Entering exercise but not eating back cals.

Yeah I don't like that feature at all. I do still enter my exercise, but I don't eat the earned back calories...the reward I get is seeing the predicted weight loss over 5 weeks when I hit "Done" for the day. I don't understand why they can't make this a simple setting-- "eat back calories earned from exercise. On / Off"

First...if you're going to log your exercise calories...invest in a HRM! I personally feel it's the ONLY way to get a close value of what you've really burned. Second, occasionally I eat my "burned" calories. It depends on my body. If my body tells me I need to eat...I eat. There will be days where you're body is telling you that you need more than 1200 calories. Third, there are a few days where there's no way around it, you're going to be in a situation where you have to eat something less desirable (say a child's birthday party with cake & ice cream & the yummy punch with sherbet in it)...a calorie nightmare! EVEN if you only indulge in small portions, your calories are going to be high...& it's all sugar so you aren't going to be full for the rest of the day so you need those "burned" calories so you can properly fuel your body. Forth, as you begin to get to a point of maintaining rather than losing, you're going to either have to eat a little more or exercise less.

Eating at a deficit and not eating back at least most of the calories you burn during exercise is not a sustainable living style. This is doubly so if you have a high deficit like 1000 calories and will definitely become a major problem as you get in better shape. The amount of calories you burn when you are starting out might only be 200-300 calories depending on what you are doing but as you advance you could be burning 2 to 3 times that amount depending effort and progress. Eventually your deficit could get so large that you are not getting enough nutrients.

Also keep in mind a post workout recovery meal of protein and fast burning carbos not exceeding the amount of calories burned is a cornerstone of faster muscle recovery etc. in my view, performance is what matters because keeping the machine well oiled prepares you for the long haul and is better than grinding gears.

You could try more accurate estimates like @VanessaFaulkner suggested but you really have two safe long term approaches. Either do not have a deficit on your calorie count and don't count your exercise (your exercise becomes your deficit). Or keep the deficit and do your best to count your exercise. As long as you are close you will still be losing weight.

In my view a quick weight loss at the expense of what keeps your body healthy is not worthy the cost.

I log everything, that way I know what to do and what not to do. I'll loose track otherwise. Log your food and log your exercise and water. You can see how many exercise cals you burned so if you don't want to eat them then dont. Plus if you don't use the site to it's full, then there's no point using it at all, it won't give you accurate information that is essential to you and your new lifestyle...