Calorie needs at age 50, female
TDEE is the number of calories you burn in a day. This page works it out for a 50-year-old woman at 5 ft 4 in and 150 lb, then shows how it changes with activity.
How it works
The page works in two steps. Step one is resting calories with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation: 10 times kilograms plus 6.25 times centimeters minus 5 times age, plus 5 for males or minus 161 for females. Step two multiplies by an activity factor between 1.2 and 1.9. At 150 lb the weight term for this 50-year-old woman is 680.4, at the lightly active level.
Worked example
For a woman aged 50, weight is 68.04 kg and height is 162.56 cm. Weight gives 10 × 68.04 = 680.4. Height gives 6.25 × 162.56 = 1016. Age takes off 5 × 50 = 250. Subtract 161. Resting calories are 1285.4, or 1285 when rounded. Multiply by 1.375 for the lightly active level to get 1767.4. That rounds to 1767 calories a day.
Maintenance calories at every activity level for the same woman aged 50 at 5 ft 4 in and 150 lb, with the lightly active level set in the form above.
- Sedentary (little or no exercise)
- 1542 calories a day
- Lightly active (light exercise 1 to 3 days a week)
- 1767 calories a day
- Moderately active (moderate exercise 3 to 5 days a week)
- 1992 calories a day
- Very active (hard exercise 6 to 7 days a week)
- 2217 calories a day
- Extra active (very hard exercise and a physical job)
- 2442 calories a day
Common questions
Why does age 50 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 50 that is 250 calories. Without the age term this 50-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 50-year-old woman, a 5 percent error on 1767 calories is 88 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 50 at 150 lb, BMR is 1285 calories and TDEE at the lightly active level is 1767.
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 50-year-old woman ranges from 1542 to 2442 calories a day, and the lightly active level gives 1767.
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 1267 calories a day for this 50-year-old woman at the lightly active level.