Need to eat back calories burned...Really?

Hi- this is true you need to "eat" those calories back- the number you should be focused on is your NET calorie in take.

The basic idea is that MFP works a bit differently than most calorie/point counters. Most nutrition plans incorporate workouts into your overall activity level- ie I have a desk job, but if I workout 5 days a week most plans would put me at "lightly active". This would figure into my daily calorie goal - so most nutritionists would probably recommend that I eat 1500-1800 calories everyday, regardless of my workout. MFP has you manually account for specific workouts or anything outside your normal level of activity, so you get a lower "starting goal" everyday (so you continue to lose regardless of whether or not you workout), but when you workout more, you should be eating more.

This is where NET calories come into play. There is an equation on your homepage:

GOAL FOOD -(minus) EXERCISE =(equals) NET

Your goal, as far as MFP is set up, should be to get your NET calories to match your GOAL calories. The NET calories are a way of taking exercise into account, so that you eat enough to fuel your workout.

This has in turn become known as "eating your exercise calories" and is highly controversial because people believe that less calories = higher weight loss. But for many, if you do not eat enough on a daily basis, your body begins to shut down your metabolism so as to stave off possible hunger/starvation not only effectively stopping loss but also causing gains anytime one goes even minimally over on calories.

Check out the boards (specifically the "NEWBIES PLEASE READ ME" if you need more info or any clarification.

Eating the 1200 calories a day already is calculating in what you need to eat to lose weight. If you work out, you CAN eat back those calories and still be able to lose weight. I don't think you NEED though, unless, like you said, you are low on energy. Your body might need at least SOME more calories so you can push yourself like you need to in your workouts. I think it's more of eat it you need/want to, but you don't have to restrict youself because you should still lose weight with the deficeit that MFP already accounts for.

You do not have to eat all the calories, but it is recommended. Your deficit shouldn't go under 1200 cals per day (or for you 1500), but as long as you eat SOME of your earned calories to suffice your body, it's OK. Maybe you should eat a little more during the beginning of the day if you know you will be working out later on so you don't have as much to eat.

The reason why eating them still works is that you are more than likely eating less calories than you were before you started working out. For example. My goal is 1200 without working out. When I work out, I try to eat around a third to half my earned calories, unless I am full, cause you should never force yourself to eat unless you have to. When I look back at what I was eating before I started to keep track, I was eating 2500+ cals a day with absolutely NO exercise. So, now I eat my 1200 and burn 600+ in a workout, I usually eat anywhere between 200 and 300 of those cals and I am still eating WAY less than what i was before. (I know I am not sticking to the deficit completely, but it's only because I get full really quickly and tend to get sick if I eat when not hungry.)

You will probably get many different answer but here is how I use this and it does work for me. My wife follows the same plan as me and is also losing at the same rate as me.

I need to eat 2,400 calories to maintain my weight.

MFP has me at 1,500 calories per day. a 1,000 calorie day deficit regardless of working out or not.

I eat 1,500 per day 6 days a week and each Friday I eat at maintenance of 2,400. I lose 1.5 to 2 pounds every single week consistently.

I eat at 1,500 calories per day and then exercise and burn an additional 500 calories. I eat ALL of those back, sometimes more. I still lose the exact same amount. 1.5 to 2 pounds per week.

The way I look at it. I eat to lose and gain weight. I exercise to build muscles and cardiovascular strength. So in order to build strength I need to eat back those calories to keep my energy levels high.

Good luck to you.

Take some time to read this blog to help you understand better how MFP works:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ladyhawk00/view/mfp-basics-78491