How many calories should I eat a day?

I have done Weight Watchers serveral times and lost and regained weight.  Now I am trying this site in hopes of taking it off for good.  I am 5'5 and weigh around 275 (ugh) which is the highest I have ever been.  My doctor has recommended surgery but I am not at that point yet.  I would like to lose 2lbs a week and I do try to do cardio at least four hours a week burning around 600 calories per hour.  Any suggestions on how much I should be eating?

You could start with the CC calculator.  Enter your stats and set your average activity level to 'moderate'.   Leave the goal date blank and you should get  a reasonable calorie intake target.  Expect it to be around 2400 or so.

Other things you can do that make it easier to lose weight....

• Be accurate about keeping your food log.  Weigh and measure portions rather than guessing.
• Be as active as you can in your normal life rather than just saving it for when you do cardio at the gym.  Regular, gentle exercise is better for weight-control than sporadic vigorous exercise.
• Choose good quality wholefoods (90%) over poor quality processed foods (10%)... and base all your meals around plants.  This will mean that your food intake is more nutritious and therefore more satisfying.  It also helps reduce fluid retention
• Make your home a 'good eating environment'... i.e. don't fill it with foods that you'd rather not find yourself eating at some point in the future.  Buy less, cook less, eat less.
• Be 'consistent' rather than 'perfect'.   Be 'flexible' rather than 'rigid'. 
• Enjoy a healthy lifestyle in and of itself, rather than simply as a means to an end.... this makes it less likely that you'll throw in the towel and regain.  If you genuinely prefer your new lifestyle you won't be in a hurry to give it up.

Good luck

I don't know for sure without your age, so I ran it for 35. If you are significantly older or younger, we will need to readjust.

You should eat around 2000 calories/day. With your stats and activity level, you burn around 2800-3000 calories/day. A 1000 calorie daily deficit, which roughly translates to 2 lbs/week, would leave you at 2000. Another reason that 2000 is a good number for you: it is close to your basal metabolism rate, which is the amount of energy your body needs just to keep functioning. Staying above this number helps make sure you are getting adequate nutrition and preserve muscle mass.

You can play with the numers yourself using a calorie calculator like the one on this site, or my personal favorite.

Take what you know from WW about portion sizes and balanced diets, and adapt it to meet your own needs.  I am guessing that you could lose weight sustainably at around 1800 calories (use the tools on CC to get a range of reasonable calorie targets).

I am also guessing that if you put some thought into your food choices you can be satisfied at around 1800 cal per day.  I am a little taller than you, and started at about the same weight once I found CC, and I was amazed that 1800 calories allowed me 3 moderate meals, a healthy snack, and the odd "special treat".  As I lose weight, I am gradually upping my activity so that I don't have to lower my calorie target, and am steadily losing about 5-6 pounds per month.  But, most importantly, I don't feel deprived, I am not "falling off the wagon", and I am not quitting after 10 months (like I usually do after 2 months).  I am only halfway to goal, but I am enjoying my lifestyle, so don't anticipate any problems carrying on.

You might want to rethink the 2 pounds a week -- I know it is tempting to do it faster and get it over, but it is more sustainable to do it slower and keep doing it for the rest of your life.  Good luck!