MFP says 1410 calories to maintain.

MFP's number seems about right. If you're exercising every day, and/or your activity level is higher than "sedentary," you'll be able to add calories on top of that. I usually have between 1600 and 1900 calories a day, after accounting for my exercise. I envy the women who can eat 2000+, but I am exercising a lot, not losing or gaining, and this is what seems to work for me.

It's at times like this I'm glad I'm 6ft 2 and male. I get to eat 2400 when I get to maintenance.

63 inches, 122 lbs, 69 years old. Calories to maintain 1310.
I have my activity level set at sedentary and sync with my Fitbit so that gives me bonus calories if I exercise.
It is a great motivator. Gets me moving.

Remember..... MFP calculations DO NOT include exercise. It only includes ordinary daily activity not including the things you do on purpose to work out. When you exercise, you need more calories. So, your maintenance is 1410, plus whatever your ordinary burn is from working out. If you work out for an hour every day and burn about 300 calories, then your maintenance is about 1700.

Exactly. Logging exercsing and earning calories is a great motivator.

I also really like the Fitbit (I have the zip), because it notes all the running around I do at work in addition to my big blocks of exercise.

Try this calculator.

http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced

I think it is more accurate. Make sure and switch it over to female because its default is for a man.

This calculator does not take into account your body composition. Someone with more muscle mass will have a very different BMR than someone with very little.

I calculated it with me being 50, female, 5'6", 183, sleeping 8 hrs and sitting the rest of the day, and it gave me a BMR of over 1550, and my TDEE at over 2100 My TDEE by history is only around 1600, and I am not completely sedentary.
So all of the online calculators are strictly estimates. You have to figure out your actual numbers by your own experience.

Muscle mass doesn't seem to make a huge difference in my case. I'm at 18% BF. I lift regularly, lift heavy, and put on muscle easily. I am maintaining my weight by eating the 1420 calories that MFP recommends (if I'm sedentary) without taking my lean mass into account, and eating back my exercise calories.

Every body is different..I work out strenuosly 6x a week and don't eat back burned calories and if and only if I eat less than 1200... do I lose..it sucks..but it's my reality... age and thyroid have a lot to with my issues..so please people don't start in with I need to eat more..I did that (and all clean veggies and high lean protein yada, yada..) and gained..every body is different... find what works for you and go slow with your increments of up/down..because it takes time to really see how your body is truly responding...:flowerforyou:

How did you arrive at the number 1410? Is it the same for everyone, no matter what their weight?

No, it will depend on height, weight, body composition, activity level, etc, so it will vary for each person.

All of that, plus age and for some people there can be hormonal factors as well.

I am also around 63 inches in height and I am 112lbs and MFP has set me at 1608 to maintain, however on my goals i have added in i do 3 30 min workouts a week which i do and usually my workouts are longer but i just have it added like this on MFP to ensure that is the least I can do, keeps me accountable really.

I found the 'in place of a road map' thread helped me massively working my figures when i was loosing and now when i maintaining, I usually eat between 1400-1600 calories per day and I seem to be maintaining fine since May. What I find is if some days are high 1600 or over they will always balance out with other days at the end of the week because there is days I won't eat that much. It is very different for everyone and i'm still very much in the frame of mind of calorie counting even though i've reached my desired weight but it still helps me a lot, maintaining is just as hard as weight loss really.

Right now i'm looking at it as eating around 1400-1500 on rest days and hitting that more on days where i do strength training or the likes, anyways best of luck with it...may take a while but you'll find what works for you.

I'm 64 inches and 115 lbs and my maintenance is 1950. With that said, I lift weights 5 days a week, but I don't do any cardio. I think you have to account for lean muscle mass and activity level when figuring maintenance. The best way to do it is to walk your calories up a little at a time after you've been in a deficit for a while and track your weight until you even out. Everyone is different and MFP is only an estimate.

THIS.

The more muscle you have, the more you will burn, the more you can eat.
So I've changed my goals to lower body fat. I only do cardio (Zumba for fun), otherwise I lift heavy.

I'm 4'11". With lower body fat, I aim to be eating ~1700-1800 calories for maintenance.

I am 5 foot 2 and no matter what my activity level is 1200 a day is always what it comes back to. I think, its a curse for short women! I figure I will always be around 1200 a day even after I start maintaining. So i exercise hard and yes, i do eat some of those calories back because its a treat and I worked hard for them and its the only way i can eat over 1200 a day! Good luck and its so worth it!

It will change--as it should once you switch to maintenance. I am 5'1" and maintaining at 100 lbs and my net calories according to MFP is 1450 (set to lightly active). My TDEE is between 1700 and 1800 depending on the calculator, which is actually in line with what MFP is giving me in terms of total calories.

For what it's worth, I definitely ate over 1200 total when I was losing (sometimes significantly more so).

At 5'1" (61") and 100 pounds, my sedentary MFP maintenance level is 1330 calories. So, since I want to eat (and drink!), I have to earn it. Just another reason being short is a pain in the butt.