Do you eat extra calories when you exercise?

I checked my activity level as light activity, since I'm an at-home-mom to 2 small kids.

But when I exercise- (usually 3 days a week of moderate-intense activity for 30 min to an hour) I also log my activity. I've done other weight loss programs that had you eat extra calories when you burn them. It is important for me not to lose weight too fast, since I am a nursing mother.

What do you all do and how does that work for you?

I usually go the other way round (as in: I exercise, when I eat more) if I am hungrier and eat a bit more that day, I try to exercise or be more activity to make up for it.

Everybody finds a method that works best for them.  What I did was I calculated my weekly total calories burned and then found my average daily burn (I work out regularly but have rest days).  I subtracted my desired deficit from my average daily burn to get my target calories.  Then I watched the scale and made adjustments as necessary, I actually upped my cals a little initially. 

Now that I'm maintaining I still work off of the averages instead of trying to adjust my diet each day to match my activity.

I shoot for eating as close to my BMR as possible, and keeping my deficit no bigger than -500 cals daily...when my deficits are over -500, I find I get hungry and cranky and it sets off my cravings....and slows down my weight loss.  If I am truly hungry after exercising at the end of the day, then I eat something - unsalted unsweetened peanut butter and sliced apple, bowl of cereal.  Hope this helps!

I eat extra when I workout.  I worry more about my net calorie figure rather than my total calorie intake for the day.  I also try to eat more protein on days that I go hard.  I find the extra protein helps me to recover quicker (I am not so sore, etc).  

I just aim for a deficit of 300-400 a day. So, on days when I do a 2-3 hour bike ride and ride my horses, I will eat a ton more than on days I just go to work and do yoga.

I agree with others, though. Try it out and see what works for you.

i definitely eat more when i exercise, but not too much more. i usually stick to about 1200-1300 calories per day, but on days that i work out (at least 5 days/wk) i consume around 1500-1800 calories. it's important to get the nutrients that you need to keep you energized, especially when exercising. if i do not eat enough, i get very shaky and sick, and feel like i may throw up. then hopefully when you work out you burn at least 300-800 calories, it evens out your net calories for the day.

keep in mind, calorie count already takes into consideration your lifestyle and activity level and on your calorie camp analysis it will show an amount of calories that is estimated from your activity level being subtracted from your total intake of calories. this accounts for things like walking at work and doing small things around the house. for instance, i have a desk job so my activity level is sedentary. my caloriecount already subtracts 1700 calories a day from my total intake just based on what it's estimated that i do throughout the day.

hope this helps :)

Sorry if too to the point (i cant delete my comment above). I mean, I usually motivate myself to eat less.

Thanks pgrewing

Do you eat extra calories when you exercise?

Not if I'm trying to lose body fat. The whole Idea behind exercise if to increase the metabolic rate in order to burn the food you consume, then body fat, in that order.

If you increase your calorie intake it defeats the purpose of burning body fat as fuel. Body fat is only burned as fuel after all calories, carbs, fats in foods, and natural sugars are burned up first. That's important to know because carbs and natural sugar are simply extra fuel your body has to burn before it can burn body fat.

Refined sugar raises blood sugar levels which in turn dramatically lowers metabolism. Water is essential because if the kidneys don't get the amount of water required the liver has to help out. The problem there is the liver plays a key role in the metabolization of food so you want the liver working on that, not helping the kidneys out. So drink a minimum of 1/2 gallon of water a day. This will also help with any water retention that you may also experience if you are taking in a lot of sodium.