advice on which calorie level to stick to

You are 152 lbs: Why are you incorporating a weekly goal weight loss of 2 lbs? That is way too aggressive for you. Choose a modest goal of 1 lb per week instead which is a 500 calorie per day total deficit from exercise and/or eating less. The leaner you get, the smaller the deficit below maintenance should be.

In regards to the scale, do not use it to determine short-term progress since body weight fluctuates throughout the day. If you have a maintenance calorie estimate of, for example, 1900 and you only eat 1400 but gain weight, it is not from fat but typically water.

Check out this Topic: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

It will help you figure out your BMR and TDEE amounts.

Yes. This x 1000.

Do your math, and fuel your body. Make your metabolism work for you!

Experiment. You might have to notch up or down by 100 calories and experiment with what works for you.

I found this quote to be quite helpful:

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban (The Body Centric Eating Manual from the Venus Index)

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You can not make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

If you have a lot of body fat reserves you would be surprised at how little you can eat (unless you have emotional eating issues or disorders). The leaner you get the less your body has to draw from and then you have to taper up your calories. There is no such thing as starvation mode for woman over 12% body fat or men over 6% body fat. I pretty much proved that for myself by staying strong and building muscle and doing what I did. I'm the leanest, most muscular, and most fit that I have ever been in my life at almost 52 years old

Best of luck to you!

For about two weeks I tried MFP suggestion of 1200 calories...I lost some and then plateaued for the rest of the time. I went to other sources and entered my stats and they recommended a little over 1300 so I round down and put 1300. I lost 2.2 lbs and Now ive been bouncing back and fourth .2 of a lb since Saturday.

What should I do?

1200, 1250, 1300? and then stick to it.

Thanks

This is what I do. for every 10lbs I lose I go in a update my weight so that it changes my calorie intake. If you are eating too far below their recommendation your body will go into starvation mode and hold onto those lbs as much as possible. When I started on here 55 days ago I was taking in up to 1930 calories per day. I am now down to 1720 I think..but I try to keep under each day by about 100 calories. It gives me some play space for one last snack. Also remember if you are exercising and adding that time in you will get more calories to spend each day. I never use those extra calories but they are there.

I did do the math. In my message I had said I went to other sites and entered my stats for BMR. Three in fact. I got 1835 as an average and -500 calories.

But thank you for suggesting in case I hadn't.

So did you select an activity level that included exercise?

And were you honest with it?

1835 as TDEE is rather sedentary, and even at that, would mean a BMR of 1529.

Have to be a tad short for that to apply in the 160's. But it may be the case.

Now, if doing TDEE deficit method, you don't do the MFP method of eating back calories because it's already included.

But I don't think you are with probably selecting Sedentary. So eat back your exercise calories to maintain that reasonable deficit of 500 you selected.
If you don't, you just made it unreasonable, and just saw the effects of that already, so if you want to keep going down that route, you can try, but it will only be a downward spiral of constantly declining eating levels far below what is required.

i started at 168 and went to 164.2, then back up to 166.4 and back down to 166.2. I'm weighing myself every day because I am doing a 2 week project from the Dr. Oz show.

Maybe Dr Oz has a calculator on his website.

Seriously, though. You need much more than 1200 or 1300 calories. Read that Road Map link posted above. I don't think you understand.

I did click sedentary when I started because I have Plantar Faciaitis I am recovering from and a full time student and wasnt getting much exercise.

Then that would have been slightly correct if not doing any formal exercise.

If you are still walking around to classes, you should select on MFP activity level of Lightly Active which would apply.
Select the 1lb goal loss.
And if you do get in any exercise above walking about 3 mph type intensity - log it and eat those calories back.

That should make you end up with a daily goal of 1564 for non-exercise days.
When you workout - you get/need to eat more.