HELP!!! Should you eat your active calories back???

if u eat them back u will stay at the same weight and now lose much

I don't know if you should or not. I always eat about 1100 calories regardless of how much I exercise. I guess I don't pay much attention to what I burn. I'm interested to hear what others say also.

MFP does not include exercise in its calculation for what you need to eat to lose weight. You would lose weight eating the amount MFP says, even if you were not able to exercise at all.

When you do exercise, it gives you more calories for fuel.

Some people say that the MFP exercise database gives too many calories for exercise, so they only eat some portion of it back, half or 3/4. If you use a heart rate monitor for cardio, this is more accurate than the MFP database.

If you do not eat calories back, you could be under-eating, and this isn't a good thing, it can have a number of negative side effect and long term can be damaging.

For both myself and people I work with, I think it's best NOT to eat your active calories back. Just set a daily calorie goal and stick to it. It keeps things simple and you can get into more of a routine with your diet. Then, if you're not seeing progress, make adjustments to your caloric intake as necessary. For the vast majority of people, food intake is the primary factor that needs to be adjusted for weight loss, not exercise.

If you follow MFP's allotted calories, it is designed so that you eat them back.

If you set your own number that includes exercise, then no, you would not.

if you use mfp way of calories then you are to eat the calories BACK.. but if you use a tdee method you do not.

the more people you ask the more conflicting answers you will get. everyone has their own beliefs and ideas.. and different things work for different people. you can always try one way for a while.. and then the other and see what works for YOUR body.

if u eat them back u will stay at the same weight and now lose much

Really?
Because I've eaten them back before and I kept losing weight.
You're still eating at a deficit if your food and exercise is logged correctly. You need to eat at your BMR to stay at the same weight, which is higher than the deficit given by MFP (which has your activity and BMR factored in).

I always eat them back and have still lost weight. Just depends on your goals you've set and the type of exercise you are doing. I don't log ALL of my activites, but that's how I balance out sometimes at the end of the day when I've eaten more than what I've anticipated (go for a run, etc).

If you are using the MFP set targets, yes eat them back. Your target is just that. It is a target you aim for (not try to stay under). It has a calorie deficit built into it based on the information you have put into the system when you set up your account. This deficit will remain in place even when you eat back the exercise calories. Calorie deficit is for weight loss. Exercise is for fitness. When you work out, you need to make sure you are fueling your body for those workouts. You will have a really hard time getting in the appropriate nutrition your body requires if you are continually eating less than you should. Problems that arise from this include: lethargy, difficulty concentrating, muscle wastage, brittle hair and nails, etc. Those don't sound like fun to me.

The best way to make this sustainable is to ensure you are eating enough to remain healthy and still enjoy your food.

If you are following MFP settings, then yes, eat them back. This is how MFP is designed to operate. Some people choose to eat back only a portion (50%-80%) to make up for any estimation errors.

I believe the rules are different if you follow TDEE and have your settings manually adjusted, but you'll want to ask someone who knows more about that than I do.

I eat 1800 calories regardless of workout calories burned. I figure if I go negative in calories good, but that's my opinion and it seems everyone here has their own too.

i eat them back plus more. your body burns calories just being alive so just eat if you are hungry

It really depends imho, i have a brother and sister who ate about the same as me as kids, but it was pretty obvious my bmr was much lower than theirs as I simply gained weight even eating below 1500 calories a day while they maintained less than 15% body fat, in my case dieting did little to nothing, however i started an intense cardio regimen and i was netting about 100-300 calories a day not including my BMR, and I feel fine (although somewhat diminshed when doing heavy calisthenics) and have shed about 20 pounds doing this, I know people who will swear by it being unhealthy, but staying overweight was definitely worse health wise.

Okay, I'm new I know. I track my cals on my fuelband and since I've been adding the calories in to MFP no weight loss! Someone else told me to track it, but only mark 1 calorie. This way you can see how active you are and not use them; otherwise, add them and don't eat.