BMR & Total Calories Calculator
Calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate & Daily Calorie Needs
| Activity Level | Daily Needs |
|---|---|
| Sedentary (little or no exercise) | -- |
| Lightly active (1-3 days/week) | -- |
| Moderately active (3-5 days/week) | -- |
| Very active (6-7 days/week) | -- |
| Super active (physical job) | -- |
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What this calculator does
Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the energy your body uses at complete rest, just to keep you breathing, circulating blood and maintaining body temperature. This calculator estimates your BMR from your age, sex, height and weight. It then multiplies it by five activity levels to estimate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), the calories you burn in a typical day. Everything is calculated in your browser.
How to use it
- Choose Metric or Imperial, and Male or Female.
- Enter your age in years, your height, and your weight.
- Your BMR appears straight away, with a table of daily calorie needs for each activity level.
- Find the row that matches your usual week. That number is roughly what it takes to keep your weight steady.
The formula
This calculator uses the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, published in 1990 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Weight (w) is in kilograms, height (h) in centimeters and age (a) in years:
Men: BMR = 10w + 6.25h − 5a + 5
Women: BMR = 10w + 6.25h − 5a − 161
If you enter imperial units, the tool converts them first: inches × 2.54 for centimeters, pounds ÷ 2.20462 for kilograms.
From BMR to daily calories
TDEE adds the energy you spend moving. The calculator uses the activity multipliers most calorie calculators use:
| Activity level | Typical week | Multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| Sedentary | Little or no exercise | 1.2 |
| Lightly active | Exercise 1-3 days a week | 1.375 |
| Moderately active | Exercise 3-5 days a week | 1.55 |
| Very active | Exercise 6-7 days a week | 1.725 |
| Super active | Physical job or training twice a day | 1.9 |
A worked example
A 30-year-old woman who is 165 cm tall and weighs 60 kg:
- BMR = 10 × 60 + 6.25 × 165 − 5 × 30 − 161 = 600 + 1,031.25 − 150 − 161 = about 1,320 kcal a day.
- If she exercises 3-5 days a week, her TDEE is 1,320 × 1.55 = about 2,046 kcal a day.
Eating around 2,046 kcal would keep her weight roughly stable. Eating less than that would usually lead to gradual weight loss, and more to gradual gain.
How accurate is it?
Mifflin-St Jeor is one of the most widely used equations for healthy adults, but it gives an estimate, not a measurement. Two people with the same age, height and weight can burn quite different amounts, depending on muscle mass, genetics, health conditions and medications. Treat your result as a starting point. Adjust it based on how your weight actually changes over a few weeks.
It's not designed for children, pregnant or breastfeeding people, or anyone with a medical condition that affects metabolism. They should get advice from a doctor or registered dietitian.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between BMR and TDEE?
BMR is what you'd burn lying still all day. TDEE adds everything else: walking, working, exercising and digesting food. TDEE is the number to plan meals around.
How many calories should I eat to lose weight?
A common approach is to eat somewhat less than your TDEE and adjust based on results. How big a deficit is safe depends on your health, so check with a professional before cutting calories sharply.
Why does the formula subtract for age?
Metabolic rate tends to fall as we get older, partly because muscle mass declines. The equation reduces BMR by 5 kcal for every year of age.
Why are men's and women's formulas different?
On average, men carry more muscle at the same weight, and muscle uses more energy at rest. The equations reflect that average. They don't describe any one person exactly.
Which activity level should I pick?
Count only deliberate exercise and physical work. Most people with desk jobs who work out a few times a week are "lightly" or "moderately" active. If unsure, pick the lower one.
Sources: Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, et al. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1990;51(2):241-247. Last reviewed on SuiteWebTools: October 2026.