Question re exercise done, calories added

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MFP Calculates your deficit without movement (unlike using TDEE Which works in your actvity level). So if you're following MFP you should eat back your exercise calories.

However, it's typical that the estimates run high. You can always over ride the amounts entered, or stick to eating back a certain percentage.

It is NOT defeating the purpose because you're still at a deficit. By working out, your largen the deficit and your body needs more fuel. Besides, Exercise is also about fitness, not just the deficit. Does that make sense?

MFP already has you at a deficit without exercise, so you should eat a portion of them back - most people recommend 3/4 of the burn that MFP estimates.

For a longer explanation, MFP uses the Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) method, which means that they take the calories for your calculated Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and add in an estimate for calories based on your activity level to cover things like standing, walking to the car, walking around the office, etc. This number can vary from 1.2 times BMR upward depending on how active a person is without counting exercise. They then take the deficit off of that number, so if you aim to lose 1 lb a week, they take 500 calories a day off. So if you have a NEAT of 2000 calories and are eating 1500, you likely lose as predicted.

If you exercise, that gets added on to the NEAT number, but you still want to keep the deficit at 500 calories, so you can eat more total calories for the day. If in the above example you did a 500 calorie workout, you would eat 2000 calories and still lose weight as predicted by the NEAT calculation.

Some people choose to follow the Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) method, which involces a more complex up-front calculation that takes all activities, even exercise into account, then subtracts the deficit. As long as the activity level over the week remains the same (meaning that you don't skip planned exercise days), the person would eat the same number of calories every day and average a 500 calorie deficit.

ETA: If you are interested in TDEE, you can check out the calculator here: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
If you do that, you'll need to set your goals on MFP as custom rather than the using their automatic settings.

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.

Personally, I ignore the exercise addition part of MFP and instead use the TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) formula for determining my caloric needs. That way I only need to worry about the logging of food since my calculation already takes exercise into account.

If that is what you think would be better, you can do this using MFP's formula (which actually tends to overestimate your needs a bit) or other well-known formulas such as the Harris-Benedict Equation or the Mifflin-St. Jeor Equation. Both take into account your weight, height, and age in determining your caloric needs, then multiplied by a factor that corresponds with your exercise activity level, and then finally add or substract for weight gain or loss, respectively.

The Harris-Benedict Equation for women is thus: BMR (Base Metabolic Rate) = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Then, multiply your BMR by your activity level:
-Sedentary (little or no exercise): BMR x 1.2
-Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): BMR x 1.375
-Moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): BMR x 1.55
-Very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): BMR x 1.725
-Extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training): BMR x 1.9

Lastly, subtract calories if you want to lose weight. Subtracting 500 calories per day would put you on pace to lose about 1 pound a week.

Yes. It defeats the purpose. I'm not sure that there is a way to shut it off or not, but try not to add your exercise till the end of the day when you're about to complete your journal.

No!......MFP as designed gives you a calorie deficit BEFORE exercise. That way people who can't/won't exercise, still lose weight.

However, calorie burns are hard numbers to pin down. Start by adding back a portion.....say 50-75%. If weigh loss stalls, cut back. If you feel tired or run down....increase the percentage.

The idea of eating calories back is to keep the deficit from becoming too large. A large deficit may not support lean muscle. You end up losing fat+muscle. Closer to goal...the higher the risk.