I've tried a billion of the calculators. I have some say 1700, some say 1500, some say 1300.

Since my scale failed me and I figured out I don't weight 190 anymore, I must have been eating the wrong amount.

When I first started my journey I zigg-zagged from 1200 to 1800. Should I go back to that? If so, what should be weekly average be?

I've been stuck on a mini-plateau for a month now, bouncing between 214-218 and I'm going bonkers and getting that familiar discouraging feeling.

What level are you currently at? I am just a tad taller and I lose well at 1500-1700 and just creep along at 2000. I try not to go too low as a month on a 1200 cal diet yielded great loss but also zapped my energy.

It's kinda one of those trial and error type things. I can tell you that my secret for success has been getting enough protein and moderating the carbs. I feel less hungry this way and have more energy.

Don't diet for a few days, maybe even for a week. Eat what you normally eat. Track that to the T. Afterwards, look up how many cals. Total up your daily cals each day, which can range/
Decide how much you want to lose per week - 1 lb? 2 lbs?
1 lb-3500 cals
Subtract 500 (or however much you want) cals from your daily intake, or increase activity, but I wouldn't depend TOO much on that for weight loss alone because I find it easier to track what goes in my mouth, rather than what I truly burn in exercise.
I find that that is the most precise way to do it, but if not, try the mifflin st joer calculator on the calorie restriction site.

The problem I have for that is what if I eat too much on a normal day? Before I used to eat everything in sight. Then I am subtracting from a too-large amount of cals.

It might be a good idea to track for a week then, if you want a totally customized plan for you.

That being said, if you don't want to do any of that, the mifflin st joer on the calorie restriction site is a good one. I plugged in your stats (5'8'' and 214, age 26 ((I checked your profile))), but I also listed you as sedentary, since I dont know your activity level (the site is worth checking out)
Your resting BMR is 1761 and if you are sedentary you burn 2113. Its not perfect, but I find it to be a pretty good indicator.

That sounds about right. I never ate that high cal unless I was zigg-zagging, so maybe I need to up it for a couple weeks to see what happens. I get so frightened to do it, but I think it needs to happen!

Schubunny,

First, what is your plan? Are you asking us to help you get on a plan? Are you counting calories? If so, are you just counting them to find out what you are eating, or are you trying to stick to a number. If you are fluctuating at random between 1200 to 1800, then my guess is you don't have a plan. And if you are stuck then you have gone off your plan or you haven't figured out what's going to work for you yet. A good rule of thumb for women is to start around 1500 calories and do some exercise. That can be walking, biking, DVD's, something, just get moving. Do this for at least 2 weeks, but 4 weeks would probably be better. Weigh yourself, take pictures, take your measurements. Every week weigh yourself, take your measurements. If you are making good progress, 1-2 pounds per week, don't change a thing. Just keep doing that until you stop making progress.

Keep us posted. If you stop making progress, you can do a couple of different things, up your exercise, lower your calories, calorie cycle, re-balance your macro nutrients. A number of plateau breaking strategies that can help you get past them.

I find that most of the tracker programs I've used have been pretty accurate. I am currently using My Net Diary on my phone and find it the most accurate I've used, although Fitday is accurate for me and Weight Commander, both of these programs I've used on the PC for years. I judge accuracy by the result I get when I use the figure such programs come up with and lose or gain consistently depending on whether or by how much I exceed the calorie budget.

I used CalorieCount to log my calories and I am random because yes, I never really found that set number yet. Since zigg-zagging works for me (and leaves me room to splurge sometimes) I've been sticking to it since day one. But now I am tired of it, and want that magic number.

I do exercise 4 days a week with strength training. On those days I try to eat more. I think the problem is I've been eating 1200 bear minimum since January and now my loss has slowed to a crawl. I think I busted my metabolism, so I thought going up to 1600 would be a good thing -thoughts?

I also have major issues with water retention. If I don't drink it religiously every day and avoid things like beer, I will bloat or retain like crazy. I find it really frustrating and the bloating will mask any stomach loss measurement-wise.

I do measure also and have been losing some inches here and there, but I find it ridiculous I haven't had any change in 2-3 weeks now. Usually something happens.

In my experience, my metabolism was never busted at 1200 cals. Likely its water retention. Can you post everything you ate from Saturday till today? Or at least yesterday and today - that way we can get a clearer idea.