Should I bother exercising if it makes me eat more?

I've run into this problem. One tip that helped was the "eat 50% of your exercise calories back" trick. So if you burn 1,000 calories, eat 500.

I haven't lost much weight yet due to some set backs, but I found that knowing that I could have a snack after a workout and how many calories that snack could be helped a lot.

I've also heard that having a very small carb snack (like 1/2 a banana) before a workout gives you energy and then eating a protein heavy snack after within your calorie limit helps with satiety.

Lastly, many people confuse hunger for thirst after a workout. Are you hydrating enough?

I've been messing with my macros a bit here and there and I've decreased carbs on some days, eating more fat really helped my satiety as well. I switched to light bread but I allow myself some butter now. It helps me stay withing my calorie allotment. Hope some of these ideas help a little.

If your goal is purely weight loss then all you need is calorie deficit so exercise is not necessary. However there are obviously other benefits to exercise. What form of exercise are you doing? What is height, weight, age and current calorie goal?

If you're snacking a lot after workouts is maybe you're not eating enough to fuel your exercise. Try to include protein and fat in all meals/snacks as these should help keep you full for longer.

It's probably better to eat more if you exercise in order to keep your energy up - but that doesn't mean you can eat whatever you like! Diet doesn't go out of the window just because you got on the treadmill or lifted a weight... MFP and most other places overestimate wildly the amount of calories you will burn, so keep tracking and eat back SOME and not all of those calories and you should be fine. Make sure you plan what pre or post workout snacks you will eat beforehand to have them within your calorie goals and to reduce the temptation to just eat everything in sight.

For most people (who aren't very small framed/short) 1200 calories won't be enough especially with exercise, and people often find they can still lose weight eating more and be a lot more satisfied.

I'm about 62kg and 165cm.
I'm trying to stick to 1200 and honestly its not physical hunger that trips me but mental cravings! I find it easier to stick to my calorie limit when i dont exercise but when i do exercise and burn 300 (which is not even alot) i eat up to 2000 calories a day easily. i want to lose about 8kg/ 17-18lbs

You are already a healthy weight so your body will not want to give up more weight easily.

You "mental cravings" are your body's way of telling you you aren't eating enough. Log your workouts and eat back your exercise calories. This will give you a higher calorie allowance but will still leave you in deficit so you will still lose. Also, set your MFP settings to lose only 1/2 lb per week. As you are already a healthy weight losing faster than this will result in muscle loss as well as fat.

I have the same issue. Train like an athlete and I will eat enough to maintain, sometimes 200 - 500 more than the charts recommend.
When I go to bed at night my comforter feels as hot as a sauna. I am literally a furnace of energy all the freaking time.

But if I reduce my calories to 1300 for ONE day then I feel horrible. I hit the wall during 50% of my next jog, have a hard time keeping up, generally feel tired and dead all the time. At night I shiver under a double blanket and have to wear thick fuzzy socks to keep my feet warm. Moving requires deliberate effort and there is a mild, constant headache. The difference of a mere 24 hours is staggering.

My body needs fuel. Dieting sucks if you're super active. It was tolerable when I did wimpy workouts 4 x / week. But I want to be strong, not hungry.

If you're at a healthy weight, just go for training like an athlete. It's healthy and no doubt more fun - especially the part where you get to eat more!

If you're near a healthy weight, shave 200 - 300 calories off your TDEE and eat to maintenance once every few days to keep yourself from overdoing it. That way you're getting enough for workouts without gaining. Manage your hunger with small high protein meals throughout the day and follow your exercise with a meal rich in complex carbs and protein.

Errr yes... I exercise to eat, if I don't exercise as much as I do, I can't eat what I want. So I exercise to live how I want. But if you find it easier to cut calories, then sure by all means cut your exercise.

It's up to you, but being active, even if you're losing weight more slowly, is much better for your metabolism and overall health than staying sedentary and losing weight rapidly. I had this problem when I started doing hard workouts, but I've learned what works for me:

See if you can find out what foods make you feel satisfied after working out without adding such high numbers. Is it carb depletion that's making you so ravenous? Drink a bottle of water, followed by some fruit, or a fruit smoothie, ideally with protein (powder, soy milk, etc). Maybe it's protein you need more -- again, water, then maybe a chicken breast wrap and some vegetables. 200-400 calories can get you a really good meal if you're basing it around fresh fruits and vegetables and lean protein. Are you doing your workouts on an empty stomach? Your body will MAKE you eat after doing that, because it wants to replenish its glycogen stores. If you give it a piece of toast or fruit or a glass of juice an hour before working out and let it get used to a reasonable recovery meal, it'll stop clamoring for excessive emergency replenishment.

I swim an hour of laps daily - HARD. I'm never starving or even hungry afterward, but that's because I'm not starving myself. I eat about 2300 a day and it's all good food, but I never eat snacks after a swim. I push protein.

Good luck. And I agree that if you're already thin, you're not going to lose without your body kicking up a fuss. It knows what's good and what's bad.

Yes! Because first and foremost you want to be fit and healthy!

If I've calculated everything correctly...you are 5'4 weighing in at 136 and you want to lose 18 lbs there for weighing in at 118?

Those goals are definitely attainable, but not healthy. I weight 137 at 5'4 and eat around 1600 calories a day. If a number on a scale is what you want then by all means keep under eating and over exercising. That is a plan for failure. BUT if you want to change how your body looks and feel good about yourself without a worrying about a number on a scale then up your calories and lift weights.

sounds more like an issue with your self-control then with exercising.

My thoughts exactly.... This has less to do about exercise and more to do about staying within your caloric goals for the day... I eat 85% of my exercise calories back everyday except for my rest days when I eat to maintenance but I never intentionally eat over my caloric intake unless it was planned (refeed, etc). Weight loss can be achieved with diet alone, you exercise for the physical benefits and lift to help maintain Lean body Mass. Best of Luck

Agreed with you guys - in my honest opinion [opinion only] the caloric intake and crave-control is harder than the workout itself. You def's want to keep exercising as it will provide you with benefits on the long run...

If I exercise a whole lot, it definitely makes me eat more, which is okay. But it also can lead to binging. I have had to cut down my exercise so I don't binge. It's not a lack of self-control for me. Lots of exercise makes me ravenous and binge-y.

yes because exercise improves your health and you should aim to be healthy, not to eat as little as possible.

food is to feed your body, you need to eat enough of it to sustain your body and your level of exercise. You need to eat less than you burn off, but not too much less or it's counterproductive. Exercise is for health, i.e. strong bones and strong muscles. It also helps to ensure that the weight you're losing is just fat and not muscle or bone density.

so exercise and eat more.