If you are on a 1200 cal budget and you don't eat back your burned calories you could go into starvation mode. I eat back enough to keep at my budget.

This eating back exercise calories confuses me. I don't usually eat them since I thought I would lose more weight. If I eat back the calories earned from exercise, doesn't that cancel out the good from the exercise?

So what's the consensus here? I have heard about the body going into starvation mode and what DurkfromNM says makes sense. So if I have 1200 cal goal, eat 1500 healthy calories and exercise off 300, and do this consistently, will my body eventually get that this is normal and not go into starvation mode? How do we get the body to tap into the stored fat? Do I challenge myself to try to end each day at exactly at 1200? If I exercise very hard, say after work, when I get home do I eat the same as I would on a normal exercise day and have the deficit or will that kick my metabolism into starvation mode? Or do I eat more for dinner on a hard workout day to get to my 1200? I'm so confused and I don't want to lose the excitement and momentum I have.

Going to google this. I'll let you know what I find out. :happy:

I do not eat my exercise calories. The way I try to look at it is it takes a 3500 calorie loss to lose a pound so the weight is bound to come off eventually, its simply math. I try to even out my calories throughout the day eating every 2-4 hours to keep my metabolism going as well as keep my body moving..... shopping, cleaning, running errands etc. I do not track these type of calorie burns just my workouts on treadmill, weights, etc...For now this is how I think unless I learn I am wrong, its what I am trying to do for now.

Found on the MFP Message Board General Weight Loss and Diet Help (not sure if I got the board name right- over 50 the memory goes. Even after 2 seconds) ! :laugh:

You should eat them!

From MFP: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

"Now onto the question of "Eating your exercise calories"

As I have hinted to throughout this summary of metabolic process, the body has a "range" in which it feels it is receiving the right amount of fuel. The range (as most doctors and research scientists agree) is somewhere between 500 calories above your maintenance calories and 1000 calories below your maintenance calories. This means that the metabolism won't drastically change it's functionality in this range, with that said, this is not exact, it is a range based on averages, you may have a larger or smaller range based on the 3 factors of metabolism stated at the top.
On our website (MyFitnessPal), when you enter your goals, there is a prebuilt deficit designed to keep you in the "normal" metabolic functionality while still burning more calories then you take in. This goal DOES NOT INCLUDE exercise until you enter it. If you enter exercise into your daily plan, the site automatically adjusts your total caloric needs to stay within that normal range (in other words, just put your exercise in, don't worry about doing any additional calculations). Not eating exercise calories can bring you outside that range and (if done over an extended period of days or weeks) will gradually send your body into survival mode, making it harder (but not impossible) to continue to lose weight. The important thing to understand is (and this is REALLY important) the closer you are to your overall healthy weight (again, your metabolism views this a a range, not a specific number) the more prominant the survival mode becomes (remember, we talked about efficiency). This is because as fat becomes scarce, muscle is easier to break down and transport. And thus, the reason why it's harder to lose that "Last 10 pounds".

Not eating enough hasn't worked for me so I tend to believe the information on metabolism. I guess I'm trying to think of it like a fire, and the proper consistent food is the fuel to make it burn fast and hard. I do have a hard time eating so much but I think it is making my smarter on the choices. I don't want to get to my calories via a cheeseburger; I want to get there with fruits, vegetables and lean protein. At least that's my plan right now!