In the diet section, there is a suggested caloric intake. What is that particular number based on? I noticed that it appears to stay the same even with added exercise?

Mine seems to flucuate from day to day...what makes it flucuate, I don't know

My assumption was that it's based mostly on how much you want to lose, how many days you want to lose it in, or how much you currently weigh - that seems to fit what I've seen of it so far - it changed when I changed my current weight or my target.

My guess, since it doesn't change with workouts added, is that it's a suggested net caloric intake rather than suggested total caloric intake...meaning if you work out you may want to eat more than it suggests.

I think it has a completely different meaning. The calories mentioned are calculated based on gender, height and weight. They are your "maintenance calories" - what your body will consume doing nothing but being. (I base this on other sites, Google "Calorie Calculator" and you will find a few that show pretty much the same results as here)
If you eat the suggested intake, and do nothing, you will stay level in weight. If you go under, you will loose weight.
I go around 1000 calories under every day, which the Traineo site says is bad for me (pull the slider all the way to the right and you will see the scale go red). You need to find a balance between dieting and eating healthy (of course so I would say your intake should be 500 or so lower than the suggested amount in order to maximize your dieting without ruining your health, burning muscle etc.

Good luck!

Svinto

I like the way The Daily Plate handles this part better. I wonder if the Traineo guys can look at it and make some adjustments.

is that right? i thought that it was suggesting the amount of calories you should take in, in order to meet your goal. mine is 2900. i'm sure that's not the amount i should be taking in, without exercise, to just stay the same weight. i haven't noticed if it's changed, but i don't update my weight and exercise enough to expect any difference.

I punched in this information in several different calculators and got the same answers all over, without any mention of exercise. A long time ago I was told that men (and this was a broad generalization) should diet slowly by eating no more or less than 2100 calories. According to Traineo, and if my thoughts are correct, my "maintenance intake" should be around 2700 which makes the "2100 to diet" sound just about right...

I am no expert, I hope we can hear from one

I just changed the number of the suggested daily calorie intake to my personal daily goal so I always get a very good rating ;)
You can always change this number, there is a little button under it saying: Use custom figure. There you can also reset it to the number traineo suggests.

Mine is 2300 calories, and I'll tell you now that I can't naturally get that high :P