Should I really be at 1200 calories?

MFP sets you at whatever combination ends up coming out for you after you choose how much you weigh now...what you want to weigh...and how quickly you think you can get there. I get 1200 calories/day, too but I was a little aggressive when I chose how much I wanted to lose at 2lbs/week...Maybe you chose this too? Weight loss on here is kind of like a mathematical equation...But if you are eating back your workout calories then you should be able to eat probably 600 or so more calories/day with the awesome workouts that you are describing. Nobody can answer how many calories that you should be eating really...you see people that are your same age and height and they weigh 96lbs...everyone is different...what works for me may not work for you. you should just decide if you want to eat back your exercise calories or not...log everything...and see what happens at the end of the week. If you were eating on the low--1200 side and your scale didn't budge...you might want to attempt to eat back your workout calories and see if that helps the next week. Calorie-intake is something that is going to have to change through out your weight loss to keep your metabolism on its toes but eventually when you hit your goal weight you will have a calorie intake that stays consistent that you can maintain. And really don't think so much about it...It is simple... hit the gym HARD and burn off calories + the calories that your body naturally burns with daily functions----and eat healthy....then you will be burning more than you are eating...and that equals weight loss. Plus I bet your body is changing besides just "losing weight"....Nobody knows how much you weigh by looking at you but they can see your arms and legs toning up and your stomach getting smaller, etc....stick with it!!!! you are doing great and you are going to get GREAT results!

Based on your age, height and weight (assuming your ticker is current) your BMR is in the neighbourhood of 1,526 and you're targeting a net of 1,200. That's 300 below BMR, using Harris Benedict on sedentary (ad based on your post you're not sedentary) your current maintenance would be around 1,830.

I'd suggest that you need to eat back your exercise calories just to make sure you're adequately fueled for your workouts.

When MFP put you at 1200 calories/day it did so because you probably said you want to lose 2 lbs/week... plus the deficit is built in to your daily activity whether you exercise or not. They are expecting you to NET 1200. So even if you eat back all your exercise calories, you should still (in theory) still lose 2 lbs/week.

I suggest you add up your estimate for your TOTAL calorie expenditure for a week, divide it by 7, and subtract the calories needed to get the weight loss you seek. If you want 2 lbs/week, subtract 1000. For 1 lb/week, subtract 500.

There is no reason you can't eat below your BMR which is why not even conservative old MFP has it for a minimum. They have 1200 for a minimum because your goal with food is to get nutrients. BMR doesn't apply to your nutrients. The only way your BMR will be unmet is if you don't have body fat to burn.

According to the class I am in right now (studying to become a dietetic tech then RD), you can find your caloric need by multiplying your current weight (in pounds) by 10 to 12 (depending on activity level) That will give you your MAINTENANCE goal. Then you subtract the amount you want to lose per week ( 1 pound of body fat = 3500 calories a week or 500 calories a day) but it's a bad idea to go below 1200 calories/day for nutritional reasons.

Can you ask someone about that because I read that it was x14 to maintain and x10-12 to lose... at least that's what I recall. Is that old info?

According to the class I am in right now (studying to become a dietetic tech then RD), you can find your caloric need by multiplying your current weight (in pounds) by 10 to 12 (depending on activity level) That will give you your MAINTENANCE goal. Then you subtract the amount you want to lose per week ( 1 pound of body fat = 3500 calories a week or 500 calories a day) but it's a bad idea to go below 1200 calories/day for nutritional reasons.

Can you ask someone about that because I read that it was x14 to maintain and x10-12 to lose... at least that's what I recall. Is that old info?

I agree with you're info. I wouldn't ever go below bwx10 for any sustained period of time.

It seems like you should eat 1200 plus some of your exercise calories. If I were you, I wouldn't eat ALL the exercise calories if you want to lose weight though.

I am 5'3" and when I started this site I was 181lbs...MFP gave me 1200 base cals also! eating JUST that for the first 3 months and not working out...and then slowly adding in exercise and eating back those cals as well...I lost 60lbs in 7 months....seemed to work fine for me

because you ate back the exercise cals so that you don't create too large of a deficit.

TRUE DAT!! I only ate 1200 when I DIDN'T workout...as soon as I added exercise I added more food!!! MFP gives you the amount according to the settings you put in (current weight, goal weight, and goal loss/week)...if you burn more, you eat more!! You should still lose the GOAL amount if you "NET" MFPs cal goal for you

What you heard sounds a lot more accurate to me. I weigh 148 pounds so x 10 that gives me 1480. To create a deficit to lose I wouldn't be eating nearly enough calories with x 10-12 for maintenance.

According to the class I am in right now (studying to become a dietetic tech then RD), you can find your caloric need by multiplying your current weight (in pounds) by 10 to 12 (depending on activity level) That will give you your MAINTENANCE goal. Then you subtract the amount you want to lose per week ( 1 pound of body fat = 3500 calories a week or 500 calories a day) but it's a bad idea to go below 1200 calories/day for nutritional reasons.

Can you ask someone about that because I read that it was x14 to maintain and x10-12 to lose... at least that's what I recall. Is that old info?

I'd rather use lean body mass x 12 or 13 rather than body weight and figure out their BMR. Using the body weight x 10 formula, a 350 lb person would be given an estimated 3500 calories...