight loss is 1-3 pounds a week. Have you ever seen a fat person starve to death or a fat anorexic? No? There is all the proof of starvation mode I need. However, everyone loses weight differently. I'm probably going to get a ton of backlash for saying this (as I've seen others get) but I don't really believe in starvation mode. Regardless of what someone's nutritionist tells them, on the Medifast diet you eat 800-1200 calories a day. It's been recommend by 20,000 doctors and was CREATED by doctors. Also on the Hollywood Cookie Diet, you eat 800-1200 calories. My mother has had a lot of success on medifast and I previously had a lot of success on the cookie diet. If you look up both diets, you will see.
I've read so much on starvation mode. This was one of the best things I found about it:
http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html
I encourage you to read it.

bump

Maybe it's just my experience, but say if my calorie goal is 1200 per day. If I just ate 1200 and didn't exercise, I'd end up losing more weight over time than if I ate 1700 calories a day and exercised 500 per day. They both have a net of 1200, but the former just seems to work better.

Anyone else have the same experience?

Kathy I don't mean to be forth comming but is your picture current to your size, I ask cause based on your pic your age and what you said about wanting to be at the weiht you were before I wonder are you talking about the weight you were when you were a teen cuz your body has probably turnned more into the full figure of a woman so it might not be realisitc

I guess I am kinda afrade for you, you seem really tiny in your pic and your talking about eating such a low amount of food you are carful not to get a bad body image right? thats were no matter how much you weigh you think you are over weight, good way to tell is if others are telling you that you are fine.

Maybe it's just my experience, but say if my calorie goal is 1200 per day. If I just ate 1200 and didn't exercise, I'd end up losing more weight over time than if I ate 1700 calories a day and exercised 500 per day. They both have a net of 1200, but the former just seems to work better.

Anyone else have the same experience?

Short term diets like the 1200 calorie one is great for 1 thing...short term.
Unless of course you are below 5 foot tall.

Set calories to 1600 daily and run with it!

Heres a tip:
Eat 20% below TDEE to mobilize fat and lose weight!
Eat close to or below BMR to mobilize lean mass and lose a lot of weight for a short time...then not lose any weight at all...then get frustrated and post a "I eat 1200 calories and havent lost a pound" forum post.

Helloit'sdan wins one internets.