Hi all,
I am a 23 yrs old female, and I weigh 91 kgs. My height is 5 ft 4 inches.

I had started using MFP a month ago. It calculated my daily calorie requirement to 1200 calories, which I ate daily and did cardio to lose 400-500 calories daily. I haven’t lost a pound. My BMR is 1650. Weight Maintenance is 2050 calories. I had been reading forums here and other places. Some people say you should not eat less than your BMR. Some say that you should burn everything you eat.

Questions that confuse me are
1) Should I eat my BMR calories i.e. 1650 or 1200 calories suggested by MFP?
2) If I only eat my BMR/MFP calories, do I need to exercise?
3) If I exercise than do I have to eat my calories back?
I had been taking 6 bottles of 700 ml water daily, and I tried to eat my food before 6 pm because I go to bed at 10 pm sharp.
Please help me, I want to stay healthy and look great. Slow weight loss is fine for me, but I really want to lose weight. I like to go for a walk in evening for 30-60 minutes.

Thanks

hello welcome to MFP :)
I started with 92 kgs and now I weigh 81 kgs :) with the help of MFP
Well now lets move to your questions

Q1) Should I eat my BMR calories i.e. 1650 or 1200 calories suggested by MFP?
You definitely need to eat your BMR calories... otherwise you'll wreck your metabolism in the long run which may create low levels of energy hormone imbalance improper menstrual cycles and what not.. you can either go with the recommended MFP calories or you can customize your daily needs according to your BMR... its up to you

Q2) If I only eat my BMR/MFP calories, do I need to exercise?
Yes offcourse if you want to get rid of all the fat then you'll have to include cardio in your day... diet alone won't help..

Q3) If I exercise than do I have to eat my calories back?
Look if you are following the calories suggested by MFP then yes you have to eat back your exercise calories but if you have customized your calorie needs according to your BMR thats 1650 then no need to eat back your calories because thats enough for you..
and I recommend that you eat 5 meals in a day in small portions because then there is greater chances for your body to store fat when you eat all the food in one time for example if you eat a 300 calorie meal at 9 am then another 200-300 calorie meal after 3 hours then your body would have burned those 300 calories that you consumed at 9am...

So Maria,It means either I can take 1200 calories only or 1650 calories (300-400 burned by exercise) right?

your evening walk and a calorie reduced diet will be sufficient for losing weight without "cardio" exercise.

As this is a fitness orientated site there are people that enjoy and are keen on exercise and will point out its other benefits.

In terms of pure weight and fat loss it isn't a necessity. Excessive exercise combined with calorie restriction is associated with stalled weight loss, and if you "eat back your calories" you are wiping out any energy benefit from the exercise.

Ummmm, so I should eat 1200 calories and walk for 40-60 minutes, its not gonna harm my body? I had heard 1200 calories is the bare minimum required by body, If you eat less, you make your body starve. Is that right?

yeah exactly you can either follow the calories that are recommended by MFP or you can follow yor BMR calories..
Let me give you an example:
My BMR is 1630 which means that my body is burning 1630 calories to perform all the functions like breathing, digesting, heart is beating etc etc.. Now I have to eat these 1630 calories in order to protect my metabolism...
Now 1630 is my daily calorie intake Ok
If I burn 300 calories daily from exercise + I burn 500 calories in day to day activity (like in house chores, in university etc etc) +
I burn 1630 calories (since its my BMR), it makes a total of 2430..
I am burning 2430 calories in a day..
Now subtract calories consumed from calories burnt ( 2430 - 1630 = 800) Now 800 is my calorie deficit..
Which means if for the next 7 days my calorie deficit is 800 then I'll lose 1.6 pounds in 7 days.. (800* 7 = 5600) (5600/3500= 1.6)
In order to reduce a pound we need to burn 3500 calories...
I tried to make it simple by giving my example.. hope you'll understand this :)