I am 34 yrs old with moderate activity level. At 5ft 5in, I weigh 205 lbs. What should my calorie intake be? I am trying to stay at around 1200 calories. Is that too much or not enough?

Any advice!

According to most folks out there, 1200 seems to be the "line thou shalt not cross" *cue spooky music* LOL Seriously, 1200 should be your minimum, but there's no set magic number. Some people will go lower but you really have to make sure you get all your nutrients and stuff which can be hard when you eat very few calories (should definitely have a professional follow you if you decide to go this route for an extended period of time.)

I'm 5'6 and seem to hover around 1400-1500. But it really depends on the days. I eat stuff I consider "healthy, nutritious bla bla bla" and then check to see how many calories I consume, just in case I need to refer to it later if my weight gets stuck. There are days when my calories are lower because I ate lots of veggies etc. and the calories take forever to add up, and other days when I'm around 1800. I tend to focus more on the quality of the food (whole grain, fiber, veggies, low sodium, low saturated fats) than just calories and it seems to be enough to lose weight so far

If you see you lose weight at a certain level, no sense going lower than you have to. Sometimes, going lower doesn't necessarly equate faster loss. It seems to vary a lot from person to person. It also depends on how much activity you participate in everyday (from regular daily stuff to actual exercise).

There's a bunch of calculators here http://www.3fatchicks.com/diets/diet-calculators.php that might help you

I only recently started tracking food and activities. Found this great little site. They give you points and stuff to track everything. lol And since I don't like seeing blank spots in my calendar, it's an extra incentive to track my stuff everyday.

Good luck!

Definitely seems to vary by individual. I was 5'7", 190+ lbs and exercised about 30 minutes a day. I lost weight very successfully eating 1400-1600 calories a day (I counted calories every day). My weight loss stalled out around 140 lbs for 12 weeks. I decided to maintain and slowly raised calories to 1800-2000 a day (I eat 2200 the days I work out). I have continued to slowly lose weight eating 1800+ calories a day (May - present) and now weigh 127 lbs.

It seems logical (since food is so pleasurable and being hungry so sucktastic) to start at the highest value possible. If no weight loss results after 3-4 weeks (seems like a long time, but just to account for scale fluctuations, etc), gradually reduce the number until you find your "sweet spot" for weight loss.

As Fit-Boo said, cutting calories helps you lose weight but cutting MORE calories to help you lose weight FASTER can sometimes be counter productive (depending on the individual).

It really depends on you and your goals and what works for you. I don't think there is a magic number that is suitable for everybody. I made sure I ate plenty of healthy foods (5+ servings of vegetables, fruits, lean protein, whole grains, healthy fats), avoided foods that weren't great for me (booze, packaged baked goods, fried foods, pop, fast food), drank water, got enough sleep and exercised.

Thanks for the advice.

Went on the calorie calculator & it said 2354 to maintain, and cut by approx 500 to loose. That would mean I cut my calorie requirements to maintain by half. Now, I kind of think I am being a little extreme.

Any other opinions?

You got really good, level headed advice already. But I can't pass up a chance to promote calorie counting
I hear ya on the 'trying' to stay at 1200. What's really happening? And give us a list of foods you at say yesterday, we'll tweak it.

jimpd,
I struggled with the same thing. When I used the calculator it said that I needed to consume around 2500 calories.
What I did the first week was to cut that by 500 calories.(2000). The next week I cut it by another 500 and have continued to do that for the past 2 weeks.
I would take your time and do what's comfortable for you. I shoot for 1500 calories a day but don't get overly upset if I exceed that. It only means that I need to work out a little bit harder. So far I am comfortable with this amount and have lost 10lbs in the past 3 weeks. If I find that I hit a plateau then I'll switch things up a little.

Good Luck and keep searching to find what works for you because what works for one person might not work for the next.