You must balance your exercise with your caloric intake or within the parameters of your diet plan in order to sustain weight loss. You don’t get to eat 500 calories simply because you burned that amount. People who make this mistake often become disheartened and abandon their weight loss plan altogether. Exercise can also increase appetite. If your hunger spikes when you work out aggressively, you may consume the very calories you intended to burn for weight loss, essentially undermining your efforts. Therefore, don't overemphasize the role of exercise in the early stages of your weight loss journey.