There is no easy answer. It ultimately boils down to trial and error. Some "experts" will tell you to multiply your current weight by 10, or your desired weight by 15, but that doesn't work for everyone either. There are also more specific "formulas," that (supposedly) take into account activity level, age, gender... but that doesn't work for everyone either.
Someone who may be virtually identical to you in every respect, could have very different calorie needs. You find out by experimenting.
Trial and error is what it all boils down to. Starting at 10 calories per pound isn't a bad place to start, but there's no guarantee it will be the right calorie level for you. If you're very heavy and/or have crash dieted a lot, this could be too high. If you're very athletic, it could be too low, but you don't need to know that yet, just start.
If you gain weight, you have to reduce your calorie level. If you're losing weight nicely but are exhausted or ravenous, maybe you'll have to increase your calorie level a little.
LOL! Don't panic. It doesn't matter where you start, just pick a number and start.
If you're under 200 lbs, 1500 - 1800 calories is probably good.
If you're over 200 lbs 1800 - 2000 calories might be better.
If you're over 300 lbs, you might have to start even higher (but maybe not). 1800 is pretty good for me, and if I tried to eat 3000 calories, I wouldn't lose - now in my 20's I would have. Heck in my 20's I was losing 5 - 7 lbs and often more per week on 2200 calories. Not so anymore.
Just start and see what happens. If you don't lose weight, you need to cut back. If you're losing fast and feeling starved you may want to add a few back in.
It only becomes difficult if you're trying to find that "just right" number before starting without the experimenting - and that just is a lot of work, for very little if any benefit.
Why not just pick a number (like 1500 or 1800) and jump right in. See what happens. Just make sure you give each calorie level a trial at least two or three months, because you may see coincidental fluctations rather than patterns.
Obviously if you're still steadily gaining after week 5, you might want to consider a new calorie level, but chances are at 1500 to 1800 calories, that's not going to happen.
okay. so in 2-3 months you should see something moving either way lol. I am done with my WW on January 11. I will see what I need to know and decide if I want to keep going that way. I guess I can still do it because I really get nothing from meetings that I can't get online with the help of learned people here. Thanks for the number help. I'll get back to you If I decide how to do this. what I'll need etc. I think i'm a structure person so if I don't have guidelines on what to eat, It may not work well for me.
Haha, I love how your emoticons pretty much sum things up.
Chiming in to second Kaplods' answer of trial and error. In general, women have lower calorie needs than men, older adults need less than younger adults, and less active people need fewer calories than more active ones. But that changes SO wildly based on your metabolism, your past diet history, your current state of health, the types of calories you eat, any food sensitivities you may have that those generalities have almost as many exceptions as rules.
One of the harder lessons to learn is how to take time to listen to your body--the only thing that can really answer the question, "how many calories?" It may take a week (or two or three or more) to find out if your initial calorie deficit is the one you should use.
Once you find out the calorie level you're comfortable with, you can't just leave it on cruise control, but will likely adjust it over time as you lose more weight or become more active. Are you currently keeping track of your calories? It can be really helpful to do that even before you've created any kind of calorie deficit so that you know where you currently stand. If your weight's stable at your current intake, you may not need to decrease your calories much to start the weight-loss ball rolling merrily downhill.
As for water and exercise, I consider those separate things from counting calories. It's good for me to drink plenty of water and to exercise, so I do it. All three are definitely linked physiologically, but as I can't effectively measure how many calories I burn off in exercise (don't believe the counts on pedometers and stationary bikes; they're no better than a guess), I don't look at exercise as a means to lose weight. Instead, it's a means to look better naked once I lose the weight.
Your mileage may vary, though. Some people like to "eat the workout" and consume back calories they burn while others raise their calorie count by a couple hundred on heavy-exercise days because all that working out makes them hungry. Those methods can work, too.
Trial and error is the key--as long as you remember that the "errors" don't give you a reason to stop, only to keep experimenting.
Are you losing well on WW? You might want to keep track of how many calories you're having within your points for the next couple of weeks, to get a good idea of how many calories you're already consuming. You could try using whatever number it is you get when/if you start calorie counting. Like the others have said, though, it's really all about trial and error.
okay. so in 2-3 months you should see something moving either way lol. I am done with my WW on January 11. I will see what I need to know and decide if I want to keep going that way. I guess I can still do it because I really get nothing from meetings that I can't get online with the help of learned people here. Thanks for the number help. I'll get back to you If I decide how to do this. what I'll need etc. I think i'm a structure person so if I don't have guidelines on what to eat, It may not work well for me.
Like a good pocketbook, I need lines... lol..
Calorie counting fits in well with other guidelines: the great thing about the computer calorie counting sites is that you put in everything you eat and they track the minutia. I'd always counted calories, but I didn't know until I started to track on the computer that I hardly ate any protein or fiber, so I started trying to up those as well. So while I would call myself a calorie counter first and foremost. I am really a calorie-counter/moderate low carb/very high protein-er. I think most calorie counters have some sort of guidelines outside of just calorie counting.
I've been carefully counting calories since March of this year (from January to March, I was mostly guesstimating). I totally agree with the trial and error answer, sorry!
Something I would add, though, is that carefully and meticulously tracking my calories has really helped me see patterns that develop over time. I can go back to my calorie tracker and see what I ate 6 months ago and my weight loss that month. I can go week by week, and compare nutrition/weight loss with my TOM. I can see how high calorie days have affected me.
Not just counting day by day, but tracking over time has really helped me refine my plan.
Oh, and I've never counted black coffee, but I would count anything that goes in the black coffee.
Help me understand
lol. I am done with my WW on January 11. I will see what I need to know and decide if I want to keep going that way. I guess I can still do it because I really get nothing from meetings that I can't get online with the help of learned people here. Thanks for the number help. I'll get back to you If I decide how to do this. what I'll need etc. I think i'm a structure person so if I don't have guidelines on what to eat, It may not work well for me. 
