I have been eating around 1500-1600 calories a day for the past few weeks and while I've had a few slip-up days here and there, for the most part I have been adhering well to my plan. I am confused about calories I need to take in; many online calculators tell me around 2200-2300, which I think is too much. Is 1500 too little and I should shoot for around 1800? I'm starting to get confused...

I do 15-1600 as well, and I weigh 263. I lose about 2-4 lbs per week. which most say is too much, but, I have a lot to lose which is why I think it's coming off so fast. because 15-1600 is still WELL above 'starvation'.

I also had a friend who ate around 21-2200 cals a day (she weighed 275) and didn't lose a lb for months. she quit dieting eventually from lack of results.

I would start higher than that. I think that 1800 would be a good starting point for you. You can go to the website a healthy me to use their calculator for figuring your daily calorie needs.

I think the 2200-2300 would be more for maintaining instead of losing.

The only problem with 1500-1600 is that when the weight loss slows down, you don't have a lot of room to go down. So maybe try 1800 and see what you lose on that. If you are losing...then stay there, if not, reduce by 100 calories at a time.

I know 1200 is considered the minimum, but I don't want to try and survive on 1200 calories unless I have to, so I'd stay as high as I can for as long as I can.

Just my 2 pennies!

I'd stay closer to the 1800, but make sure that you know how much you're taking in (especially during slip ups). I can still lose weight on 2000 calories a day at my current weight (and in fact are eating more calories now than I was at 358). I am more active though now, which makes all the difference. My maintenance level is somewhere around 2500 calories a day (with little to no exercise), and when I add exercise I can't function on lower calories. They tend to send me looking for food, or with little to no energy eventually.

I would definitely start at 1800 at least and see how that works in a week or so. If you are not in a hurry to lose weight but want to improve your health and lifestyle, slower weightloss is the way to go.
I weigh much more then you do, but just to say - I eat up to 2000 a day and I'm still losing a pound a week. Calculators reccomend 2200 but it didn't work for me. I just listen to my body and work with that.
Best of luck!

I have been successful rotating my calories.

I think it all depends on wether you prefer to restrict more near your goal weight, or add back at goal. For me, I followed a very healthy, (NO junk food what-so-ever) 1200 calorie/day Mon -Thur & 1500 calories/day Fri-Sun for basically every single day for 16 months. Never had a plateau, never stalled for more than a week or so, ate a lot of bulky/filling vegs/fruits so that I was never hungry and felt terrific. Now that I'm maintaining it feels really good to actually ADD calories back into my diet. If I would have started at 2000 I would more than likely have to keep taking away every so often...which would seem more like a punishment to me.

Please remember though, I'm just one person who was super morbidly obese and totally fed up and ready to make a difference ASAP. If you are not at rock bottom, and don't care how long it takes to get the weight off, probably the best bet would to determine how many calories you would need at you goal weight/activity level and eat that many for basically the rest of your life. Of course every calorie calculator is a little different, so it would have to be an average, with the assumption that you will probably have to tweak it once you hit maintaince.

Well I'm happy at 15-1600 because I found that eating 17-1800 I was eating way over my daily fat limit. and I was only eating whole foods and no junk, but olive oil and nuts and avacado maybe. Also, it would get harder and harder to control my carbs at 1800, I'm vegetarian, so I don't want to fall into the 'carb trap'.

also, I calorie cycle, so I don't necessarily have to move DOWN to break a stall, I can move sort of, around. also, I can safely move from 13-1400 if need be and still not feel deprived since I eat plenty as is and feel I have room to work with.