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TDEE Calculator · Women
How many calories do you actually burn?
Pick 'Female' in the calculator. Mifflin-St Jeor's BMR formula uses a -161 constant for women (vs +5 for men) because, on average, women carry less skeletal muscle at the same height and weight. The activity multiplier rules are identical.
FITENABLE offers informational fitness and nutrition coaching — not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Talk to a qualified professional before starting, especially if you're pregnant, injured, or managing a medical condition.
Fill in age, gender, weight, height and activity level, then tap Calculate TDEE to get your daily calorie needs and how to adjust them for fat loss or muscle gain.
How this is calculated
BMR (Mifflin-St Jeor) = 10 × weight (kg) + 6.25 × height (cm) − 5 × age + 5 for men, − 161 for women. TDEE = BMR × activity factor (1.2 sedentary, 1.375 light, 1.55 moderate, 1.725 very active, 1.9 athlete). Goal targets = TDEE − 500 kcal for fat loss, TDEE + 300 kcal for lean gain.
Predictive equations estimate a population average and can be off by roughly 10% for any one person. Treat the number as a starting point and adjust it against 2–3 weeks of real scale and tape data.
Sources
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, Hill LA, Scott BJ, Daugherty SA, Koh YO. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr 1990;51(2):241–247 — abstract, including the simplified equation used here, hosted free by the US National Library of Medicine (PMID 2305711)
- FAO/WHO/UNU Expert Consultation. Human energy requirements (2004) — physical activity level (PAL) values
TDEE for women — the things to know
Don't go below 1,200 kcal
For most adult women, 1,200 kcal/day is the practical calorie floor. Below that, the diet usually fails to cover essential micronutrients (especially iron, calcium, B12) and triggers metabolic adaptation that slows fat loss further. If your "target" comes out below 1,400, you're cutting too aggressively — pull the goal slider back to a smaller deficit.
Cycle-driven calorie shifts
Resting metabolic rate fluctuates ~5–10% across the menstrual cycle, peaking in the luteal phase (the week before your period). Many women are also hungrier in that window. The trick is to average across the month, not chase the daily number. If you're hungry, eat slightly more in the late luteal phase — your weekly average will land where it should.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Don't use this calculator during pregnancy. Caloric needs in pregnancy follow gestational guidelines from your obstetrician. While breastfeeding, exclusively breastfeeding women burn an extra ~450–500 kcal/day producing milk; partially breastfeeding adds proportionally less. You can estimate maintenance with this calculator and then add a breastfeeding bonus on top — but don't cut into that bonus during the first six months.
Picking your activity multiplier
The number-one mistake women (and men) make is over-estimating activity. A desk job + 3 gym sessions/week is Lightly Active (1.375), not Moderately Active. If you have step data from a phone or watch, the rule of thumb is: sub-7,000 = Sedentary, 7,000–10,000 = Lightly active, 10,000–14,000 = Moderately, 14,000+ = Very. When in doubt, pick one tier lower and adjust after 2–3 weeks.
Next step: pair this with body fat % for women, or turn it into a meal plan with the 4-minute assessment.
Full Mifflin-St Jeor formula and activity multiplier table on the main TDEE calculator page.
The next step
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