calorie confused

Sheesh, TDGee put me on the spot here. :laugh:

Here are a few starting points:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

http://shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

You need Taso. He is like a forbidden topic regarding religious preferences on this subject. Seriously. Let me see if he is available. Stand by.

This made me laugh xD
Its so true tho!

shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com

Seriously.

(you'll be given lots of handy links to read)

hahahahaha

You need Taso. He is like a forbidden topic regarding religious preferences on this subject. Seriously. Let me see if he is available. Stand by.

Reported for uh, mentioning religion and stuff and things...

NEVER actually mentioned it, just alluded to it.

Reported for filing a false report!

but, but, but....."forbidden topic regarding religious preferences" you did - boom! Therefore, doubly reported. :laugh:

Here's another link that will give further evidence that Taso has achieved Near-Forbidden to Discuss Deity status:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/315125-taso-fan-club

So you can join and thank him properly with gifts and sacrifice.

it really all depends on you and how you feel.

i see these people on here who complain about not losing weight..saying i dont understand i eat back and blah blah..i workout and burn 1000 calories..

why exercise like that to just eat all those back? its counter productive..there is no point in working out that hard it makes no difference in metabolism or bmr blah blah.

a good thing to remember is...that we tend to underestimate the amount of calories we eat and over estimate what we burn..meaning if you eat back you could be putting yourself in a calorie surplus, or so close to it you dont lose any.

Everyone has their own opinion of this (as you will find out!) but my opinion is that it is NOT counterproductive to eat back those calories.

MFP sets you up with a calorie deficit to lose weight.
If you eat your exercise calories your deficit stays the same (500 cals per day if you have chosen to lose 1 pound per week, 1000 a day if you have clicked on 2 pounds a week) even if you eat ALL your exercise calories. I'm not sure how this is counterproductive - you exercise, you get fitter, stronger, toned and more lean. And you get to eat more. And you lose weight. Surely this is a win win situation??

If you don't eat your exercise calories then your calorie deficit gets larger. And you have to stick to a very low calorie diet which means you have a much greater chance of finding it all too hard and giving up. And your body may or may not react well to this large deficit. It seems that if you have a fair bit of weight to lose your body might do just fine with that larger calorie deficit.
If you don't have so much to lose you might find that your body reacts to the big calorie deficit by slowing down your metabolism so you won't lose weight.

You can decide for yourself if you want a larger or smaller calorie deficit, but I think the important thing is to understand how the system works and what you are doing when you do or don't eat those calories.
The links that the other guys have given you have a much fuller and better explanation than mine, but I thought you might like a quick version.

Xraychick does make a good point about accurate recording - it is worth trying to be as accurate as you can with your food and exercise estimate. It's still pretty unlikely that you'd be 500 or 1000 cals out on your reporting though, so even if you are a bit off with food and exercise you are probably still going to have a calorie deficit. I work on the theory that some estimates are probably over and some under so it should balance out. This has worked out fine for me