Logging my exercise

It depends on your goals. I don't log my exercise and figure anything I burn by exercising is a bonus. Some people like to "earn" more calories to eat by logging exercise. Others like to log a symbolic 1 calorie to keep track of what they're doing.

If you do want to log and "earn", just be careful - activity trackers and gym machines estimate how much you burn based on averages. If you're not the average the company has established (i.e. you're shorter, taller, younger, older, the wrong gender, etc.) the numbers could be way off. It might take a few weeks of logging to figure out whether your tracker/machine is accurate, and whether or not you need to adjust the settings of the device (i.e. your tracker) or adjust how much you log on MFP.

I log my food but on days that I work out extensively I may log those exercises as a rule of thumb for what I'm eating to maintain. Example: we did a double gym day with lots of weights and lots of cardio. Day 1 was 4 1/2 hours. I was fine with only 1,450 calories to goal. Day 2 was five hours I needed more calories that day. I went over in allowance but by logging my additional calories burned I was actually in the positive on calories that could be allowed. It's a guideline. To make you realize what you are eating , it helps if you are staying super active and need more food to keep running. The best part for me personally is the link for " more " and I look into my nutrition to get a round about of what I'm taking in. I was waking up cramping in my legs and had like zero potassium . So this week I went to get foods with more of what I was lacking. Helps to keep me straight. If you are doing your food ! That is amazing in itself. Good job friend !