Calorie confusion!

You will get a lot of mixed opinions on this subject. As for me, I say eat some of them back but you don’t need to worry about eating them ALL. Also, keep in mind that everything on here is generalized and you could be ingesting more or less (probably more) calories that MFP tells you that you ate, and in your workouts you could be burning more or fewer (typically fewer) calories than MFP tells you that you burned… just a thought.

I agree with Philly here, even with your stats entered here, even if you use a $500 Heart Rate monitor, none of this is exact. Your exercise fluctuates throughout the week, you eat a little more or a little less than you realize, always try to leave yourself some spare change when it comes to calories it does make a difference

I was wondering the same thing!! Thank you for posting this question!!

The 1200 is already a caloric deficit. The exercise calories are beyond that deficit. Therefore, an even bigger deficit. Eating your exercise calories back gives you strength for the day that your body needs and because you're already in a deficit, you'll still lose weight.

That said, I very highly recommend you read this post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/682138-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12?hl=in+place+road+map

1200 cal is so low.

You don't have to eat them back, but you can. That is because the 1200 calories MFP gave you created a deficit to lose a certain number of pounds per week. If you workout, that deficit will increase. To maintain the weight loss set by MFP, you can eat those calories back and lose the number of pounds per week originally planned.

KIND OF...

It's not an exact science. The truth is some weeks you will lose, some weeks you will gain, some weeks you will maintain, even when doing the exact same thing.

But here is how the deficit works on MFP. Let's say you want to lose 1 pound per week. To do this, you must save 3500 calories per week or 500 calories per day. So, assuming your body needs 1700 calories to maintain it's current weight, if you eat 1200 calories per day, you are saving the 500 calories you need and will lose an average of 1 pound per week.

However, if you workout and burn 500 calories per day. You are now saving 1000 calories per day or 7000 calories per week. You don't need to do this to lose 1 pound per week. So, you can eat back those 500 calories you burned, thereby leaving you with a 500 calorie deficit for the day.

One thing to keep in mind is that calories burned often tends to be overestimated. Using a heart rate monitor will get you closest to the correct amount burned. Using MFP or other websites, or the number on a machine will often be an overestimate. This is why many people don't eat back 100% of their calories burned.

Other times people will save some of the calories burned for a big day--for example, you have a wedding on Saturday, so you don't eat back your calories M-F, but then eat extra on Saturday. MFP isn't set up for this, but if you keep track on your own, it works.

Again, none of this is an exact science. You should try different things and do what works best for you. I eat back my exercise calories and that has worked for me. Others say it doesn't work for them. Whatever you choose to do, you should do it for at least a month, before deciding whether it works or not. It takes your body a while to adjust.

And remember, a gain every once in a while doesn't mean it isn't working. A gain is totally normal.