How many calories SHOULD I be eating?

[theangryamerican]

I know there was a similar thread several months ago where people were posting how many calories they ate, but rather then necro a thread for a slightly different question, I decided to start a brand new one. Hate me if you like.

I'm currently working my way through the Insanity DVD program and loving it, but I struggle knowing what my appropriate calorie intake should be. I'm trying to lose a bit of extra weight as well as tone up. I'm about 21% body fat (yikes, I know) and only 38% muscle mass right now and would like to bring the body fat down to around 10% at least.

I'm eating a five meals a day (usually breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a protein shake or small snack as the other two) and I'm burning about 1000 - 1500 calories a day exercising and typically have a net intake close to 1000 cal, but never more than 1700 net. Is this good for what I'm looking to accomplish, or should I be higher/lower on net calories? I certainly don't want my metabolism to slow down, I store enough as it is. :3oops:

 

[1069]

I know there was a similar thread several months ago where people were posting how many calories they ate, but rather then necro a thread for a slightly different question, I decided to start a brand new one. Hate me if you like.

I'm currently working my way through the Insanity DVD program and loving it, but I struggle knowing what my appropriate calorie intake should be. I'm trying to lose a bit of extra weight as well as tone up. I'm about 21% body fat (yikes, I know) and only 38% muscle mass right now and would like to bring the body fat down to around 10% at least.

I'm eating a five meals a day (usually breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a protein shake or small snack as the other two) and I'm burning about 1000 - 1500 calories a day exercising and typically have a net intake close to 1000 cal, but never more than 1700 net. Is this good for what I'm looking to accomplish, or should I be higher/lower on net calories? I certainly don't want my metabolism to slow down, I store enough as it is. :3oops:

I dunno; I usually eat around a thousand calories a day, but I'm a chick, and I'm small, and rather inactive (5 feet, 100 pounds, extremely moderate workouts a couple of times a week).
If you're male, larger than me, and especially if you're working out pretty hard, you can probably afford to eat more. Like, a lot more.
I couldn't suggest an exact number of calories, though. You just need to play with it and see how much you can eat and still maintain your weight (or lose weight, or whatever your goal is).
If you don't eat enough, you could lose muscle.