Calorie needs at age 28, female
TDEE is the number of calories you burn in a day. This page works it out for a 28-year-old woman at 5 ft 4 in and 150 lb, then shows how it changes with activity.
How it works
Your body burns calories at rest. The page estimates that with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: 10 times weight in kilograms plus 6.25 times height in centimeters minus 5 times age, then plus 5 for males or minus 161 for females. It multiplies the result by an activity factor from 1.2 to 1.9 to get your daily total. For a woman aged 28 at the lightly active level the fixed adjustment is minus 161.
Worked example
Take a woman aged 28 who is 5 ft 4 in tall and weighs 150 lb. In metric that is 162.56 cm and 68.04 kg. Multiply weight by 10: 10 × 68.04 = 680.4. Multiply height by 6.25: 6.25 × 162.56 = 1016. Subtract 5 × 28 = 140. Subtract 161. That gives 1395.4, which rounds to 1395 calories at rest. Multiply 1395.4 by 1.375 for the lightly active level to get 1918.7, which rounds to 1919 calories a day.
Maintenance calories at every activity level for the same woman aged 28 at 5 ft 4 in and 150 lb, with the lightly active level set in the form above.
- Sedentary (little or no exercise)
- 1674 calories a day
- Lightly active (light exercise 1 to 3 days a week)
- 1919 calories a day
- Moderately active (moderate exercise 3 to 5 days a week)
- 2163 calories a day
- Very active (hard exercise 6 to 7 days a week)
- 2407 calories a day
- Extra active (very hard exercise and a physical job)
- 2651 calories a day
Common questions
How big a surplus helps build muscle?
A modest surplus of about 250 calories a day is a common starting point. Larger surpluses tend to add more fat without adding muscle faster. A 250 calorie surplus here means 2169 calories a day for this 28-year-old woman at the lightly active level.
Why does age 28 change the result?
The formula takes 5 calories off for every year of age, which reflects that resting burn tends to fall over time. At 28 that is 140 calories. Without the age term this 28-year-old woman would burn 1535 calories at rest, or 2111 a day at the lightly active level.
How accurate is a calorie estimate?
It is a starting estimate. Track your weight over two or three weeks and adjust the target up or down based on what actually happens. For this 28-year-old woman, a 5 percent error on 1919 calories is 96 calories a day.
What is the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR is what your body burns at rest. TDEE adds the calories you use moving and exercising. It is always higher. For this woman aged 28 at 150 lb, BMR is 1395 calories and TDEE at the lightly active level is 1919.
Which activity level should I pick?
Pick the one that matches a typical week, not your best week. If you sit most of the day and train a few times, lightly or moderately active is usually closer than very active. Across the five levels this 28-year-old woman ranges from 1674 to 2651 calories a day, and the lightly active level gives 1919.