Eating too little?

noneyobusiness

I'm new to this website and I'm also still learning about nutrition in general. I always try to eat 1200-1300 calories a day (I know the bad things about eating too little) however, I still eat 1200-1300 on the days that I exercise. When I'm at school I do a fitness class in the gym on campus 3-4 days a week for one hour and could probably be a safe bet that I'm burning anywhere from 300-500 calories a session. When I'm at home (like I am now and will be until the end of January) I am significantly less active but still try to fit in a few DVD sessions for about 30 minutes or some strength training for about an hour a day (but I don't do this every day). When I have times like these where I'm less active I still watch what I eat.

So my question is, if I burn, say, 500 calories in one day and I still eat 1200-1300 calories...is that considered eating too little and, therefore, still have the same effects on my body as if I were to only eat 700-800 calories a day? I've done this in the past and lost weight but probably not nearly as much as I could be (5'2", currently 130ish lbs, lost about 10 lbs since June when I first started really making an effort at exercise and nutrition. I try to be "good" every day, but like anyone else I have my bad days)
I'm worried this is having a bad effect on my metabolism in the long run even though I may think I'm doing a good job at controlling my eating habits.

NightOwl1

Yes, eating 1300 calories and burning 500 is the same effect as eating 800. So you probably want to up your calorie intake. You'll find that you'll lose weight as much, if not more, than you did before and it will be healthier.

NoAdditives

Yes, eating 1300 calories and burning 500 is the same effect as eating 800. So you probably want to up your calorie intake. You'll find that you'll lose weight as much, if not more, than you did before and it will be healthier.

Yep.

Plus, if you consistently eat too few calories your metabolism will slow down and you'll not only stop burning fat, you'll store it.

mem50

Yes, eating 1300 calories and burning 500 is the same effect as eating 800. So you probably want to up your calorie intake. You'll find that you'll lose weight as much, if not more, than you did before and it will be healthier.

Yep.

Plus, if you consistently eat too few calories your metabolism will slow down and you'll not only stop burning fat, you'll store it.

Yes and Yes. I always try to eat more on days when I have a good workout. It does help a lot!

noneyobusiness

Thank you everyone for clearing this up! I'll have to work on finding more good foods to eat on hard-core workout days. Hopefully I see more of a difference from now on!