DO YOU EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES?

I try not to, more often than not I don't. I am looking to lose weight so I am eating less, maybe when I get to the maintenance phase I will start eating them

Yes. I use to when I followed MFP's caloric intake guideline. The other option is to use the TDEE method where exercise planned exercise cals are taken into account and averaged for the week so you eat the same amount everyday (more than that base cals MFP gives you) instead of less on days you don't workout, and more on days you do.

As an example say MFP gives you 1450 calories to lose 1 lb/week, and you plan on exercising 5x/week for an average of 400 cals per workout. well MFP will tell you to eat 1450 on the days you don't workout and 1850 on the days you do whereas a TDEE calculator may tell you to eat 1700 everyday regardless if you workout.

So for the week MFP will have you eat 12,150 (1450*2+1850*5) whereas doing it the other way will have you eat 11,900 (1700*7) almost the same number of cals for the week (250 dif). The issue in not following MFP is if you don't workout the full 5 days or burn more or less than planned. If that is the case you may lose more or less than your goal, whereas MFP will have you lose your goal amount regardless how much you actually workout.

What many MFPers do is take the low 1450 and not eat back exercise calories which is wrong, if you are not eating them back then your daily activity level should reflect the higher burn with would be covered in the 1700/day above.

Yes, that's what you're supposed to do. Although some people only eat 1/2 of them back.

Yes

If I'm netting under 1200, I eat some of them.

I typically eat back 50% - 75% of them every day.

Yes. Engines need fuel, and MFP's numbers have a built-in deficit. I do try to leave a little margin for error, though.

I do, both because that's how I'm using MFP and because my nutritionist said to

But, I enter them low because I know a lot of the estimates are high. Here's my conversion: 85% of cardio (running, walking, elliptical, incline treadmill, dancing, etc.) and 10% for things like yoga, Pilates, stretching, and MFPs generic "strength training" (this is mostly so that I can log having done it).

I don't use the TDEE method because my physical activity is still extremely variable from week to week depending on what else is going on in life.

When I used the MFP numbers I did, not I use TDEE minus a percent and include my exercise in the number of the calorie goal.

I do if I'm hungry. And if I'm not hungry the day I workout, I find I might end up hungrier the next day, so I eat them then.

Ok I'll get quoted for this but who the heck gaf.

Yes I do eat them back, I have 1470 a day, and I don't want to eat less than that, so I eat all or most of them back. My logic is, that is the amount you are meant to eat a day, so why eat less from the ones you have burned, it's quite a bad behaviour to have towards calories, that to me could be the start of an eating disorder.

If you want to lose more weight simply set your goal to 2lb or whatever you want. Not eating the calories from exercise back will give you more of a weightloss but it's just stupid. I personally exercise to be able to have more calories to eat again on whatever I want. It's recycling calories. In goes some food, it's burned, then you get to eat something else.

It is the way this tool is designed...if you're using MFP's calorie goals, they already include a deficit from maintenance WITHOUT exercise in your activity level setting. You just have to be careful not to overestimate your burn. Other calculators include an estimate of your exercise burn up front in your activity level so they are already included in the gross number that the calculator takes it's cut from...MFP only give you credit for it when you actually do it...thus you get the calories after you log exercise.

That said, it really depends on where you're at...if you're extremely overweight you can get away with a bigger deficit so it's not as big of a deal...especially if your exercise is basically doing some walking, etc. If you're actually training or working out with any kind of vigorous effort and you don't have a ton of weight to lose it is vital to fuel your exercise activity. Creating too large of a calorie deficit burns muscle mass when you don't have the fat stores necessary to sustain said deficit.

I eat if I am hungry....

Ditto.

Yes, because I like to eat, a lot.

mhm