Should you eat your burned calories?

I never do...they are bonus calories toward my losing.

My trainer does not have me count my workouts, so it doesnt add back those calories. I just make note of what I have done in either the exercise note or the food notes part HTH

I hope I can explain this in a way that makes sense. MFP bases your calorie needs off of your BMR, which is your Basal Metabolic Rate, or the rate you would burn calories doing nothing (literally, laying in bed and breathing) and not your actual calories burned.

You need to eat on top of what you burned because you need to get your calories, otherwise your body will go into what is commonly referred to as "starvation mode" and hold onto whatever calories are going in.

Example. Let's say your BMR is 2100 calories, and your caloric need to lose 2 lb/week (without exercise) is 1200, and you burn 900 calories through exercise. You eat 1200 calories that day. You've burned 900 through exercise so it's 300 that you've actually consumed. Where if you eat 2100 but burn 900 you are still at the 1200 consumed, still at your deficit from your BMR, still will lose weight because of it and it is much much healthier weight loss.

Hope this helps?

Eat them back. & search the forums for possible answers before posting...This question is asked constantly.

I know a lot of people get frustrated because this topic comes up daily but also keep in mind new people are joining the site everyday and most of them don't read the 'old' threads.

I eat mine back because I believe in the theory of eating more to lose more my BMR is 1656, my body will get very confused if I eat below that.

When I started on MFP it suggested my daily calories be 1400, that wouldn't even be enough to sustain my body if it was in a coma, I am thankful I took the time to research on my own as well.

I don't eat mine back. I didn't even know about eating back exercise calories until I joined MFP. Not eating them back is working for me, so I don't see any need to change things.
I still have a lot of weight to lose, over 100 pounds- when I get closer to maintaining my weight then I might consider upping my daily calorie intake, but that won't be for a very long time

thanks for asking this

OKAY I AM SO CONFUSED... Do I or don't I eat back my calories??? My Brother says I got to eat my burned calories back and MFP friends told me not to and some here are saying yes eat them back and some are saying the don't. I'm new to MFP and getting into shape, right now I work out 525mins a week and eating 1600 daily. I am starting on my 4th day of Slim in 6. please help:)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf

lol cooked 'em too long

Eat them. Creating too large of a deficit will cause you to lose more muscle than you normally will while trying to lose weight.

I use the extra for the mistake that day - or my wine....usually do not eat all back...I use as my buffer....22 down and 16 to go!

i eat my calories back,always

I realize that the OP has long since deactivated her account, but to the new person asking this question, it depends. There isn't a set answer for everyone.

Do you know your actual TDEE?
Online calculators can be quite off for some people. Your own history is the best way to get the most accurate number, outside medical testing

How large is your deficit set?
Do you enter 1 or 2 pounds a week as your weight loss goal? If you chose 2 pounds, and that put your calorie goal below 1200, then MFP will raise it up to the minimum of 1200 cals per day. So you may think you are losing 2 lbs a week, but instead it may only be 1 pound or even less. In that case, exercise cals can be use to supplement your deficit.
If you are indeed eating at a 1000 calorie deficit, then you probably need to eat back at least some of your calories to not create an unhealthy deficit.

How much extra fat do you have to lose?
If you are considerably overweight, you can safely exercise moderately without eating back your calories. If you are close to goal weight, you need to be careful to not create too large of a deficit.

What type of exercise or you doing? Intensity? length of time?
If you are an extreme exerciser, and are burning tons of calories every day, then yes, you will need to refuel your body and eat at least part of them back or else you will burn your body out. A moderate exercise, 3-4 days a week, will not make a huge difference in your calorie level, unless you are close to goal weight.

How are you figuring your exercise calories burned?
If you are using the MFP database, your calories reported may be up to twice as many as you are actually burning. For athletic, fit people, the charts are more accurate, especially for men, but for a lot of overweight women, the numbers are way off. The same thing can be said for machines at the gym. So if you were to eat back all those calories, you could easily negate your calorie deficit and not lose weight, or even possibly gain.
Using a heart rate monitor with a chest strap, will give you a more accurate number, but even then, you may not be actually burning the total number stated. You will also need to subtract your TDEE from that number to get the 'net' calories burned.

I personally use my exercise to help supplement my deficit, and have found that over the past 6 months, the moderate exercise I do, doesn't make a big difference in the scale. So I eat healthy and at a deficit for weight loss, and do moderate exercise for fitness. I also eat the same number of calories every day, whether I exercise or not, altho if I happen to go over a few cals on workout days, I don't feel bad about it.

For others, they eat every calorie they burn and it works fine for them. You just have to figure out what works best for you.

ETA I started with 80 pounds to lose 6 months ago, and am over halfway to goal weight now. (38 pounds lost since Aug). I have yet to hit a plateau. I have kept my calories around the same level the whole time, (except for holidays). But again, I don't do crazy amounts of exercise. I am also very sedentary outside of my bike rides.