Exercise Calories

For starters you have to determine how accurate that 600 calories is - were you wearing a HRM - or is that what MFP gave you?

If MFP - I'd only eat back 3-400 of those since they calorie count is always high. IF you had HRM - you can eat back ALL of them - find some calorie dense stuff - toast and PB can get you 300 calories quick!

PS I only enter a portion of the time I work out - so that in my mind I can eat back ALL the calories (so instead of saying I did something for 30 min I only enter 15-20 of it).

Be careful of what you eat back.....especially if you are going by MFP calorie report....cause yea, I've noticed the calories burned for cardio can be all over the place....though will say, they seem to have gotten "more accurate" over the past couple months.....I don't know if it's a MFP change.....or if it's because of the weigh I've lost......but I always enter my stats into the cardio machine the same as MFP.....and when I add the cardio event to MFP, it would be like 200 calories OVER what the machine showed.....so I would always go by the machine (which is measuring my activity based on my heart rate.....not just a scientific formula based on my weight / time.....)

If all else, take the calorie read out the machine is giving you, and the calorie readout MFP gives you, divide it by 2, giving you an "average" - and use that instead? I've heard of some people doing that......to sort of "meet in the middle".....

But I will say, I very RARELY "eat back" my exercise calories" - though what I've started doing, for my cardio session, I'll try and "burn off" my breakfast calories and seems to be working okay......sure, MFP barks at me every night stating I'm gonna go in starvation mode.....but Im not hungry! Lol.