More calories allowed with activity- Really??

there will be so many different opinions on this. I'll give you what i think and why. I usually try to eat at least 70% of my workout calories back and never drop below 1500 net calories but aim for 1700 net/day. I did a lower net calorie goal before and hit a plateau. After i adjusted my calories up, i started to lose again. This may not be true for everyone, but it was for me. You really need to figure what your body wants and do that. Good luck to you!

Eat those calories if you are hungry. Don't eat them if you are not hungry.

I agree with this one and eat only 50-70% of the exercise calories because those numbers are not accurate.Also try to eat atleast 1200 cals a day unless you want to regain or stay ob low calories diet forever.

You're already on a calorie deficit, and it might not be healthy to increase that deficit. I try to eat 75% of my work out calories, but if I'm not hungry at all (or if I splurged the day before...) I won't eat them. Learn to listen to your body, that's the wisest thing to do (in my opinion).

Good luck!

This post and responses is really useful

Eat those calories if you are hungry. Don't eat them if you are not hungry.

I agree with this one and eat only 50-70% of the exercise calories because those numbers are not accurate.Also try to eat atleast 1200 cals a day unless you want to regain or stay ob low calories diet forever.

correct, not for a female with the net calories.
I do agree with eat them if you are hungry and don't eat them if you are not hungry, buf if i've done intense workouts, i can't see when i wouldn't be hungry.

^^^^Agree also your motivation is when you hit the button on the bottom and it tells you what you can be in 5 weeks. Just stay under that number and it will work.

I agree with some others. If you are hungry eat those calories, if not then don't. I general do eat them or at least a portion of them. And I have been steadily losing weight since I started with MyFitnessPal.

I cant get the photo to load...but the whole idea of exercise cals is summed up on a water bottle:

I LIKE to run because I really really really REALLY Really really REALLY like dessert....

I finally got it after I started Weight Watchers. I like this site better than WW etools, however, so I use it. WW uses points for daily intake (translate that to about 1200 calories). Then they give you extra weekly points to use whenever you want during the week so you don't feel deprived. They also add points for activity that you "earned" by exercising, which I translate the extra calories MFP gives us.

If I'm hungry I'll use many of the extra calories, as I like to drink whey protein shakes for muscle recovery after a workout. I try not to use them all, but I want my weight loss to come from fat, not the lean muscle tissue that the body will use if there is not enough fat available to burn. I want to be healthy, and your body needs fuel to keep going.

Look at it this way: When you drive your car on the interstate for long periods of time, you can get by with less fill ups. You get more miles to the gallon when you're going a steady pace. However, when you're driving around town, stop and go, speed up and slow down, you have to refuel more often because your car eats up more gas. Our bodies are like that. If we do our normal stuff day in and day out, we need less calories to burn efficiently. If we're adding workouts and using extra energy, we need to feed our body more nutrients. This doesn't mean go for the potato chips.....grab an apple, some nuts, yogurt; something healthy. Your body know the difference, and if you make wise choices it will reward you for them. Hope this is helpful.

1. You are already on reduced calories.
2. You are increasing your Basal Metabolic Rate with exercise.
Therefore, eat at least 70% of the calories or risk going into a lower metabolic rate, a natural famine response in the human.
One caveat, however, is NOT to rely on the calorie counts given by the exercise database in MFP. Invest in a calorie counting exercise watch which can be programmed specific to your sex, your age, and your weight. I like the Polar line, but there are others which will do the same thing. I hope that this answers your question.

I just had someone this past week tell me that they eat a 1000 calories a day and excercise a 1000 calories a day, and they can not figure out why they get dizzy throughout the day. Umm well hello!! So this is an extreme example here but its plays into what you are asking. Your body needs a certain amount of energy to survive as in make your organs functions and sustain life as we know it. If you dont give it that it will take over and take from your body what it needs. Hence eating any muscle you put on to get its nutrients so anything you do to work out you just lose in the end.

Also another example... I was on a 1250 calorie diet for 6 months and yes I lost weight as I was suppose to. What I also lost was all the muscle I had in my body for the most part. My blood work at my physical was dangerously wrong per the doctors. This is because I ate too few calories for my body to survive so my body was eating itself. When I had my resting metabolic rate figured out I am suppose to have a minimum of 3000 calories a day for my body size.

I am not saying you HAVE to eat them back I am not saying do or die. Just use your head about it and eat back what you need to. If you want to eat back calories eat something clean and whole and dont think because of extra calories given back you can splurge on some processed sugar filled or fast food garbage. Calories are not a bad thing its what you get your calories from.