Im very confussed...

I have the same doubt. We're supposed to excercise to burn the calories, so why on earth should then eat more, if that were the case I prefer not to excercise and eat the same 1200 calories, instead of excercising and eating 1700.

I'm confused too.

I think I'll follow my guts and eat like every day when I excercise, and if I get a bit too hungry maybe eat a little more, but that's it, I'm not excercising my *kitten* off just to eat exactly the amount of calories that I burn

yep! but 1200 cal makes me insaneeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! so hungry!

I think you've answered your own question. If 1200 calories is not enough for you -- don't worry, it's not enough for many people -- then try upping your calories, or at the very least, eat back your exercise calories.

No one can tell you what to do. You just need to experiment and figure out what works best for your body.

I have the same doubt. We're supposed to excercise to burn the calories, so why on earth should then eat more, if that were the case I prefer not to excercise and eat the same 1200 calories, instead of excercising and eating 1700.

When you signed up with MFP, it asked you about your weight, your goals, your activity level, weekly loss...etc. Based on the information you provided, you are given a calorie goal with a deficit built in. The idea of eating back exercise calories is so that you maintain that built-in deficit.

You *can* not exercise and eat 1200 calories, *or* you can exercise and aim for 1700. Each of those will provide your body with the same deficit, resulting in weight loss.

If you don't eat back your exercise calories, you're creating a larger deficit. While this might seem like a good thing, it is not necessarily sustainable and you may not be providing your body with the fuel and energy that it needs. Read up on "NET" calories and how to properly fuel your body.

Honestly I TRY to eat back most of my cardio calories only but somedays, like last night, I'm just not hungry! I refuse to force myself to eat; I don't care what the balance says. I can never really gauge my weight lifting calories bc MFP doesn't have accurate measurements and it's hard to say what I burn bc I lift heavy. Do what your body tells you. One day you might be hungry bc of the extra work and need the fuel, other days maybe not. I won't let someone tell me I'm doing it wrong if I don't eat them back all the time bc it's working for me the way I'm doing it for me. Everyone is different!

yep! but 1200 cal makes me insaneeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! so hungry!

Set the thing to a lower goal rate of weight loss. Simples.

Eat the extra calories of exercise, MFP automatically increases the goals. That's what you're supposed to do.

Eat less carbs and more protein / fat and you'll do better hunger wise.

Ignore advice about using other sites / methods / BMR as they'll just confuse you further.

I agree with the first bit, but strongly disagree with the last line.

I expected so. Your advice no doubt is to use a different site or different approach. Then wonder why everyone is confused.

If you had turned down your weight loss rate you would have got a higher target than 1200, it really is that simple.

Why confuse the hell out of people on a web site - just help them use the tools that are here better.

Your brain
Your lungs
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Your liver
Your kidneys
Your pancreas
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Your skin
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Your speech
Your hearing
Your wanting to change the channels on the tv
Your not being able to find the controller
Your crossing the floor to try to figure out how to do it from the screen
Your accusing your wife/husband/partner of hiding the controls
Your walking on the remote in bare feet
Your loud cursing
Your eventually changing the channels on the tv
Anything else I left out

..... this all takes fuel to run. Like a car engine needs petrol, diesel or electricity when it is in motion, 'uman beans (us) need a minimum amount of calories to function. Except we need it all the time, not just when we are hopping around the front room in agony cos we stepped on the sharp edged remote with our little tootsies.

You must burn about 3500cals to lose a lb. A 1000cal a day (7000cal a week) difference between calories burned by living and exercise will mean you lose 2lbs a week.

So if it takes 2600 cals to keep your engine ticking over, eating 1600 with no exercise will mean you lose 2lbs a week.
If you exercise, you use up your cals that your body needs to keep the engine running so you have to eat those to keep you in peak condition. So eating your engine ticking over level + your exercise cals burned keeps your body in tip-top condition and makes you fitter too. WIN.

I currently eat about 2000+ cals a day and lose 2lbs a week.
My ticking over level is 1280 and I exercise another 700-1000 cals on top of that which I enjoy every mouthful of eating back.

You need to work around with the figures and find out what works for you.
Some people need to eat up to +350 cals more to lose more (I call them 'lucky bas ... tards') and some have to eat down to -350 cals outside of the range recommended on MFP to lose weight.
Some have to eat more protein to keep them fuller for longer.
Some have to eat more carbs as they already have very active lives outside of exercising to lose the weight.
Some have to take a serious look at their sodium levels

Personally, during my TOM, I take my weightloss goal down to 1.5lbs per week because I get so hungry. Works for me and I keep on losing.

Read the motivation stories in the motivation forum for the 'how I did it' accounts. They tell a consistant story of eating back your exercise cals.

Log your food, log your exercise, use the site goal recommendations as a starting point and adjust from there to get the results you want. Stick around, read a lot. Record everything that seems relevant to you. Weight loss is an experiment in which you find out what works best for you and your body. Best of luck!

If you want more explanation, read this: http://body-improvements.com/resources/eat/ I found it very useful.

Your brain
Your lungs
Your heart
Your liver
Your kidneys
Your pancreas
Your veins
Your skin
Your immune system
Your speech
Your hearing
Your wanting to change the channels on the tv
Your not being able to find the controller
Your crossing the floor to try to figure out how to do it from the screen
Your accusing your wife/husband/partner of hiding the controls
Your walking on the remote in bare feet
Your loud cursing
Your eventually changing the channels on the tv
Anything else I left out

..... this all takes fuel to run. Like a car engine needs petrol, diesel or electricity when it is in motion, 'uman beans (us) need a minimum amount of calories to function.

It seems like you're forgetting that body fat is a huge energy source for the body.. not just food. every pound of fat on your body is 3,500 calories. If you have 50+ pounds of excess fat, that's 175,000 calories your body has saved for any time you're not eating "enough". Hence, your body digs into those fat stores for the rest of the energy it needs & you lose weight. Simple.

If you eat back every single calorie you burn each day, you're not going to lose any weight. You have to have some sort of deficit, no matter how small or large. Your body NEEDING to dig into its fat stores because you're essentially not giving it "enough"(at some level) is what causes weight loss to happen.

If you eat back every single calorie you burn each day, you're not going to lose any weight. You have to have some sort of deficit, no matter how small or large. Your body NEEDING to dig into its fat stores because you're essentially not giving it "enough"(at some level) is what causes weight loss to happen.

Yes and MFP creates that deficit for you. If you've picked 2lb to lose each week (which most do) you're given a 1000 calorie deficit daily. When you start exercising that deficit gets higher and higher. You keep your deficit the same by eating your calories back.

I've lost 75lbs eating my exercise calories back. Because I have a deficit from my food. Exercise is for health, diet is for weight loss.

If you don't want to eat your exercise calories but want more then 120, then set your daily intake higher say 1500-1600 and eat that everyday whether you exercise or not. this will average your exercise out for the week instead of just the days you do it. so instead of 1200 on days you don't workout and 1700 on days you do just eat 1500 every day.

Eat your exercise calories.

Give your body the energy it needs.

Just my two cents.

The issue is, if you don't know your BMR you risk damaging your body. Which is why going outside if MFP and reading other sites is highly recommended. You can't just five into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim.

Your brain
Your lungs
Your heart
Your liver
Your kidneys
Your pancreas
Your veins
Your skin
Your immune system
Your speech
Your hearing
Your wanting to change the channels on the tv
Your not being able to find the controller
Your crossing the floor to try to figure out how to do it from the screen
Your accusing your wife/husband/partner of hiding the controls
Your walking on the remote in bare feet
Your loud cursing
Your eventually changing the channels on the tv
Anything else I left out

..... this all takes fuel to run. Like a car engine needs petrol, diesel or electricity when it is in motion, 'uman beans (us) need a minimum amount of calories to function.

It seems like you're forgetting that body fat is a huge energy source for the body.. not just food. every pound of fat on your body is 3,500 calories. If you have 50+ pounds of excess fat, that's 175,000 calories your body has saved for any time you're not eating "enough". Hence, your body digs into those fat stores for the rest of the energy it needs & you lose weight. Simple.

If you eat back every single calorie you burn each day, you're not going to lose any weight. You have to have some sort of deficit, no matter how small or large. Your body NEEDING to dig into its fat stores because you're essentially not giving it "enough"(at some level) is what causes weight loss to happen.

So if I don't eat for 70 days I will drop 40lbs? I LOVE that logic!

(Personally, I try to underestimate my exercise calories and eat all I log back, so maybe 70-80%)