I'n new, have i got this right?

Hey, welcome
yes its right if you do not have enough calories through the day it can actually stop you from losing weight, very strange but niceto be able to eat a bit more :-)

I think it's important to eat your exercise calories, especially if your goal is 1200 calories.

MFP tells you your NET calorie intake for the day as well, which can be dangerously low if you're working out and not eating extra.

Net calories means calories eaten - calories burned from exercise and what you're left with is the amount of energy(calories) that your body is left with to do work, regular body functions.

If you're working out to burn say 500 calories a day, and still only eating 1200 calories of food per day, then your net calories consumed for the day is only going to be 700! Thats wayyyy too low.

You should keep in mind that MFP already calculates a calorie deficit for you, so even if you weren't going to work out at all you would still lose weight. (You just wouldn't get a super fit looking body)

Also, if you have 700-900 Net calorie days, you're probably going to lose weight at a slower rate than you would if you had 1200 net.

Good Luck!

LOL! I was having that discussion with a friend last night about that. She is on here and has another friend that has been on here for a while and it works! I just joined yesterday. And it took me all night to figure out why it works. 1200 is the caloric intake you need to be the weight you WANT to be...and your body needs that. The calories you burn need to be fat calories that your body already has. If you burn calories it can't be out of your 1200 so you need to eat enough that by the end of they day, your body has that and it hasn't been burned...your exercise needs to make your body burn the stored fat. If you don't have enough calorie intake to maintain the weight you WANT to be, it will not burn the stored fat...it will keep it cuz it thinks you are starving it. And I might not have explained that all correctly but it is simple for me to understand. LOL I kinda like the idea of exercising to eat but it is kind of a different concept for me. Hey...if it works, I get a trip to Hawaii out of it from my hubby!

All very good replies but you must bear in mind that when you exercise on a gym machine it will give you a calorie amount...you will pop that into MFP and it will increase your 'allowance' of calories. Gym machines are very flawed in their response as everyone is different and I guess they give a standard amount which from my research is almost always in your favour! When I do cardio and for sake or argument do 45 mins on a cross trainer ill get a loss of around 420-500 calories... I tend to change the amount to around 350-380 to be more realistic. Some may disagree with me on this but just be aware that everyone is different. :-)

Yes. Your net should always be at least above 1200. You don't have to eat all your exercise calories, but at least get up to 1200 after exercise for your NET. If you can eat more and still lose weight, great! Really, though, if your minimum set by MFP isn't 1200 (say it's 1400), that should be your minimum net, but always stay above 1200. If you have one day where you literally can't (you're sick, don't have food, whatever), one day isn't going to kill you -- just don't make a habit of it because that can be dangerous and unhealthy for your body.

1200 calories is not bordering on dangerous. Consistently eating LESS THAN 1200 calories is bordering on dangerous. And yes, if you're only 5'3" and already at a healthy weight, this is why your calorie limit is low. I'm 5'3" and 61.5kg. The smaller you are, the harder it is! For us, it's ESPECIALLY important to eat our exercise calories! You are already at a healthy weight and don't have much fat to lose - if you're not eating enough, your body will hold onto what fat you have left. You need to be eating enough so that your body knows it's getting enough nutrition and it's ok to let go of some of those fat stores! I started out on 1200 calories and lost 4kg in 8 weeks, then BANG - nothing for nearly 2 months. I've just recently changed my goals to lose 1lb per week - that gives me 1450 calories. Since I upped my intake I have started losing again.

So, tread carefully, it does seem backwards that the smaller you are, the more exercise calories you have to eat, but it has really worked for me and for lots of others on here!