Calorie needs at age 43, female
Daily calorie needs depend on age, sex, size and how much you move. Here is the sum for a 43-year-old woman who is 5 ft 4 in and 150 lb.
How it works
Daily calories equal resting calories times an activity factor. Resting calories come from Mifflin-St Jeor: 10 times kilograms plus 6.25 times centimeters minus 5 times age, with 5 added for males or 161 taken off for females. The factor runs from 1.2 to 1.9. Here the woman aged 43 has a height of 162.56 cm and a weight of 68.04 kg, at the lightly active level.
Worked example
Say a woman aged 43 is 5 ft 4 in tall and weighs 150 lb. That is 162.56 cm and 68.04 kg. The weight term is 10 × 68.04 = 680.4. The height term is 6.25 × 162.56 = 1016. The age term is 5 × 43 = 215. Subtract 161. The result is 1320.4 at rest. Times 1.375 for the lightly active level is 1815.6, which rounds to 1816 calories a day.
Maintenance calories at every activity level for the same woman aged 43 at 5 ft 4 in and 150 lb, with the lightly active level set in the form above.
- Sedentary (little or no exercise)
- 1584 calories a day
- Lightly active (light exercise 1 to 3 days a week)
- 1816 calories a day
- Moderately active (moderate exercise 3 to 5 days a week)
- 2047 calories a day
- Very active (hard exercise 6 to 7 days a week)
- 2278 calories a day
- Extra active (very hard exercise and a physical job)
- 2509 calories a day
Common questions
Why does age 43 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 43 that is 215 calories. Without the age term this 43-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 43-year-old woman, a 5 percent error on 1816 calories is 91 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 43 at 150 lb, BMR is 1320 calories and TDEE at the lightly active level is 1816.
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 43-year-old woman ranges from 1584 to 2509 calories a day, and the lightly active level gives 1816.
How big a calorie deficit is reasonable for weight loss?
A deficit of 500 calories a day is a common starting point and works out to roughly half a kilogram a week. Smaller deficits are slower and easier to keep up. A 500 calorie deficit here means 1316 calories a day for this 43-year-old woman at the lightly active level.