Does it work to do extra calorie burning if you're over your

If you are only going over a little every once in a while, I wouldn't kill myself over it. Variation is your caloric intake is not a bad thing.

I would. I exercise extra if I know I am going to indulge, same thing.

Yes you can burn the calories

Yes, you are doing it right. Let the success you have already made be your guide. Like someone else already said, it's all about calories consumed vs calories burned.

it sure does work!

There are a lot of different opinions, but I've been personal training for a long time and the hardest thing to get straight is peoples diet. Think of it like this, if you eat 2000 calories one day, but burn 2500 calories with cardio and daily activity, then the next day eat 1200 calories and burn 1800 calories in only daily activity, which sounds better? Controlling your diet is the best option. I'm not saying that on occasion you can't do the extra if you go over, but consistency, or at least relative consistency is key to management of weight loss in the long run.

I would try to stay within your goal calorie intake before any cardio exercise is put in. You want to keep a caloric deficit in your diet to lose weight. All your cardio is like "bonus" calorie burn. You still lose weight if you consume less calories than what your daily caloric burn is through normal day-today activities, but you want that deficit to be as much as possible without going under 1200 calories consumed. Varying your intake is beneficial so that your body doesn't adapt to a set amount, but definitely try to keep in range of your goal calorie intake. One thing I do because of the way it subtracts cardio calories from your net, is wait till the end of the day to add my cardio. This way I stay on track with my goal calories, and can really see at the end of the day how the "bonus" calories benefit. Hope this helps! If you have any other questions, shoot me a message.

See this is where I get confused lol. :P Take today for example. My net calories consumed after cardio was 1400 so I did some more cardio to bring that back down to 1200 net calories intake. Am I doing the right thing?

This sounds right...As long as your NET doesn't go below 1200 and you are eating what is allowed for you. I just found out that I was eating below my NET. I was focusing on my goal which was 1200 calories....then I would burn 200 and only eat back say half so I was still below the 1200 NET. I have since upped my calories to 1320 and have been staying as close to that as possible but never under 1200 now. I figure MFP long time users must know what they are talking about...lol. I think people tend to forget to that MFP already factors in a deficit so if you yourself are creating one it might become to great.

Sounds like you are on the right track and doing well!! Keep up the good work!

RatBoyGL posted an awesome breakdown..thought it might help here too

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/196238-frustrated-consuming-all-of-my-calories-too-many?page=2#posts-2598718 I think I was the last post and I quoted him so it should be easy to find!

HTH

Bottom line, I think you're doing the right thing. There've been many discussions on here about eating back your calories, whether to eat them back or not. Everybody is different but the thing is that your body needs so many calories to function, regardless of whether you work out or not. when you work out you burn many of the calories that your body would normally use to function, your basal metabolic rate, and if you get too low, and MFP uses 1200 as the number to try not to go below, your body goes into starvation mode, especially if this happens consistently. Personally, I eat back many of my calories but not all, keeping a deficit which MFP puts into the calculation. If you eat more, it's obvious that if you then exercise more and burn off those extra calories you'll still be in a deficit. What happens if you don't count your cardio calories is you can actually get into too much of a deficit and begin to store fat, or you'll lose weight, but your body will start burning your muscle for fuel and though you get skinny, you become as MFP says, Skinny fat. That's why they have the 1200 NET. Because your body needs fuel to function.
For example, the other day, I did a massive cardio workout and burned over 1200 calories that day. UP to that point, I'd only eaten 1150 calories. That put me at a huge deficit, in fact it put me at negative numbers. Therefore I had a healthy, though calorie rich, dinner and made up my calories to put me over the 1200 net at a minimum...and I still lost weight that week, and continue to put on muscle, because if you don't fuel the workout while eating fewer NET calories, your body will find the calories from somewhere...usually your muscles.

Therefore, keep doing what you're doing. If you keep it in the green for your net by exercising a little bit more if you go over....you'll continue to lose and won't lose muscle in the process.

Good answer, and well put!