Trial and error with calorie range?
 

I'm trying to figure out how many calories I should be eating each day for healthy weight loss. I exercise 6x per week for at least an hour each day.
I've looked at so many calculators, read articles, etc., but they all give me different numbers.

Before I started to plan my meals (and on the days I slip up), my calorie intake was enormous -- probably well over 2,000 calories each day.

Should I just go for a trial-and-error process? Say, try 1400 calories one week, then see what happens and try a different number the next week until I'm satisfied with the results?

Here's my concern: It would be almost impossible for me to stay on-plan everyday for the weeks that it might take to come up with the right calorie number, and I'm worried that going off-plan at any time during this trial-and-error process might skew my results.

On the other hand, I could just decide that I track calories to be more aware of what I'm eating and see what happens without picking a specific goal number.

So confused!

That's what I usually tell everyone--look at what you are eating now, count up the calories (do this for a couple of days) and then deduct a hundred or so from that so you'll lose. Since you're exercising, you could easily eat more calories and still lose, but you'll lose faster if you exercise and reduce calories below what you normally eat. Remember to lose 1 pound you have to reduce 3500 calories. If you cut down by 500 per day, you should lose 1 pound in a week. (Stress the word "should"--it isn't a perfect calculation!)