How many calories should I be eating?

Yes, I realize that the weight I want to be sounds very low for my height, but just keep in mind that I'm VERY small boned and I know that's still a healthy weight for me.. I weighed about that much 2 years ago, while eating whatever I wanted, but then my metabolism got slower I suppose and I gained weight. I would look obese at the average weight for my height which I believe is around 140. I need to lose about 10 - 12 lbs so that I can build muscle and get toned without having fat covering it. Because even at the weight I am at now, I still have a lot of excessive fat that I need to lose so that I can build muscle and looked toned otherwise if I tried to build muscle and get toned without losing weight now I would just look bigger.

You really shouldn't be aiming to cut weight but rather cut body fat. And at this rate, you are already close to underweight according to standards. The biggest thing that will help you cut fat is strength training and a proper diet. As stated above, you should be aiming around 1800 calories a day if you workout around 5 days a week. Unfortunately, in order to cut weight, you will need to lose muscle which will make it harder to give you the defined look (aka cutting excess fat). So if you want a lean/tight body, you need ST.

This is exactly what I am trying to achieve. I just want to cut body fat so I can build muscle and get toned without looking bigger, so I suppose I don't really need to focus on getting to a specific weight, but I need to lose at least 10 lbs of body fat so I can get toned without looking bigger. So if I eat 1800 calories a day, I will still lose body fat? Should I eat strictly 1800 calories a day without consuming the calories I burn from exercise?

To be more specific I am currently doing about 3 hours of exercise a day on average.. sometimes more. I go to the gym everyday for about an hour and a half or two on average, and I do cardio and weight lifting. I also do the brazilian butt lift workout everyday which is 30 minutes - an hour and 30 minutes long.

3 hours of exercise per day sounds compulsive, especially when paired with your quest for such a low weight. Is that a lifestyle you can maintain long-term? If not, I wouldn't be doing that as a means to losing, because when you stop, you'll notice changes you don't like, I think. I posted a few days ago about a plateau I was in and was able to break through it already but changing from cardio to strength training and I actually UPped my calories. I think you need to reevaluate, honestly.

Actually I have been exercising for that much everyday even when I wasn't trying to lose weight, but I just didn't have a good diet before and I didn't restrict my calories. I plan on having a good healthy diet from now on, but I don't plan on restricting my calories forever, just until I lose the body fat that i want to lose but I plan on maintaining a healthy diet still.

I think a better measure for you, at this point, would be to take measurements and calculate your body fat percentage. You should start lifting heavy now.

At 1800 calories, you wouldn't need to eat back your exercise calories unless your net is below your BMR. Then, you would eat back to that level or a few hundred over.

Just remember, the real advice here is to not worry about losing weight and focus on body fat%. Lose the scale and embrace the tape measure. Eat at maintenance and lift heavy *kitten* weights relative to your capabilities.

That does really sound like a better approach for me. So just simply lifting weights will cut down on my body fat percentage, and I shouldn't focus on cardio?