Let's talk just calories

[Edge34]

I admit I suck at using search, but doing a search for "calories" isn't going to take me anywhere...

Recently I got a body comp. test done...let's just say I was pretty sick about it, but I got really lazy over the winter and through the end of the school year. About a month ago I got back in the gym on a fairly consistent basis, 3 or 4 times a week. Long story short, I'm almost as heavy as I've ever been, clicking in at just over 200 pounds with a little over 20% body fat.

Now, obviously I'm not a fat guy, but I'm a lot bigger than I think I should be. At my best football weight I was playing at about 185 or so, although that was 4 years ago. Now I'm primarily focused on getting into the 13-15% body fat range. My diet has sucked and I have started to make some major changes, including counting calories as much as possible. I know the "Recommended" diet from the FDA says a 2000 calorie diet is best, but assuming I workout 4-5 days a week (last night's treadmill cardio told me I took out just under 300 calories and it was an off day from lifting), how low can one really go on calories?

FWIW, I tracked everything I ate yesterday, and in what turned out to be 8 "meals" (including protein shakes, etc.) I tracked only a little over 1200 calories. I'm not trying to get big through lifting, I'm trying to get toned/cut, so I'm not worried about getting a ton of bulk, primarily losing weight. Is this an ok range? This got a little longer than I was hoping for, but thanks for any answers you have.