RMR and calorie intake questions

[mammarino]

I am trying to lose weight, but I want to be sure that I eat enough calories every day so muscles will be fed and I won't go into starvation mode and store fat. I am a 40 yo female, height 5' 5" and 214 pounds. I am doing pretty intense exercise (boot camp, kickboxing, spinning, etc.) 5-6 days a week. main question is about how many calories I should be consuming per day to lose weight. (I really want to get this right, as I am in a weight loss contest. The prize is $2500, and I really want to win!!!)

According to a recent Bod Pod test, RMR is 1570 kcal/day. A personal trainer told me that at the end of the day (I assume around bedtime), I need to have that many calories left over in body, or I will store fat. Is that right? That seems excessive.

I am using a Vitabot system which tracks calories and nutrients, and it says that I should be consuming 1200-1639 calories per day. I have been staying within those numbers and I am satisfied, and I have plenty of energy. Yesterday I consumed 1205 calories (all VERY healthy foods, well-balanced) and felt great. What is confusing is trying to figure out how much to eat on days I exercise. The classes I take are intense and I'm told they burn at least 700 calories. (I wore a heart monitor today but forgot to turn it on; dang it!) So, if what the trainer says is right, I need to eat 1570 calories PLUS the number of calories that I burn in a day. This sounds like a lot to me. What do y'all think? I'd really appreciate your input, especially if you have expertise in this area.

[mammarino]

Thanks so much for your reply!

Here's what I ate and did the other day:

7:30am 1 C high fiber cereal w/almond milk, raw blueberries, cottage cheese
9:30 TRX class (suspension training w/ a little cardio)
10:45 snack - 100 calorie pack of almonds
12:00 1 C vegetable barley soup, 1 container Greek yogurt w/fruit, 1 small container peaches
3:00 snack Smoothie King small skinny Pineapple Pleasure smoothie
5:00 supper 1 C vegetable barley soup*, spinach salad w/ feta cheese
6:00 Boot camp class (lots of cardio, intense weight training )

*I don't normally have the same thing for lunch and supper; I was in a hurry and didn't have time to something else.

Thanks again for your input!

[mammarino]

Not immediately. I ate at the times listed.