Exercise and daily calories HELP needed

MFP adjusts your calories so that you NET 1200 at the end of the day. The theory being that if you net to less than 1,200, it's unhealthy for the body and your body may resort to starvation mode and hold onto your fat because it thinks it's not going to be getting enough food to function at a normal level. You'll find that something different works for everyone and that this is a huge source of heated debate, with varying opinions to be found. Some eat back the calories and some don't. I do if I'm hungry. Personally, I would suggest eating them back if you're hungry and see how it goes. If you're not losing, then you could always try not eating them back. Sometimes I struggle with eating them back myself, because I too am more concerned about losing weight than eating. LOL

Oh and I would suggest searching MFP on this topic. You'll find probably hundreds of posts on the subject, some of which include detailed information on why you should/shouldn't eat back your exercise calories.

Best of luck!

I get the samthing. I spoke with a gym instructor who stated that you should not eat the calories you burn because this does defeat the purpose. I told her about the tracker. She stated tha once you have completed your dail food tracking then add your exercise calories this will give you a more accurate count. I used to think that when i burn this gives me room to eat more. WRONG this just means you put back on the calories you just burned off.

Some people eat all of their exercise calories back, some people eat part of their exercise calories back, and some people eat none of their exercise calories.

I eat them all for the following reasons:
1. With 1200 calories a day, I'm already at a 500 calorie deficit. If I burn say 300 calories working out, that puts me at an 800 calorie deficit for the day. I feel that my body needs more calories to survive my day-to-day activities without me turning into a crazy person.
2. I love to eat. I am so motivated to workout because it means I get to eat more. We're not talking about binge-eating amounts of calories here. But 400 calories can go a long way and it just makes me feel like I'm not on a diet. (which I'm not- this is a lifestyle change!)
3. I've tried this without eating back my exercise calories before. I lost the weight quickly but then I gained it all back. Eating the exercise calories back has given me a slower rate of weight loss but I feel very energetic and happy and I feel like I can stick with this for the long haul.

There are probably more reasons but I'm gonna go workout now Good luck to you!

To begin with, the bare MINIMUM you should be eating is 1,200 calories per day to prevent your body going into starvation mode.
Consider....you consume 1,200 calories, you burn off 300 calories in exercise. You are now at 900 calories NET. This is NOT healthy.

Before I spoke to the manager of my gym (who is a senior health/gym insructor) I wasn't eating back my calories, I was at a max intake of 1,200 calories per day and I wan't losing weight.

I am now at a max of 1,400 calories per day, I am eating back my exercise calories and I am losing about 1.5 lb per week, which is a healthy loss, if you lose too fast you gain it back.

in order to lose weight you have to burn more than you consume -- so logically i don't eat back my exercise calories. once i hit my goal weight i will eat them back to maintain that weight. if i see that im gaining, i will adjust until i find the right answer.