What's the point of exercising?

I suppose it's not absolutely positively necessary to LOSE the weight...but if you'd like to tone up and gain some muscle, it's definitely necessary. I lost weight after my 2nd child and looked thin and sickly, no muscle. After my 3rd child, I worked it off and I feel so much better. I'm firm & tight, I look leaner, I fit in smaller clothes than I did when I had no muscle. Well worth it!

Personally, I find that I lose weight easier by exercising some of the calories off versus just calorie restriction. I think it is better for my metabolism to eat 1700 calories and burn 350 calories rather than just eat 1350 calories. Also, resistance training and weight lifting have helped firm my body up. Calorie restriction alone can't do that!

It's not necessary for weight loss if you're in a caloric deficit. But why would you not want the added benefits of exercise? Heart disease, high blood pressure, strength, stamina, etc.

Edited: Sorry, didn't answer your last question. Yes, you should eat back your calories or at least a portion (in case you calculated your food wrong or your exercise cals aren't accurate). You need to refuel your body.

the way you exercise will determine how much of your lean body mass you keep while you lose.

if you're following the MFP wauy you should eat back your calories because it doesnt take your complete TDEE into account when figuring out your calorie goal.

i personally dont eat my exercise calorie goals back, but then again i manually changed my calorie goal to something that takes my activity into account. so for instance instead of eating 1200 calories +exercise calories, i eat 1750-2000 calories a day and log my exercise calories as 1

If by exercise you mean (1) running or jogging for 50-60 minutes or (2) doing anything on the elliptical (etc.) for 50+ minutes... the answer is no. I stick to lifting heavy objects and sprinting (more or less).

I never eat back all of the calories I burn.
If I get hungry, I'll eat some of them back (maybe half, depending how much I burned), otherwise I don't worry about it. If you're not hungry, don't eat your burned calories back.

My daily goal is 1,420 calories to lose 2 lbs per week. Although I was "under" my calorie limit today it still totalled out to be 2,141. Now that I think about it..I run for an hour, sweating, and wheezing just to burn 800 calories, just to eat them back again?
I understand the physical benefits of exercise such as building stamina, endurance, and other benefits but let's talk weight loss wise... should I even be eating those calories back?

So... Let's talk weight loss... Yes, you should exercise and you should eat back a portion of your exercise calories.

In your example, if you eat 1400 calories and work out to burn 800, then for the day, you have provided your body only 600 calories. You can't do this consistently... Your body will draw from energy stores to fuel itself, but at this large of a deficit, you are likely to consume more muscle mass than you want since your body REALLY needs energy... even though you are using your muscles which helps retain muscle mass, the caloric gap is simply too strong... There are a LOT of other adaptations that your body makes when on such a large deficit - Yes your metabolic rate decreases (not to insane proportions that will offset all the calorie deficit, but), but it does decrease, and there are a number of hormonal responses that other experts here are more capable of describing and outlining the impact of.. suffice to say you don't want then to happen.

To lose weight in a healthy manner - slow and steady wins in my book every time... make this a lifestyle change you can live with forever - not a diet... so count calories, create a moderate deficit (people with more to lose can generally sustain a larger deficit, but that gets us off topic...) workout and eat back your exercise calories so your daily "net" is providing a reasonable amount of fuel for your body. (and try to get a good burn number from your exercise - a heart rate monitor may help)

there are lots of benefits to working out - not just the physical ones, you may be able to have the meal you *want* to have instead of the meal you *have* to have given the extra calories...

My doctor thinks that exercising for weight loss is absolutely pointless (at least for the seriously overweight/obese). Exercising for the physical benefits? Great. But he flat out said that exercising would not make a significant difference with weight loss. I found it very interesting... and it proved to be true. I didn't start really exercising until after I lose the bulk of my weight.

My doctor thinks that exercising for weight loss is absolutely pointless (at least for the seriously overweight/obese). Exercising for the physical benefits? Great. But he flat out said that exercising would not make a significant difference with weight loss. I found it very interesting... and it proved to be true. I didn't start really exercising until after I lose the bulk of my weight.

You might like this article:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/exercise-and-weightfat-loss-part-1.html

He discusses the fact that the impact of workouts, in general, on the calorie in vs calorie out equation isn't really that large - certainly by comparison to the impact diet can have. Obviously there are reasons to workout... I found it interesting...

For many, I think its easier to diet until a reasonable weight is reached and then exercise to become more fit. Many obese people have a hard time moving at all and cannot accomplish much. Age, weight, it all varies. Ad to lean body mass loss, my nutritionist and doctor told me that keeping protein higher and carbs lower will prevent lean body mass loss. Protein also helps your body burn fat. I do exercise, because it makes me feel better but I know that diet is about 100% of my weight loss at this point. I don't log it really anymore, I let my fitbit adjust if needed because my days can vary widely, depending on whats going on with my kids and stuff.

Warning!
You can't only do weights without cardio because since muscles are heavier than fat, your heart will need to work harder to keep moving the muscles so your cardiovascular system and your muscular build need to improve together. Without a strong cardio system to support your newfound muscles, your heart will be stressed out and can lead to complications!

Since most people on MFP are eating at a caloric deficit (some at VERY significant deficits) and the OP is a female, it's only fair to mention that building any appreciable amounts of muscle under those conditions is very, very difficult, so the above concern is basically a moot point. Weight training *will* help maintain the lean muscle mass you have and encourage fat loss over LBM loss, and thus is much more beneficial than cardio for people eating at caloric deficits and losing weight. Very few people are going to be packing on muscle when eating at large deficits, no matter how hard, heavy or often they weight train.

That's true, she won't be like those men that only weight train that end up running quarter of a mile breaking down wheezing. But I think that everything about a good lifestyle is balance..The last part was a bit exaggerated purely to cover my *kitten* about possible complications in the rare case that her cardio is significantly weak, and her body type accumulates muscles faster than most, then focusing completely on only building lean muscle "could" lead to aforementioned complications. BUT you are right! If she has an average build with average cardio, there could be no complications. In the paragraphs before, I emphasize the benefits of weight training!

answered here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/697261-whoa-whoa-whoa-you-can-t-burn-fat-via-exercise

And also if all you're doing is running then that is not in you're best interest if you are looking to lose FAT not just weight.

Wow..lot of great posts and advice. The bigger question in my mind is how do you want to see your body? Do want to see a tone body or just fit into those size [insert desired size] pants? Sure, reduce your calories, do no exercise you will lose weight, of course as long as your are still eating (starvation tends to hold onto calories). If you want a toned body and happy mixture of cardio and weights are always nice. If you don't like the hour runs/cardio, then don't do them, or find an hour cardio you might like. I mix my cardio between zumba, boxing(conditioning), mui thai, running, elliptical and cycling. Instead of doing hour cardio sessions try doing a 15 to 30 cardio set by some focused muscle group weight training and try not to consume too many calories. Just my thought.

IMO, I believe that aside from trying to lose weight, there is much to gain from exercising that can have a positive impact on overall health and well being. If exercising for you is boring or tedious...mix it up and make it fun again and less like a chore