Working out and losing weight

Hello,

I have a question regarding the amount of calories that I should be eating on days that I work out. I eat normally eat 1500 calories a day, but days I work out should I be eating the calories I burn? Eat half of them? Or don't touch them? I know many people recommend you don't go over a 1000 calorie deficit while losing weight, I don't want my body to go into starvation mode.

Any suggestions? What has worked best for you?

Look here:

http://caloriecount.about.com/estimate-exactl y-calories-workout-alot-ft154252#3

I had the SAME question.  I'm not sure what a good deficit is - 500 calories, 800, 1000, 300?  I'd love to know.  Too bad the tool doesn't break it down for you. Or if it does I can't figure it out. 

If you have a lot of weight to lose, you might be able to aim for a 750-1000 cal deficit. If you are smaller, probably better to aim for ~500. Some people do 250 cal deficit, and lose half a pound a week, but lose more consistently.

It's just trial and error - you don't want to go too high, but too low and one missed workout or a tiny splurge can undo several days of work. So you need to figure out what works for you.

In general, start by aiming for ~500 deficit/day, and see how it works for you.

Thanks amethystgirl - I find the 'activity level' on the tools to be tough to figure out since I don't fit in any of the categories.  So this helps.  Thanks!