I just dont know anymore...help please?

Well i recently made the decision to start losing weight again. Why? Because i lost about 20 lb, but gained it all back thru binging and depriving myself of foods I wanted.

Well thats the past and I need to get over it. My question is how many calories should I eat per day? I am a male, 5' 6", weight about 155, and do light activity every day (for now).

I have checked multiple sites and am getting some pretty different answers. Can anyone help me find the right amount?

Also, how many calories should I take if i want to get down to 140?

here is a useful link for calorie recommendations that you can play with if you'd like

http://www.bcm.edu/cnrc/bodycomp/bmiz2.html

i entered your stats, and guessed your age at about 15, so with light activity you burn about 2800 calories daily, with no activity you burn 2440, and with moderate activity you burn 3440 [about an hour a day]. 

That being said, you have no reason to EVER go below the minimum 1500 that is vital for your basic metabolic needs but since you burn that much in a coma you will need much more to prevent your metabolism from stalling.

It isn't safe to lose more than 1% of your body weight each week, which is 1.5 pounds, or 750 calories deficit daily. With light activity you burn 2800 calories, so if you eat 2000 calories daily then you will lose about 1.5 pounds per week...or 6 pounds a month. That would take about 2.5 months to reach your goal, which is a steady and safe rate.

Hope this makes sense and feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. Good luck on reaching your goals!!

Whoops, forgot to put my age (17). Sorry..

Thanks for your help though. And when you I should eat 2000 calories daily, does that include exercise? For example, I eat 2300 calories, but take a 30 jog and burn 300 calories. Is this correct? Or do you mean if I don't exercise at all and eat 2000 calories?

Its hard to get this calorie stuff into my head. I mean I force myself to always eat 1800, thinking I should only eat 2000.

2400 just seems like a lot.

Since you said you're lightly active then 2000 calories a day would be good for you, and you'd have a stead loss of about 1 pound per week. So just eat the same amount each day and don't worry about adding or subtracting calories based on your workouts.