Exercising and Burning Calories

I exercise almost every day, and eat when I'm hungry and don't eat when I'm not. I have maintained my weight within a less than 10 lb range for 25 years.

I had an eating disorder for much of my teen years, so I avoid calorie counting as it could lead me back to unhealthily restricted eating habits.

eating puts calories in. exercising (burning calories) takes calories out. so if you are trying to lose weight, you should burn more calories than you take in. if you are trying to maintain, you burn the same amount as you take in.

you have to keep in mind though that all activity burns calories. a health professional can help determine how many calories you burn in an average day, without additional exercise. that would be your starting point. you burn x amount of calories per day, so you should eat x amount to lose weight, x amount to maintain, etc. then when you start adding exercise, you would need to eat more to compensate for that. unless you're trying to lose weight. many people can do everything exactly the same diet-wise, and just add exercise and lose weight because you are burning extra calories.

i guess to answer your question, if you exercised and burnt 300 extra calories - i guess you COULD eat 300 extra calories...but not if you intend to lose weight. adding 300 more calories to your body would negate the exercise you just did to burn it off. make sense? you don't state your goal but if you are trying to LOSE weight, of course, you would want to burn MORE than you take in. make sense?

Google TDEE and BMI and how they relate. Basically, the TDEE formula gives you a number of calories to eat that already takes into account your activity level, and how much you want to lose. Some of the concepts are difficult to understand with losing weight, and there are quite a few "different ways" you can go about it.
The best website I have found is myfitnesspal.com. You put in all your measurements and what you want to lose, and then it tells you how many calories to eat. It allows you to eat your exercise calories back, just like weight watchers does. It also has great Community Forum Boards that are helpful in answering questions.

If you are trying to loose weight then no. If you are trying to maintain your weight then yes. Assuming that you are currently eating an amount that would keep you at your current weight.

It depends on your goal. It also depends on the quality of calories. If you burn 300 calories are you making it up with healthy stuff or a twinkie? Do you want to lose weight? Then dont eat to make up for the calories.

Weight loss seems like it should be simple - it's not.
If it were, everyone would be at their ideal weight.
If you burn 300 calories, then eating 300 calories just replaces what you burned.
Your heart/arteries will be more efficient, your blood pressure will be improved, you'll feel better and sleep better, but you won't lose weight by replacing what you burn.
You can restrict calories, and exercise more and some people will lose weight, while others won't.
Because if you restrict calories too much, your metabolism goes into famine mode and will not burn calories as quickly.
SO many people gain weight because they are not eating enough to keep their body burning the most calories it can be burning.
So far what's helping me drop a few lbs right now is staying active (walking) and eating a bit more lean protein and fewer carbohydrates.

I agree with the other posts. If you are trying to lose weight then you need to exercise more. If you only want to maintain you're weight then you could eat what you burned off.
Good luck with it.

It all depends on IF you want to lose weight.. to simply replace the same amount of calories that you burned off will leave you EVEN.... However, keep in mind that it really depends on the type of calories you eat.

As you might know, 300 calories of ALL carbs (e.g. potatoes) can raise your insulin level and therefore cause you to retain fat..(As Insulin acts as a fat block) Whereas, if you ate 300 calories of protein or even a complex-carb, then you might fair better.. I know some will say it's calories in and calories out, which yes, in very basic terms it is to some degree but not completely and therefore, I think it's more a matter of the type of calories you are consuming...

Your best bet, determine how much you want to weigh and then figure out based on that weight (and activity level) how many calories you can consume each day. Additionally, once you have a benchmark, then based on your own body, you can tweak your diet. Could be that you aren't as sensitive to processed carbs while others have difficulty..

There are two sites I like that are free.. one is myfitpal.com <<< on there you can determine your weight goals.. it will also require some tracking on your daily food and exercise.

Also, there is drmercola.com<<< on this site, he believes in eating specifically for your body type... again, could be your body responds well to more protein as oppose to starch.. on that site, they have you answer a bunch of questions ..

While there are different roads to weight loss, exercising and calories... I think what's important is to have an awareness of what you are eating each day. In my case, I keep a food journal... I find that when I do it (honestly) :) I actually lose more weight and stay on track..

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck to you!! :)

It depends some on your body and fitness level. For me personally, my weight is 10% whether I worked out and 90% what I ate. Sadly working out does not "earn" me the right to extra calories.

It depends on if you are trying to lose weight, or just maintain your weight.
There are a bunch of free calorie counters online (just google it.) You plug in your age, weight and goal weight. It then tells you what your daily calories should be based on your goal, and how many days it will take. You can track what you are eating, that is, the real number of calories you are actually taking in, and also you how many calories you are REALLY burning based on the exercise you are doing. For example, you can choose "walk, 3 miles" or "swim, 30 minutes." You will get a fairly accurate number, and you will be surprised at how many calories are in some foods/drinks that SEEM to be healthy! I did this for a while and lost about ten pounds. I don't do it anymore but the habits I picked up from tracking the numbers have really stuck with me, and I've maintained my current weight for about two years.