for those who count calories - net or gross?

My clinic wants us to count calories and I do.  What I'm finding now that I'm really ramping up the exercise is that I'm getting hungry way more than before.  I'm currently eating about 1200 calories with 130g of protein.  Going by myfitnesspal and the tickers on the machines, I'm burning from 500-1000 cal/day in exercise depending on the day.  I eat 6 small meals during the day - two of those are shakes. 

I think I probably need more calories but I'm afraid that part of this is me wanting to justify eating more. 

I should also add that I've recently changed shifts at work.  I went from working 5am-3:30pm to 1:30pm to 12am. 

ETA:  My clinic recommends 400-700 calories/day during the weight loss phase.  I'm 13 months out but still in the weight loss phase though I have lost 80% of my excess weight.  I can't live on that and I don't understand how anybody could ....

Thanks!!

I do not count net calories.  Most often the machines are inaccurate.  I read a post by someone a few years back, a vet who was successful, who said, "Don't eat your exercise."  So...even though I may have a good idea how many calories I've burned, I don't allow myself to consume more food to account for those calories.  If I were needing to gain weight or needed to stop losing weight, I would probably take a different approach and probably eat a little more to compensate.

At 13 months out,  400-700 is not many calories.

I don't count net either. Unless you are elite athlete (marathons, iron man/woman competitions, heavy duty weight lifting, etc.) I think counting gross calories is fine.

1200 seems like a reasonable amount to me even with exercise? What do you do for exercise?

I'm having to eat more since I'm exercising so much. My doc wants me to keep my daily at 1000 net as a minimum since I've been really fatigued with my 5 day schedule of exercise so I'm hoping the increased calories will help. I don't typically eat under 1000 calories a day and vary from 800-1400 most days. Now, I'm bumping it up so my net is 1000 which means I have to eat a lot more depending on how hard I work out. I'm 10 months out and have lost 130 lbs or 75 % of my excess weight. I've also had to add healthy carbs to help fuel the workouts. I have a banana or apple 30 min before the gym and it really keeps my energy up. I know how you feel about the calories and about the worry of eating more- the door opening and not closing again. But, I trust my doctor and have had great success so far. I'm just starting this since I saw the doc yesterday so time will tell how it goes. The one thing they always remind me of is that no two bodies are the same. I have eaten more than many and still lost weight but that is what has worked for me. Now, I'm going to have to add another meal and a shake to my daily total and see if that makes me feel better and lose more.  I'm going to take it one day at a time. However, I ate an extra 600 cals yesterday after the gym and I'm down 2 pounds today for the first time in weeks. So, I have the feeling they might have given me the right advice. Good luck and take care.

So is 1200 working for you? Are you still losing? If you're starving and still losing, you could try upping your calories to 1500 and see how that works for you. 400-700 is way too little. I'm a firm believer that we train our bodies to accept our calorie intake so if your body gets used to too few, you'll have a tough time maintaining unless you continue that trend.

I'm on MFP and rarely eat back my exercise calories (like once or twice a month I'll eat a few of them back).

I'm 10 weeks post op and I'm not on a certain calorie counting diet.  Should I be?  I've been told to make sure I get my 70-80 grams of protein a day and to stay away from junk food.  I've lost 58 lbs so far.  Should I be counting calories?  I typically just look at protein and sugar before I eat it and I don't eat junk food anymore.  I do eat a cheeseburger from McDonalds without the bread when I'm in a pinch and haven't packed my lunch.