Extra calories earned from exercise...

Yes, eat your calories! MFP incorporates the calories you burn just from being alive (your basal metabolic rate). Even is you just sat and did nothing but breathe all day, you'd still burn calories through your normal body function. By exercising, you increase your burn, allowing you to still have a deficit even with eatin those you earn. Hope that makes sense. You'll see it works.

It only tells you that if you're under 1200 calories.

Your daily calorie goal is designed with a deficit already in place. You should always eat at least that many calories per day, workout or no. My daily goal is 1200, so that should be my daily min no matter what.

If you workout, you can eat the workout calories and still have a deficit, because of the built in starting deficit. But, do what feels right for you, and as long as you are over or at your min, you should be fine.

So if I workout and earn 200calories, I can eat 1400 and be on plan, but I consider it an option based on how I am feeling that day, and eat between 1200-1400.

Hope this makes sense!

From what I have read, MFP already creates the deficit for you when you enter your goals. So adding exercise makes a bigger deficit, but, you need to eat them back. Or at least some of them.
From my experience, just last week, I was on a 1200 a day diet, I would burn 400+ calories during a workout, if I didn't eat them back, I would only be eating 800 cal a day. I thought this was great! NOT so! I ended up gaining 2 pounds, because my body started to hold on to everything plus some.
This week I have eaten back at least 1/2 of my exercise calories, and dropped 2 pounds.
Your net cals need to be what MFP assigns you. for me: MFP says 1200,I get 400 from exercise = 1600 I usually net around 1400

Hope that makes sense, I had a hard time with it at the beginning too.

there are people on here for both sides...but just remember, that the cal limit MFP gives you already has a deficit built into it, the amount of course is based on what your wieght loss per week is. so, when you exercise, you are adding an extra deficit on top of the one already given to you. it's up to you whether you want to eat the exercise cals back, there are many people who swear they never do and are losing fine, there are others (me included) who actually stop losing weight if they don't eat back at least a portion of those extra cals back.

just make sure your net cals consummed for the day are at least around 1200 (approx), as this is the least amount most women should consume and remain healthy.

I was concerned about eating the extra calories so I talked to my doctor about it at my appointment yesterday and she told me I did need to eat back the calories.

I lost 21 lbs eating 1200 calories a day and not eating back my exercise calories, then I didnt lose anything and started getting week and dizzy. So I started eating back my exercise and lost 9 more lbs and then plateud for 5 months, so I tried less carbs and gained back a few lbs,so now I am trying 1350.