I am 3 weeks into lifestyle change and have a question -

I eat some of them back, especially if it's a harder workout where I burn off at least 400-500 calories. But that works for me. You'll need to play around with it to see how your body responds.

Its a very contentious subject. Ask yourself this. If you exercise 500 calories, then eat back 500 extra calories, your net calorie intake/burn is zero, so what's the point of doing the exercise!!!
Personally I use the burned off calories as a buffer should I need the. I usually eat into them but very rarely eat them all back!! People on here will give you lots of different opinions, I'm no expert, but what I do works for me.

When figuring out how many calories to "give" you per day, MFP calculates the deficit for you as if you were not exercising...by not eating back exercise calories, you increase the deficit MFP ALREADY calculated. Whether a larger or smaller deficit works for individual people is obviously a very individual thing.

Edited to add: I know I didn't explain the deficit thing quite right, but the point is that MFP has already done that calculation for us. So it works (for most people) to eat exercise calories back and still lose.

Im sure you will get a lot of answers...but coming from a medical professional who asked several different medical providers this question...the answer was the same...eating back the calories you have burned defeats the purpose of working out.

Really? I find that surprising seeing that SO many people have success with losing weight by eating back their exercise calories.

Yeah. My weight doesn't go anywhere unless I eat around 1,200 - 1,400 calories a day. There is a great buffer zone when I am maintaing though. It's kind of a bummer, but it is what it is.

I lost about 65 lbs last year and did not really eat back my workout calories. The math of it is, 3500 calories = 1 lb of fat. Create a defecit of 500 cals per day and you get 1 lb of fat loss per week. If you increase the defecit, you lose more fat. Also, keep in mind that not all foods are created equally. 1000 calories of nutrient rich vegetables and lean proteins will leave you feeling better than 1000 calories of junk food. I'm typically over on my protein every day as I want to maintain muscle mass while staying in a calorie defecit situation. Feel free to check out my diary if you want to see what I mean.

I almost always eat all the calories I earn. I also almost always go over on protein. I used MFP the way it was designed, and it worked perfectly for me.

I eat all mine and lost 3.5 pounds last week despite exceeding my allowance one day. I set myself targets then when I've got there I set another one. I'm just one week into my newest target but in all I have lost 158 pounds using this method.

Thanks for the answers!

So here is my next question. In the past when I have logged my exercise and "eat back" my calories, I ALWAYS wind up going over on protein. Is this a bad thing?

Protein is what your body uses for fuel, it helps you feel satisfied longer and is what your body uses to build lean muscle. I often go over on my protein even before exercise and eating those calories back.

As far as going over in your protein, here's what I've found, personally... If I am lifting heavy (I lift like a guy) I do fine going over in my protein, however, when I'm doing mostly cardio (like training for a marathon) and I over do my protein, it starts to affect my organs and it throws off my blood levels. That's just what I've found for me, personally.
Every one is different, this journey is filled with little personal adjustments. It's not a "one and done" kind of thing. Keep adjusting and listening to your body, there are so many areas you'll have to fine tune for yourself, no one answer is correct.

Look at it like a project, like restoring a car, you keep tinkering with it until you get it just right (for YOU).

Just don't EVER give up!!! ANY progress is better than no progress or going backward!! It's a bit hit & miss at the beginning, but soon you'll know what works and you'll be soaring!!

Here is the thing about this site and calories. When you sign up, you are asked a set of questions. This includes how many pounds per week you want to lose. The site then gives you an amount of calories to consume to lose that amount of weight. Healthy weight loss is between 1-2 pounds a week. This number is created ONLY on the foods you eat. There is no exercise included in the calorie amount given to you originally.

Thus, exercise calories are IN ADDITION to the calories already figured for you to lose weight. If you eat them, you should still lose weight because you still have your original deficit happening.

Now, all that said, what I do personally depends on how my day is working. I am only set to lose 1 lb a week on MFP. However, I also figured what I would need to eat to lose 2 lbs a week (for my OCD having a range keeps my anxiety issues down compared to trying to meet a fixed number). I aim to be somewhere between the two. So, I eat back the calories if I need them to meet my requirements.

Its a very contentious subject. Ask yourself this. If you exercise 500 calories, then eat back 500 extra calories, your net calorie intake/burn is zero, so what's the point of doing the exercise!!
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I read a study where some people cut 500 calories out of their diet and didn't change their exercise, and the other people didn't change their diet and exercised about 500 calories. Both lost the same amount of weight, but the people who exercised lost it from around their torso. Even if you eat back your exercise calories, you're still on a path to lose weight if you don't go over. There is ALWAYS a point for exercise