Calorie Needs Calculator on here???

So, when you chose your activity level (sedentary, light active etc.) and it calculates how many calories I burn a day, does that take into account exercise?  Like I work out vigorously 4 times a week, so if I select "Moderate Activity" it bumps up my calories burned for the day from 1700 (sedentary) to 2300.  Does this number take into account exercise??  If I run and burn 400 cals do I need to add that to the 1800 (2300 less the 500 deficit) and eat it back? Just completely confused.......

OK, this is how I think it works. Pick your activity level based on what you do most of your waking hours.

If you have a desk job, you are sedentary.
If you are a stay-at-home parent, you are lightly active.
If you have a job that requires you to be on your feet or walking all day, you are moderately active.
If you have a job that requires you to be on your feet all day and do heavy lifting, you are highly active.

Any exercise you do on top of that you should log separately (and probably eat back some of those calories).

Original Post by pgl6956:

OK, this is how I think it works. Pick your activity level based on what you do most of your waking hours.

If you have a desk job, you are sedentary.
If you are a stay-at-home parent, you are lightly active.
If you have a job that requires you to be on your feet or walking all day, you are moderately active.
If you have a job that requires you to be on your feet all day and do heavy lifting, you are highly active.

Any exercise you do on top of that you should log separately (and probably eat back some of those calories).

 

Or, if you are pretty consistent about the amount of exercise you do, you can use this scale:

Sedentary = little exercise, desk job
Light Activity = light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk
Moderate Activity = moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week
Very Active = heavy exercise/sports 6-7 days/week

If you log separately, you need to take that into account, and can't just use the number that the calorie target tool provided.